In fact, I found the many moments of levity quite surprising, given how many of the characters came from tragic and/or dark backgrounds. Todo en un contexto de cierto desarrollo tecnológico e industrial, bastante similar diría al que plantea en su serie Powder Mage. This dynamic worked really well, making her feel stretched in two directions, trying to honor two masters with conflicting loyalties.

Powerful rival families, murderous conspiracies, epic battles, larger-than-life characters, and magic. I have slightly mixed feelings after reading this review, and for the most part they have nothing to do with the review or the book. There's so much potential for it, that my body positively vibrates with excitement as to the endless possibilities that abound for exploration in subsequent books in the series. I was a bit disappointed at how black/white the story was here, and while I recognize this is a cognizant choice on the authors part, I prefer a bit more grey to my characters.

Thessa is an orphan from nowhere with a tragic past that is perhaps the greatest siliceer (godglass smith) to ever live and coincidentally, perfectly suited to help Denmir. It did slow the work down, and I found myself impatiently waiting for his chapters to be over so I could get back to the “real” story. The book is primarily a murder mystery/detective novel with some elements of rebellion in the background, but I did not care about any of it. In the Shadow of Lightning is an incredibly unique and imaginative novel—but I wouldn’t have expected anything less from the author. Breachers are much stronger, quicker, and more agile than normal soldiers due to the use of a super cool type of armor.

He’d made his point, but it still took a force of will to keep himself from destroying every piece of glass in the bar and then throwing it all into Morlius’s face. There are a lot of weird components that probably shouldn’t work, but somehow McClellan managed to weave them all together in a (mostly) seamless manner. Demir Grappo is an outcast―he fled a life of wealth and power, abandoning his responsibilities as a general, a governor, and a son. I'm happy to say that pretty much across the board McClellan has improved in his characterization skills.The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Demir Grappo is an outcast by choice—he fled a life of wealth and power, abandoning his responsibilities as a general, a governor, and a son. The cruel machines of state, and it's even crueler contraptions threaten to turn his entire world apart. I would describe the magic system as a mix of elements from Sanderson’s Mistborn and Stormlight Archive series.

The first with his tiring 'Lightning Prince' moniker is kinda corny, and the amout of navelgazing among these two were too much. He might have seen his mother only a few times in the last decade, but she’d always been a reassuring candle burning in a distant window. McClellan not only does an excellent job with these elements individually, but also manages to intertwine them in ways I did not expect and that kept me guessing constantly. I'm writing this review as an author critiquing another author's book, in an attempt to improve my own writing and editing skills. Reformers in Ossa had a long and glorious tradition of dying publicly, killed by their peers for pushing societal reforms too strongly.Morlius had just unwittingly destroyed Demir’s life in Ereptia, and he could damn well rot in his fear. Conflicts, reveals, and reconciliations are never given any time to sink in, which ultimately robs these situations of any gravity. Other characters sincerely refer to people beneath their class or rank as "insignificant ants" and I wonder how I am supposed to believe anyone actually speaks this way. It’s one of the best examples of amazing character work that I’ve ever read, and a huge part of why he’s one of my top authors.