Why did I wait so long to read Dark Theory? I think it was likely because I found the length daunting. It didn't help that the traveling quest is one of my least favorite fantasy tropes. So, I was concerned this wouldn't really be for me. I'm so glad I was wrong, and I regret not reading this book sooner. Is it perfect? No, but it is a gritty and fascinating adventure full of characters you'll love and others you'll love to hate.

The post-apocalyptic world of Dark Theory was such a great setting. It was grim, and the author did a great job of showcasing how the harsh realities of life in such a setting impacted both the individual characters' development and the societies that have managed to survive all the cataclysms. There were so many fascinating locales and peoples, all of which were brilliantly brought to life through Welker's vivid descriptions. There was plenty of interesting science, as well, but I often found it to be confusing and unbelievable, even within the context of this far-fetched setting. Overall, though, the world-building was very good and left me wanting to learn more about the history of this world.

The plot of Dark Theory had so many moving parts. I'm honestly impressed by how intricate the story turned out to be. It was a pulse-pounding adventure with tons of twists and turns. I was definitely never bored. Unfortunately, all of the different events and POVs made the story feel a bit convoluted, and I think a little more editing and paring of the subplots would have done it some good. This was definitely a long book, and the story seemed like it could have easily been broken into multiple books. The way everything came together in the end felt a bit rushed, too, which was odd considering the length of the story.

The characters in Dark Theory were my favorite thing about the book. Beetro's identity crisis and the development of his humanity were fascinating and allowed for the exploration of some really interesting themes, namely what it means to be human and the impact of surroundings/influences on empathy. I despised Miree at first because she was selfish and abrasive, but I started to root for her by the end. Her growth into a tolerable human being was largely a result of the fantastic found family she discovered along the way. Arym's POV was one of my least favorite, but it did allow for the exploration of indoctrination and was important for adding to the world-building.

The best character in Dark Theory was a precocious young girl named Ribcage. She was a street child who survived by begging and using her wit to her advantage. She also had a really cool power that I don't want to spoil. She didn't change a lot over the course of the story, but she added humor to an otherwise grim narrative. She quickly stole my heart, and I'm curious to learn more about her origins in future books.

Overall, Dark Theory was an exciting post-apocalyptic adventure with a cast of characters I've come to love. It was a great combination of science fiction and fantasy elements, and the setup serves as a great start to a new series. While the plot got a bit unwieldy at some points, I definitely recommend this book for fans of gritty science fiction. Therefore, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

The main characters must make difficult moral decisions during their voyages, including whether to help strangers or fight them, share knowledge and belongings with others or keep them to themselves, and use their power for good or evil. To learn how to survive in a world that is collapsing without losing all humanity, each main character goes through an arc that is typically marked by great mental or physical suffering.

The joyful sections, where the stories of the characters overlap, and the gory sections, where there is a fine balance of highs and lows, the hot and the cold, are both done well.
While the tale is somewhat drawn out, it is not extremely difficult. The voyage seemed straightforward in the first half, but the latter quarter was when everything was sort of thrown at you, making it more difficult to digest. However, the reward is there if you approach it patiently. Anyway, I thought this was a fantastic start to a series that will undoubtedly be quite dramatic and wild.

Thanks to NetGalley and Wick Welker for the advanced copy.

Lord of the Rings meets science fiction. That's how I would describe Dark Theory. All characters are vastly developed, and there's a wide development of the future world they all live in through their pasts and current situations. As one of the characters states, they're living in the post-future after the world has went to dust. It's an interesting take that the "end of the world" as most of us today think of has already happened, yet the novel takes on the real end of the world with the expansion of the universe. There's also a clear indication that there will be a sequel based on the end of this novel. That's probably one of my few critiques of this novel. It's incredibly long, and the ending makes this 800 page epic feel like a part 1 rather than a complete story that could be continued. The novel is ripe with sexism toward Miree, the butch female lead with a stone heart. So, if that's not something you're looking for in this fun, mysterious read, it might not be for you.

ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Dark Theory is an ambitious and imaginative blend of fantasy and hard science fiction.

“You get a little older—either wiser or dimmer, not sure—and you realize the questions don’t matter. It’s what you do with the mystery that matters.”


I don’t think I was ready for Dark Theory. When I first stumbled upon the stunning cover art of Dark Theory by Wick Welker, my attention was instantly intrigued. Damonza did a great job with the cover art, the cover art captured the bleak—with a spark of hope—tone of the book, and as you read through the novel, you will see more of its brilliance. There are a few beautiful interior arts, too! As far as I know, Dark Theory is Welker’s first epic science fantasy novel, and my goodness, I totally did not expect this book to reach this level of imagination. Combining astronomy, time travel, parallel universe, warping, and many other scientific theories into this fantasy-esque world is never easy. And I am not insane enough to claim I understand every single aspect of the science implemented into the narrative here. I can, however, say that fantasy and hard sci-fi have been mixed nicely in Dark Theory, and I will have to read more books by Wick Welker after this.

“My answer to you, my friend—watch me. Some bots assert that language is the sieve by which we understand qualia. However, me and others who think like me, believe that language is the chain that tethers us to this ground. It is the reason I believe I have brain freeze when there is no logical reason that a digging bot should ever have that experience. Yet, language can also be the wings by which we may fly above the mists of confusion. If we change our language, we change the very nature of our consciousness. If we can communicate more succinctly, we will understand the nature of our beings—it will change the way we perceive our own reality.”


Dark Theory is the first book in Dark Law series by Wick Welker. I am just going to briefly repeat the official premise here. A robot yearns to remember his past. A thief struggles to forget her past. A galaxy on the verge of collapse. On the fringe of a broken civilization, Beetro awakens with no memories and only one directive: find his creator. But in the village of Korthe, Beetro finds only radioactive pestilence, famine, and Miree—a tormented thief with dreams of retiring after her final score. Meanwhile, the fiefdom is plunged further into chaos when a new warlord seizes control, recasting serfs as refugees and leaving derelict robot peasants in his wake. With a shared interest in survival, Beetro and Miree team up to pull off an impossible castle heist: steal a single flake of dark matter, the world’s most valuable and mysterious ore.

This is the premise of Dark Theory, and I suggest you not look further into what this book is about. The details of the mind-bending science fiction epic with the bones of a fantasy traveling quest in Dark Theory should be experienced instead of told by someone else. Dark Theory revolves around themes like trust, unlikely friendship, betrayal, civilization, and identity in a dark and chaotic world. And in the midst of all the hard science-fiction elements, the characters and these themes persevere to make sure Dark Theory provide an entertaining, suspenseful, and meaningful journey instead of drowning in its scientific jargon. Yes, there were several sections where the compelling pacing of the narrative was disrupted due to all the scientific discussions. But overall, this was not a big issue. And I am sure other readers have the chance to enjoy reading these sections more than I did. At its core, Dark Theory is still about the characters and their journey, and I think discussing the four key characters will be the best way to tackle this review.

“But that’s the thing about power… there’s one rule and one rule only to remember. Power corrupts.”


First, let's talk about the two main characters with the most page count. Miree and Beetro. Miree is a tricky one, and I have no doubt this character will be one of the decisive factors in influencing the reader's investment in the book. Miree was, in a few words, immensely unlikable. She's a character purposely written to be unlikable, and her constant awful treatment of her peers was hard to tolerate and get through. Do note that I do not think infuriating characters instantly mean they're poorly written. Rin from The Poppy War trilogy is an immensely unlikable character. However, I also think she's incredibly well-written because she IS written to achieve some purpose in the narrative, and the conclusion of her story achieved them. Miree is, in a way, someone similar to Rin. Welker has prepared the background and reasoning on why Miree acted the way she did, and this can be found in the second half of the Dark Theory. Until then, readers will have to be patient before they reap the reward.

Beetro, on the other hand, is a character I loved immediately from the first page. And my investment in his POV chapters persisted until the end of the book. Actually, it kept increasing with each page. Beetro's search for his past and the revelations he unveiled were so satisfying to read. I loved reading about his character's development and the unlikely friendships he made along his journey. I know some readers are tired of the amnesiac main character's trope, but I tend to love it. As always, any tropes (whether they're used often or not) depend a lot on execution and each reader's subjective experience. From my point of view, Beetro's story reminded me of Caeden's absolutely amazing storyline in The Licanius Trilogy by James Islington. And if you don't know, Caeden transformed into one of my favorite characters in speculative fiction. We'll find out whether Beetro can reach that height with more books in the series.

“Sometimes you get a second chance at redemption, sometimes you're an outcast for the rest of your life. None of these things make you good or bad—you just are, Beetro. You find someone who gives two shits for you, and you try to do the same for them. It’s not binary, this good and evil thing. We live on a spectrum, and we dance wildly across it most of our days.”


But Dark Theory is not only about Miree and Beetro. Multiple other characters were involved, and one of my other favorite characters in the book besides Beetro is Ribcage. I think Ribcage gave the story a charm and lightness to counter the darkness of the series, and her Jumping ability (teleportation) was always cool to read. It is true that as a character, Ribcage did not develop as much as Miree and Beetro did. But her presence, friendship, and unpredictability throughout the novel made the narrative more engaging. Then there's also Arym. Arym was the one I initially felt lukewarm about, but several revelations and world-building intricacies were given through his POV chapters. And I don't think the book would be better without his POV chapters and the culture of the Cribmen. Eventually, as expected, every POV character's story in Dark Theory converged. And the result was incredible.

“My circumstances were given to me—that’s true. But my circumstances are not my life. My life is what I turn it into. Me and you are in the same circumstances right now, right? Both picking through garbage. But I suspect we have very different lives…”


I'm leaving many great things about Dark Theory from this review simply because of spoiler reasons. As I said at the beginning of this review, many factors and details in Dark Theory, from the way I see it, are words that should be read and experienced by each reader instead of told in a review. Let the unpredictable and ambitious world-building and journey take you on a ride. Dark Theory is an ambitious undertaking from Wick Welker. Although, personally speaking, there were a few hiccups in pacing, the characters and their struggle to do good in this dark and forsaken world were inspiring, tense, and satisfying to read. I look forward to reading the second book in Dark Law. But before that, I think I might end up plunging myself into reading the author's previous standalone hard sci-fi novel first: Refraction. Overall, this is an exciting first book in a new science fantasy series suitable to fans of traveling quests in fantasy, hard sci-fi, and The Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy by Cixin Liu.

“The universe doesn’t care if we don’t understand it. It will go on doing what it wants and that is exactly how time works. The future bends back toward the past, but it does not form a circle with the same past, rather, it spirals toward an ever-changing timeline, one that is similar but starts to change with each iteration around the spiral of time. This is how nature protects itself against time paradoxes.”


You can order this book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Blackwells (Free International shipping)

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DNF at around 30%.
Storytelling is disjointed. I care about the characters and the world is interesting but the plot is unsupported and jumps around too much. I lost interest when the characters started doing things that didn't make sense, especially the villain.

I can definitely say that the author has the know hows on how to entice sci-fi readers to keep turning the pages of this book.

There is a definite good balance between the lively parts where the characters' stories get intertwined and the gruesome parts where there is a good balance of highs and lows, the hot and the cold.

I loved the book in general, Dark Theory is a book which brings us the good and the ugly but definitely gives a great reveal/surprise at the end.

I thank the author, Wick Welker, for this copy in exhange for an honest review.

I’d picked this one up under the impression that the robot mentioned in the blurb was the main protagonist. However, that wasn’t the case. This post-apocalyptic adventure is more of an ensemble narrative, as there are several major characters whose progression is charted throughout this quest story.

I did struggle to get through this one – though I want to make it clear that wasn’t because of a lack in the story or writing. It was due to my misjudgement over how grim the world was. And that was absolutely down to me – in no way am I claiming that I was misled. After all, the word dark features in both the book and series title, which is a fairly heavy hint that it wouldn’t be full of unicorn sprinkles and giggles. It wasn’t. The world is in a dire state after catastrophic wars in the past – and Welker’s atmospheric writing fully explores the wretched state of the environment and the desperate people trying to scratch a living from it. You won’t be surprised to learn that some of the characters have unpleasant edges as they battle to survive – Miree, in particular, jumped out as being utterly and unpleasantly self-absorbed. I was also very shaken at a death fairly early on in the book.

That said, while I found I had to pull away and read other books while working my way through this one – something I rarely do – at no point was I seriously tempted to DNF it. For starters, Welker’s energetic storytelling had hooked me. While I didn’t particularly like a number of the cast, I was intrigued to know what would happen next. And as one plot twist after another unfolded, I went on reading because of the sheer unpredictability of the story. Despite the dire situation, which only went on getting worse – there emerged a strong upbeat vibe that steadily grew as the story progressed. By the end, I’d gone from hoping Miree would be bumped off, to really rooting for her.

All in all, if you enjoy post-apocalyptic adventures – particularly ones that include plenty of discussions about quantum physics, gravity and parallel universes in amongst the mayhem – then this is one for you. While I obtained an arc of Dark Theory from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

Wick Welker’s Dark Theory (the first volume of a series called Dark Law) poses basic questions about what it means to be human in a far-future poisoned world. The story begins in a junkyard where people have to scavenge the means of survival. Two young women, the generous-hearted Lucindi and the hardened and cynical Miree, discover a broken robot. Largely due to Lucindi’s kind concern, they dig out the bot and revive him rather than break him apart for his valuable components.

Self-aware, short in stature and made of a mysterious blue metal, he remembers only his name, Beetro, and his mission, to find Galiaro, who, he thinks, must be his maker. Welker creates a moving portrait of human decency and kindness in these opening pages, but those qualities are quickly threatened by the brutal reality of the power-hungry General Deluvius and his massive invading army. Whether or not these characters can survive in a crushing world where they constantly question who they are is a beautifully wrought theme of Dark Theory. This is a strong start to a fascinating series.

Beetro and his companions set out to find Galiaro on a journey that could come straight out of a fantasy novel. They have to cross plains full of radiation-poisoned water, navigate forests of trees that kill humans, confront a menacing cyborg group called the Reticulum, climb precipitous mountains, and cross a dangerous sea on their way to the city of Orion.

........

Throughout their journeys the main characters face hard moral choices: to aid strangers or to fight them, to share knowledge and possessions or to hide them, to use power to help others or to attack them. And each main character has an arc, usually through a lot of pain, emotional or physical, to learn how to survive in a collapsing world without losing all humanity.

It is Beetro who has to face the greatest challenges. As he tries to regain his memory, he learns he may not be the decent, caring person he seems to be but rather a dangerous and power-hungry force for evil. This seems preposterous to him, but he does have these strange dreams of a vast army turning to him for guidance. Welker draws you in to find out how Beetro and the others will respond to the violent tests of their humanity.

Dark Theory is full of intriguing science fictional explanations of impossible phenomena and lots of advanced technology, but the story blends in lots of many elements of fantasy. Welker makes that work quite well, but the way he has structured the book takes us through some repetitive scenes and stretches everything out just a bit too much. At over 800 pages, the novel brought out my editorial mind. Surely, you could cut this, combine those, shorten the whole thing and only improve a very good story. So it can feel like a slog at times, and that’s unfortunate because I really like this book, with its quirky characters, wild science and bristling landscapes. I just thought a serious trimming down would have improved the whole thing.

I’m a massive sci-fi fan. Especially stories that have a spacey theme to them.

Unfortunately I’ve hit a brick wall when it comes to books that I’d have otherwise enjoyed. I got a few chapters in, but something felt off within me. It didn’t grab me. It didn’t draw me into the world.

Perhaps it’s pandemic fatigue, perhaps it’s stress from working multiple jobs, maybe teacher burnout, or a need to spend more time on Uni assignments and therefore more selective in my personal reading, factor in that my enjoyment of things I’d normally enjoy has tanked, but I had to DNF.

It’s me. It’s not the book. And I’m so sorry,

I think this book had an interesting premise and ideas, but was quite hard to follow at times. Some characters I liked more than others (like Ribcage but couldn't stand Arym) There was some good world building too but in the end it was a bit too long and clunky and perhaps could do with a bit more editing down.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley and Wick Welker, Independent Book Publishers Association for an advanced copy of this new science fiction novel.

Dark Theory, by Wick Welkler is a science fiction story with a bit of fantasy questing and a little bit of heisting mixed into a very large, but intriguing new universe. A robot, Beetro, is discovered by scavengers shutdown with no memory of how it came to be there, but showing no signs of aging, though he is an older model. The only clear thing is that he seeks his creator, but has no idea how to go about it. War soon comes to the small dying town, a new warlord with powerful weapons, an unknown agenda arrives, stealing children after giving the starving people plenty of food to eat. Soon Beetro and his companion are driven to a desperate act of thievery. And from there the story really starts going.

The novel is as I said big, but a lot of things a real lot of things are going on with many ideas, some that pan out, some that maybe will continue in other books. There are some slight editing issues, but that is really just nitpicking. The story is good, with a good flow and characters that really are well developed, Beetro and and young women Ribcage. The mix of robotic naivety, and her streetwise attitude, and abilities counterbalance each other well.

A big epic science fiction book, with some fantasy elements. The book gets kind of grim, and there is a little body horror, but nothing to excessive or needless. Recommended for people who love to lose themselves in big stories, and for those who want to be on the bottom floor for a saga that might be the next big thing.

When I started this, I was excited and already drawn in right fro the beginning. The world building was well done and almost believable.
Unfortunately, it went on longer than my enthusiasm lasted.

While there were a lot of great ideas, they didn’t mesh as well as they should have and I began to falter and then not care what happened. A death knell for any book I’m reading.

Thank you to @Netgalley, IBPA, and Wick Welker for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion

I am usually very picky with my sci-fi reads, and the summary of this book captured my attention at once.
"Dark Theory" is thought-provoking, fairly gruesome but not without hope - for the fates of the characters and for humanity in general.
Character-developement in this book is strong, especially when a reader's heart is torn from distaste to sympathy, from simple curiosity to profound caring. Wick Welker's book was a great sci-fi read which I'm still thinking about.

Thank you for the ARC!

I thought this was a well written, interesting Sci-Fi/Fantasy book. It's quite a lengthy book but I never felt fatigued as I was always fully engaged with the plotline, and the various character's of which there are many. Some of the character's were well developed and became favourites like Ribcage and Beetro, while a few others were introduced but never really explored and their actions didn't seem to add much to the main story, like the colourful jester robot and the Tree Beings. I was a little disappointed that we did not hear their back stories, but the book is already quite long and I got the impression that these lesser characters will have more of a significant presence in book 2, or perhaps more editing is needed. I also appreciated the few sprinkles of humour. But I wish more were included as some of the subject matter in this book can be quite heavy and thought provoking, so when a nugget of (good) humour pop's up out of nowhere, it's really funny and eases the intensity of the character's struggles.

There were lots of elements that I found interesting such as the tug of good verses evil within a few of the characters, societal issues of cloning, the incorporation & consequence of non/self aware A.I in society, time travel & bending of time, influence of alien ancestors etc. There was also parts of the story which were not connected well and I'm not sure if this was done on purpose to create mystery or not. For ex, at the end when we finally find out who reactivated Beetro and why, there is a disconnect to how Beetro communicated with said person about their plans prior to Beetro being abruptly shut down. A part of the audit trail is missing here which I feel is important to the story to make it more believable.

However despite these small misgivings, I really enjoyed reading this book and would be interested in reading book 2 if that comes to past.

I’d like to first start off by saying “thank you” to NetGalley and Wick Welker for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Science fiction is not a genre I typically read, but I found a lot of Wick Welker’s Dark Theory (Dark Law, #1) compelling and wonderful to imagine. The world building is terrific and peopled with a bevy of characters I found engaging and entertaining. The science actually made me feel a bit nostalgic, and reminded me of a much earlier time in my life when my understanding of physics was infantile at best, and I’d imagined DARPA scientists creating mad robots within their secret lair, like in comic books. Suffice it to say, the memory of that time, of youthful ponder and wonder at the vastness of the universe, emerging tech and spacefaring, that feeling was what guided me through this book’s science and the dynamics of Welker’s world. I found the nostalgia weirdly grounding, which helped me to not be overwhelmed when everything came to a head.

I loved most of the characters! Especially Beetro, Ribcage and Piot! These three were especially vibrant and awesome and I enjoyed them immensely. I absolutely hated Miree. And no I don’t give a fk about her circumstances because 700 pages of her being a snarling asshole isn’t going to make me sympathize with her woe is me super sad secret backstory.

Like I would have rather read 50 chapters dedicated to Qithara and the plight of the Thekora, before and after the Alcheans showed up. Beetro gets my props for asking the real questions about the cost of Alchean supremacy. I really hope WW will continue on this thread throughout the series because it gave me pause, as a woman of colour, and endeared me to Beetro even more for his thinking about the subjugation of the Thekora.

The story is a bit lengthy but not particularly strenuous. The journey felt light in the first half but then everything is sort of chucked at you in the last quarter and it got a bit challenging to process. The reward is there, though, if you go about it patiently. Anyway, I thought this was great beginning to what will surely be a pretty intense and wild series.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Wick Welker for this ARC.

Very mild spoilers follow.

It took a whole minute; but then I was completely sucked into this very strange and delightful world of really excellent characters. Beetro and The Fellowship of the Dark Matter (my words) inhabit one of the best made-up places I’ve visited in recent fiction: an egg-shaped city?! An underworld?? A psychedelic forest??? There are aliens, but the tolerable kind. There’s time travel. There’s a beautiful future human. There’s a terrible and very grumpy woman. There’s a chivalrous merchant sailor. There are mad mages/scientists. There’s Beetro, the cute robot. There is so much more, and all of it is fun.

The influences the author mentions in the acknowledgements—Jemisin, Wells, Stephenson, Tolkien, among others—are obvious in the epic arc of this story. I do wonder, though, if those influences also played a part in the decision to make this book so long, because it is very long (or the ARC is, anyway). Still, the scope of the story more than makes up for it.

My favourite part of the book is the perfect blend of science fiction (and it’s hard SF, even, my favourite!) and fantasy (because everything has an air of magic about it, the way really advanced science might). What I really hated was the body horror: Welker practises medicine, and you can tell 😩😩😩 So, definite content warnings for body horror and pretty graphic violence.

Still. I would read more fantasy if it read like this book; I loved it, and understand the GR raves (having been somewhat bewildered by them when I started to get really tired of reading, about 200 pages in).

Great read! Get it when it’s out.

Rated: 9/10

So, I really enjoyed the cover and the description right from the start. It begins pretty solid and I was eager to see where the story would go. But after a while it felt like the pacing dragged and it became difficult to remain invested in the story and the characters. Definitely needs more editing as my version had an entire chapter repeat. Overall, a really cool premise that sort of falls flat as one continues reading. Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

This book started off so well! I honestly thought it would be a new favourite, but around the 20% mark, my excitement began to fizzle out.

We follow a range of characters, from a robot who has lost his memory, to Miree, a woman on a secret mission to steal from a cruel dictator. But my favourite character had to be Ribcage, an orphan who tags along with our little band of thieves to help them steal. In an alternate timeline, wee follow Arym, who lives underground, in a world where everyone looks the same... But then he travels to the surface secretly and meets Hawera, and everything he thought he knew about his world changes.

I loved the concept and ideas, but there were way too many things going on. There was so many great ideas thrown together, that it didn't make sense. The writing was at times so dense that I felt like jumping forward to the interesting parts. I did really like the sci-fi element, but I'm so disappointed that it wasn't done to an enjoyable standard.

Overall, I'm sad about this book, but I did enjoy the beginning and the humour was pretty good!

I've gotten a good way into this book, but unfortunately it's a little too dark and intense for me at this time, which is a shame because I enjoyed parts of it quite a bit, and I wanted to find out what happens. I may come back to it later when I feel like I can handle it. I will say, that I think it's a very well written, compelling book and the world and characters are very well drawn, and that cover is gorgeous!

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a copy of this book.

Firstly, I’d like to say that this book has some very cool concepts. There are numerous characters with extraordinary abilities that are extremely fun – and right up my alley in terms of interests – and there’s some really strong worldbuilding. I kept reading because, about a quarter of the way in, I started to care about the world as a whole, which is difficult to achieve.

The characters, on the other hand…

Well. Welker’s writing style just isn’t one I’m a big fan of. Usually, I prefer the “show don’t tell” method of character development, but in this the characters often seem to be aware of their every thought and its connotations, which didn’t feel particularly relatable. I found it extremely difficult to connect with any of the characters in the early stages of Dark Theory, and in the latter stages found even some of the best character developments in this book a little inauthentic and disconnected. The emotional disconnect made even the most dramatic scenes fall a little flat, which definitely made it harder to read and focus on. The pacing of the plot, however, works very well. It’s slow, but it doesn’t particularly drag.

Overall, I have fairly mixed feelings about this book. The ideas and concepts behind some of the story – Et galaxe dor mort, great plotline, just saying – were very strong, but I didn’t feel the characters supported it, and as a result I didn’t really care.