Review - Sunbolt

Sunbolt
(The Sunbolt Chronicles #1)
by Intisar Khanani
Date: 2013
Publisher: Purple Monkey Press
Reading level: YA
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 144
Format: e-book
Source: Amazon.ca

The winding streets and narrow alleys of Karolene hide many secrets, and Hitomi is one of them. Orphaned at a young age, Hitomi has learned to hide her magical aptitude and who her parents really were. Most of all, she must conceal her role in the Shadow League, an underground movement working to undermine the powerful and corrupt Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame.

When the League gets word that Blackflame intends to detain—and execute—a leading political family, Hitomi volunteers to help the family escape. But there are more secrets at play than Hitomi’s, and much worse fates than execution. When Hitomi finds herself captured along with her charges, it will take everything she can summon to escape with her life.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Well, this was interesting.  It's nice to read an indie book that isn't completely awful.  Sunbolt is a pretty short little novel, but it packs quite a bit of punch into a relatively small number of pages.  While it may lack the polish of traditionally published books, it makes up for that with a comfortable writing style and an intriguing story.

Please, dear author, I want some more...

Despite the fact that this book is so short, the author manages to build a fascinating and complex fantasy world, develop a diverse cast of characters, and start an intriguing story that'll leave the reader begging for more.

The world is beautifully created.  It seems much like a past version of our world in some ways, but with magic.  At the beginning of the story, Hitomi lives in Karolene, which has a definite Middle Eastern vibe.  Later, we get to see another sort of landscape, which comes across as more European (mountains, valleys, pine trees, alpine lakes).  The humans are likewise varied, and seem to roughly match the racial diversity we see in our own world.  But then, there's a whole other level of wonderful weirdness, with shape-shifting creatures (like Hitomi's friend, Kenta), vampire-like creatures called fangs, and soul-sucking monsters called breathers.  I'm sure we'll probably encounter even more wonderful creations as the series progresses.

It's all a matter of taste...

This is a young adult book, so of course there are some of the usual tropes (which I won't mention for fear of giving anything away; suffice it to say, they're there).  It was also a bit predictable at times.  The main conflict at the beginning of the book seemed to be forgotten somewhere along the way, too, and I was a little disappointed with the ending... although it's obvious that the story isn't over yet (at least, I hope it isn't; there are a number of questions left unanswered).  I guess I'll just have to wait for the next installment of Hitomi's story.

Let's get technical...

Aside from a number of typos throughout the text, my main complaint with the writing is the avoidance of the words "says" and "say" (the book is written in the present tense).  It's almost unintentionally funny at times, as it seems the author is going to great pains to avoid these words.  Instead, the characters grumble, console, prod, snap, supply... well, you get the idea.  Toward the end of the book, the punctuation also starts to fall apart a little bit, but it still isn't as bad as what I've seen from some traditionally published books.

The verdict...

What can I say, other than that I was pleasantly surprised?  I'll definitely be continuing with this series.

Quotable moment:

These last four years, I have watched the life of the city slowly bleed into the sea. Oh, Mama Ali still laughs and sells her self-fulfilling prophecies in the fish market, children still play, and the motions of life continue because they must, but there is a silence where there were once words. It lurks at the edge of my hearing. Now people dart glances to the side when they speak, checking for soldiers or Blackflame's mercenaries, where before no one thought twice about the presence of armed men. People have disappeared: men and women who spoke out against Blackflame when the laws began to change, then people who spoke out against the disappearances of their brothers and sisters. Until, finally, people stopped speaking.

Premise: 4/5
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Editing: 3/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 ladybugs

New to the TBR Pile (22)

Bought from Amazon.ca:

The Firebird (Slains #2)
by Susanna Kearsley

Nicola Marter was born with a gift. When she touches an object, she sometimes glimpses those who have owned it before. When a woman arrives with a small wooden carving at the gallery Nicola works at, she can see the object’s history and knows that it was named after the Firebird—the mythical creature from an old Russian fable.

Compelled to know more, Nicola follows a young girl named Anna into the past who leads her on a quest through the glittering backdrops of the Jacobites and Russian courts, unearthing a tale of love, courage, and redemption.

Of Metal and Wishes (Of Metal and Wishes #1)
by Sarah Fine

There are whispers of a ghost in the slaughterhouse where sixteen-year-old Wen assists her father in his medical clinic—a ghost who grants wishes to those who need them most. When one of the Noor, men hired as cheap factory labor, humiliates Wen, she makes an impulsive wish of her own, and the Ghost grants it. Brutally.

Guilt-ridden, Wen befriends the Noor, including their outspoken leader, a young man named Melik. At the same time, she is lured by the mystery of the Ghost and learns he has been watching her... for a very long time.

As deadly accidents fuel tensions within the factory, Wen must confront her growing feelings for Melik, who is enraged at the sadistic factory bosses and the prejudice faced by his people at the hand of Wen’s, and her need to appease the Ghost, who is determined to protect her against any threat—real or imagined. She must decide whom she can trust, because as her heart is torn, the factory is exploding around her... and she might go down with it.

Phoenix Island (Phoenix Island #1)
by John Dixon

The judge told Carl that one day he'd have to decide exactly what kind of person he would become. But on Phoenix Island, the choice will be made for him.

A champion boxer with a sharp hook and a short temper, sixteen-year-old Carl Freeman has been shuffled from foster home to foster home. He can't seem to stay out of trouble, using his fists to defend weaker classmates from bullies. His latest incident sends his opponent to the emergency room, and now the court is sending Carl to the worst place on earth: Phoenix Island.

Classified as a terminal facility, it's the end of the line for delinquents who have no home, no family, and no future. Located somewhere far off the coast of the United States and immune to its laws, the island is a grueling Spartan-style boot camp run by sadistic drill sergeants who show no mercy to their young, orphan trainees. Sentenced to stay until his eighteenth birthday, Carl plans to play by the rules, so he makes friends with his wisecracking bunkmate, Ross, and a mysterious gray-eyed girl named Octavia. But he makes enemies, too, and after a few rough scrapes, he earns himself the nickname "Hollywood" as well as a string of punishments, including a brutal night in the sweatbox. But that's nothing compared to what awaits him in the Chop Shop: a secret government lab where Carl is given something he never dreamed of.

A new life...

A new body. A new brain.

Gifts from the fatherly Old Man, who wants to transform Carl into something he's not sure he wants to become.

For this is no ordinary government project. Phoenix Island is ground zero for the future of combat intelligence.

And for Carl, it's just the beginning...

Sunbolt (The Sunbolt Chronicles #1)
by Intisar Khanani

The winding streets and narrow alleys of Karolene hide many secrets, and Hitomi is one of them. Orphaned at a young age, Hitomi has learned to hide her magical aptitude and who her parents really were. Most of all, she must conceal her role in the Shadow League, an underground movement working to undermine the powerful and corrupt Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame.

When the League gets word that Blackflame intends to detain—and execute—a leading political family, Hitomi volunteers to help the family escape. But there are more secrets at play than Hitomi’s, and much worse fates than execution. When Hitomi finds herself captured along with her charges, it will take everything she can summon to escape with her life.

What's new to your TBR pile this week?  Let me know in the comments!