Review: At the Sharp End of Lightning

Title: At the Sharp End of Lightning
Author: N.R. Bates
Release Date: February 20, 2015

AT THE SHARP END OF LIGHTNING: The intertwined worlds of Oceanlight and Earth are no longer hidden from view of each other. In one realm, Yalara Narika, a winged Sea Sprite, searches for her family and she encounters a deadly blue haze at sea. Escaping the poison makes her realize that her world, Oceanlight, is experiencing sudden and catastrophic environmental change. Meanwhile, in the safe suburban normality of North Wales, Einion Morgan Alban, a restless youth with haemophilia, is nearly murdered by a man in a white suit who intentionally shoves him off a cliff. If Yalara and Einion don’t uncover the connections between their worlds and near-deaths, it will have dire consequences for the worlds they live in. Book one of the OCEANLIGHT series.

This took me way longer to read than it should have.  We can thank life for that.

Quick recap

At the Sharp End of Lightning follows three different storylines that all comingled together.  The first story we meet is that of Yalara and Rasania, two Sea Sprites searching for something in the ocean.  We then meet Helia, a Forest Sprite who was exiled and is now trying to regain the favor of her kin by aiding them.  But her mission might not be all it seems.  She comes to find Einion, a teenage boy with a bleeding problem.

Four different worlds exist in this novel, Oceanlight (the Sea Sprite world), Forestlight (the Forest Sprite world), Daimanland (the Daiman world), and the Humana world.  There is a thinness between the worlds where they meet and one can pass through.

And now for my thoughts

Before I talk about anything else, I would like to say that this book is extremely well written, especially since it is self-published.  I have read many self-published books that aren't proof-read, revised, or edited very well.  At the Sharp End of Lightning has the feel of a book published by a major publishing company.

I really like the plot of this book.  The time travel elements and parallel world elements are all really interesting ideas.  The Yalara storyline wasn't the most interesting.  But I think it will probably get there in the nest book.  My biggest issue was that at the end there were still so many loose ends.  I understand this is the first book in a series, but I had hoped that the stories would merge together more, or that some of them would partially close.  What happened to Fimefang?  What about Helia?  Did Xylenia betray her?  And what does Einion have to do with all of this?  What does Yalara have to do with all of this?  I guess these are questions for which the answers I will have to wait.

Overall I really enjoyed the book.  I would recommend it to most anyone that enjoys science fiction and fantasy.  I look forward to reading the next installment.

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.