The Kingdom Beyond the Waves (556) was okay. But I had expectations that the plot would be more of a driving force rather than the wordbuilding. And it wasn't. So I really, really struggled to get through it. It was the second book in the series, but the worldbuilding done in book one didn't really apply to book two. Which meant that it was like starting all over. This was a good bit more irritating as time went on, since I thought maybe there could have been some sort of use of the things we already knew. Instead, it was all new! different! look over here! bet you didn't hear about this town before! It's impossible to get involved with the characters when the setting takes over so much. I don't know. I'll probably hesitate to buy another of these books. I'm not bowled over by 500+ pages of scenery. The people need to be more compelling than just fitting the hero/villain tropes, and having an overarching quest to fulfill.
Plus! All of the main characters are orphans, or have no "family" built into their societies. Meaning that all characters build family with one another over the course of the book. Awww, it's like a Disney cartoon. Lion King for steampunkers! Sigh. I love steampunk. This just was all window dressing with a bunch of mannequins. I wanted real folks, with dimension, and a mix of good and bad.
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