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Godfall #1
Paladins of the Storm Lord
Surrounded by dead crewmates, marooned above an unknown planet, the bridge crew of the Atlas awakens from a crash with extraordinary mental abilities. When their most powerful member jettisons their passengers to the planet below, they have an unprecedented opportunity: they can become gods.
Two hundred years later, Lieutenant Cordelia Ross is a paladin serving the Storm Lord, her city's patron deity. Her faith is absolute until her people are attacked by a native species, harmless creatures turned devious by an unknown hand.
Cordelia tries to solve the mystery of their development before they kill anyone else, but the secrets surrounding them are too deep. As orders from the Storm Lord begin to value obedience over integrity, Cordelia wonders whose side her god is really on.
Two hundred years later, Lieutenant Cordelia Ross is a paladin serving the Storm Lord, her city's patron deity. Her faith is absolute until her people are attacked by a native species, harmless creatures turned devious by an unknown hand.
Cordelia tries to solve the mystery of their development before they kill anyone else, but the secrets surrounding them are too deep. As orders from the Storm Lord begin to value obedience over integrity, Cordelia wonders whose side her god is really on.
314 pages, Paperback
First published May 17, 2016
10 people are currently reading
199 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Ann Wright
24 books195 followersBarbara Ann Wright writes fantasy and science fiction novels and short stories when not adding to her enormous book collection or ranting on her blog. Her short fiction has appeared twice in Crossed Genres Magazine and once made Tangent Online's recommended reading list. Her first novel, The Pyramid Waltz, was one of Tor.com's Reviewer's Choice books of 2012 and was a 2012 Foreword Review Book of the Year Award Finalist as well as a Golden Crown Award finalist. It won the 2013 Rainbow Award for Best Lesbian Fantasy and made BookRiot's 100 Must-Read Sci-Fi Fantasy Novels By Female Authors. She's won five Rainbow Awards total, and Coils was a finalist in the 2017 Lambda Awards.
Her writing career can be boiled down to two points: when her mother bought her a typewriter in the sixth grade and when she took second place in the Isaac Asimov Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing in 2004. One gave her the means to write and the other gave her the confidence to keep going. Believing in oneself, in her opinion, is the most important thing a person can do.
Visit her Bold Strokes page for more information.
Her writing career can be boiled down to two points: when her mother bought her a typewriter in the sixth grade and when she took second place in the Isaac Asimov Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing in 2004. One gave her the means to write and the other gave her the confidence to keep going. Believing in oneself, in her opinion, is the most important thing a person can do.
Visit her Bold Strokes page for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 27, 2016
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books in exchange for an honest review.
This is my sixth book by this author. First science fantasy. I’ve previously read a four book fantasy series and a 1 book, stand-a-lone, historical fantasy book. I realize that this book here falls into the science fiction category, but I think of it as science fantasy. What with the mysterious powers that are not science based, and the dryad like aliens.
I mentioned in either one of my updates or in a thread that this book has a similarity, in a loose way, with David Weber’s Safehold series. I do not wish to go too far down this path, but in short Safehold is about: a colony ship arrives at a planet. Something different than planned occurs and the colonists, who had been frozen, are awoken on the planet without any knowledge of their past and thrust upon them is this ‘religion’ that both puts the ships crew as gods, and includes things like ‘technology cannot go above a certain level’ in the rules. Then hundreds of years later an android is awoken – she has the memories of her time as a human female crewmember. She’s going to go out amongst the ‘peoples’ and stuff. Not exactly the same as the story here. Not by a long shot, not really, but that series and this book reminded me of each other.
Here, this book, – a colony ship arrives at a planet – it isn’t the planet they had been aiming for, and something mysterious happened to both put them off course and to give the crewmembers ‘god-like’ abilities. The colonists, who had been frozen, are sent down to the planet. They’ve either been given, or made up themselves (though I think it was given), that the crew members were gods. Though they were allowed to retain memory of their prior existence, and knowledge that the ‘gods’ had been humans at some point. To be fair, the crew members do have god-like abilities. Petty gods, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Tech base is kept at a relatively lowish level, but not due to any religious rules (or need to hide from vicious aliens (the real reason to keep the tech base low in Safehold). No, the tech base is limited to the situation – the planet isn’t the one the colony ship was aiming for, and most of their supplies are already on the planet – that other planet. And the planet they did land on apparently is low on metals. So they know about technology, they just don’t have the means to enable a higher level of technology.
So. That’s the foundation. A colony ship was heading to a new colony world. Something mysterious happened and the ship arrived at the wrong planet. No word is mentioned as to whether or not the ship was stuck there. Or had communication issues. Or anything. Heck, there’s even mention that the colonists had hoped for rescue, so the lack of a word or two mentioning that the ship didn’t have more power, or the communication gear was fried, or something, was vaguely annoying.
Distracted myself there. Sorry. Ship arrived. Crew awake as if from sleep, but look around – they were supposed to have been on duty. They are on the bridge. Many are dead. One, named Dillon, has a raging headache. Duo, is missing an eye. Lazlo is wandering around trying to help – he isn’t the doctor, just someone called upon in an emergency. The doctor is dead. Lessan – the navigator, another person who had woken up, is horrified, jerking around, looking for live people. Marlowe and Christian are also wandering around, and speaking oddly. Lessan decides to go wake up the captain, Dillon – for unclear reasons, wants her to stop. Grabs at her, she tries to pull free, he increases his desire to keep her from leaving, and she’s electrocuted. The crew, as mentioned, has these mystery powers now. Unexpectedly. And, as seen, from the first moment the reader meets him, Dillon is a massive asshole.
So, next chapter – two hundred years later, colonists are wandering around doing stuff colonist like.
This is where I’d say something like ‘the main character is’ or ‘the main characters are’ but . . . there are none. I know that the book description specifically mentions two – Lieutenant Cordelia ‘Delia’ Ross and the Storm Lord (that being Dillon), but neither has the main point of view. Both have point of views, and are important to the story-line, but neither are the main point of view. As mentioned, there is none.
Here’s also where I’d put down the point of views, except, there’s like 20 of them (not really, but a ton of them). There’s Cordelia, Captain Carmichael, Liam Carmichael, Dillon, Lazlo, Lydia (I think that’s the prophet one’s name), Horace, Nettle, Usk (the old drushka point of view (drushka being what I’ve been calling the dryad aliens), B46 (the ‘boggins’ queen), etc (I can’t recall now if Paul Ross, Shiv, Flood, and others also have point of views or not).
So, I can’t really give a list of main characters, because there isn’t really a main character. Nor can I do a list of POV’s, as there are just so many of them. So, let me just boil things down. The colonists live near a swamp in a place called Gale (the main humans in this story, not all humans on this planet). They share the few remaining armor they have left (suits of armor), while others wear ‘leathers’. They patrol around the town, and in the nearby swamp. The ‘paladins’ are the local security/town guards. The town and paladins ‘worship’ the god known as ‘Storm Lord’ – he who helps control the weather – moving rain, clouds, etc. Which Dillon, as Storm Lord, does in fact do.
In the swamp are two intelligent or proto-intelligent species. One of which is actually broken apart into two factions – one that wishes to wipe out the humans (old drushka), and one that does not (drushka). The proto-intelligent species, boggins, is at a level wherein they can use sticks they find on the ground as spears, and have a certain low cunning – they’ve been ‘augmented’ though to a level of true intelligence (a level they might have reached on their own if they had had the opportunity and lots of time). The old drushka still have a ‘wipe out the humans’ mentality, though they haven’t done anything to advance that mentality in a good long while; at the same time they don’t like how the whole drushka has been split and wish to join everyone back up again. The boggins are running around trying to figure out what to do with this new intelligence, though they know that one of the things they wish to do is wipe out the humans and the drushka.
There is a solid story here. It’s readable, it’s interesting, and it intrigues me enough to pull me along. There’s a slight problem, though. With minor exceptions, like a few of the yangui’s (sp? – the augmented humans), Nettles and Shiv (drushka), I kind of despise everyone.
Of the original crew: Dillon’s insane with lots of power. A real asshole. The other ‘god like’ crew members, except for Duo and Lazlo, are mostly unknown to the reader – might even be some great people in there, or more assholes, not given enough to know. Duo’s another insane one with lots of power, but doesn’t get a lot of ‘screen’ time (or pages). Lazlo’s a weak-ass coward who has spent the last 250 years lusting after Dillon and doing his bidding, which includes some seriously evil shit, despite the fact that Dillon is just friendly to Lazlo because Lazlo has this ability to heal.
Of those on the planet: Captain Carmichael is described in a way that lends one to believe she’s super competent and really good at her job. Though when she actually tries to do anything, she is shown to be kind of incompetent and lacking in abilities – no idea what that’s about. Long and short, she’s an incompetent dick with a veneer of competence and respect. Liam Carmichael, son of Captain Carmichael, is a drunk and a skirt-chaser who is largely incompetent. Lieutenant Cordelia Ross is friends with Liam, and shows a lot more competence than many others in this story. She’s also, though, a drunk and a skirt-chaser with a lot of bigotry (see: her reaction to seeing ‘Sun and Moon’ people in the town) and arrogance mixed in.
Of those who are drushka (and why is that always lower case in the book?): Nettles is competent and good at what she does. Shiv acts impulsive and immature, but she’s likable despite these handicaps. None of the drushka, though, has enough pages to get a firm handle on their characters.
Of those with point of views who I haven’t mentioned above: some I do not know why they are in the book. They have no real presence, beyond a couple scenes here and there. No, not why they are in the book, why they have point of views. Lydia, the prophet, appears to be there to . . . um . . show what a prophet is like. And have yet another person be sorry for in regards to .
Romance
Almost forgot this one here. There's a bit of romance going on in this book. It drives several of the characters actions so I can't say that it is not of importance. But this isn't a capital R romance. It just is a book that includes romance. drushka and humans. Gods and humans. Humans and humans. Straight, lesbian, and gay relationships. More straight than any other kind. Not counting one-night-stand type deals, there is 2 lesbian, '2' gay (I might not otherwise count Dillon and Lazlo, but Dillon has controlled Lazlo for 250 years because of Lazlo's lust for him, even if there isn't anything more than a manipulative relationship here), and 2 straight. I'm being purposely vague. Though I'm not sure why. Story opens with three relationships in place (well, once the prologue is over) - Lazlo and Dillon (gay), Paul Ross and Reach (straight), and Lydia and Freddie (lesbian). Three more 'develop' over the course of the book.
Overall
Bah. Enough of that. Let's do the overall thingie. There is a good solid story here. There are just too many people telling it. And most of them are not people I want to have anything to do with. Even so, I was planning on giving this book a rating near 3.5 to 3.8 stars – closer to 3.8. Since that is ‘close enough’ to 4 stars, I was going to mark the book as 4 stars. Since there’s no way to mark the book as being 3.5 stars. I was hovering on the edge, though and . . . . something that occurred very near the end pushed me in the opposite direction. In the end, I cannot give a rating higher than 3.3 stars – still a good solid rating. And without half stars, that gets marked down as a 3 everywhere that lacks half stars (GoodReads, Netgalley) and 3.5 everywhere that has half stars (LibraryThing, if I still posted there, Leafmarks – similarly if I still posted there), and 3.3 on my blog.
May 9 2016
This is my sixth book by this author. First science fantasy. I’ve previously read a four book fantasy series and a 1 book, stand-a-lone, historical fantasy book. I realize that this book here falls into the science fiction category, but I think of it as science fantasy. What with the mysterious powers that are not science based, and the dryad like aliens.
I mentioned in either one of my updates or in a thread that this book has a similarity, in a loose way, with David Weber’s Safehold series. I do not wish to go too far down this path, but in short Safehold is about: a colony ship arrives at a planet. Something different than planned occurs and the colonists, who had been frozen, are awoken on the planet without any knowledge of their past and thrust upon them is this ‘religion’ that both puts the ships crew as gods, and includes things like ‘technology cannot go above a certain level’ in the rules. Then hundreds of years later an android is awoken – she has the memories of her time as a human female crewmember. She’s going to go out amongst the ‘peoples’ and stuff. Not exactly the same as the story here. Not by a long shot, not really, but that series and this book reminded me of each other.
Here, this book, – a colony ship arrives at a planet – it isn’t the planet they had been aiming for, and something mysterious happened to both put them off course and to give the crewmembers ‘god-like’ abilities. The colonists, who had been frozen, are sent down to the planet. They’ve either been given, or made up themselves (though I think it was given), that the crew members were gods. Though they were allowed to retain memory of their prior existence, and knowledge that the ‘gods’ had been humans at some point. To be fair, the crew members do have god-like abilities. Petty gods, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Tech base is kept at a relatively lowish level, but not due to any religious rules (or need to hide from vicious aliens (the real reason to keep the tech base low in Safehold). No, the tech base is limited to the situation – the planet isn’t the one the colony ship was aiming for, and most of their supplies are already on the planet – that other planet. And the planet they did land on apparently is low on metals. So they know about technology, they just don’t have the means to enable a higher level of technology.
So. That’s the foundation. A colony ship was heading to a new colony world. Something mysterious happened and the ship arrived at the wrong planet. No word is mentioned as to whether or not the ship was stuck there. Or had communication issues. Or anything. Heck, there’s even mention that the colonists had hoped for rescue, so the lack of a word or two mentioning that the ship didn’t have more power, or the communication gear was fried, or something, was vaguely annoying.
Distracted myself there. Sorry. Ship arrived. Crew awake as if from sleep, but look around – they were supposed to have been on duty. They are on the bridge. Many are dead. One, named Dillon, has a raging headache. Duo, is missing an eye. Lazlo is wandering around trying to help – he isn’t the doctor, just someone called upon in an emergency. The doctor is dead. Lessan – the navigator, another person who had woken up, is horrified, jerking around, looking for live people. Marlowe and Christian are also wandering around, and speaking oddly. Lessan decides to go wake up the captain, Dillon – for unclear reasons, wants her to stop. Grabs at her, she tries to pull free, he increases his desire to keep her from leaving, and she’s electrocuted. The crew, as mentioned, has these mystery powers now. Unexpectedly. And, as seen, from the first moment the reader meets him, Dillon is a massive asshole.
So, next chapter – two hundred years later, colonists are wandering around doing stuff colonist like.
This is where I’d say something like ‘the main character is’ or ‘the main characters are’ but . . . there are none. I know that the book description specifically mentions two – Lieutenant Cordelia ‘Delia’ Ross and the Storm Lord (that being Dillon), but neither has the main point of view. Both have point of views, and are important to the story-line, but neither are the main point of view. As mentioned, there is none.
Here’s also where I’d put down the point of views, except, there’s like 20 of them (not really, but a ton of them). There’s Cordelia, Captain Carmichael, Liam Carmichael, Dillon, Lazlo, Lydia (I think that’s the prophet one’s name), Horace, Nettle, Usk (the old drushka point of view (drushka being what I’ve been calling the dryad aliens), B46 (the ‘boggins’ queen), etc (I can’t recall now if Paul Ross, Shiv, Flood, and others also have point of views or not).
So, I can’t really give a list of main characters, because there isn’t really a main character. Nor can I do a list of POV’s, as there are just so many of them. So, let me just boil things down. The colonists live near a swamp in a place called Gale (the main humans in this story, not all humans on this planet). They share the few remaining armor they have left (suits of armor), while others wear ‘leathers’. They patrol around the town, and in the nearby swamp. The ‘paladins’ are the local security/town guards. The town and paladins ‘worship’ the god known as ‘Storm Lord’ – he who helps control the weather – moving rain, clouds, etc. Which Dillon, as Storm Lord, does in fact do.
In the swamp are two intelligent or proto-intelligent species. One of which is actually broken apart into two factions – one that wishes to wipe out the humans (old drushka), and one that does not (drushka). The proto-intelligent species, boggins, is at a level wherein they can use sticks they find on the ground as spears, and have a certain low cunning – they’ve been ‘augmented’ though to a level of true intelligence (a level they might have reached on their own if they had had the opportunity and lots of time). The old drushka still have a ‘wipe out the humans’ mentality, though they haven’t done anything to advance that mentality in a good long while; at the same time they don’t like how the whole drushka has been split and wish to join everyone back up again. The boggins are running around trying to figure out what to do with this new intelligence, though they know that one of the things they wish to do is wipe out the humans and the drushka.
There is a solid story here. It’s readable, it’s interesting, and it intrigues me enough to pull me along. There’s a slight problem, though. With minor exceptions, like a few of the yangui’s (sp? – the augmented humans), Nettles and Shiv (drushka), I kind of despise everyone.
Of the original crew: Dillon’s insane with lots of power. A real asshole. The other ‘god like’ crew members, except for Duo and Lazlo, are mostly unknown to the reader – might even be some great people in there, or more assholes, not given enough to know. Duo’s another insane one with lots of power, but doesn’t get a lot of ‘screen’ time (or pages). Lazlo’s a weak-ass coward who has spent the last 250 years lusting after Dillon and doing his bidding, which includes some seriously evil shit, despite the fact that Dillon is just friendly to Lazlo because Lazlo has this ability to heal.
Of those on the planet: Captain Carmichael is described in a way that lends one to believe she’s super competent and really good at her job. Though when she actually tries to do anything, she is shown to be kind of incompetent and lacking in abilities – no idea what that’s about. Long and short, she’s an incompetent dick with a veneer of competence and respect. Liam Carmichael, son of Captain Carmichael, is a drunk and a skirt-chaser who is largely incompetent. Lieutenant Cordelia Ross is friends with Liam, and shows a lot more competence than many others in this story. She’s also, though, a drunk and a skirt-chaser with a lot of bigotry (see: her reaction to seeing ‘Sun and Moon’ people in the town) and arrogance mixed in.
Of those who are drushka (and why is that always lower case in the book?): Nettles is competent and good at what she does. Shiv acts impulsive and immature, but she’s likable despite these handicaps. None of the drushka, though, has enough pages to get a firm handle on their characters.
Of those with point of views who I haven’t mentioned above: some I do not know why they are in the book. They have no real presence, beyond a couple scenes here and there. No, not why they are in the book, why they have point of views. Lydia, the prophet, appears to be there to . . . um . . show what a prophet is like. And have yet another person be sorry for in regards to .
Romance
Almost forgot this one here. There's a bit of romance going on in this book. It drives several of the characters actions so I can't say that it is not of importance. But this isn't a capital R romance. It just is a book that includes romance. drushka and humans. Gods and humans. Humans and humans. Straight, lesbian, and gay relationships. More straight than any other kind. Not counting one-night-stand type deals, there is 2 lesbian, '2' gay (I might not otherwise count Dillon and Lazlo, but Dillon has controlled Lazlo for 250 years because of Lazlo's lust for him, even if there isn't anything more than a manipulative relationship here), and 2 straight. I'm being purposely vague. Though I'm not sure why. Story opens with three relationships in place (well, once the prologue is over) - Lazlo and Dillon (gay), Paul Ross and Reach (straight), and Lydia and Freddie (lesbian). Three more 'develop' over the course of the book.
Overall
Bah. Enough of that. Let's do the overall thingie. There is a good solid story here. There are just too many people telling it. And most of them are not people I want to have anything to do with. Even so, I was planning on giving this book a rating near 3.5 to 3.8 stars – closer to 3.8. Since that is ‘close enough’ to 4 stars, I was going to mark the book as 4 stars. Since there’s no way to mark the book as being 3.5 stars. I was hovering on the edge, though and . . . . something that occurred very near the end pushed me in the opposite direction. In the end, I cannot give a rating higher than 3.3 stars – still a good solid rating. And without half stars, that gets marked down as a 3 everywhere that lacks half stars (GoodReads, Netgalley) and 3.5 everywhere that has half stars (LibraryThing, if I still posted there, Leafmarks – similarly if I still posted there), and 3.3 on my blog.
May 9 2016
July 20, 2017
One of my favourite finds of the year. Great world-building, and I really enjoyed the pace of the story. The book starts off with different threads, which are beautifully woven together in one cohesive storyline. The author has put a lot of effort into creating a rich and diverse world - my favourites being the druksha, the tree people.
The book is a mix of sci-fi and fantasy. The storyline follows a sequence of events that are triggered when a so-called 'god' (Storm Lord) comes to live amongst his followers (in reality, he has been ejected from a space ship by his crew mates ). We meet the yafanai, people with macro or micro kinetic powers, able to heal or harm with their minds, who add another dimension to the complexity of the world. Our cast includes both f/f and m/m couples, which doesn't bother me as it includes several strong female leads. .
The only downside of creating such a vivid, imaginative fantasy is that there is a lot to take in initially, so this is not a book you can start reading and then come back and finish a few weeks later.
Luckily for me, the sequel was published early this year, so I was able to purchase it immediately *happy dance*, though I will probably need to re-read 1 & 2 when book 3 is released early next year.
The book has multiple storylines/third-person POVs to start with, which can be a little bit daunting, but as I mentioned earlier, the threads eventually merge together making the story a lot easier to follow.
Highly recommended if you like the sci-fi/ fantasy genre.
The book is a mix of sci-fi and fantasy. The storyline follows a sequence of events that are triggered when a so-called 'god' (Storm Lord) comes to live amongst his followers (in reality, he has been ejected from a space ship by his crew mates ). We meet the yafanai, people with macro or micro kinetic powers, able to heal or harm with their minds, who add another dimension to the complexity of the world. Our cast includes both f/f and m/m couples, which doesn't bother me as it includes several strong female leads. .
The only downside of creating such a vivid, imaginative fantasy is that there is a lot to take in initially, so this is not a book you can start reading and then come back and finish a few weeks later.
Luckily for me, the sequel was published early this year, so I was able to purchase it immediately *happy dance*, though I will probably need to re-read 1 & 2 when book 3 is released early next year.
The book has multiple storylines/third-person POVs to start with, which can be a little bit daunting, but as I mentioned earlier, the threads eventually merge together making the story a lot easier to follow.
Highly recommended if you like the sci-fi/ fantasy genre.
May 21, 2016
"Paladins of the Storm Lord" is a science-fantasy adventure with magic powers, tech and aliens intertwined in politics, warfare, diplomacy and romance.
I loved this. The set up with a colony ship experiencing a disaster and the survivors developing God-like powers was quickly and effectively drawn, with the politics and interplay of those on the ship excellently established.
The world that the Paladins inhabited was fascinating, with their hoarded leftover technologies, lack of metal and structure built on centuries old recruitment videos.
I enjoyed the alien species and the almost by-the-by exploration of the moral issues the story invoked: what makes a person, what sort of experimentation is ok, is morality decided on a personal level or by religion?
Simon Lazlo was a fascinatingly flawed character who knows that what he has done is wrong, but at the same time is still proud of the positive achievements of his work. He knows that he should have refused Dillon's requests; knows that Dillon uses him just as much as the others and also knows that he would do it all again. I felt so sorry for him when he finally makes a decision he knows is for the best, is actively rejecting Dillon and the others and at the same time destroys any chance of a real, equal, loving relationship. While Cordelia is (I think) the main character, Simon was more interesting.
There are an awful lot of point of view characters in this book and, for me, it was too many. I wasn't involved enough with Freddie and her seer girlfriend (I forget her name) to really care when they are at the forefront of a pretty major plot moment. That sums up my only real disappointment with this, I didn't have the emotional engagement that I think I was expected to with most of the point of view characters, because I didn't get enough time with each. That was minor though, I still didn't want to put this down until I knew what happened. I'll be looking for more of Barbara Ann Wright's books.
I received an ARC of this book from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I loved this. The set up with a colony ship experiencing a disaster and the survivors developing God-like powers was quickly and effectively drawn, with the politics and interplay of those on the ship excellently established.
The world that the Paladins inhabited was fascinating, with their hoarded leftover technologies, lack of metal and structure built on centuries old recruitment videos.
I enjoyed the alien species and the almost by-the-by exploration of the moral issues the story invoked: what makes a person, what sort of experimentation is ok, is morality decided on a personal level or by religion?
Simon Lazlo was a fascinatingly flawed character who knows that what he has done is wrong, but at the same time is still proud of the positive achievements of his work. He knows that he should have refused Dillon's requests; knows that Dillon uses him just as much as the others and also knows that he would do it all again. I felt so sorry for him when he finally makes a decision he knows is for the best, is actively rejecting Dillon and the others and at the same time destroys any chance of a real, equal, loving relationship. While Cordelia is (I think) the main character, Simon was more interesting.
There are an awful lot of point of view characters in this book and, for me, it was too many. I wasn't involved enough with Freddie and her seer girlfriend (I forget her name) to really care when they are at the forefront of a pretty major plot moment. That sums up my only real disappointment with this, I didn't have the emotional engagement that I think I was expected to with most of the point of view characters, because I didn't get enough time with each. That was minor though, I still didn't want to put this down until I knew what happened. I'll be looking for more of Barbara Ann Wright's books.
I received an ARC of this book from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
October 10, 2016
Following a crash above an unknown planet, part of the crew that survives gains mental abilities. They are presented with an opportunity of becoming gods when they send their passengers to the unknown planet below them.
Two hundred years later, Lieutenant Cordelia Ross is a paladin who serves the god called Storm Lord in Gale.
It was hard to get into the story but picked up past the halfway mark. Considering this is the first book of its series, I thought that the author did a good job in balancing the story and worldbuilding.
I felt that there were too many characters to keep track of and there were many of them that I didn't like. I would've liked to have read more about Cordelia, Nettle or perhaps Shiv.
Review also posted here: http://wp.me/p4Pp9O-tR
I was given a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Two hundred years later, Lieutenant Cordelia Ross is a paladin who serves the god called Storm Lord in Gale.
It was hard to get into the story but picked up past the halfway mark. Considering this is the first book of its series, I thought that the author did a good job in balancing the story and worldbuilding.
I felt that there were too many characters to keep track of and there were many of them that I didn't like. I would've liked to have read more about Cordelia, Nettle or perhaps Shiv.
Review also posted here: http://wp.me/p4Pp9O-tR
I was given a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
March 9, 2017
This is probably my favorite of the author's books that I've read. Well, maybe tied with her very first book. Either way, it was good. The world building was pretty well done and the characters - and there were many - were, for the most part, interesting. I'd definitely pick up the next in the sequel to see where things progress. Oh! And there are no cliffhangers, which I really appreciate.
I received the book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received the book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
June 20, 2016
4.5 stars.
I received a copy of this book from Inked Rainbow Reads in return for an honest review.
This was a truly enjoyable read. We first read about the incident that starts everything, the mishap with the ship and how everyone who was awake finds themselves with strange powers, and how the copilot, Duè, sends everybody else down to the planet below. 200 years later, we join the descendants of those colonists on the planet. Most of the empowered crew in orbit have claimed areas of land, and the people who live there as worshippers. This story revolves around the Storm Lord, Colonel Dillon Tracey, and his Paladins and worshippers down below. Because the Storm Lord has gotten bored. He's decided to once again mess around with things on the planet. His special project this time is supposed to net him some slave labor out of one of the indigenous mammals to use to mine the scarce metal resources on planet. Something goes wrong with the experiment. And his fellow crewmates on board the starship have decided something must be done, so Dillon decides to make planetfall.
Meanwhile, in the Storm Lord's city of Gale, Lieutenant Cordelia Ross has been having strange encounters of the native species the humans call boggins. They seem smarter somehow. She is sent on a series of missions that have her interacting with the native sentients, the drushka. Things are going to get bad before they get better, and at the bottom of everything is the one thing that Ross hates most: politics. Ross and her friends, human and drushka alike, must struggle to figure out exactly what is going on just so they can survive it, and it's going to take all of them to come out alive at the end. She doesn't know who she can trust, and her thirst for vengeance might end up costing her everything.
A couple of themes here that are interesting. Dillon as a God is just as flawed as he was as a human, only now there isn't anybody who can stop him from doing what he wants. The other crewmen seem to be just as petty and shallow as Gods. The two exceptions are Lazlo, the healer who keeps everyone alive by regenerating their cells, and Duè, who seems to have all the powers of the others combined, as well as a few more. It seems like all of that power in a previously human body has broken her mind, and she seems more than a bit crazy to the others. By the end of the book, it becomes clear that Duè is manipulating people and events toward an outcome that only she can see, and we can only hope that whatever her goal is, it's better for the colonists in the long run. There are many things unresolved and foreshadowed at the end of the book, so I'm assuming this is the first in a series. I would definitely pick up the next book. It seemed a little slow in the beginning, but soon events were avalanching out of everyone's control, and the mad dash at the end kept me riveted. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who has a love of sci-fi.
I received a copy of this book from Inked Rainbow Reads in return for an honest review.
This was a truly enjoyable read. We first read about the incident that starts everything, the mishap with the ship and how everyone who was awake finds themselves with strange powers, and how the copilot, Duè, sends everybody else down to the planet below. 200 years later, we join the descendants of those colonists on the planet. Most of the empowered crew in orbit have claimed areas of land, and the people who live there as worshippers. This story revolves around the Storm Lord, Colonel Dillon Tracey, and his Paladins and worshippers down below. Because the Storm Lord has gotten bored. He's decided to once again mess around with things on the planet. His special project this time is supposed to net him some slave labor out of one of the indigenous mammals to use to mine the scarce metal resources on planet. Something goes wrong with the experiment. And his fellow crewmates on board the starship have decided something must be done, so Dillon decides to make planetfall.
Meanwhile, in the Storm Lord's city of Gale, Lieutenant Cordelia Ross has been having strange encounters of the native species the humans call boggins. They seem smarter somehow. She is sent on a series of missions that have her interacting with the native sentients, the drushka. Things are going to get bad before they get better, and at the bottom of everything is the one thing that Ross hates most: politics. Ross and her friends, human and drushka alike, must struggle to figure out exactly what is going on just so they can survive it, and it's going to take all of them to come out alive at the end. She doesn't know who she can trust, and her thirst for vengeance might end up costing her everything.
A couple of themes here that are interesting. Dillon as a God is just as flawed as he was as a human, only now there isn't anybody who can stop him from doing what he wants. The other crewmen seem to be just as petty and shallow as Gods. The two exceptions are Lazlo, the healer who keeps everyone alive by regenerating their cells, and Duè, who seems to have all the powers of the others combined, as well as a few more. It seems like all of that power in a previously human body has broken her mind, and she seems more than a bit crazy to the others. By the end of the book, it becomes clear that Duè is manipulating people and events toward an outcome that only she can see, and we can only hope that whatever her goal is, it's better for the colonists in the long run. There are many things unresolved and foreshadowed at the end of the book, so I'm assuming this is the first in a series. I would definitely pick up the next book. It seemed a little slow in the beginning, but soon events were avalanching out of everyone's control, and the mad dash at the end kept me riveted. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who has a love of sci-fi.
May 22, 2016
I really, really liked Barbara Ann Wright's Katya & Starbride series, so of course I was very interested in reading this book. I'm still a bit torn, so I'll try to keep it simple by separating the aspects I liked and didn't like as much.
The good: It's really well-written. That's undeniable, I think. There's lots of action, and a few events took me by surprise. The world-building was good, and even though it was a slow start for me, after the first half I found myself immersed in the interesting plot. So much was happening, and I wanted to know what would come next. Having a diverse cast of characters, of different species and sexualities, is certainly also a strong point in its favor.
The not so good: There's a huge con for me, and that is the use of multiple points of view. I just felt there were too many characters to keep track of, which it's not a problem in itself (if done right. For example, that's one of my favorite aspects of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire), however, in the end, I didn't particularly care about any of them. I think it's a difficult task to write a novel with so many POVs and get the reader to care about even some of them, about what happens to them. In this case, in my case, it didn't work out, I felt detached, and that undoubtedly affected my overall enjoyment of the book.
So, in the end, I can reiterate this is a well-written book, with an interesting story that captured my attention after the second half. And had I found at least one character I could connect with, I'm sure my opinion of it would've improved.
The end is kind of open, and I just discovered this is the beginning of a new series. It has the potential to be great and I might consider reading the next book, if only it would focus more on a reduced set of characters, or at least, if the POV characters were fully developed.
| Review copy provided by Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley. |
The good: It's really well-written. That's undeniable, I think. There's lots of action, and a few events took me by surprise. The world-building was good, and even though it was a slow start for me, after the first half I found myself immersed in the interesting plot. So much was happening, and I wanted to know what would come next. Having a diverse cast of characters, of different species and sexualities, is certainly also a strong point in its favor.
The not so good: There's a huge con for me, and that is the use of multiple points of view. I just felt there were too many characters to keep track of, which it's not a problem in itself (if done right. For example, that's one of my favorite aspects of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire), however, in the end, I didn't particularly care about any of them. I think it's a difficult task to write a novel with so many POVs and get the reader to care about even some of them, about what happens to them. In this case, in my case, it didn't work out, I felt detached, and that undoubtedly affected my overall enjoyment of the book.
So, in the end, I can reiterate this is a well-written book, with an interesting story that captured my attention after the second half. And had I found at least one character I could connect with, I'm sure my opinion of it would've improved.
The end is kind of open, and I just discovered this is the beginning of a new series. It has the potential to be great and I might consider reading the next book, if only it would focus more on a reduced set of characters, or at least, if the POV characters were fully developed.
| Review copy provided by Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley. |
June 24, 2017
A starship crew on a mission to drop off people to colonize a predetermined planet wakes up after some kind of accident. They have no idea where they are but start noticing strange things about each other. The crew find out they have powers. Even with all this going on they decide to send the colonists to the planet the ship is above.
Hundreds of years pass and the crew have set themselves up as gods over this planet. There are so many characters and threads to follow in the story. I loved many of the characters and it was fun to slowly learn more about them in each chapter.
I enjoyed the world building and all the descriptions of different parts of the planet. I also enjoyed learning about the different native inhabitants of the planet and how they interacted with the colonists.
I can't wait to see what happens next we are left with so many possibilities. I hope to see more of the planet and maybe see where the Sun-Moon worshippers live.
I received this book from netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.
Hundreds of years pass and the crew have set themselves up as gods over this planet. There are so many characters and threads to follow in the story. I loved many of the characters and it was fun to slowly learn more about them in each chapter.
I enjoyed the world building and all the descriptions of different parts of the planet. I also enjoyed learning about the different native inhabitants of the planet and how they interacted with the colonists.
I can't wait to see what happens next we are left with so many possibilities. I hope to see more of the planet and maybe see where the Sun-Moon worshippers live.
I received this book from netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.
May 5, 2016
This is Barbara Ann Wright's first novel-length foray into science fiction and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Her characters are complex, her dialogue is witty, and her world building rich and unexpected. In short, this is everything I would expect from a Barbara Ann Wright novel, full of action and twists and turns that kept me turning pages and make me want the second book in this series right now!
August 29, 2016
Amazing read! I can't believe the amount of detail and world building that was put into this. The characters are great and relatable, and most of all had believable reactions. The romantic relationships seemed a tad rushed, but it was never disengaging as a reader. Fans of sci fi and fantasy would both love this book!
November 14, 2016
2016 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Paladins of the Storm Lord
Wright crafted an intriguing world and story populated by complex and interesting characters. I enjoyed Paladins immensely, and will definitely look forward to finding out what happens next…
Wright crafted an intriguing world and story populated by complex and interesting characters. I enjoyed Paladins immensely, and will definitely look forward to finding out what happens next…
February 3, 2023
I’ve read a lot of books by Wright, especially her SFF ones. This one took me a while to get in to. I had to reread the first couple of chapters, because when it switched from the spaceship to the planet, I was completely confused. There is a huge cast of characters who were hard to keep track of. After I reread that section, I followed along pretty easily until about halfway where I felt like it started to slow down.
I think it bogged down for me when more characters and cultures were introduced. Then someone did something to some of the native species which made them dangerous and deadly to the humans and members of a third species, the drushka. But wait, there’s more – the drushka are in two factions, and only the smaller group is friendly with the humans. Then on top of all that, the original space crew, what’s left of them, developed superpowers of various sorts.
Finally, the book starts to flow well and comes together as a decent sci fi adventure with both good people and villains, all of whom have their own foibles. By the end of it, I wanted to read more, so good thing this is the first in a series. I do hope that now that I know the origin story and the major characters, the next book flows well for me.
I think it bogged down for me when more characters and cultures were introduced. Then someone did something to some of the native species which made them dangerous and deadly to the humans and members of a third species, the drushka. But wait, there’s more – the drushka are in two factions, and only the smaller group is friendly with the humans. Then on top of all that, the original space crew, what’s left of them, developed superpowers of various sorts.
Finally, the book starts to flow well and comes together as a decent sci fi adventure with both good people and villains, all of whom have their own foibles. By the end of it, I wanted to read more, so good thing this is the first in a series. I do hope that now that I know the origin story and the major characters, the next book flows well for me.
July 7, 2024
This was the weirdest book. First off, there was page after page of positive reviews of the book (I've never understood the point of that; I'm holding the book, I own it, why are you still trying to sell it to me?). I never read those in-book reviews, but one caught my eye so I went back and read the sentence:
I also haven't actually read a world that is entirely unfazed by homosexuality or female power before.
Has that reviewer been living under a rock? The book was published in 2016, eight years ago, but this was hardly the first book to have a setting with those things!
And the story itself was just... not good. Set in the future, a spaceship was in the middle of some kind of emergency (crashing or something). Every time the male commanding officer looked at a female crew member, his first thought was about how she looked. "The cute one, pert little bum." and "She looked a bit older than Lessan, more serious but still sensual." DNF early on.
I also haven't actually read a world that is entirely unfazed by homosexuality or female power before.
Has that reviewer been living under a rock? The book was published in 2016, eight years ago, but this was hardly the first book to have a setting with those things!
And the story itself was just... not good. Set in the future, a spaceship was in the middle of some kind of emergency (crashing or something). Every time the male commanding officer looked at a female crew member, his first thought was about how she looked. "The cute one, pert little bum." and "She looked a bit older than Lessan, more serious but still sensual." DNF early on.
July 22, 2022
K-RAI! Eu amo sci-fi, não é segredo. Se tem lésbica, meu coração fica ainda mais empolgado.
O mais louco é que a personagem que eu mais curti não foi a mulher sáfica. Claro, a Cornélia é maravilhosa. Mas maaaaano, a Carmichael é perfeita. Melhor personagem desse livro!
E real, chorei e meu coração tá doendo com esse livro. Como a Barbara Ann Wright teve coragem de matar a dona dessa história? A Carmichael era perfeita demais! Ela merecia sobreviver 😢
O mais louco é que a personagem que eu mais curti não foi a mulher sáfica. Claro, a Cornélia é maravilhosa. Mas maaaaano, a Carmichael é perfeita. Melhor personagem desse livro!
E real, chorei e meu coração tá doendo com esse livro. Como a Barbara Ann Wright teve coragem de matar a dona dessa história? A Carmichael era perfeita demais! Ela merecia sobreviver 😢
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 6, 2022
Very interesting concept and worldbuilding. Some of the characters were very charming and likeable and some were quite despicable, but they were all compelling. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.
February 5, 2018
This was fun! A lot happened in one book. Wright is always fun.
December 17, 2020
An interesting world and a good spin on the, humans are gods, trope
Definitely left more room for a follow up and interested to see if there are anymore in the series
Definitely left more room for a follow up and interested to see if there are anymore in the series
May 21, 2016
A colony ship is yanked off course and brought to a planet inhabited by two other races. One was sentient the other was just beginning to use tools. Its never explained how 6 members of thee crew awoke with superpowers but they divided the colonists into groups, named themselves gods and sent their people to the surface. There was little metal on this world so advances were slow. The 6 gods remained on their starship for 250 years while their colonies grew. At one point there was a war with the advanced tribe and it split. Dillon, the Storm Lord, directed Lazlo , their Dr./scientist, to find a means of increasing psychic abilities among his worshippers. This was done by a drug. Then Dillon decided to enslave the less advanced species. He commanded his chief Paladin to trap and drug the primitives. Things go very wrong-the primitives get smart very fast, breed quickly, hate everyone and want to kill. So they do. Dillon gets in trouble with the other gods, kidnaps Lazlo, and descends to the planet's surface.
In the last third of the book there is plenty of intrigue, action and (why?) sex with the natives.(Their description was not very attractive) At least now there were reasons given for most of what happened. It had a good stopping place.
It took me a long time to get involved with this book. It was very well written, had an interesting story line but the characters were so unlikeable, who cared? About chapter 20 things finally started to change and by the end I really did want to know what happened next. Hope the next book continues to improve.
This was an R&R book I received from Netgalley. Thanks to them, the author and Bold Strokes Book, Inc.
In the last third of the book there is plenty of intrigue, action and (why?) sex with the natives.(Their description was not very attractive) At least now there were reasons given for most of what happened. It had a good stopping place.
It took me a long time to get involved with this book. It was very well written, had an interesting story line but the characters were so unlikeable, who cared? About chapter 20 things finally started to change and by the end I really did want to know what happened next. Hope the next book continues to improve.
This was an R&R book I received from Netgalley. Thanks to them, the author and Bold Strokes Book, Inc.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 5, 2016
Four Stars:Sci fi Fantasy
I was sent this book by Inked Rainbow Reads in exchange for an honest review.
An intricate and at times perplexing novel one that can be appreciated at many levels, adventurous sci fi or one that is politically motivated with a very astute look at present day human behaviour.
Dealing with different alien races could be comparable with today's political climate of cultural and ethnic unrest. Colour of skin and national diversity echoing historic roles of slaves and white masters.
The fighting tactics undertaken by the Paladins resembling those employed by Roman soldiers. The overall and traditional command Generals have over their troops the same then as now.
There was even the juxtaposition of those who use cocaine in today's society and the effects it has and the use of "Grit" in the novels was frighteningly similar.
Some humour was generated when love at first sight was compared to some races having an aroma that can captivate you and make you fall in love.
I felt the quote, "old men playing with young men's lives" regarding the quest for ultimate power through war, summed up much of this novel.
There are many levels to this extraordinary and well written book. I did find it the plot very complex at times but overall a fascinating and intriguing book.
I was sent this book by Inked Rainbow Reads in exchange for an honest review.
An intricate and at times perplexing novel one that can be appreciated at many levels, adventurous sci fi or one that is politically motivated with a very astute look at present day human behaviour.
Dealing with different alien races could be comparable with today's political climate of cultural and ethnic unrest. Colour of skin and national diversity echoing historic roles of slaves and white masters.
The fighting tactics undertaken by the Paladins resembling those employed by Roman soldiers. The overall and traditional command Generals have over their troops the same then as now.
There was even the juxtaposition of those who use cocaine in today's society and the effects it has and the use of "Grit" in the novels was frighteningly similar.
Some humour was generated when love at first sight was compared to some races having an aroma that can captivate you and make you fall in love.
I felt the quote, "old men playing with young men's lives" regarding the quest for ultimate power through war, summed up much of this novel.
There are many levels to this extraordinary and well written book. I did find it the plot very complex at times but overall a fascinating and intriguing book.
July 7, 2016
The author goes to great lengths to show that humans and superpowers don't mix well.
The good and the bad are to easy to see, some shades would have been more "realistic".
While I'm all for alien love the seemingly often attraction between the humans and the "ents" is somewhat implausible.
The good and the bad are to easy to see, some shades would have been more "realistic".
While I'm all for alien love the seemingly often attraction between the humans and the "ents" is somewhat implausible.
May 26, 2016
I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.
This is a really well written science fiction / Fantasy story.
Unfortunately it is let down by the number of characters and the changing of perspective.
This is a really well written science fiction / Fantasy story.
Unfortunately it is let down by the number of characters and the changing of perspective.
December 12, 2024
It was compellingly written, and the characters were well realized.
It was just way too much action for me. I've learned from this that I prefer atmosphere and scenario more than getting out and doing stuff. But boy howdy, she knows how to write realistic and compelling characters.
It was just way too much action for me. I've learned from this that I prefer atmosphere and scenario more than getting out and doing stuff. But boy howdy, she knows how to write realistic and compelling characters.
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