(This review is for the first book only. It is also highly abridged - you can find the full version here.)
This novel was a massive failure for me in all respects. I don't have a ton of time, but here's a list of everything wrong with it:
The characters do not behave as real people do.: Alek was laughably emotionless about losing both of his parents at once, and Deryn was laughably emotionless at having to disguise as a boy. Neither of them had a very distinct personality, and they seemed to do things not because it was natural for them to do, but because the plot required them.
There was no logic.: You'd have to see the full review for all the research I did, but the point is that logic was completely thrown out here. Why not make it a high fantasy, rather than alt-history, so that we don't feel like there should be any logic? The way it is now, I was constantly distracted by the lapses.
The writing was bland and lacked description.: If not for the (well-drawn) illustrations, I wouldn't be able to picture a single thing in this entire book. I shouldn't need the illustrations like this - the text should be able to stand on its own.
I couldn't be roused to care about the plot.: The characters were just too boring; I couldn't care what happened to them. It doesn't help that Deryn didn't really do very much - Alek was the only one that kept the plot advancing.
So, there you go. This book isn't one I'd recommend to anyone - it doesn't really cause me aneurysms of rage, but it was pretty painful to read, and certainly not entertaining.
Literature Avoid. At all costs.
(This review is for the first book only. It is also highly abridged - you can find the full version here.)
This novel was a massive failure for me in all respects. I don't have a ton of time, but here's a list of everything wrong with it:
So, there you go. This book isn't one I'd recommend to anyone - it doesn't really cause me aneurysms of rage, but it was pretty painful to read, and certainly not entertaining.