The Alchemists of Loom by Elise Kova

The Alchemists of Loom by Elise Kova
Narrator: Erin Moon, Tim Campbell
Published by Keymaster Press
Published on 10 January 2017
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 376
Format: eBook
Source: my local library
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Her vengeance. His vision.

Ari lost everything she once loved when the Five Guilds’ resistance fell to the Dragon King. Now, she uses her unparalleled gift for clockwork machinery in tandem with notoriously unscrupulous morals to contribute to a thriving underground organ market. There isn’t a place on Loom that is secure from the engineer turned thief, and her magical talents are sold to the highest bidder as long as the job defies their Dragon oppressors.

Cvareh would do anything to see his sister usurp the Dragon King and sit on the throne. His family’s house has endured the shame of being the lowest rung in the Dragons’ society for far too long. The Alchemist Guild, down on Loom, may just hold the key to putting his kin in power, if Cvareh can get to them before the Dragon King’s assassins.

When Ari stumbles upon a wounded Cvareh, she sees an opportunity to slaughter an enemy and make a profit off his corpse. But the Dragon sees an opportunity to navigate Loom with the best person to get him where he wants to go.

He offers her the one thing Ari can’t refuse: A wish of her greatest desire, if she brings him to the Alchemists of Loom.

I’ve listened to 10% of the audiobook, and while that’s not enough to fully critique a book on all of its merits, I can tell it’s not worth my time to continue.

What I like:

– The worldbuilding. It’s stark and drops you right in, because of course you don’t need any info dumping.

– The fact that none of these characters are human (though they are humanoid).

– The audiobook narrators are really good so far, although admittedly there’s been nothing to stretch their performances in the first 10% (not a critique, just an observation – I don’t expect emotional performances in the first 10%).

What I dislike:

– Main character starts off ‘perfect’ kickass dangerous no character growth needed a la Celaena from Throne of Glass and Androma from Zenith (another character with white hair!), both of which I kind of hate. (if you did love those characters and those books, you’ll probably like this)

– Similarly, the writing, though clearly from an author with at least some talent, seems kind of juvenile.

– Also, I hate the main character. And while I can and often do read books where I don’t like the main character, this has the same feel of Throne of Glass and Zenith where I’m supposed to fangirl over these kickass perfect warriors and I just hate them, rather than Wuthering Heights where I also hate the characters because they’re awful, but love the book.

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