Scott

Repetition Again

Revisado: 04-12-23

If you enjoy hwfwm, you will enjoy this book. With that said, the book does have an odd way of recapping events for the first few chapters and then recapping chapters in the last few hours. These recaps seem sloppy considering how many hwfwm books have been wrote without them. Hopefully the next book gets back to what works better.

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A Decent Ending... after ten painful hours...

Revisado: 03-25-23

This story is a huge let down. Up until the last few hours, nothing works. The characters are paper thin, fighting, and questing. Then all of the sudden you get all of the backstory dumped in quickly.

Overall, the two narrators do not work. The fact common names and items are pronounced differently in this novel is jarring. Even the volume level between character voices can be extreme.

I recommend skipping this and not looking back. Rowe had said the whole series will remain mostly separate from the other novels. Don't look for tie-ins to save this.

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A Long Reset and Restructure

Revisado: 03-03-23

Andrew Rowe's world building is unique and beautiful. without any spoilers, this story serves as a soft reset to the world allowing a fresher start for the next story.

With that said, some real world politics spill into this story and at times Rowe seems to lose his perspective and place in the overall story arc in order to make a mild political point. This book could have used more refinement from an editing perspective to make these points less jarring. If you are a huge fan of the Arcane Ascension universe, these points will not completely turn you off from the story. While you can see real world politics, you can also see where things differ in the author making points to help everyone which is just a part of the main characters description.

I hope that Rowe flushes out the story better in future novels. The last five hours of this novel seemed like a "oh, let's get back on track with this plot point, and this plot point, oh, and this plot point too.' Finishing up those loose threads were interesting, but weaving them a bit more into the overall arc is where Rowe used to succeed.

Read it for yourself, enjoy it, and see what is next for the Arcane Ascension universe.

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He who fights the.... USA in words.

Revisado: 06-24-22

This book is by far the most incomplete book from the series. A decent start that seems to diverge and not find its way to a logical conclusion, but a middle of the ground stopping point just to call this a book.

Along the way, Jason becomes interestingly anti-American. While small opinions about drones are fine, having the United States break down into civil war as a side note and creating antagonists from the United States seems overarching when you have other fantastical enemies.

Please find your way back to better story telling.

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A light light LitRPG

Revisado: 11-22-21

An easy to listen to story that ultimately lacks significance. The story opens with a large amount of promise, but drags on the until abruptly ending. Like many LitRPG's, the book finishes without the conclusion of a large amount of subplots. However, Manufacturing Magic seems more abrupt than other of the genre. The entire ending feels like a huge video game cheat and restart button. Pretty much what you expect as you listen to the book, but still readers deserve better.

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A Short Trip Down Carnival Row

Revisado: 01-23-20

This prequel is a beautifully narrated, albeit very short, story from the universe of Carnival Row. Performed in the same style as the Amazon original TV show, this story brings to life sides of the characters otherwise unseen. I would highly recommend this audible if you enjoyed the tv show, but do not recommend it as a stand-alone book. The characters are relatively flat if you do not know their stories already.

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A Long Lack of an Ending

Revisado: 01-26-19

Just like all things Mass Effect, this book leaves you with more questions than answers. if you approach this book hoping to solve the mystery of the quarian ark left from the video game, you will be sadly disappointed. The book is greatly vocalized, although a little slow in the middle, and contains too complex of character names. A fitting end, or lack thereof, to Mass Effect Andromeda.

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Foundation for TV Success, Failure of a Novel

Revisado: 07-12-18

Sadly, this novel lets down any viewers of the television show. The characters, storylines, and beloved world of The Magicians is brought to life more in the first episode of the television series than that of the entire first novel of this book series. Mark Bramhall presents the story clear, crisp, and without many faults; however, the overall story is like looking on vignettes of a larger book. For anyone that has viewed the television series first, the reader finds themselves relaying on the series to bring knowledge that is otherwise missing in the books. A hard read for anyone to spread out over time. The story is told mostly through the eyes of Quentin. Anytime a significant character leaves Quentin the novel follows the real life similarity in letting those characters drift away for numerous chapters. In the world of The Magicians characters like Penny the quirky native skilled magician disappears for years due to his absence for a number of chapters, leaving readers to wonder what happened to these characters for all of those years. Yet, the hardest part about this book is its overall lack of depth in any form of an antagonist. You battle wondering if the antagonist is magic, depression, the protagonist, or the beast presented in a lone chapter without reference. Overall, The Magicians: A Novel is a beautiful world that lacks refinement.

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A Prequel Tale with Substance

Revisado: 07-12-18

This prequel of Cora and father Ryder does not disappoint any Mass Effect fan. The writing is a huge leap from the game titled Mass Effect Andromeda and the novel Mass Effect Andromeda: Nexus Uprising. With Mac Walters return to the Mass Effect Universe, the tale does not disappoint. Action, adventure, mystery, and huge amounts of canon Mass Effect lore are presented in Mass Effect: Initiation leading to a world of bewilderment. Readers will be met with exciting action sequences, small amounts of romance, a bit of that wry comedy found in Mass Effect, and much more. A tale from the space opera that is well worth the read. Fryda Wolff once again brings Mass Effect characters to life. Close your eyes and step into the world of Mass Effect as every character is beautifully articulated with the presence they deserve. Had Fryda Wolff voiced every character in the Mass Effect Andromeda video game the series would have been a revolutionary success due to her skill at distinguishing and bringing each character to life. For any Mass Effect fan prepare to step back into the world you love as Cora takes on her first challenges with the initiative.

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Mass Effect Andromeda Another Disappointment

Revisado: 07-12-18

Just like the video game Mass Effect Andromeda, Nexus Uprising brings readers back to the Mass Effect universe without the levels of intrigue presented in the first Mass Effect novel trilogy. The writing in Mass Effect Andromeda: Nexus Uprising is that of a childish writer relying on cuss words to make any sense of emotion; while never progressing the story to the levels on expects. In fact, the entire premise that this book Nexus Uprising will give insight into Andromeda before the video game falls short. Without spoiling the ending, the connections to the video game world end abruptly and with less connection than that found in a hidden terminal within the actual video game. I recommend this book only for die-hard Mass Effect fans that would like to complete their knowledge of the fanatic Mass Effect Universe. For all other readers, stay away. This novel is grudgingly slow, painfully vulgar, and utterly disappointing. With that said, if you manage to read all of Mass Effect Andromeda: Nexus Uprising, the sequel Mass Effect: Initiation brings N.K Jemisin and Mac Walters back to the Mass Effect universe for a compelling new stand alone story well worth the read.

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