*jaw drops*
My goodness! This book was just about everything I hoped, nothing that I feared, and more than I expected simultaneously. Wow–just wow!
To start with, the setting was so cool! The blend of steampunk and sci-fi with a nonmagical fantasy world was so unique and amazingly well done. It absolutely popped off the page and made me feel like I was right there. Also, it made me feel grounded in what was going on without massive info dumps or long digressions on history, politics, science, etc. That’s so hard to do, but it was done so well! Can I tell you exactly what the Terraformists stand for, or when they were founded, or…basically anything substantial about them? Nope, not really. But I automatically feel a bit frightened when I hear they’re plotting something. Do I have any clue what the properties of stardust are, or exactly what it’s capable of? Absolutely not. But please be careful with that barrel over there… Absolutely stellar job! (Pun only halfway intended. :D)
I started out unsure of where exactly the plot was going to go and ended up with my heart in my throat for at least a good half of the book. I did make a couple of good guesses, but not nearly all of them. Things did seem to slow down a bit near the end–I think just because the character stuff wrapped up so early–which made the big plot climax feel a bit like a denouement. But I was actually really glad that the character drama was brought to a head and resolved as fast as it was, so not a huge complaint for me. The way things wrapped up for one certain character did leave me a bit sad, but overall, I really liked the resolution.
Okay, now we get to characters. Which I purposely saved for last because…eeeeeeek!!! The characters!!! They were my absolute favorite part of the book! Every time I laughed or gasped or put my hand over my heart (which happened a lot), it was 100% because of the characters. Also, my reaction to the characters was not quite the one I was expecting to have, which surprised and intrigued me. From the very beginning, I liked Carthage, felt for him, identified with him–but for some reason it took a few chapters before he completely grabbed hold of my heart. (Don’t worry, he’s firmly and fully there now; it just took a little longer than I expected to get that spark.) On the other hand, Huxley, who I fully expected to take a while to warm up to, somehow had me completely and helplessly in the palm of his hand from the word go. Brash, cocky, rough-around-the-edges characters are usually not my favorites, but those tiny flashes of vulnerability beneath the self-assured facade? I was absolutely gone. I adored the way they eventually opened up and came together, even if getting there felt as painful for me as it was for them sometimes. And the little ways you could see that they did legitimately care for each other even before they really understood each other, and the way they discovered how much stronger they were as a team…my heart is so happy. <3<3
There were a lot of great messages in this book, but I think the one that resonated with me the most strongly was the one Carthage was faced with in a few scenes, about needing real, genuine human interaction and not trying to be in control of every encounter. No, I’ve never created an electrical for companionship, but I do sometimes hide behind the written word, where I can carefully shape the image people see of me, without all the embarrassing stumbles and uncertainty. Definitely a lesson I need to keep in mind.
About the only thing that made me at all uncomfortable were a few of the rougher edges to Huxley’s character, although even those were pretty tamed down from what they could have been. Specifically, the “in-world” swearing (expressions like “stars”), which wouldn’t even warrant a mention if it weren’t for the fact that it’s specifically called swearing and corrected by other characters. There are also mentions of some serious misconduct in his past, which are not addressed outright, although they’re addressed indirectly and never condoned. But other than that, there’s really nothing that gave me pause. Also, I appreciated the fact that even though there’s no direct salvation message, Carthage’s religion seems very solidly Christian (set within their world, but not some weird fantasy remake) and is woven into his thoughts and actions throughout the book.
Overall, I really, really enjoyed this story and am eagerly looking forward to more adventures on the Celestial Isles!
Content–fighting, including gunplay; various accidents, wounds and death *spoiler* including murder and attempted murder *end spoiler*; mentions of drinking and drunkenness; mentions of gambling; mentions of various types of cheating, foul play, bribery, etc.; in-world “swearing” (see above); mentions of worshiping stars and using them to tell the future (portrayed as false); mentions of “magic” in the context of illusions