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Arcane Renaissance #1
Path of Ruin: Arcane Renaissance Book One
When machines run on human souls, cruelty is king.
Mia has spent her life seeking freedom from oppression, discrimination and human greed. She's never questioned where the power of her weapons comes from or where her orders lead her. That's about to change.
Blacksmith Henri fled with his five year old son Adem to the frontier, desperate to hide his boy. As an outsider and the son of a former slave, Henri has worked hard to win over their village. Unfortunately this has given him little time to monitor his son whose powers are growing.
When the armies of Baron Halett and the Holy Ganex Empire clash, Henri's son becomes infected by nineteen twisted souls. Mia and Henri must set off to cure the boy's affliction before it eats him alive from the inside.
Set during an age of exploitation and plunder where ancient magic has been harnessed to power renaissance era technology, Path of Ruin is a race against time. Swords & sorcery, witches & wizards, gunpowder, cannons, and great granite golems known as goliaths, await the reader in this grand series.
Mia has spent her life seeking freedom from oppression, discrimination and human greed. She's never questioned where the power of her weapons comes from or where her orders lead her. That's about to change.
Blacksmith Henri fled with his five year old son Adem to the frontier, desperate to hide his boy. As an outsider and the son of a former slave, Henri has worked hard to win over their village. Unfortunately this has given him little time to monitor his son whose powers are growing.
When the armies of Baron Halett and the Holy Ganex Empire clash, Henri's son becomes infected by nineteen twisted souls. Mia and Henri must set off to cure the boy's affliction before it eats him alive from the inside.
Set during an age of exploitation and plunder where ancient magic has been harnessed to power renaissance era technology, Path of Ruin is a race against time. Swords & sorcery, witches & wizards, gunpowder, cannons, and great granite golems known as goliaths, await the reader in this grand series.
- GenresFantasy
426 pages, Paperback
First published December 5, 2019
140 people are currently reading
186 people want to read
About the author
Tim Paulson
16 books12 followersI am Tim Paulson, writer of fantasy and science fiction.
I'm currently writing the Bone knight litRPG series. It's fun to revisit the game worlds I enjoyed when I was young. I grew up with Final Fantasy, Mechwarrior, Dragon warrior (known to many as Dungeon Quest), and X-COM. These games, along with a whole lot of movies and books, have informed what I think is cool: Impossible odds and grave decisions with monumental stakes.
Bone knight book nine, the finale for the series, is currently underway. After that is complete, I have a new litRPG series already planned that should come out in time for Christmas 2022.
Also: Audiobooks are on the way and a Boneknight RPG game is currently in development.
If you've enjoyed my books, please leave a review.
Thank you!
-Tim
I'm currently writing the Bone knight litRPG series. It's fun to revisit the game worlds I enjoyed when I was young. I grew up with Final Fantasy, Mechwarrior, Dragon warrior (known to many as Dungeon Quest), and X-COM. These games, along with a whole lot of movies and books, have informed what I think is cool: Impossible odds and grave decisions with monumental stakes.
Bone knight book nine, the finale for the series, is currently underway. After that is complete, I have a new litRPG series already planned that should come out in time for Christmas 2022.
Also: Audiobooks are on the way and a Boneknight RPG game is currently in development.
If you've enjoyed my books, please leave a review.
Thank you!
-Tim
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 6, 2020
I received an ARC of this one in an exchange for an honest review.
It is more 3.6 stars than 4 .
It was nice 😊 end everything.
I may be the only one that found it more funny than anything else.
Interesting read
If I may say though it was quite tiring expecially with so many fronts and characters, and all that in once. That is where I think it was meh for me.
DNF it, but that might be bacause I am officially in a reading slump.
I would to think that I will come back to this.....
Oh, it is kinda sci-fish and epic if you enjoy that kind of reads give it a go!!
It is more 3.6 stars than 4 .
It was nice 😊 end everything.
I may be the only one that found it more funny than anything else.
Interesting read
If I may say though it was quite tiring expecially with so many fronts and characters, and all that in once. That is where I think it was meh for me.
DNF it, but that might be bacause I am officially in a reading slump.
I would to think that I will come back to this.....
Oh, it is kinda sci-fish and epic if you enjoy that kind of reads give it a go!!
June 20, 2020
Path and Ruin by Tim Paulson is an epic fantasy adventure. You’ve got every type of fantasy creature you could dream of, battles, humor, betrayal, romance and of course an epic quest. Let me just say that I enjoyed the story, very much. It was obviously a thought out plot with tons of twists and turns along the way. One thing that Tim Paulson does extremely well is character development too. Each character in this story is unique, one of a kind, and not what you expect them to be. For example, our toughest, most brutal character is a woman soldier. The sweetest and warmest heart comes from a blacksmith. The most powerful being might be the little boy. Every character has their own voice, personality and flair. I liked that very much about this book.
This story is very good, it could be amazing if it was tightened up a bit in my opinion. There are too many characters, weird creatures and things going on that I had a hard time keeping up. Now, I will say that going into the story I wasn’t prepared. I thought this book could be something I casually read by the pool. I knew Mia, Henri and Adem were my main characters based on the synopsis. So when I started getting introduced to tons of different characters, creatures and there were multiple plotlines going on, I couldn’t keep everyone straight. There were just too many people being introduced that I had to pick and choose. I chose Miss Emily in the beginning and I picked wrong. After the first few chapters, she is pointless. I don’t think she even needed to be a part of the story. What was her purpose? To show how dedicated Henri is to his son? Paulson's development of Henri is so spot on that I didn’t need Emily to show his dedication.
I think lots of people could be cut and even some of the content to make it a more detailed, easier to follow story. I could have picked up on the characters I needed to remember easier and faster. I totally missed out on Liam, Celia, Aaron and Giselle. I didn’t realize they were going to come back into play. They are almost the second storyline going into the book. Since I didn’t remember all of them from the many people I met in the beginning, that storyline wasn’t one I looked forward to for a long time. However, I did start to enjoy them later on and look forward to their stories unfolding. Again, Paulson knows just how to make you like a character. He could have gotten me hooked faster though with a little fine tuning, that is all.
Overall, the storyline is really freaking cool, the characters are awesome and I read the whole thing. I do recommend it. I highly recommend being focused when you read and being careful when you determine who to remember and to root for.
This story is very good, it could be amazing if it was tightened up a bit in my opinion. There are too many characters, weird creatures and things going on that I had a hard time keeping up. Now, I will say that going into the story I wasn’t prepared. I thought this book could be something I casually read by the pool. I knew Mia, Henri and Adem were my main characters based on the synopsis. So when I started getting introduced to tons of different characters, creatures and there were multiple plotlines going on, I couldn’t keep everyone straight. There were just too many people being introduced that I had to pick and choose. I chose Miss Emily in the beginning and I picked wrong. After the first few chapters, she is pointless. I don’t think she even needed to be a part of the story. What was her purpose? To show how dedicated Henri is to his son? Paulson's development of Henri is so spot on that I didn’t need Emily to show his dedication.
I think lots of people could be cut and even some of the content to make it a more detailed, easier to follow story. I could have picked up on the characters I needed to remember easier and faster. I totally missed out on Liam, Celia, Aaron and Giselle. I didn’t realize they were going to come back into play. They are almost the second storyline going into the book. Since I didn’t remember all of them from the many people I met in the beginning, that storyline wasn’t one I looked forward to for a long time. However, I did start to enjoy them later on and look forward to their stories unfolding. Again, Paulson knows just how to make you like a character. He could have gotten me hooked faster though with a little fine tuning, that is all.
Overall, the storyline is really freaking cool, the characters are awesome and I read the whole thing. I do recommend it. I highly recommend being focused when you read and being careful when you determine who to remember and to root for.
September 5, 2020
I received an Ebook for an honest review. Path of ruin is about a women named Mia who is an overconfident person(rights to be so 'cause she is damn good.) And a blacksmith named Henri. They go on a perilious journey to save his son. Mia has been told to have gotten through alot of ordeal which wasn't specified and Henri's child, Adem is infected by nineteen twisted soul.
I got easily absorbed by the plot and dived in. Of all the charecters Herald was my favorite.
This was a fun read.
I love the idea of goliaths. They were fascinating. Marian is the best! The worldbuilding is good. But there are many aspects as to which this book could have been better.
This story has a good plot but it lacked in charecter building. I couldn't connect with them. First of all the Baron's children are confusing and when Mia was asked about it she just said that they wouldn't understand. Maybe it has to do with Mia's backstory.
Too many things were happening at once and it was good but I just lacked to see the importance of it all. Plus path of ruins charecter seems to shrug of everything and just randomly pick up things to do. Like when Giselle who must have been traumatized after the bard attempted to kill her. But no she wakes up, seems happy to find her husband and is okay with her brother being locked up. She also doesn't respond much to the fact that her mother is a witch. Giselle, a story teller and a kind hearted person suddenly decides to start leading an army. Another anomaly is how the baroness is the last mage. I have so many unanswered questions.
Though I look forward to reading the next installation, I would rate this book 2 stars. Its a good book but it isn't for me. If anyone is interested in an action packed sci-fi fantasy book. You ought to give it a try.
I got easily absorbed by the plot and dived in. Of all the charecters Herald was my favorite.
“This gentlemen is why my kind of sorcery will always be superior,” he said, clearly baiting Vex whose red eyes glanced over, narrowing.
“Oh get over yourself,” Vex said.
This was a fun read.
“I lie no more or less than any dead man.” He laughed then.
I love the idea of goliaths. They were fascinating. Marian is the best! The worldbuilding is good. But there are many aspects as to which this book could have been better.
This story has a good plot but it lacked in charecter building. I couldn't connect with them. First of all the Baron's children are confusing and when Mia was asked about it she just said that they wouldn't understand. Maybe it has to do with Mia's backstory.
Too many things were happening at once and it was good but I just lacked to see the importance of it all. Plus path of ruins charecter seems to shrug of everything and just randomly pick up things to do. Like when Giselle who must have been traumatized after the bard attempted to kill her. But no she wakes up, seems happy to find her husband and is okay with her brother being locked up. She also doesn't respond much to the fact that her mother is a witch. Giselle, a story teller and a kind hearted person suddenly decides to start leading an army. Another anomaly is how the baroness is the last mage. I have so many unanswered questions.
Though I look forward to reading the next installation, I would rate this book 2 stars. Its a good book but it isn't for me. If anyone is interested in an action packed sci-fi fantasy book. You ought to give it a try.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2021
I did enjoy this book a fair amount, especially with the interesting and diverse world. I felt that the concepts were inventive and unique. The horrors and goliaths were introduced early and were intriguing enough to make me read on. I really liked the little snippets at the beginning of each chapter, though these didn’t seem to have much bearing on the story as a whole.
The characters were quite fun, though I felt some of the relationships were a little rushed (I personally didn’t see the feelings grow between Henri and Mia so this seemed forced to me). I liked Vex and Harald and the banter between them. I thought Buckley could’ve made a great antagonist if he was given more motivation than just “more power”.
What I struggled with was that, at points, I thought this could’ve used another round of editing. There were typos and spelling errors throughout which were distracting. Some places seemed rushed and like characters were jumping ahead without a proper buildup that might have increased tension and stakes. Ultimately, I didn’t feel much about the final battle because I didn’t really know what was being fought for - by either the good or bad guys.
Ultimately, however, I did finish this story because there are good ideas here and they are at times well executed. With a bit more polish, this could be an excellent book.
The characters were quite fun, though I felt some of the relationships were a little rushed (I personally didn’t see the feelings grow between Henri and Mia so this seemed forced to me). I liked Vex and Harald and the banter between them. I thought Buckley could’ve made a great antagonist if he was given more motivation than just “more power”.
What I struggled with was that, at points, I thought this could’ve used another round of editing. There were typos and spelling errors throughout which were distracting. Some places seemed rushed and like characters were jumping ahead without a proper buildup that might have increased tension and stakes. Ultimately, I didn’t feel much about the final battle because I didn’t really know what was being fought for - by either the good or bad guys.
Ultimately, however, I did finish this story because there are good ideas here and they are at times well executed. With a bit more polish, this could be an excellent book.
July 7, 2021
This book certainly lives up to its name. Lots of characters, both major and minor to try to keep track of. The Goliaths are fascinating characters, but we don't see as much of them as some of the other characters. There are wizards and ghouls, things with skeleton heads with tentacles, tree folk who abduct humans, and all sorts of others. The Veil is what they use to manipulate spells and magic, and the humans who run the Veil Corporation are as evil as they come. We find that even on a path to ruin, there are children involved and families who lose them and can't keep them safe. We find they are creatures that look like lions cross-bred with humans too. This is all fascinating, and going down that path with them can be confusing. Keep your wits about you and you will enjoy traveling that path yourself.
October 16, 2020
This was a really good story and I enjoyed reading it! The characters are well developed (my pet peeve!) and interesting. The story world was interesting and believable. The writing flowed smoothly along and kept me engrossed in the story. I definitely recommend it for scifi/ fantasy fans!
I received a free copy of this book via StoryOrigin and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via StoryOrigin and am voluntarily leaving a review.
October 17, 2021
Good fantasy
At first it was confusing. The story jumped from place to place and from person to person. About third way through it was getting better and the end was spectacular.
At first it was confusing. The story jumped from place to place and from person to person. About third way through it was getting better and the end was spectacular.
December 31, 2021
What a waste
June 10, 2020
I received an ebook of this title from the author in exchange for an honest review.
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS WHICH ARE MARKED BEFORE AND AFTER THE SPOILER
Overall: 2/5
Characters: 3/5
Plot: 3/5
Setting: 2/5
Synopsis of the book (copied from Goodreads) :
When machines run on human souls, cruelty is king.
Mia has spent her life seeking freedom from oppression, discrimination and human greed. She's never questioned where the power of her weapons comes from or where her orders lead her. That's about to change.
Blacksmith Henri fled with his five year old son Adem to the frontier, desperate to hide his boy. As an outsider and the son of a former slave, Henri has worked hard to win over their village. Unfortunately this has given him little time to monitor his son whose powers are growing.
When the armies of Baron Halett and the Holy Ganex Empire clash, Henri's son becomes infected by nineteen twisted souls. Mia and Henri must set off to cure the boy's affliction before it eats him alive from the inside.
Set during an age of exploitation and plunder where ancient magic has been harnessed to power renaissance era technology, Path of Ruin is a race against time. Swords & sorcery, witches & wizards, gunpowder, cannons, and great granite golems known as goliaths, await the reader in this grand series.
Characters:
The characters were good, but there were too many of them, many of which weren’t introduced. Personally, it felt hard to connect to and relate with the characters. There was, however, some character development, which I really liked (especially in Mia)! I also felt that some of the characters weren’t very reactionary towards what was happening to them.
**SPOILER**
After the bard attacked Giselle, she should have been at least a little traumatized. However, it was never mentioned again in the book
**END SPOILER**
Plot:
The plot was very good, I just wish that it could have been expanded one more. It was very narrow and it felt like I wasn’t given much information to go off of. As for one of the plot twists pertaining to one of the characters, there wasn’t much build up to it and it felt kind of random. It was a good idea, but I just wish that there was more suspense leading up to it. The ending was kind of confusing, but I hope everything will be cleared up in the second book!
Setting:
I wish that the setting was expanded on a little more. I was very confused about a lot of elements in the book (such as horrors), as they weren’t introduced. In addition, I wish that the backstory and events that happened before the book took place were discussed, as it would have expanded on the setting.
I really enjoyed the writing style of this book! The descriptions were so vivid and intricate:
“As the sun streamed in from his partially opened window blinds, it cast bars of light upon his stacked papers and threaded fingers. Partially in light, partially obscured, much like his machinations. So many plans were unfurling like so many sails, armies on the move, rabble marched in the streets, yet he knew so little. He was forced to wait, to be patient, while his pieces danced upon the board.”
This book was a fantasy and had many steampunk elements in it. Personally, it wasn’t for me, but I would recommend it to someone who enjoys those two genres!
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS WHICH ARE MARKED BEFORE AND AFTER THE SPOILER
Overall: 2/5
Characters: 3/5
Plot: 3/5
Setting: 2/5
Synopsis of the book (copied from Goodreads) :
When machines run on human souls, cruelty is king.
Mia has spent her life seeking freedom from oppression, discrimination and human greed. She's never questioned where the power of her weapons comes from or where her orders lead her. That's about to change.
Blacksmith Henri fled with his five year old son Adem to the frontier, desperate to hide his boy. As an outsider and the son of a former slave, Henri has worked hard to win over their village. Unfortunately this has given him little time to monitor his son whose powers are growing.
When the armies of Baron Halett and the Holy Ganex Empire clash, Henri's son becomes infected by nineteen twisted souls. Mia and Henri must set off to cure the boy's affliction before it eats him alive from the inside.
Set during an age of exploitation and plunder where ancient magic has been harnessed to power renaissance era technology, Path of Ruin is a race against time. Swords & sorcery, witches & wizards, gunpowder, cannons, and great granite golems known as goliaths, await the reader in this grand series.
Characters:
The characters were good, but there were too many of them, many of which weren’t introduced. Personally, it felt hard to connect to and relate with the characters. There was, however, some character development, which I really liked (especially in Mia)! I also felt that some of the characters weren’t very reactionary towards what was happening to them.
**SPOILER**
After the bard attacked Giselle, she should have been at least a little traumatized. However, it was never mentioned again in the book
**END SPOILER**
Plot:
The plot was very good, I just wish that it could have been expanded one more. It was very narrow and it felt like I wasn’t given much information to go off of. As for one of the plot twists pertaining to one of the characters, there wasn’t much build up to it and it felt kind of random. It was a good idea, but I just wish that there was more suspense leading up to it. The ending was kind of confusing, but I hope everything will be cleared up in the second book!
Setting:
I wish that the setting was expanded on a little more. I was very confused about a lot of elements in the book (such as horrors), as they weren’t introduced. In addition, I wish that the backstory and events that happened before the book took place were discussed, as it would have expanded on the setting.
I really enjoyed the writing style of this book! The descriptions were so vivid and intricate:
“As the sun streamed in from his partially opened window blinds, it cast bars of light upon his stacked papers and threaded fingers. Partially in light, partially obscured, much like his machinations. So many plans were unfurling like so many sails, armies on the move, rabble marched in the streets, yet he knew so little. He was forced to wait, to be patient, while his pieces danced upon the board.”
This book was a fantasy and had many steampunk elements in it. Personally, it wasn’t for me, but I would recommend it to someone who enjoys those two genres!
October 8, 2020
Preface: I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.\
Actual rating: 2.75 stars
The first third or so of this book intrigued me. It's sort of a fantasy/magitek world, which I don't often see, and some of the heroes were interesting. I was most interested in our female heroine, Mia. She was tough and spunky, without feeling unrealistic. I liked her aloof/cold nature, and was hoping for some character development along the way. Her relationship with her golem, Zeus, also had a ton of potential.
Unfortunately, Mia ends up pretty minimized in the story (and Zeus disappears entirely after 10 pages or so of screentime), as she ends up mind-controlled to help our male main character and his son. She becomes attached to them via magical means, and has a romantic subplot with our male hero for no discernable reason. Even after her mind control is undone, she's still attached to them, without any of the relationship-building scenes that would have made this believable.
Our other characters are similarly weak. Giselle just looks after 4-5 nameless, faceless children the entire time, who serve no purpose other than to be jerked around. She has silly biases and supposedly undergoes a change surrounding them, but there's no purpose to them in this story. At the end, she ends up being the one commanding the troops for some reason, despite just repeating everything her handmaiden says. Aaron could have been interesting, but he's side-lined pretty hard. Vex had potential, but he never really explains anything he's doing, and his romantic teasing with Celia was gross (he's literally a thousand-plus-year-old mage trapped in a rotting body, and Celia feels about 18, though I'm not sure if her age is ever specified). The bard character is similarly flat, unrealistic, and honestly disgusting. The story would have been stronger without him being included at all. He just serves to provide shock value and make Giselle look like an buffoon for trusting him.
The plot starts out with a clear goal - save the kid, avenge the baron - but quickly gets muddled as soon as Vex appears on the scene. To be honest, I'm not sure what his motives are, or what he was trying to accomplish. The reader and the characters just end up tugged from location to location without any clear thread to the plot, and the conclusion ends up being underwhelming.
Overall, this setting and a few of the characters had potential, but it was fumbled. The plot was unclear, the characters were flimsy, and the interesting parts of the setting ended up being underutilized.
Actual rating: 2.75 stars
The first third or so of this book intrigued me. It's sort of a fantasy/magitek world, which I don't often see, and some of the heroes were interesting. I was most interested in our female heroine, Mia. She was tough and spunky, without feeling unrealistic. I liked her aloof/cold nature, and was hoping for some character development along the way. Her relationship with her golem, Zeus, also had a ton of potential.
Unfortunately, Mia ends up pretty minimized in the story (and Zeus disappears entirely after 10 pages or so of screentime), as she ends up mind-controlled to help our male main character and his son. She becomes attached to them via magical means, and has a romantic subplot with our male hero for no discernable reason. Even after her mind control is undone, she's still attached to them, without any of the relationship-building scenes that would have made this believable.
Our other characters are similarly weak. Giselle just looks after 4-5 nameless, faceless children the entire time, who serve no purpose other than to be jerked around. She has silly biases and supposedly undergoes a change surrounding them, but there's no purpose to them in this story. At the end, she ends up being the one commanding the troops for some reason, despite just repeating everything her handmaiden says. Aaron could have been interesting, but he's side-lined pretty hard. Vex had potential, but he never really explains anything he's doing, and his romantic teasing with Celia was gross (he's literally a thousand-plus-year-old mage trapped in a rotting body, and Celia feels about 18, though I'm not sure if her age is ever specified). The bard character is similarly flat, unrealistic, and honestly disgusting. The story would have been stronger without him being included at all. He just serves to provide shock value and make Giselle look like an buffoon for trusting him.
The plot starts out with a clear goal - save the kid, avenge the baron - but quickly gets muddled as soon as Vex appears on the scene. To be honest, I'm not sure what his motives are, or what he was trying to accomplish. The reader and the characters just end up tugged from location to location without any clear thread to the plot, and the conclusion ends up being underwhelming.
Overall, this setting and a few of the characters had potential, but it was fumbled. The plot was unclear, the characters were flimsy, and the interesting parts of the setting ended up being underutilized.
November 30, 2021
3.5 Stars - An Interesting Fantasy World
I should have liked this story a lot more than I did. It had an intriguing magic source called veil, a nice blend of magic and technology and an interesting world inhabited by humans, lion children, trolls, weaselmen, ghouls, horrors and with massive stone goliaths brought to life by souls and driven by pilots armed with swords and cannons. I mean I love the sound of all that, it sounds frigging awesome but unfortunately, for me, the story just didn’t deliver on its early promise.
The story starts quite strongly, and the author does a great job of introducing an eclectic cast of characters and I was looking forward to seeing each of them develop as their tales unfolded. The action is fast-paced and the protagonists move relentlessly from one scene to the next and whilst the early chapters held my interest and I was intrigued to see what happened at some point this waned.
Why? Well, after that initial promise, I was not fully invested in the characters. Any of them. I know that sounds a bit harsh and certainly, there was a lot to like about Mia and Henri at the start, but I got more disinclined towards them the more I read. For me, they felt a little bit caricatured and two-dimensional and they did not grow. As well there seemed little cause and effect. When something happens that I would expect to traumatize a character they seem to shrug it off. Or an injury that was debilitating no longer being so hours later, almost as if they never suffered said injury. Some scenes I felt seemed rushed and could have been done with more exposition to create more tension and buildup.
There were a few typos and grammatical errors which for some reason seemed more prevalent in the second half of the book than in the first. This was not a major issue for me, I know this author is an Indie author and overall it was well edited, certainly, there weren’t enough errors to detract too much from the story but it is something that could be tidied up easily with another read through.
There were also elements of the story that just seemed a little contrived and confusing and in some cases unfinished including the ending which I found underwhelming. I know this is just book one and the story will continue in book two so maybe some of those nagging ends will get resolved or explained then but I am not sure this book had enough to hold me.
I would say that whilst this story may not have been for me I suspect many who love this mixed genre of fantasy, adventure and technology might enjoy this book.
I should have liked this story a lot more than I did. It had an intriguing magic source called veil, a nice blend of magic and technology and an interesting world inhabited by humans, lion children, trolls, weaselmen, ghouls, horrors and with massive stone goliaths brought to life by souls and driven by pilots armed with swords and cannons. I mean I love the sound of all that, it sounds frigging awesome but unfortunately, for me, the story just didn’t deliver on its early promise.
The story starts quite strongly, and the author does a great job of introducing an eclectic cast of characters and I was looking forward to seeing each of them develop as their tales unfolded. The action is fast-paced and the protagonists move relentlessly from one scene to the next and whilst the early chapters held my interest and I was intrigued to see what happened at some point this waned.
Why? Well, after that initial promise, I was not fully invested in the characters. Any of them. I know that sounds a bit harsh and certainly, there was a lot to like about Mia and Henri at the start, but I got more disinclined towards them the more I read. For me, they felt a little bit caricatured and two-dimensional and they did not grow. As well there seemed little cause and effect. When something happens that I would expect to traumatize a character they seem to shrug it off. Or an injury that was debilitating no longer being so hours later, almost as if they never suffered said injury. Some scenes I felt seemed rushed and could have been done with more exposition to create more tension and buildup.
There were a few typos and grammatical errors which for some reason seemed more prevalent in the second half of the book than in the first. This was not a major issue for me, I know this author is an Indie author and overall it was well edited, certainly, there weren’t enough errors to detract too much from the story but it is something that could be tidied up easily with another read through.
There were also elements of the story that just seemed a little contrived and confusing and in some cases unfinished including the ending which I found underwhelming. I know this is just book one and the story will continue in book two so maybe some of those nagging ends will get resolved or explained then but I am not sure this book had enough to hold me.
I would say that whilst this story may not have been for me I suspect many who love this mixed genre of fantasy, adventure and technology might enjoy this book.
July 5, 2023
Dearests…. it almost took me 2 years to finish this one (characters annoyed me), but I persevered. It's a bit messy BUT does give fantasy-sci-fy-esque - ALTHOUGH it ends with a cliffhanger…
My Title: Of Mortar and Magic
Fav Character: David
Readability: Normal-ish
Type: Novel
Genre: Fantasy - Sci-fy
3.5/5
Not what I thought it would turn out to be.
• In the beginning we have some interesting chaos.
Giant mecca-like creatures & their 'warriors' fighting; an old hag eyeing up children to kidnap; an evil corporation trying to take control of government; a kingdom being outmaneuvered & having it's lord & family attacked, beast children that speak & a mysterious wreaked place, with black spirals... yes. Your guess is as good as mine.
All of these elements begin to interact as the corporation goes sadistic - their giant mecca creatures & their demons from another plane - rampage about;
the family tries to save their kingdom & secrets are revealed; & a blacksmith & a warrior try to get demons out of a kid.
• Dudee... I don't even know!
I am not sure I liked how it all came together... & Henri, his reactions & his extra precious child grated on my nerves because, yes Henri, we understand, WE UNDERSTAND HENRI!
🌱But that's just me ;)
My Title: Of Mortar and Magic
Fav Character: David
Readability: Normal-ish
Type: Novel
Genre: Fantasy - Sci-fy
3.5/5
Not what I thought it would turn out to be.
• In the beginning we have some interesting chaos.
Giant mecca-like creatures & their 'warriors' fighting; an old hag eyeing up children to kidnap; an evil corporation trying to take control of government; a kingdom being outmaneuvered & having it's lord & family attacked, beast children that speak & a mysterious wreaked place, with black spirals... yes. Your guess is as good as mine.
All of these elements begin to interact as the corporation goes sadistic - their giant mecca creatures & their demons from another plane - rampage about;
the family tries to save their kingdom & secrets are revealed; & a blacksmith & a warrior try to get demons out of a kid.
• Dudee... I don't even know!
I am not sure I liked how it all came together... & Henri, his reactions & his extra precious child grated on my nerves because, yes Henri, we understand, WE UNDERSTAND HENRI!
🌱But that's just me ;)
April 30, 2022
2 stars. DNF at 30%. World created for the story was overall OK, albeit confusingly presented. The characters were a jumble of flat actors with dull personalities and obscure motivations. Lastly, the constantly changing POVs were distracting (in the first chapter, consisting of 19 pages, there were six POV changes.)
July 29, 2020
Entertaining read
Doesn't take itself too seriously. A little odd but good. Good character. Good pace. I look forward to next book
Doesn't take itself too seriously. A little odd but good. Good character. Good pace. I look forward to next book
Read
July 31, 2021a good read and interesting charaters
June 26, 2022
This book started off very well.....then took a nose dive. Childish. I read to page 162, chapter 10 and could Not continue. I did love the gold cover art.
September 3, 2023
Too messed up
The is the most confusing and messed up book I have ever read. The whole thing was like someone on drugs and having bad dreams. I couldn't even finish it.
The is the most confusing and messed up book I have ever read. The whole thing was like someone on drugs and having bad dreams. I couldn't even finish it.
January 19, 2022
Game of Thrones meets Ghost Busters in a real world of magic, spells, and unknown powers.
July 5, 2020
Absorbing
I found this book to be quite absorbing, so much so that I read it in one go. The story is well paced and quickly draws you in. The characters are interesting and there are some you feel sympathy for. The allegiances of others characters seem at times uncertain, and at others surprising. You find you really care about what happens to Henri and his son. Has all the ingredients for a great fantasy novel, but it feels at the end of the book that there is much more to come.
I found this book to be quite absorbing, so much so that I read it in one go. The story is well paced and quickly draws you in. The characters are interesting and there are some you feel sympathy for. The allegiances of others characters seem at times uncertain, and at others surprising. You find you really care about what happens to Henri and his son. Has all the ingredients for a great fantasy novel, but it feels at the end of the book that there is much more to come.
May 23, 2020
WOW! Exciting Fantasy Adventure!
Technology and greed fuel this unique, fast paced adventure. A wonderful combination of suspense, intrigue, twists, betrayals, fighting, complex characters, unusual weapons, magic, sorcerers, ghouls, witches, Goliaths, Horrors/monsters, alternate universes and creative world building made this a very captivating story. I look forward to reading the next book. Enjoy!
Technology and greed fuel this unique, fast paced adventure. A wonderful combination of suspense, intrigue, twists, betrayals, fighting, complex characters, unusual weapons, magic, sorcerers, ghouls, witches, Goliaths, Horrors/monsters, alternate universes and creative world building made this a very captivating story. I look forward to reading the next book. Enjoy!
April 16, 2020
I can't quite classify this awesome novel,except to say that I loved it! Fantasy,sure..steampunk? somewhat..sword and sorcery,you bet! Love the mismash!
June 18, 2020
Good character structure & development. A bit wordy in some places but overall a good read. Will definitely look for more books by Paulson.
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