Title: The Alchemists of LoomAuthor: Elise Kova
Publisher: Keymaster Press
Release Date: January 10, 2017
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.
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I went into this knowing absolutely nothing about it. I haven't read any books by Elise Kova before this, so it was interesting reading this first.
The dragons in this book are not like the dragons you know and love or hate. They and the fenthri are both humanoid races, but are different. The fenthri are all grey and white, whereas the dragons are full of color and vibrance. The fenthri are much more like humans, whereas the dragons have retractable claws and long canines.
Of course, the dragons are much like overlords on the fenthri. And Arianna hates them for it.
Arianna is a chimera, a fenthri who has gone through a transformation and now has dragon blood and organs.
Cvareh is a dragon who is running from the dragon king and his very bloodthirsty dragon riders (basically like assassins at this point). He stumbles across Arianna, and so to stay alive, he offers her a boon, a magical wish, as long as she takes him to the Alchemists Guild.
Arianna is much into fighting and explosions, so of course there is a lot of action. There is even a small amount of romance and the hope for more in the second book. But what I'd hoped for a little more of was worldbuilding. I didn't really understand the different guilds. Some of them were only mentioned in passing, and we only got to see Alchemists toward the end of the book. What exactly is each guild and its specialty?
I actually got a big Game of Thrones vibe from this at one point. There are different dragon houses fighting for the throne, lots of plots and ploys.
Of course, I loved the characters. I particularly enjoyed reading from Cvareh's POV, as he was very much out of the loop and confused much of the time. He was quite the amusing character, and I hope we get more of him and his sister in the next installment.
Overall
It was good. I didn't love it, but I'm glad I read it. I'll most likely read the second book.
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Writing: 5 stars
World: 3 stars
Feels: 3 stars
3.5 stars
I went into this knowing absolutely nothing about it. I haven't read any books by Elise Kova before this, so it was interesting reading this first.
The dragons in this book are not like the dragons you know and love or hate. They and the fenthri are both humanoid races, but are different. The fenthri are all grey and white, whereas the dragons are full of color and vibrance. The fenthri are much more like humans, whereas the dragons have retractable claws and long canines.
Of course, the dragons are much like overlords on the fenthri. And Arianna hates them for it.
Arianna is a chimera, a fenthri who has gone through a transformation and now has dragon blood and organs.
Cvareh is a dragon who is running from the dragon king and his very bloodthirsty dragon riders (basically like assassins at this point). He stumbles across Arianna, and so to stay alive, he offers her a boon, a magical wish, as long as she takes him to the Alchemists Guild.
Arianna is much into fighting and explosions, so of course there is a lot of action. There is even a small amount of romance and the hope for more in the second book. But what I'd hoped for a little more of was worldbuilding. I didn't really understand the different guilds. Some of them were only mentioned in passing, and we only got to see Alchemists toward the end of the book. What exactly is each guild and its specialty?
I actually got a big Game of Thrones vibe from this at one point. There are different dragon houses fighting for the throne, lots of plots and ploys.
Of course, I loved the characters. I particularly enjoyed reading from Cvareh's POV, as he was very much out of the loop and confused much of the time. He was quite the amusing character, and I hope we get more of him and his sister in the next installment.
Overall
It was good. I didn't love it, but I'm glad I read it. I'll most likely read the second book.
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Writing: 5 stars
World: 3 stars
Feels: 3 stars
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