The Armored Saint by Myke ColeMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Short, well-paced and tightly-written, I have to admit this fantasy story was a bit of a surprise to me. The ARC of Sixteenth Watch didn't really woo me, but I thought I'd give the author another go, and the eye-catchy cover of this book drew my attention the most. Boy, was I not disappointed.
From the very first chapter, the story propels itself forward, introducing in short order the most important elements of the tale. Our oppressive and zealous antagonists nominally devoted to Imperial Writ, our heroes (or heroine, really) and their chafing and foolishness beneath their oppression, the point of conflict and the general way of things in the world. The author weaves all this disparate elements into a well-constructed narrative that never stalls and is never overburdened by exposition. Just action begetting action. In one fell swoop, we are introduced to all the good and bad in Heloise, our MC, traits that will naturally keep the story turning on its wheels in a way that for the most part felt refreshingly natural and didn't rest (too much) on silly or stupid plot twists.
Personally, I liked Heloise from the start, though some of the developments she goes through did test believeability or seemed a little too shoe-horned for subsequent plot events, but they were still interesting and well-written so the flaws are easy to forgive. The rest of the cast never felt cardboard-ish, but for the most also never really gathered the same level of importance or spotlight as our main character.
The setting was also rather well developed, if a little bit too reminiscent of 40k at times in regard to powered armour, deified emperors and forbidden magic. However, this could be entirely subjective on my part, as none of those elements on their own are particularly distinctive of warhammer.
All in all it was a very enjoyable book, and I am definitely looking forward to see where the second entry in the series will take things.
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