Review of Generation Steam

[Saint Bruno]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Generation Steam" by Gordon Sinclair.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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In Arteria, the 1889 squad of the Casbear Lions, the Casbear Academy steamball team, is probably the most dreaded team the academy has ever put together. However, someone attempts to assassinate one of the academy's promising talents, Nos, before the semi-finals of the Senior League Steamball Championship. Who wanted Nos dead? Is it possible that the assassin missed his target on purpose? If yes, to what end?

Though their team is a force to reckon with in steamball, Casbear's business is assassination, mercenary protection, espionage, and even war. And with war already on everyone's mind in Arteria, no one knows whom or what to believe. Everyone seems to have a hidden agenda, and Nos is no different. Amidst the steamball brouhaha, power plays, and deceits, Nos has one mission on his mind. To find out, you have to read the first volume of Generation Steam by Gordon Sinclair.

Sinclair narrates an intriguing fantasy story using the third-person point of view throughout this title. Being the first volume in the series, readers should expect the book to end in a cliffhanger. But I believe Sinclair's suspenseful writing style and the alluring end to the narrations in this volume would win fans for the next installments. Sinclair creates a world that solves its problems using technology, as seen in some characters having artificial body parts and skyships for transportation. However, the characters' keenness towards violence and ulterior motives make reading this book a fascinating experience. That was my favorite aspect of the book because I couldn't predict any character's future actions.

I enjoyed the author's writing style. I could form pictures of the characters in my mind without trying due to how well he described their physical appearance, clothing, and environment. I also appreciated Sinclair's use of figures of speech like oxymorons and similes to make his writing exciting. One such example is, "He never forgot the fact that he was unworthy even to be a Casbear student, and the only reason he was there was directly because of the cruel kindness of a Casbear operative: callsign Yoh." I love that!

Furthermore, I must commend the author for the unique characters throughout the book. Their different traits provide the variety and clash of interests that make a fiction book exciting. Though Nos is my favorite character, the author's description of Sunny's beauty makes her hard to ignore. Nevertheless, keeping up with the many characters in the book was overwhelming, especially in the beginning. And they all had nicknames (callsigns) which the author interchanged for their real names on many occasions. So I found myself rereading some parts of the book to know who was who. Though this issue resolved itself after some chapters, I didn't enjoy the initial experience. More so, I couldn't relate or empathize with the characters until towards the end of the book because there were many of them and not enough backstories to do the magic. I know this title is only the first volume of the series, and I expect things to take better shape in the sequels; however, I must say that I expected something better even with this volume.

All in all, I am rating this first volume of Generation Steam three out of four stars. I enjoyed the book, especially towards the end, and can't wait to read the next title in the series. But the issues I mentioned above and the many editing errors in the publication prevented me from giving it a perfect score. The book doesn't also deserve a lower rating because its pros outweigh the cons. I recommend this novel to lovers of fantasy stories with themes of espionage, deceit, betrayal, passion, and revenge.

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Generation Steam
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[Raluca_Mihaila]

This fantasy story seems very intriguing, but the fact that it is part of a series does not encourage me to start reading it. Thank you for this detailed and instructive review!

[Ellylion]

Sounds like a great fantasy book with many twists and turns I always prefer books with well-developed characters. Thank you very much for this insightful review!

[Ekezie1998]

Quite an intriguing plot we have here. Would definitely love to have this book on my shelf. Great review here.

[NetMassimo]

Despite the problems you pointed out, this seems like an engaging fantasy story with some elements from other genres. I'll look into this series. Thank you for your great review!

[Uchechukwu Okereke]

The driving card for me on this one was the book cover. It might be because I am an artist or maybe because I am an otaku but either way, the storyline sounds enticing a very reminiscent of Harry Potter I cannot wait to give it a shot.

[Immaculate06]

I really like the author's writing style, quite intriguing. The assassination attempt in the book is like an alluring dish, I would love to read the book. Thanks for your review.