[CCL]≡ [PDF] Renegade Skyfarer The Stones of Terrene Chronicles RJ Metcalf 9781986799799 Books

Renegade Skyfarer The Stones of Terrene Chronicles RJ Metcalf 9781986799799 Books

Download As PDF : Renegade Skyfarer The Stones of Terrene Chronicles RJ Metcalf 9781986799799 Books

Renegade Skyfarer The Stones of Terrene Chronicles RJ Metcalf 9781986799799 Books

Wow. Never have I felt so wildly different about the first and second halves of a book. The first half nearly made me give up multiple times, the second was jam-packed with action and twists that kept me intrigued and turning pages.

Why the difference? Bottom line, practically every significant plot point happens in the second half of the book. For nearly the whole first half, I had no idea what the central conflict even was. Apart from a super intriguing prologue and Ben waking up memoryless on the Sapphire, everything the characters do is a continuation of their lives before the story started. They hunt for a way to fix the keystone and hit dead ends. They stop in cities and talk to their contacts. They go to sporting events and markets and taverns and the palace. They fight (awesome, terrifying, INVISIBLE) dragons. They have relationship issues and regain flashes of memory. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of conflict (both external and especially internal), and it’s clear from the blurb that trying to fix the barrier is the crew’s central goal, but the event that finally sets things in motion happens at the midpoint, and Ben’s dilemma mentioned in the blurb happens during the resolution.

Perhaps most frustrating to me was about a quarter of the way through the book, when Ben finally meets someone who recognizes an object he’s wearing from his former life. The guy gets super nervous, mutters something about “another one,” and tells Ben to destroy the object.

Ben walks away without asking any questions.

This leads to the other thing that frustrated me, which is character passivity. Part of it is, I think, related to the structure problems I just noted—with no inciting incident to kickstart the story, there’s no way for us to see how the MCs’ wants/goals/fears are affected by the new situation into which they’ve been thrown.

Beyond that, Ben and Jade both have fairly intangible goals. Memory loss is hard, because apart from asking questions and trying weird memory-jarring techniques (settle down, Doctor Jaxton), there’s really not much you can have the character do but wait, and in Ben’s case, there’s not much character arc involved in regaining his memories. Jade, meanwhile, questions her worth and feels stifled by her family and friends, wanting to prove herself but always held back by her father’s fears. She has a concrete goal, but it’s more long term (she’s sort of biding her time and waiting for the right moment), and even after she learns something about her past which changes everything, she spends a lot of the story wrestling with frustration about her relationship with Zak and (for a while) debating whether she should pursue Ben instead.

My guess is that Metcalf is playing the long game and spreading their growth arcs over the whole series, but in this book, both characters felt more like passengers than active drivers of the plot.

And then comes the second half! Once the story picked up, it kept going and gathered more and more twists as it went, and I’m glad I pushed through to the end. I love how the prologue finally tied into the plot, and I’m really curious to see how Blade’s story plays out in future books—at this point I find him and Finn (I LOVE FINN) the most interesting of the characters, which probably says something about me. :P I can’t say a whole lot more here without revealing many spoilers, and I feel kind of bad after the onslaught of comments about the first half, but suffice to say that (apart from some confusion over the introduction of more new characters throughout the second half) I really enjoyed where it went.

A final observation since I know some spec-fic readers are picky about language. This story has some really fun in-world slang (“blimp-for-brains” may be my new favorite insult), but also some modern-Earth-sounding phrases. There are instances of “okay,” “guys,” “man” (as in, “Hey, man, what’s up?”), “freak out,” and “burn” (“Oooh, burn!”), to name a few, so take that however you will.

Were half stars allowed, I might give this 2.5 stars because of the amount of effort it took me to get to the meat of the story, but since they’re not, I’m rounding up.


Tags : Renegade Skyfarer (The Stones of Terrene Chronicles) [RJ Metcalf] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The airship crew saved Ben’s life from a dragon, of all things.When Ben wakes up, he has no memory of his family,RJ Metcalf,Renegade Skyfarer (The Stones of Terrene Chronicles),CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,1986799794,FICTION Fantasy Epic,Fiction Action & Adventure

Renegade Skyfarer The Stones of Terrene Chronicles RJ Metcalf 9781986799799 Books Reviews

At first, I found the story very confusing as the cast we get introduced to is so big right off the bat I couldn't keep track of who was who, and we changed POVs a lot right off the bat. But at about the 15% mark, I finally started to keep the huge cast in track, and get into the story.

Every single character is well-developed and lovable, and their inter-personal reactions remind me of Voltron or the Avengers.

Yet there's a family-friendly aspect that makes every character feel like someone you'd want to get to know. Even the bad guy has a redeemable arc, and I appreciate that. Metcalf doesn't skimp on the violence, and it gets a bit gory, but it's never done for shock value or horror. Characters' feelings and reactions are real and deep, and Metcalf focuses more on what the violence and plot is doing to their growth as human beings.

I look forward to more of this series!
Renegade Skyfarer has the feel of a classic fantasy adventure, as we follow the crew of the airship Sapphire as they search for a way to fix the barrier that protects Terrene. There’s political intrigue as well to give it an unique flavor, and I was engaged throughout as the plot unfolded through it’s twists and turns.

The steampunk setting is vivid and I felt like I was a part of the world that RJ Metcalf has crafted in her debut novel. I love the idea of magic rocks and the way that magic is treated here, not as a cure all, but more like enhancers to make life just a bit easier. The tech is fun too, especially as newcomer Ben struggles to understand it all.

I connected to most of the characters, who brought their own personality and fun to the story. Jade was my favorite, the fiery mechanic who’s trying to prove her worth to her father. I especially felt for her in the later stages of the story. I also loved Ben, our protagonist, who’s arrived on the ship without his memories, but doesn’t feel like a blank slate like many amnesiac characters. He’s clueless about Terrene to start, but at the same time, willing to help the people who saved his life. As the story moves forward, he struggles between his new friends and his returning memories of his old life, and I really liked how it was handled. Slate is the leader of the Sapphire and while kind, compassionate and protective, is motivated deeply by past regrets, which we learn runs deeper as the plot continues. There’s five points of view total, but the story didn’t feel bogged down.

The ending is satisfying and wraps up the main storyline of the book, but there’s just enough dangling to save for future installments, which I’m looking forward to.
I got this book when it was being promoted for free and didn't really have any expectations but the cover looked interesting and I decided to give it a try. I got hooked right away from the first chapter and found myself reading it every chance I got. There was good world building and lots of interesting well-developed characters. I felt like this was a good mix of fantasy and steampunk, not too overwhelming on either end. The only thing I didn't care for was the blending of the real world with a fantasy world, but that is my personal preference. I just prefer to read fantasy that doesn't reference real world places or things but it was actually well done in this book. The book ended with a well done cliff hanger that left me wanting the second book but also satisfied with the conclusion of the first. I was actually so engrossed in the book that I didn't realize I was near the end and was so bummed when I turned the page found I was done!
Wow. Never have I felt so wildly different about the first and second halves of a book. The first half nearly made me give up multiple times, the second was jam-packed with action and twists that kept me intrigued and turning pages.

Why the difference? Bottom line, practically every significant plot point happens in the second half of the book. For nearly the whole first half, I had no idea what the central conflict even was. Apart from a super intriguing prologue and Ben waking up memoryless on the Sapphire, everything the characters do is a continuation of their lives before the story started. They hunt for a way to fix the keystone and hit dead ends. They stop in cities and talk to their contacts. They go to sporting events and markets and taverns and the palace. They fight (awesome, terrifying, INVISIBLE) dragons. They have relationship issues and regain flashes of memory. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of conflict (both external and especially internal), and it’s clear from the blurb that trying to fix the barrier is the crew’s central goal, but the event that finally sets things in motion happens at the midpoint, and Ben’s dilemma mentioned in the blurb happens during the resolution.

Perhaps most frustrating to me was about a quarter of the way through the book, when Ben finally meets someone who recognizes an object he’s wearing from his former life. The guy gets super nervous, mutters something about “another one,” and tells Ben to destroy the object.

Ben walks away without asking any questions.

This leads to the other thing that frustrated me, which is character passivity. Part of it is, I think, related to the structure problems I just noted—with no inciting incident to kickstart the story, there’s no way for us to see how the MCs’ wants/goals/fears are affected by the new situation into which they’ve been thrown.

Beyond that, Ben and Jade both have fairly intangible goals. Memory loss is hard, because apart from asking questions and trying weird memory-jarring techniques (settle down, Doctor Jaxton), there’s really not much you can have the character do but wait, and in Ben’s case, there’s not much character arc involved in regaining his memories. Jade, meanwhile, questions her worth and feels stifled by her family and friends, wanting to prove herself but always held back by her father’s fears. She has a concrete goal, but it’s more long term (she’s sort of biding her time and waiting for the right moment), and even after she learns something about her past which changes everything, she spends a lot of the story wrestling with frustration about her relationship with Zak and (for a while) debating whether she should pursue Ben instead.

My guess is that Metcalf is playing the long game and spreading their growth arcs over the whole series, but in this book, both characters felt more like passengers than active drivers of the plot.

And then comes the second half! Once the story picked up, it kept going and gathered more and more twists as it went, and I’m glad I pushed through to the end. I love how the prologue finally tied into the plot, and I’m really curious to see how Blade’s story plays out in future books—at this point I find him and Finn (I LOVE FINN) the most interesting of the characters, which probably says something about me. P I can’t say a whole lot more here without revealing many spoilers, and I feel kind of bad after the onslaught of comments about the first half, but suffice to say that (apart from some confusion over the introduction of more new characters throughout the second half) I really enjoyed where it went.

A final observation since I know some spec-fic readers are picky about language. This story has some really fun in-world slang (“blimp-for-brains” may be my new favorite insult), but also some modern-Earth-sounding phrases. There are instances of “okay,” “guys,” “man” (as in, “Hey, man, what’s up?”), “freak out,” and “burn” (“Oooh, burn!”), to name a few, so take that however you will.

Were half stars allowed, I might give this 2.5 stars because of the amount of effort it took me to get to the meat of the story, but since they’re not, I’m rounding up.