Review by Cameron_Moore -- Loria by Gunnar Hedman
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- Latest Review: Loria by Gunnar Hedman
Review by Cameron_Moore -- Loria by Gunnar Hedman
[Following is a volunteer review of "Loria" by Gunnar Hedman.]
Loria by Gunnar Hedman is a science fiction and fantasy combination. In it, the planet of Loria is attacked by people known as the Olegians, who are technologically advanced and quickly take over most of Loria. Only the country of the Sidians holds out. The imperial family and a a few others flee to a Sidian colony off planet, but they are followed by the Olegians and attacked. The survivors flee on a spaceship flown by four city guards. With only themselves and the passengers they pick up on the way, the last of the Sidians must find a safe haven.
The first chapter holds up to this exciting premise. The first line of the book is, “Buvej had thoroughly satisfied himself that Hug Nessar was home alone in the apartment before taking his life, at seven o’clock in the evening, with one soundless shot that killed him instantly.” As the chapter progresses, readers realize that Buvej is an Olegian agent whose assignment is to pose as Sidian engineer Hug Nessar before the invasion. But Buvej finds himself falling for one of Hug’s colleagues, Lidia. Unfortunately, for such a pivotal character, Lidia is one dimensional. Most of her description was physical and it was hard to find a personality trait beyond loving Buvej, or more accurately, a Hug who was suddenly romantically interested.
After this chapter, I am afraid to say that the book goes steadily downhill. The next chapter focuses on the captain of the ship, Shay, and his crew. Throughout the book they escape from the Olegians, journey throughout the world they land on, and meet several other people. Almost all of the people they meet end up joining the group, only to never be mentioned again or not contribute to the plot. Characterization was either done in an info dump or not at all. For the characters that did have info dumps summarizing their personalities, their actions often did not demonstrate those traits.
Because of how many characters there were and how poor the characterization was, it was very hard to be invested in the story. A few of the characters who got more screen time were Buvej, who for a traitor to his country lacks internal conflict; Shay, who for the book’s supposed main character effectively disappears halfway through the novel; Zania, an Olegian princess whose main topic of conversation is how hard it is to be a princes; Kark, a Sidian gunner whose hints of a personality do not outweigh how, like many of the other characters, she never makes mistakes; and Allur, a former slave whose dramatic reveal of his past was neither shocking nor interesting.
Another example of this broader problem is Hedman’s treatment of relationships. There were very few conflicts between the characters themselves. This is completely unrealistic, especially in a stressful and emotional situation like interplanetary war. What would have been an interesting conflict between Buvej and the Sidians to whom he’d been lying about his identity was not explored. Neither was the conflict between down to earth Kark and the two Sidian princesses who’d escaped with her. While the differences between the characters’ backgrounds could have been used to offer commentary on war, honesty, class divide, and even the refugee crisis, the book’s themes were revealed by characters soapboxing. The relationships that were developed the most were the romantic pairings, of which they were so many that I quickly lost count. The buildup was nonexistent. Characters would have their first meaningful interaction, kiss, and declare their love all in the same chapter. And then, in the next chapter, another pair of characters would follow the exact same sequence. Even a romantically inexperienced high schooler like myself knows that this is not how relationships work.
If the plot had been tight, the effects of bad characterization would not have been so bad. Yet the plot meandered in a way more fitting for a character driven novel instead of a sci-fi and fantasy adventure. Action scenes were oddly scarce, and when the characters did find themselves in conflict it was resolved quickly. One conflict that was expected to be the most exciting of the novel was resolved by not one, but two deus ex machinas. A few of the decisions made by the characters didn’t seem to have any reasoning. These problems are best encapsulated on page 123, when a group of our protagonists are found by some trolls who, for completely unexplained reasons, decide to attack them. The fight is described as such; “They were ready for them, however, so those trolls that they didn’t immediately slay with their arrows were taken quickly care of by the soldiers, who were well-versed in handling swords.” That’s it. That’s the entire fight scene.
This sentence also highlights another issue with the book; the writing is very awkward. The dialogue, the descriptions, everything is written in a cumbersome manner. There were also more than ten errors in the first three chapters alone.
At 136 pages, I was expecting this to be a quick, exciting read. Unfortunately, each page dragged on and made the book feel much longer than it was. The biggest positive was the first chapter, but that does not make up for the rest of the book’s flaws. The poor characterization, plot, and writing are my reasons for giving Loria 1 out of 4 stars. As a result, I would not recommend this book to anyone.
******
Loria
View: on Bookshelves
Loria by Gunnar Hedman is a science fiction and fantasy combination. In it, the planet of Loria is attacked by people known as the Olegians, who are technologically advanced and quickly take over most of Loria. Only the country of the Sidians holds out. The imperial family and a a few others flee to a Sidian colony off planet, but they are followed by the Olegians and attacked. The survivors flee on a spaceship flown by four city guards. With only themselves and the passengers they pick up on the way, the last of the Sidians must find a safe haven.
The first chapter holds up to this exciting premise. The first line of the book is, “Buvej had thoroughly satisfied himself that Hug Nessar was home alone in the apartment before taking his life, at seven o’clock in the evening, with one soundless shot that killed him instantly.” As the chapter progresses, readers realize that Buvej is an Olegian agent whose assignment is to pose as Sidian engineer Hug Nessar before the invasion. But Buvej finds himself falling for one of Hug’s colleagues, Lidia. Unfortunately, for such a pivotal character, Lidia is one dimensional. Most of her description was physical and it was hard to find a personality trait beyond loving Buvej, or more accurately, a Hug who was suddenly romantically interested.
After this chapter, I am afraid to say that the book goes steadily downhill. The next chapter focuses on the captain of the ship, Shay, and his crew. Throughout the book they escape from the Olegians, journey throughout the world they land on, and meet several other people. Almost all of the people they meet end up joining the group, only to never be mentioned again or not contribute to the plot. Characterization was either done in an info dump or not at all. For the characters that did have info dumps summarizing their personalities, their actions often did not demonstrate those traits.
Because of how many characters there were and how poor the characterization was, it was very hard to be invested in the story. A few of the characters who got more screen time were Buvej, who for a traitor to his country lacks internal conflict; Shay, who for the book’s supposed main character effectively disappears halfway through the novel; Zania, an Olegian princess whose main topic of conversation is how hard it is to be a princes; Kark, a Sidian gunner whose hints of a personality do not outweigh how, like many of the other characters, she never makes mistakes; and Allur, a former slave whose dramatic reveal of his past was neither shocking nor interesting.
Another example of this broader problem is Hedman’s treatment of relationships. There were very few conflicts between the characters themselves. This is completely unrealistic, especially in a stressful and emotional situation like interplanetary war. What would have been an interesting conflict between Buvej and the Sidians to whom he’d been lying about his identity was not explored. Neither was the conflict between down to earth Kark and the two Sidian princesses who’d escaped with her. While the differences between the characters’ backgrounds could have been used to offer commentary on war, honesty, class divide, and even the refugee crisis, the book’s themes were revealed by characters soapboxing. The relationships that were developed the most were the romantic pairings, of which they were so many that I quickly lost count. The buildup was nonexistent. Characters would have their first meaningful interaction, kiss, and declare their love all in the same chapter. And then, in the next chapter, another pair of characters would follow the exact same sequence. Even a romantically inexperienced high schooler like myself knows that this is not how relationships work.
If the plot had been tight, the effects of bad characterization would not have been so bad. Yet the plot meandered in a way more fitting for a character driven novel instead of a sci-fi and fantasy adventure. Action scenes were oddly scarce, and when the characters did find themselves in conflict it was resolved quickly. One conflict that was expected to be the most exciting of the novel was resolved by not one, but two deus ex machinas. A few of the decisions made by the characters didn’t seem to have any reasoning. These problems are best encapsulated on page 123, when a group of our protagonists are found by some trolls who, for completely unexplained reasons, decide to attack them. The fight is described as such; “They were ready for them, however, so those trolls that they didn’t immediately slay with their arrows were taken quickly care of by the soldiers, who were well-versed in handling swords.” That’s it. That’s the entire fight scene.
This sentence also highlights another issue with the book; the writing is very awkward. The dialogue, the descriptions, everything is written in a cumbersome manner. There were also more than ten errors in the first three chapters alone.
At 136 pages, I was expecting this to be a quick, exciting read. Unfortunately, each page dragged on and made the book feel much longer than it was. The biggest positive was the first chapter, but that does not make up for the rest of the book’s flaws. The poor characterization, plot, and writing are my reasons for giving Loria 1 out of 4 stars. As a result, I would not recommend this book to anyone.
******
Loria
View: on Bookshelves
Latest Review: Loria by Gunnar Hedman
