Tavia the aging street urchin sells magic and tricks, conning her living, hoping to reach age 18 and thus freedom. Based in a future realm of old magic and semi medieval living, this is fantasy aimed at teenagers. The writing is good but the plot will not plumb any new depths for mature readers.
The characters establish well, Tavia is an adequate protagonist, cheeky at times, I wish she showed a little more character though. I liked Karam, whilst not learning a lot about her personality, as a strong brooding fighter, she goes against the female stereotype, which I like. The boss is still a man, well a boy at 19 (Wesley), he comes across as a chav/hoodlum type who has risen up the ranks, he has the typical mix of charm and snearing confidence, not a fan of that type, a stronger, older female leader would have been more interesting and possibly presented a role model for female readers.
The world appears to be a future earth, once we have run out of oil perhaps, or after the next nuclear winter. The northern lights are called the Everglow, they have some of our tech too, finger print recognition on doors. The fighters use mint salve, there is a group of people who wear coins in their hair, all good details that immerse you in the world by relating it to present day.
It's written in American English, which I don’t think fits a fantasy book, however it does seem to be a future world, so they should be speaking a dialect of China or India. The plot does tire a bit towards the end of this extract, doesn’t make me want read on, but good enough for younger readers who haven't read this type of book before.
The characters establish well, Tavia is an adequate protagonist, cheeky at times, I wish she showed a little more character though. I liked Karam, whilst not learning a lot about her personality, as a strong brooding fighter, she goes against the female stereotype, which I like. The boss is still a man, well a boy at 19 (Wesley), he comes across as a chav/hoodlum type who has risen up the ranks, he has the typical mix of charm and snearing confidence, not a fan of that type, a stronger, older female leader would have been more interesting and possibly presented a role model for female readers.
The world appears to be a future earth, once we have run out of oil perhaps, or after the next nuclear winter. The northern lights are called the Everglow, they have some of our tech too, finger print recognition on doors. The fighters use mint salve, there is a group of people who wear coins in their hair, all good details that immerse you in the world by relating it to present day.
It's written in American English, which I don’t think fits a fantasy book, however it does seem to be a future world, so they should be speaking a dialect of China or India. The plot does tire a bit towards the end of this extract, doesn’t make me want read on, but good enough for younger readers who haven't read this type of book before.