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The Veiled Worlds #2
Suited
Tanyana has chosen to help the Keeper, to stand against the Puppet Men, who continue to force the Debris into unnatural creations.
And when even her own suit becomes aggressive against her, Tanyana must weigh some very personal issues against her determination to serve the greater good.
And when even her own suit becomes aggressive against her, Tanyana must weigh some very personal issues against her determination to serve the greater good.
334 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
13 people are currently reading
213 people want to read
About the author
Jo Anderton
20 books64 followersJoanne Anderton lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband and too many pets. By day she is a mild-mannered marketing coordinator for an Australian book distributor. By night, weekends and lunchtimes she writes dark fantasy, horror a little bit of science fiction and a whole lot of weird stuff in between.
Her short fiction has been published in a variety of places, including Aurealis, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine and Midnight Echo. She was shortlisted for the 2009 Aurealis Award for best young adult short story.
Her debut novel, Debris (Book One the Veiled Worlds Series) will be published by Angry Robot Books in 2011, followed by Suited in 2012.
Her short fiction has been published in a variety of places, including Aurealis, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine and Midnight Echo. She was shortlisted for the 2009 Aurealis Award for best young adult short story.
Her debut novel, Debris (Book One the Veiled Worlds Series) will be published by Angry Robot Books in 2011, followed by Suited in 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
October 9, 2018
Imagine buying a kitchen cupboard. Shiny, new, and just the style you love.
So you whip out your wallet and buy the thing. Upon delivery, you discover that the doors won’t open properly. The hinges squeal like a stuck pig at the slightest hint of movement.
No matter how practical it is on the inside, how gorgeous on the outside, the shrieks of the hinges make goosebumps rise on the back of your neck every single time.
Annoying, right?
That’s how I felt after the first chapter of this book.
I read and reviewed the first installment of the series, Debris, as well. Just like this one, it was riddled with grammatical errors and imprecision.
There were times when the flaws were so glaring they completely pulled me out of the story.
However, the story was so magical, it drew me right back in again each and every time.
I noted it in my review, mentioning that–flawed as book one was–I still planned to buy the sequel.
So about a week ago, I did just that and dug in right away. Upon finishing the first three pages, I came to the conclusion that both Anderton and the people responsible for the editing process and proofreading of Suited had done the work the same disservice as its predecessor, Debris.
After reading two novels that play out within one single city, I still have no clue how that city’s name is supposed to be spelled. If the author can’t make up her mind, how are her readers expected to figure it out?
Is it Movoc-under-Keeper or Movocunderkeeper? Anderton can’t seem to make up her mind, sometimes even providing hybrid versions with Movoc-underkeeper and Movocunder-Keeper.
In one place, she even fails to keep the naming consistent when the city’s name is mentioned twice with only one line in between.
Furthermore, the wording is often imprecise. At times, her sentences are so convoluted that I have no clue what they’re supposed to say and I end up making an educated guess based on context.
Misspelled names–and other slip-ups that should have been caught in editing–are sprinkled all over the book, annoying me more and more.
Still, I kept reading. I’m the kind of reader that needs to know what happens in the end. To the people in the book.
Even there, I was left frustrated, with an ending that felt very much like a cliffhanger–raising more questions than it provides resolutions.
All in all, I don’t think I’ll be reading more of Anderton’s work.
If you’ve read this book and disagree with me, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.
Hugs
Jasmine
So you whip out your wallet and buy the thing. Upon delivery, you discover that the doors won’t open properly. The hinges squeal like a stuck pig at the slightest hint of movement.
No matter how practical it is on the inside, how gorgeous on the outside, the shrieks of the hinges make goosebumps rise on the back of your neck every single time.
Annoying, right?
That’s how I felt after the first chapter of this book.
I read and reviewed the first installment of the series, Debris, as well. Just like this one, it was riddled with grammatical errors and imprecision.
There were times when the flaws were so glaring they completely pulled me out of the story.
However, the story was so magical, it drew me right back in again each and every time.
I noted it in my review, mentioning that–flawed as book one was–I still planned to buy the sequel.
So about a week ago, I did just that and dug in right away. Upon finishing the first three pages, I came to the conclusion that both Anderton and the people responsible for the editing process and proofreading of Suited had done the work the same disservice as its predecessor, Debris.
After reading two novels that play out within one single city, I still have no clue how that city’s name is supposed to be spelled. If the author can’t make up her mind, how are her readers expected to figure it out?
Is it Movoc-under-Keeper or Movocunderkeeper? Anderton can’t seem to make up her mind, sometimes even providing hybrid versions with Movoc-underkeeper and Movocunder-Keeper.
In one place, she even fails to keep the naming consistent when the city’s name is mentioned twice with only one line in between.
Furthermore, the wording is often imprecise. At times, her sentences are so convoluted that I have no clue what they’re supposed to say and I end up making an educated guess based on context.
Misspelled names–and other slip-ups that should have been caught in editing–are sprinkled all over the book, annoying me more and more.
Still, I kept reading. I’m the kind of reader that needs to know what happens in the end. To the people in the book.
Even there, I was left frustrated, with an ending that felt very much like a cliffhanger–raising more questions than it provides resolutions.
All in all, I don’t think I’ll be reading more of Anderton’s work.
If you’ve read this book and disagree with me, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.
Hugs
Jasmine
March 26, 2013
I wasn’t overly fond of
Debris
, Jo Anderton’s first book in this series, and I approached Suited with trepidation. I wasn’t sure Anderton had what it would take to grab me and make me enjoy this book. And as I started reading, and the characters felt flat and uninspiring, I resigned myself to another dull review. Then it got interesting. The characters began changing. The stakes got higher. And by the end of the book, I was furiously flipping electronic pages as I raced to discover what would happen—and suddenly, Anderton had proved me wrong. Well done!
So, Suited starts off in a lacklustre way. Tanyana’s team of debris collectors gets split up by the manipulative puppet men. Tanyana and Lad go to one, newly-formed team, while Lad’s protective brother, Kichlan, stays with some of the others. This split creates an interesting dynamic, with Tanyana and Lad having to look out for each other. For the most part, however, Suited starts off slow. There is too much drama about (and whining from) the Keeper, the mysterious being whom only Lad (and Tanyana, when suited) can interact with. The Keeper is intimately connected with the debris that Tanyana and other collectors are charged with retrieving, but Anderton keeps her cards very close to her chest until the end of the book. As a result, I was frustrated and not particularly interested in liking any of these characters. Yet I soldiered on.
One issue I had with Debris was the paucity of detailed worldbuilding. Anderton tossed around terms like the “veche”, and I gathered that the book was set in a city called Movoc-under-Keeper that is part of a larger country called Varsnia. However, we never get a sense of what kind of city or country these places are. We don’t get a very clear idea of the culture. Although there are hints that Varsnian society is highly stratified (Tanyana, before her accident, occupying that tenuous, upper-middle-class position of the nouveau bourgeoisie), there is very little description of how the ordinary citizens of Movoc-under-Keeper go about their lives. The pages are flat in this sense; they seem a little barren and empty in the background. On the macro level, we get almost no sense of the politics of this country. Suited does little to rectify the deficiencies of culture. However, it does clarify the relationships between the national and local veches and the puppet men. We learn about the origins of the puppet men and why the veche is interested in working with them, and all of this provides more context as Anderton sets up events for the third book.
I was also very frustrated with Tanyana’s lack of agency in Debris. Part of this is a natural response to suddenly being rendered powerless, friendless, and alone—not to mention suffering a major trauma. Nevertheless, the refrain that she was being manipulated and used by the puppet men, which is continued in this book, started to become repetitive and annoying. At least in Suited, though, the ways in which the puppet men are shaping Tanyana—and to what ends—become more clear. Anderton further develops the antagonism between the Keepers and the puppet men, and Tanyana’s role as a kind of pawn caught in the middle, effectively, albeit not necessarily with much skill or detail.
Suited’s weaknesses are quite similar to its predecessor in this respect. Anderton clearly has good ideas, but almost all of my dissatisfaction with these books are a result of her description—or lack thereof. She’s just frightfully vague at times. There are “doors” in the world that lead to a world of nothingness? It’s not exactly lazy writing, because I get the sense that she tries very hard. It just doesn’t quite measure up to my very exacting standards.
Somehow, though, everything pulls together in the final act. Tanyana has made some major discoveries. And finally, finally, she steps up and decides to go full metal jacket on the puppet men. (This is not a metaphor, as her suit is a metal-like substance!) The moment after Tanyana’s new fugitive status forces her hand and forces her to declare that “enough is enough” was a moment I had been waiting for since halfway through Debris, and experiencing it was sweet indeed. In concert with the disturbing transformations wracking Tanyana’s body, this declaration of war on the puppet men is a welcome (if predictable) turn of events.
(I wish Anderton could have done more with Tanyana’s pregnancy, however, because the way she treats it makes it seem more like a plot point than anything else.)
There are almost two climaxes in the book, the first acting as a motivator for the second. In Tanyana’s confrontation with Aleksey—who demonstrates what will become of her if she becomes merely a tool of the puppet men—we lose Lad. He sacrifices himself to save her, and in so doing provides Tanyana with the strength to forge ahead and survive, but at a cost. This leads to her declaration of war and taking the fight to the puppet men, who very nearly kick her ass. The last chapter is an adrenaline rush equivalent to nothing else in the rest of the book, not even the fight with Aleksey. Suddenly, the hints that Anderton has laid throughout the book come into focus—those not-so-subtle references to “programmers” start making sense. Again, the weakness of the description leaves me less-than-fully invested in the direction Anderton has chosen to take this story. I must admit to being intrigued, however!
Anyone who has read Debris and didn’t absolutely hate it should do themselves a favour and read Suited. It is progress, for the story and the writing show promising development. I am now very eager to read book three. There is probably no better compliment than that!
My reviews of the Veiled Worlds series:
← Debris
So, Suited starts off in a lacklustre way. Tanyana’s team of debris collectors gets split up by the manipulative puppet men. Tanyana and Lad go to one, newly-formed team, while Lad’s protective brother, Kichlan, stays with some of the others. This split creates an interesting dynamic, with Tanyana and Lad having to look out for each other. For the most part, however, Suited starts off slow. There is too much drama about (and whining from) the Keeper, the mysterious being whom only Lad (and Tanyana, when suited) can interact with. The Keeper is intimately connected with the debris that Tanyana and other collectors are charged with retrieving, but Anderton keeps her cards very close to her chest until the end of the book. As a result, I was frustrated and not particularly interested in liking any of these characters. Yet I soldiered on.
One issue I had with Debris was the paucity of detailed worldbuilding. Anderton tossed around terms like the “veche”, and I gathered that the book was set in a city called Movoc-under-Keeper that is part of a larger country called Varsnia. However, we never get a sense of what kind of city or country these places are. We don’t get a very clear idea of the culture. Although there are hints that Varsnian society is highly stratified (Tanyana, before her accident, occupying that tenuous, upper-middle-class position of the nouveau bourgeoisie), there is very little description of how the ordinary citizens of Movoc-under-Keeper go about their lives. The pages are flat in this sense; they seem a little barren and empty in the background. On the macro level, we get almost no sense of the politics of this country. Suited does little to rectify the deficiencies of culture. However, it does clarify the relationships between the national and local veches and the puppet men. We learn about the origins of the puppet men and why the veche is interested in working with them, and all of this provides more context as Anderton sets up events for the third book.
I was also very frustrated with Tanyana’s lack of agency in Debris. Part of this is a natural response to suddenly being rendered powerless, friendless, and alone—not to mention suffering a major trauma. Nevertheless, the refrain that she was being manipulated and used by the puppet men, which is continued in this book, started to become repetitive and annoying. At least in Suited, though, the ways in which the puppet men are shaping Tanyana—and to what ends—become more clear. Anderton further develops the antagonism between the Keepers and the puppet men, and Tanyana’s role as a kind of pawn caught in the middle, effectively, albeit not necessarily with much skill or detail.
Suited’s weaknesses are quite similar to its predecessor in this respect. Anderton clearly has good ideas, but almost all of my dissatisfaction with these books are a result of her description—or lack thereof. She’s just frightfully vague at times. There are “doors” in the world that lead to a world of nothingness? It’s not exactly lazy writing, because I get the sense that she tries very hard. It just doesn’t quite measure up to my very exacting standards.
Somehow, though, everything pulls together in the final act. Tanyana has made some major discoveries. And finally, finally, she steps up and decides to go full metal jacket on the puppet men. (This is not a metaphor, as her suit is a metal-like substance!) The moment after Tanyana’s new fugitive status forces her hand and forces her to declare that “enough is enough” was a moment I had been waiting for since halfway through Debris, and experiencing it was sweet indeed. In concert with the disturbing transformations wracking Tanyana’s body, this declaration of war on the puppet men is a welcome (if predictable) turn of events.
(I wish Anderton could have done more with Tanyana’s pregnancy, however, because the way she treats it makes it seem more like a plot point than anything else.)
There are almost two climaxes in the book, the first acting as a motivator for the second. In Tanyana’s confrontation with Aleksey—who demonstrates what will become of her if she becomes merely a tool of the puppet men—we lose Lad. He sacrifices himself to save her, and in so doing provides Tanyana with the strength to forge ahead and survive, but at a cost. This leads to her declaration of war and taking the fight to the puppet men, who very nearly kick her ass. The last chapter is an adrenaline rush equivalent to nothing else in the rest of the book, not even the fight with Aleksey. Suddenly, the hints that Anderton has laid throughout the book come into focus—those not-so-subtle references to “programmers” start making sense. Again, the weakness of the description leaves me less-than-fully invested in the direction Anderton has chosen to take this story. I must admit to being intrigued, however!
Anyone who has read Debris and didn’t absolutely hate it should do themselves a favour and read Suited. It is progress, for the story and the writing show promising development. I am now very eager to read book three. There is probably no better compliment than that!
My reviews of the Veiled Worlds series:
← Debris
July 2, 2012
Having read Jo Anderton's debut novel,
Debris
, last week, I was able to jump in to its sequel, Suited, almost immediately. I had my niggles and my problems with Debris, but at the same time thoroughly enjoyed the novel and I was curious to see whether my problems with Debris would hold up during my reading of Suited. Fortunately, many of my problems with Debris were addressed in Suited. Unfortunately, Suited presented with a set of problems of its own.
One of the problems I had with Debris was the fact that its main character Tanyana at times lacked a feeling of agency. She vacillates between figuring out what had caused her fall and acceptance of a new life as a collector. In Suited, Tan takes far more direct action. Her attitude changed from one of relative helplessness and inactivity, to one where she takes charge and decisive action to figure out what is going on. She not only figures out what is going on, she also sets out to solve it. During this process she learns more about her collector's suit and she learns to control it even further. I liked the fact that Tan took far more action and control of her own life. Working with her Collector team and reconnecting with some of the members of her Binder's circle, Tan figures out how to help the Keeper to save the city of Movoc-under-Keeper. In addition to this larger arc of world saving action, there is the smaller story of Tan's personal life. Even with Devich out of the picture, not everything is sunshine and roses for Tanyana and Kichlan. While there is plenty of angsting by both sides about this relationship in the book, this isn't detrimental to the story, in fact, when it does have a large influence on the plot, it is even beneficial.
Suited is not just marked by Tan's developing romantic relationship with Kichlan, there are also the deepening friendships with her fellow collectors, Lad in particular. In addition, we get several new characters in the form of Fedor and Aleksey, new collectors we meet, and the group of Unbound, of whom we've already met Eugeny, Valya and Yicor in Debris. I really enjoyed learning more about these characters, especially about Tan's collecting team. But my favourite secondary character next to Kichlan has to be Lad. He was my favourite in the previous book, and he remains my favourite in this book. I just loved this wise man stuck in an unwise body and I loved the growth he showed throughout the book.
The other problem I had with Debris was its uneven pacing, largely due to Tanyana's veering between bouts of action regarding the mystery of her fall and her inaction when she sank into the collecting life. Suited is far better paced than its predecessor, probably largely due to the fact that Tanyana takes charge of her life and doesn't keep switching between action and inaction. No, Suited builds up the pacing well, though instead of working up to one final confrontation, Anderton allows the wave of built tension break several times on a big event and then rebuilding the tension back up for the next one. This worked well in terms of releasing some of the tension and not whipping the book into an unsustainable, frenetic pace, but did have me flip forward at one point to check whether these last hundred pages were actually part of Suited or whether they were an extract for book three.
So, while Suited solved my major problems with Debris, as stated above, it has some problems of its own. It is obviously a middle book in a trilogy, in the same way that Debris was definitely the first in a series; after the set up of the first book, this book is meant to move us along to be ready for the grand finale in book three. So some questions are answered, but most remain open and there are even several questions added to the list. To credit Anderton, the fact that we need to discover lots more information – mostly about the nature of debris, the puppet men and the Keeper – and get lots of more questions, doesn't mean this is a slow book, on the contrary, there is plenty of action. All in all, I didn't mind the second-book-syndrome as much as I did my biggest problem with Suited, which was its massive, infodumpy, 'here's the story so far'-start to the book. That really bothered me and it made for rough reading, as I felt it was basically these two puppet men telling each other what had gone before, from a file they'd clearly had both read before. I understand that when books are published a stretch of time apart, it might be helpful to the reader to have a refresher on what had gone before and this analysis of the situation might be an original way to go about it. However, since I'd just read Debris the week before, I didn't need the refresher and so all that stood out for me, was its clunkiness. Once beyond this section though, we move back to Tanyana and I happily sank back into the story.
Was Suited flawless? No, it wasn't, it had a problematic opening and some second-book issues. Does that mean it wasn't an enjoyable read? Not in the least! I enjoyed Suited quite a bit, though some of the events of the book left me chagrined or saddened – really saddened, as in welling eyes saddened – I did come out of the book with a sense of progress from the first book. I found Tanyana's character more balanced and the pacing better, even if the book didn't leave me quite as breathless as Debris did, and there were some answers to questions left open in the first book. I do know that I'll be first in line for book three in The Veiled Worlds series, because I'm invested enough in Tanyana and her friends that I want to know how its ends and get some answers for those questions posed in the first two books. Suited will be published by Angry Robot Books in the UK and international territories on July 5th and is already out in the US.
This book was provided for review by the publisher.
One of the problems I had with Debris was the fact that its main character Tanyana at times lacked a feeling of agency. She vacillates between figuring out what had caused her fall and acceptance of a new life as a collector. In Suited, Tan takes far more direct action. Her attitude changed from one of relative helplessness and inactivity, to one where she takes charge and decisive action to figure out what is going on. She not only figures out what is going on, she also sets out to solve it. During this process she learns more about her collector's suit and she learns to control it even further. I liked the fact that Tan took far more action and control of her own life. Working with her Collector team and reconnecting with some of the members of her Binder's circle, Tan figures out how to help the Keeper to save the city of Movoc-under-Keeper. In addition to this larger arc of world saving action, there is the smaller story of Tan's personal life. Even with Devich out of the picture, not everything is sunshine and roses for Tanyana and Kichlan. While there is plenty of angsting by both sides about this relationship in the book, this isn't detrimental to the story, in fact, when it does have a large influence on the plot, it is even beneficial.
Suited is not just marked by Tan's developing romantic relationship with Kichlan, there are also the deepening friendships with her fellow collectors, Lad in particular. In addition, we get several new characters in the form of Fedor and Aleksey, new collectors we meet, and the group of Unbound, of whom we've already met Eugeny, Valya and Yicor in Debris. I really enjoyed learning more about these characters, especially about Tan's collecting team. But my favourite secondary character next to Kichlan has to be Lad. He was my favourite in the previous book, and he remains my favourite in this book. I just loved this wise man stuck in an unwise body and I loved the growth he showed throughout the book.
The other problem I had with Debris was its uneven pacing, largely due to Tanyana's veering between bouts of action regarding the mystery of her fall and her inaction when she sank into the collecting life. Suited is far better paced than its predecessor, probably largely due to the fact that Tanyana takes charge of her life and doesn't keep switching between action and inaction. No, Suited builds up the pacing well, though instead of working up to one final confrontation, Anderton allows the wave of built tension break several times on a big event and then rebuilding the tension back up for the next one. This worked well in terms of releasing some of the tension and not whipping the book into an unsustainable, frenetic pace, but did have me flip forward at one point to check whether these last hundred pages were actually part of Suited or whether they were an extract for book three.
So, while Suited solved my major problems with Debris, as stated above, it has some problems of its own. It is obviously a middle book in a trilogy, in the same way that Debris was definitely the first in a series; after the set up of the first book, this book is meant to move us along to be ready for the grand finale in book three. So some questions are answered, but most remain open and there are even several questions added to the list. To credit Anderton, the fact that we need to discover lots more information – mostly about the nature of debris, the puppet men and the Keeper – and get lots of more questions, doesn't mean this is a slow book, on the contrary, there is plenty of action. All in all, I didn't mind the second-book-syndrome as much as I did my biggest problem with Suited, which was its massive, infodumpy, 'here's the story so far'-start to the book. That really bothered me and it made for rough reading, as I felt it was basically these two puppet men telling each other what had gone before, from a file they'd clearly had both read before. I understand that when books are published a stretch of time apart, it might be helpful to the reader to have a refresher on what had gone before and this analysis of the situation might be an original way to go about it. However, since I'd just read Debris the week before, I didn't need the refresher and so all that stood out for me, was its clunkiness. Once beyond this section though, we move back to Tanyana and I happily sank back into the story.
Was Suited flawless? No, it wasn't, it had a problematic opening and some second-book issues. Does that mean it wasn't an enjoyable read? Not in the least! I enjoyed Suited quite a bit, though some of the events of the book left me chagrined or saddened – really saddened, as in welling eyes saddened – I did come out of the book with a sense of progress from the first book. I found Tanyana's character more balanced and the pacing better, even if the book didn't leave me quite as breathless as Debris did, and there were some answers to questions left open in the first book. I do know that I'll be first in line for book three in The Veiled Worlds series, because I'm invested enough in Tanyana and her friends that I want to know how its ends and get some answers for those questions posed in the first two books. Suited will be published by Angry Robot Books in the UK and international territories on July 5th and is already out in the US.
This book was provided for review by the publisher.
June 26, 2012
Suited was a surprising read. The first part was as expected a more or less direct continuation from Debris. After the somewhat disastrous events at the end of Debris, life in the city of Movoc-under-Keeper goes on. Mostly. Tanyana returns to debris collecting with her team and the other citizens of the city go about their usual jobs, albeit with a lot more repair work.
However, the world is not going back to how it was. Pion binders trying to repair damage are finding that they can’t, or that their repairs are short-lived. The debris collectors just can’t find much debris anywhere, even though the damaged pions suggest it should be everywhere. And the sinister puppet men still seem to be everywhere when Tanyana looks closely. In short, doom is looming.
In Debris, Tayana spent a lot more time worrying about her own life than she did in Suited (and Suited is much more about fixing/saving the world than Debris was). It made her a more likeable character, although there were parts where I don’t think she was supposed to be sympathetic, shifting more towards scary.
The romantic plotline, while no more prominent than in the first book, is handled better, I thought. I didn’t quite find the genesis of the relationship in Debris believable, but that was definitely not the case in Suited. I also like how Tanyana spent more time worrying about saving the world and less time worrying about her relationship issues (some of her friends spent more time worrying about her relationship issues than she did).
The ending was strange. The climax went as one would expect but the denouement did not. Of course going into detail would be spoilerific, but suffice to say there’s definitely room for a sequel series.
This is not a book to read without having first read Debris. I don’t think it would make all that much since since a lot of the foundation world building is done in the first book (as you would expect) and is critical to the plot. That said, this is an excellent series and I highly recommend both books to lovers of fantasy.
4.5 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews here.
However, the world is not going back to how it was. Pion binders trying to repair damage are finding that they can’t, or that their repairs are short-lived. The debris collectors just can’t find much debris anywhere, even though the damaged pions suggest it should be everywhere. And the sinister puppet men still seem to be everywhere when Tanyana looks closely. In short, doom is looming.
In Debris, Tayana spent a lot more time worrying about her own life than she did in Suited (and Suited is much more about fixing/saving the world than Debris was). It made her a more likeable character, although there were parts where I don’t think she was supposed to be sympathetic, shifting more towards scary.
The romantic plotline, while no more prominent than in the first book, is handled better, I thought. I didn’t quite find the genesis of the relationship in Debris believable, but that was definitely not the case in Suited. I also like how Tanyana spent more time worrying about saving the world and less time worrying about her relationship issues (some of her friends spent more time worrying about her relationship issues than she did).
The ending was strange. The climax went as one would expect but the denouement did not. Of course going into detail would be spoilerific, but suffice to say there’s definitely room for a sequel series.
This is not a book to read without having first read Debris. I don’t think it would make all that much since since a lot of the foundation world building is done in the first book (as you would expect) and is critical to the plot. That said, this is an excellent series and I highly recommend both books to lovers of fantasy.
4.5 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews here.
January 3, 2017
I began to read this immediately after finishing "Debris" which I enjoyed immensely. Suited did not disappoint. Tanyana has discovered she has been manipulated by the puppet men and is fighting their influence. As a result, her whole world is in danger.
A great read and I finished it in quick time. Now onto the third and final chapter, "Guardian".
A great read and I finished it in quick time. Now onto the third and final chapter, "Guardian".
July 24, 2012
This is the second in the Veiled Worlds trilogy – the first was Debris. I loved Debris and this was an excellent second installment. The world and mythology was developed in much greater depth and I can’t wait for the third book in the series now to see how it all wraps up.
April 27, 2020
The story started in Debris continues with Suited, the second book in Jo Anderton’s Veiled Worlds trilogy. Tanyana returns to pry the lids off the mysteries surrounding debris , the Keeper, and the Puppet Man who are now doing more than watching and waiting.
This book picks up nicely where the previous one left off, with a fairly seamless transition from one book to the next. I confess to a little bit of confusion regarding some characters (“What, who was that again?”) but I suspect that’s mostly because it’s been a while since I read the first book. As I fell into the story, things came quickly back to me, and it was easy to lose myself in the anime-inspired future world that Anderton created.
I can safely say that if you enjoyed Debris, you’ll probably enjoy Suited, and if if Debris simply wasn’t to your taste, then avoid this one. Anderton’s style is revealing itself very clearly as being beautifully descriptive, with a good balance between dialogue and action, but damn, is the foreshadowing ever lousy! Remembering that Devich’s betrayal in the previous book came as absolutely no surprise, there was a similar character in this book, where I was just waiting impatiently for the big reveal that wouldn’t reveal a thing to anyone who’s actually been paying attention. Every so often I’d get my hopes up, thinking that maybe Anderton was going to play things out as though you’re supposed to think this character is a traitor but is really innocent, but nope, no such luck. This is Anderton’s main failing as a writer, I think. No ability to cast good foreshadowing. And what might be somewhat subtle in a series of half-hour animated episodes is really not subtle in a novel.
On the plus side, a great deal of information is given and expanded upon regarding the nature of debris, Halves, the Keeper, and just who and what the Puppet Men actually are. For all that Anderton can’t do subtlety in her writing, she has a great talent for world-building, throwing in layers of intrigue and depth that really keep you reading. The world in these books has a fascinating structure, history, and set of societies that are really entertaining to read about. That’s what keeps me coming back, I think. Wanting to see the layers peeled back and more of the world unveiled.
I will be reading the conclusion of this trilogy when it’s released. Its strength of storytelling didn’t quite compensate for the foreshadowing issue, but it can come awfully close sometimes, and I want to know what happens next!
(Book received in exchange for an honest review.)
This book picks up nicely where the previous one left off, with a fairly seamless transition from one book to the next. I confess to a little bit of confusion regarding some characters (“What, who was that again?”) but I suspect that’s mostly because it’s been a while since I read the first book. As I fell into the story, things came quickly back to me, and it was easy to lose myself in the anime-inspired future world that Anderton created.
I can safely say that if you enjoyed Debris, you’ll probably enjoy Suited, and if if Debris simply wasn’t to your taste, then avoid this one. Anderton’s style is revealing itself very clearly as being beautifully descriptive, with a good balance between dialogue and action, but damn, is the foreshadowing ever lousy! Remembering that Devich’s betrayal in the previous book came as absolutely no surprise, there was a similar character in this book, where I was just waiting impatiently for the big reveal that wouldn’t reveal a thing to anyone who’s actually been paying attention. Every so often I’d get my hopes up, thinking that maybe Anderton was going to play things out as though you’re supposed to think this character is a traitor but is really innocent, but nope, no such luck. This is Anderton’s main failing as a writer, I think. No ability to cast good foreshadowing. And what might be somewhat subtle in a series of half-hour animated episodes is really not subtle in a novel.
On the plus side, a great deal of information is given and expanded upon regarding the nature of debris, Halves, the Keeper, and just who and what the Puppet Men actually are. For all that Anderton can’t do subtlety in her writing, she has a great talent for world-building, throwing in layers of intrigue and depth that really keep you reading. The world in these books has a fascinating structure, history, and set of societies that are really entertaining to read about. That’s what keeps me coming back, I think. Wanting to see the layers peeled back and more of the world unveiled.
I will be reading the conclusion of this trilogy when it’s released. Its strength of storytelling didn’t quite compensate for the foreshadowing issue, but it can come awfully close sometimes, and I want to know what happens next!
(Book received in exchange for an honest review.)
September 10, 2018
It's very different from most reads but I enjoyed it
August 4, 2013
This review forms part of my contribution to the Australian Women Writers 2013 Reading Challenge. All my 2013 AWWC reviews can be found here.
Suited by Jo Anderton is the second in the Veiled World series of books (see my previous review of the first book in the series, Debris, here).
Suited follows the continuing adventures of Tanyana, former elite manipulator of pions, now reduced to cleaning the magical debris left over from their use. Having taken the side of the Keeper (the mostly invisible manager of debris) against the mysterious Puppet Men, Tanyana finds herself the uneasy ally of the rebellion element in the city of Movoc-Under-Keeper as well as fighting an internal battle against her own debris collection suit.
Once again Tanyana is a very conflicted character - constantly questioning herself. At first I was concerned that she was going to spend a lot of time moping about, but as the psychological influence of her suit becomes clearer, the conflict behind the self-reflection becomes more evident and is more satisfying as a result.
In fact, the suit takes on enough personality to be considered a character in its own right in this book. I liked the balance between the power the suit provided Tanyana, and the cost of accessing that power. It made Tanyana more engaging.
The secondary characters are still fairly lightly drawn, but I did feel that some of the characters closest to Tanyana were filled in more solidly in this second book, in particular the character of Lad.
As is often the case with sequels, we learn a lot more about the world and what is going on with the supernatural, traumatised Keeper and the nasty Puppet Men. This is the part of the story that hooked me most - trying to puzzle out the mystery of exactly how this world is constructed. Tantalising hints are sprinkled through the story, including references to "programmers" (unusual in what is on the face of it a secondary world fantasy!). This central mystery, more than anything else, is what will bring me back for the third book in the series (which, as far as I can tell, isn't released yet).
In Debris I occasionally found that the pace dragged, but didn't have that sensation with Suited. Some excellent action scenes are interspersed with the more character driven scenes (in fact the scenes where Tanyana cuts loose are quite something to be seen).
All in all I enjoyed Suited immensely. Looking forward to the next volume!
Recommended.
I also reviewed this book on my website.
Suited by Jo Anderton is the second in the Veiled World series of books (see my previous review of the first book in the series, Debris, here).
Suited follows the continuing adventures of Tanyana, former elite manipulator of pions, now reduced to cleaning the magical debris left over from their use. Having taken the side of the Keeper (the mostly invisible manager of debris) against the mysterious Puppet Men, Tanyana finds herself the uneasy ally of the rebellion element in the city of Movoc-Under-Keeper as well as fighting an internal battle against her own debris collection suit.
Once again Tanyana is a very conflicted character - constantly questioning herself. At first I was concerned that she was going to spend a lot of time moping about, but as the psychological influence of her suit becomes clearer, the conflict behind the self-reflection becomes more evident and is more satisfying as a result.
In fact, the suit takes on enough personality to be considered a character in its own right in this book. I liked the balance between the power the suit provided Tanyana, and the cost of accessing that power. It made Tanyana more engaging.
The secondary characters are still fairly lightly drawn, but I did feel that some of the characters closest to Tanyana were filled in more solidly in this second book, in particular the character of Lad.
As is often the case with sequels, we learn a lot more about the world and what is going on with the supernatural, traumatised Keeper and the nasty Puppet Men. This is the part of the story that hooked me most - trying to puzzle out the mystery of exactly how this world is constructed. Tantalising hints are sprinkled through the story, including references to "programmers" (unusual in what is on the face of it a secondary world fantasy!). This central mystery, more than anything else, is what will bring me back for the third book in the series (which, as far as I can tell, isn't released yet).
In Debris I occasionally found that the pace dragged, but didn't have that sensation with Suited. Some excellent action scenes are interspersed with the more character driven scenes (in fact the scenes where Tanyana cuts loose are quite something to be seen).
All in all I enjoyed Suited immensely. Looking forward to the next volume!
Recommended.
I also reviewed this book on my website.
November 25, 2016
Disturbing romantic relationship
What bothered me deeply in book one is even more evident in book two: the love interest is emotionally manipulative and borderline abusive. He follows many of the patterns of emotionally abusive partners, alternatingly tender and caring, and then accusatory and full of blame. Kichlan starts out and never ceases to blame Tan for everything wrong, almost all of it unrelated to her and definitely beyond her control, yet he heaps abuse and guilt on her, separating her from the team and friends and posing himself as the "only" person she can trust, even as he calls her names and is cruel to her. From book one, tan is apologising and guilt ridden for things she could not have known about, could not have stopped, and it made me deeply uncomfortable. I went on to book 2, hoping from one scene where she finally pushes back and defends herself against his impossible, irrational, emotional outbursts, finally saying it isn't her fault, but this doesn't happen again for the rest of the book, nor in book 2. Others try to stand up for her against him, repeatedly defending her against his harsh blame, yet he never realizes how cruel abd irrational he is behaving, as Tan drowns in senseless guilt and pain and blames herself, clinging to him for the affection he occasionally deigns to show her. And then she does do something terrible, something that is sort of her fault, and her ability to defend herself disintegrates entirely, and he exploits this vulnerability rather than help or protect her. Later, she goes on to do even worse things, fully responsible, and entangles herself even deeper in this relationship that offers no safety, trust, or partnership, just occasional companionship and affection. I had some hope this series might turn out to have been a subtle, rather masterful commentary on abusive relationships, and how he preyed on her vulnerability during a time of loss. His treatment of her is textbook abuse. But no, it appears this series will just write off his thoughtless, selfish violence as "manliness". I almost stopped reading because I grew to hate every scene he was in with such passion, but I made it through because the mystery of the story intrigued me. But Tan's constant apologies for things other people did to her are too much, and I have no faith book 3 will be any different. I am disappointed in this book and its degrading, damaging misogyny, the sort of thing I was actively trying to avoid by choosing a female author. It's hard to find scifi/fantasy books with women that don't follow the easy gender tropes, and despite the outward appearance of a "strong female character", this is just more of the same.
What bothered me deeply in book one is even more evident in book two: the love interest is emotionally manipulative and borderline abusive. He follows many of the patterns of emotionally abusive partners, alternatingly tender and caring, and then accusatory and full of blame. Kichlan starts out and never ceases to blame Tan for everything wrong, almost all of it unrelated to her and definitely beyond her control, yet he heaps abuse and guilt on her, separating her from the team and friends and posing himself as the "only" person she can trust, even as he calls her names and is cruel to her. From book one, tan is apologising and guilt ridden for things she could not have known about, could not have stopped, and it made me deeply uncomfortable. I went on to book 2, hoping from one scene where she finally pushes back and defends herself against his impossible, irrational, emotional outbursts, finally saying it isn't her fault, but this doesn't happen again for the rest of the book, nor in book 2. Others try to stand up for her against him, repeatedly defending her against his harsh blame, yet he never realizes how cruel abd irrational he is behaving, as Tan drowns in senseless guilt and pain and blames herself, clinging to him for the affection he occasionally deigns to show her. And then she does do something terrible, something that is sort of her fault, and her ability to defend herself disintegrates entirely, and he exploits this vulnerability rather than help or protect her. Later, she goes on to do even worse things, fully responsible, and entangles herself even deeper in this relationship that offers no safety, trust, or partnership, just occasional companionship and affection. I had some hope this series might turn out to have been a subtle, rather masterful commentary on abusive relationships, and how he preyed on her vulnerability during a time of loss. His treatment of her is textbook abuse. But no, it appears this series will just write off his thoughtless, selfish violence as "manliness". I almost stopped reading because I grew to hate every scene he was in with such passion, but I made it through because the mystery of the story intrigued me. But Tan's constant apologies for things other people did to her are too much, and I have no faith book 3 will be any different. I am disappointed in this book and its degrading, damaging misogyny, the sort of thing I was actively trying to avoid by choosing a female author. It's hard to find scifi/fantasy books with women that don't follow the easy gender tropes, and despite the outward appearance of a "strong female character", this is just more of the same.
January 13, 2014
This and more reviews, interviews etc are on Dark Matter Zine, an online magazine. http://www.darkmatterzine.com. This review was written by Nalini Haynes for Dark Matter Zine.
Suited is the second in The Veiled Worlds, a science fiction trilogy by Anderton. In the first book, Debris, Tanyana worked as an architect manipulating pions – think magic-like clusters of molecules for simplicity’s sake – before she fell from a great height into a plate of glass. After her accident, Tanyana could no longer see pions, instead seeing only debris, the dangerous side-effect of pion manipulation.
Relegated to a debris collection team, Tanyana lost her position and wealth overnight, becoming accustomed to a whole new way of life. Because she was to be a debris collector, she was physically enmeshed with a ‘suit’ that springs from her body to protect her, collect debris and to become a weapon. (For more on the background to this story, read my review of Debris, the first Veiled Worlds novel.) Throughout Suited Tanyana develops a relationship with her suit, which seems to be sentient.
The ‘elders of the tribe’ who can see debris reveal more of an underground culture, including ruins hidden literally underground. While no explanation is given for not reaching out to each debris collector as they were discovered prior to Tanyana’s conversion, the existence of an underground culture gives more depth and realism to this society.
The stakes are raised in Suited, which is Act Two of the story: the world is at risk, the enemy revealed although whether the enemy has a deeper plan or is merely insane is yet to be determined.
Suited overlaps magic and science in an alien world populated with humans or human-like people. It’s an enjoyable read in the Young Adult genre: YA because of its coming-of-age dystopian tropes with a central character who is the key to bringing different groups together and has special powers to (probably) save the day in the final installment of the story. (That’s a wild guess but Anderton doesn’t strike me as being in the George R.R. Martin school of writing.) Suited was nominated for Best Science Fiction Novel for Australia’s premiere judged science fiction awards, the Aurealis Awards. The Veiled Worlds trilogy is recommended for those who enjoy SF, YA and other like-minded acronyms.
Suited is the second in The Veiled Worlds, a science fiction trilogy by Anderton. In the first book, Debris, Tanyana worked as an architect manipulating pions – think magic-like clusters of molecules for simplicity’s sake – before she fell from a great height into a plate of glass. After her accident, Tanyana could no longer see pions, instead seeing only debris, the dangerous side-effect of pion manipulation.
Relegated to a debris collection team, Tanyana lost her position and wealth overnight, becoming accustomed to a whole new way of life. Because she was to be a debris collector, she was physically enmeshed with a ‘suit’ that springs from her body to protect her, collect debris and to become a weapon. (For more on the background to this story, read my review of Debris, the first Veiled Worlds novel.) Throughout Suited Tanyana develops a relationship with her suit, which seems to be sentient.
The ‘elders of the tribe’ who can see debris reveal more of an underground culture, including ruins hidden literally underground. While no explanation is given for not reaching out to each debris collector as they were discovered prior to Tanyana’s conversion, the existence of an underground culture gives more depth and realism to this society.
The stakes are raised in Suited, which is Act Two of the story: the world is at risk, the enemy revealed although whether the enemy has a deeper plan or is merely insane is yet to be determined.
Suited overlaps magic and science in an alien world populated with humans or human-like people. It’s an enjoyable read in the Young Adult genre: YA because of its coming-of-age dystopian tropes with a central character who is the key to bringing different groups together and has special powers to (probably) save the day in the final installment of the story. (That’s a wild guess but Anderton doesn’t strike me as being in the George R.R. Martin school of writing.) Suited was nominated for Best Science Fiction Novel for Australia’s premiere judged science fiction awards, the Aurealis Awards. The Veiled Worlds trilogy is recommended for those who enjoy SF, YA and other like-minded acronyms.
October 21, 2014
It’s always disappointing for me when an interesting world is populated by unlikeable characters.
This book continues the story of Tanyana the fallen architect and her quest to figure out how things in her world really work. The Keeper, the amorphous being supposedly holding the world together and made up of the supposed waste that “Tan” and her team collect, is pressuring her to do more and more along with Lad, the “half” who can hear the Keeper. Her searching brings her into contact with an underground movement of followers of the Keeper. They don’t know even as much as Lad and Tan do, but they want her help in combating the Veche forces that have marginalized them.
Anderton expands the mythos of the world quite a bit and fills in some holes that were leftover from the previous book. It does manage to push the conflict into more of an epic struggle by the end, and explains some of the hints that were dropped. The design seems to be in the vein of “things are not what they seem”, though it looks like the third book is the one where all the revelations on that score are going to come from.
Unfortunately the people in the world are a lot more bland and one dimensional. Some of the characters seemed to have actually regressed and behave in very linear, predictable fashions. Lad goes through some interesting transformations, but his brother becomes possessive, whiny, and irrational really fast. Tanyana herself is bitter and uncertain about everything except for one brief stint of extreme self-confidence, but she spends most of the book either apologizing or shouting at people. Some of the secondary characters are more interesting, but many of them are annoying stereotypes.
The world is good, the people in it just annoyed me to the point where I don’t really care about them. I had the same problem with Song of Ice and Fire; the world is amazing and interesting, but I don’t actually like anyone in it. Unfortunately this series has reached that point for me, though it did it a lot faster than G.R.R.
This book continues the story of Tanyana the fallen architect and her quest to figure out how things in her world really work. The Keeper, the amorphous being supposedly holding the world together and made up of the supposed waste that “Tan” and her team collect, is pressuring her to do more and more along with Lad, the “half” who can hear the Keeper. Her searching brings her into contact with an underground movement of followers of the Keeper. They don’t know even as much as Lad and Tan do, but they want her help in combating the Veche forces that have marginalized them.
Anderton expands the mythos of the world quite a bit and fills in some holes that were leftover from the previous book. It does manage to push the conflict into more of an epic struggle by the end, and explains some of the hints that were dropped. The design seems to be in the vein of “things are not what they seem”, though it looks like the third book is the one where all the revelations on that score are going to come from.
Unfortunately the people in the world are a lot more bland and one dimensional. Some of the characters seemed to have actually regressed and behave in very linear, predictable fashions. Lad goes through some interesting transformations, but his brother becomes possessive, whiny, and irrational really fast. Tanyana herself is bitter and uncertain about everything except for one brief stint of extreme self-confidence, but she spends most of the book either apologizing or shouting at people. Some of the secondary characters are more interesting, but many of them are annoying stereotypes.
The world is good, the people in it just annoyed me to the point where I don’t really care about them. I had the same problem with Song of Ice and Fire; the world is amazing and interesting, but I don’t actually like anyone in it. Unfortunately this series has reached that point for me, though it did it a lot faster than G.R.R.
July 11, 2012
I finished Suited last night - an excellent follow-up to Debris, although, for me, not quite as satisfying a read (I am in love with Debris, so it would have been hard to equal it!). I'm struggling to put my finger on it exactly what didn't grip me so fully but I think it might be that I was having trouble visualising the world, which is so richly different from ours. I think the books need to be made into a film to help my poor, simple brain understand what it is reading!
Hats off to Anderton, though, the fascinating world of Movoc Under Keeper continues to draw me in - Anderton has managed to do successfully what so few achieve - she uses the world she has built as a tool to drive the plot forward - there is never a detail wasted. The steampunk touches were fairly deft (I usually find steampunk altogether too obvious, but here it was well handled), as were the opening up of possibilities that the Veche, the Keeper and the Puppet Men aren't actually in charge of anything much at all.
Anderton has also done a good job of managing multiple secondary characters - even drawing life into the Keeper and the many 'Puppet Men'.
There was a lot going on in Suited - I'm not sure I understood it all - but I will wait (maybe not so patiently) for the third instalment, which will hopefully make sense of it all for me. If that fails, we'll have to turn the stories into a screenplay and get the film made!
Hats off to Anderton, though, the fascinating world of Movoc Under Keeper continues to draw me in - Anderton has managed to do successfully what so few achieve - she uses the world she has built as a tool to drive the plot forward - there is never a detail wasted. The steampunk touches were fairly deft (I usually find steampunk altogether too obvious, but here it was well handled), as were the opening up of possibilities that the Veche, the Keeper and the Puppet Men aren't actually in charge of anything much at all.
Anderton has also done a good job of managing multiple secondary characters - even drawing life into the Keeper and the many 'Puppet Men'.
There was a lot going on in Suited - I'm not sure I understood it all - but I will wait (maybe not so patiently) for the third instalment, which will hopefully make sense of it all for me. If that fails, we'll have to turn the stories into a screenplay and get the film made!
January 2, 2014
Read as part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013:
I liked this book and thought it was a great continuation from the first book 'Debris'. Tanyana continues to be the kind of protagonist that you sometimes love and sometimes dislike, but I found that in this book her growth as a character continued to be satisfying, particularly since she's much more engaged in doing something and less focused on the unfairness of her situation. I particularly like the way her relationship with the Lad develops in this book. The book is definitely a 'second book' and has some of the clumsy elements I associate with these stories, but the story is intricate and I'm definitely invested in continuing to read. I'm still trying to piece together my impression of what the world looks like, and what the stakes of the story are - the saving of the world, and how it's threatened - I'm very much hoping that my confusion over some of this from the first and second books is resolved in the third. Regardless, this book continues to tell a very unique story that is quite unlike any other science fiction or fantasy I've read before and I think that this is the quality I appreciate most about it.
I liked this book and thought it was a great continuation from the first book 'Debris'. Tanyana continues to be the kind of protagonist that you sometimes love and sometimes dislike, but I found that in this book her growth as a character continued to be satisfying, particularly since she's much more engaged in doing something and less focused on the unfairness of her situation. I particularly like the way her relationship with the Lad develops in this book. The book is definitely a 'second book' and has some of the clumsy elements I associate with these stories, but the story is intricate and I'm definitely invested in continuing to read. I'm still trying to piece together my impression of what the world looks like, and what the stakes of the story are - the saving of the world, and how it's threatened - I'm very much hoping that my confusion over some of this from the first and second books is resolved in the third. Regardless, this book continues to tell a very unique story that is quite unlike any other science fiction or fantasy I've read before and I think that this is the quality I appreciate most about it.
May 25, 2013
Although it took me a little while to remember who everyone was and their relationships to one another, given how long it's been since I read the first book, I still found it easier to get into this book than the first in the series. Not because I could slip back into a world I already knew, but because the first book began with an origin story, which while necessary for worldbuilding for me felt very divorced from what came after.
I like the story best when it's in the meat of it, and when Tanyana is at her most relatable, which it lost a little bit again towards the end of the book. I understand the necessity, plotwise, but it still drove a wedge between me and the protagonist. There are a lot of moments where I think it could be made clearer what's going on--I love mystery and ambiguity, but this felt too murky and deliberately obtuse in places--but despite that I enjoyed this book a lot, and the overall arc of the story even more.
I like the story best when it's in the meat of it, and when Tanyana is at her most relatable, which it lost a little bit again towards the end of the book. I understand the necessity, plotwise, but it still drove a wedge between me and the protagonist. There are a lot of moments where I think it could be made clearer what's going on--I love mystery and ambiguity, but this felt too murky and deliberately obtuse in places--but despite that I enjoyed this book a lot, and the overall arc of the story even more.
March 31, 2017
Anderton writes a refreshing new Sci-Fi story with Debris and Suited. If you enjoy new worlds and new concepts, then you are sure to enjoy these stories. A world filled not just with dark versus light, but rather particles of the ever larger universe, all connected yet all individual. I reccommend reading this series to any true Sci-Fi and even Fantasy fan. You will be captivated by the characters, the world and its unique science magic. I gave Suited only four stars simply because I feel that at time Anderton tends to linger on aspects of description longer than necessary. I enjoy reading a well described environment and characters, but over-painting can bring boredom, and at times I found myself putting the book down for a while in frustration of not moving forward.
July 9, 2016
And again a highly engrossing book. I very much like this world. It may be classified as SF, but it feels very fantasy-like to me. Every now and then I had some annoyances (the keeper being a bit whiny, as understandable as that may be. A few scenes that felt repetitive of what happened in book 1). Overall though, enough was happening and enough veils were lifted that I raced through this book. The characters are mostly not all-in-all lovable (the only exception being Lad), sometimes you want to kick some of them, but they feel real in all their stubbornness. And they are sympathetic. Events at the end make me really curious to see how this will continue, so I'm going to check out book 3 now...
March 9, 2014
In this second book of The Veiled Worlds trilogy, Tanyana Vladha returns to unveil the mystery surrounding debris, fight the Puppet Men and help the Keeper who we finally get some major insight into. The Puppet Men are no longer satisfied with just watching and actively interfere with Tanyana and her collection team by separating them into two teams with some new collectors. Even Devich returns in more ways than one. This one took a little while to get into (or get back into as it's been years since I read the first one) but once I got my head in the game, the story took off and I was glued to the pages. The ending was amazing and I can't wait to get my hands on the conclusion.
March 20, 2013
Without the allure of pions and debris this novel falls flat. I enjoyed the first book so much because I enjoyed learning about the world. There is very little world building in this novel and the plot never grabbed me. I still don't see the personalities of any of the characters, I don't care about their relationships with each other, and I had no reason to continue. Knowing who or what the puppet men were was a little tidbit I was curious about but not enough to trudge through the boring sections of this. Stronger characters and a more interesting plot with a good amount of twists and turns would have made this readable.
May 26, 2013
c2012: FWFTB: Puppet, Keeper, debris, collector, determination. Praise the Lord - there was 'An Analysis of Past Events". After finishing this book - I am still no closer to really understanding the whole concept! But, the plot and characters are still good and I am glad that I read this one. It tends to be rather gloomy though and I found this one quite sad in many ways. I always feel that there has to be some light in the darkness - but I didn't find it in this particular novel. Typo on P204. FCN: Tanyana Vladha, Kichlan, Lad, Aleksey, Sofia. "The scent of burned, cheap coffee turned my stomach even more than the regard of a dozen or so old men."
July 12, 2012
Suited is Book #2 in The Veiled World Trilogy by Jo Anderton. We reviewed Book #1, Debris, which I loved. Check near the bottom for the link to that review. If you’re into scifi, potential distant futures, and/or technology then Books 1 & 2 of this trilogy might make a great summer read for you. Even though Suited contains a brief recap at the beginning, I recommend reading Debris before reading Suited. This is one case in which I believe the stories are too interdependent and complex for Suited to stand alone. Read the rest of my review at http://popcornreads.com/?p=4234.
August 18, 2012
My impression half way was not changed at the end of the story - this book tackled everything but in a typical way, no new or awe inspiring ways of looking at things. It was a little confusing (at the best of times) but further explaination would have dried it out too much. I'm not sure if perhaps the concept was too complex and would better be saved for a future book in the series or if perhaps there was just too much trying to happen between the covers.
July 9, 2012
I loved Debris with its upbeat ending and message of overcoming and adapting. I love Suited, but (can't help it- the original Star Wars trilogy keeps skipping through my brain) it does follow the pattern of much darker second book. And my head is still spinning from plot twists I never expected. I can't wait til book 3 comes out.
September 10, 2012
I continue to enjoy this series, but felt that this novel didn't move the plot forward as much as I would have hoped (one late scene reminded me of the Architect scene in Matrix 2, but with less clarity). I enjoy the world building and the relationships between the characters. I hope the book does well enough that a 3rd and final book is released.
January 2, 2013
Very much enjoyed coming back to this Universe. The second book in this series has more SF overtones than fantasy, and steampunk elements, but is also actioin-packed, with surprising twists and turns in the plot. I'm already looking forward to reading the next book in this wonderful series - clearly the author is weaving a much bigger tapestry.
July 1, 2014
I had a tougher time getting through Suited than Debris. I wasn't terribly interested in Tanyana's inner struggle or its outward manifestation through her suit, but as the book drew to a close I became more intrigued. Jo Anderton finally begins hinting as to what the Veiled Worlds are and I look forward to the next book.
November 30, 2014
Not sure a lot of people have heard of Jo Anderton but after reading the first two books of this series i think she will become a household name in Sci-Fi circles.This book had a well thought out plot,lots of action,and a cast of characters you love to root for and some you root against.Miss Anderton is a fresh voice in Sci-Fi and im enjoying her vision of The Veiled Worlds.
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December 4, 2015Katharine is a judge for the Sara Douglass 'Book Series' Award. This entry is the personal opinion of Katharine herself, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.
I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
July 8, 2012
Another very good book in this series, leaving me anxious for the next release. Great development of the lead character and the world. This answered many of the questions I had from Debris, but also created new questions to think about...I really dig that.
May 16, 2012
I received an ARC of Suited from the Robot Army. It is due out in July so I will post more then. This is a series that keeps getting better.
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