Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells

3 stars
R- 2-3
Reader's Choice

Meh.

Honestly, I read this in a day and the NEXT MORNING had a hard time remembering the title.

First, the title didn't feel like a good fit to me and the description on the back cover is fairly inaccurate.

Second, the writing did not feel at all "graceful" as the quote on the cover claimed.  I'd say crude and immature.

Which brings me to:  Third, this really really really should have been a YA.  Cleaned up, tightened, and made a YA you could have gotten away with more, prose-wise.

Also, the immaturity did fit the main character (hence the wanting to be a YA) but it would have been more forgivable in 1st person than in 3rd person limited.

The concept, though, was good.  Solid.  Interesting.  Maybe if I'd gone in with different expectations.

If you like fantasy it's probably worth a try, just don't take the description at face value.

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