Jaida Jones

Series Info/Source: I got a copy of this book to review through Edelweiss. This is the first book in the Master of One series.

Story (5/5): This was a really unique fantasy story that I enjoyed a lot. It starts off with Rags (a thief) who gets caught in the middle of a crime and is forced by an evil magician to go tomb diving in search of a mythical fae relic. Little does he realize the “relic” is actually a fae man. As things unfold we find out that the evil magician is looking for parts show more to a destructive weapon. The weapon consists of six parts that look like sentient metal animals and these animals are desperately searching for their masters. As the story continues more Masters are found and more steampunkish animals/weapon parts are joined to their masters.

This is a long book but I was never bored. The premise is fun and the book is action packed. There is a lot of adventure in the first half of the book and then the second half of the book is more political (but still action-packed). I really hope there are more books in this series. On Goodreads Jones said that they are planning for sequels to this first book, which is good because I didn’t really feel like this book tied up the story well.

Characters (5/5): I really loved all of the characters in here. Rags is especially endearing and funny, but the other characters were just as amazing. Shining Talon is interesting because of his unfamiliarity with this modern world (modern to him) and his dedication to Rags is intriguing. The other “masters” were really well done too. Somhairle is disabled and disfigured but is a very thoughtful and caring exiled prince who is way smarter than anyone gives him credit for. Inis is a noblewoman who has survived the slaughter of her family and has hardened herself to never be caught unawares again. Cab is an army deserter and natural leader who is trying to make up for all the pain he caused when he was part of the Queensgard.

In addition to the amazing characters whose POV we hear from, there are numerous other side characters that have just as much depth and are just as amazing. Characterization was top notch, sometimes the number of characters can get overwhelming in epic fantasies and I never felt overwhelmed here. Characters are introduced at a good pace and are memorable enough that you never forgot who is who.

Setting (5/5): The world building in this book was well done. I love the story behind the current Queens rule and how the fae played a role in it. The mirror magic is well done and designed and I enjoyed it. The setting itself is pretty typical fantasy in style with some steampunk overtones. The world could have been filled out a bit more and the characters were definitely more complex than the world itself, but I don’t mind that at all. There was enough world-building here to satisfy my curiosity, create a good image in my mind of where we were, and keep things interesting.

Writing Style (5/5): This was very well written. The writing flowed well, it was engaging, hard to put down, and easy to read. Rags has especially witty dialogue throughout, but all the conversation was well done. The book moves at a good pace too and is full of excellent action scenes. This book is told from many different POVs, which worked well for this book. We start off mainly with Rags’ POV and then gradually other characters start to come into the story. It was a very well done format and kept the story from being overwhelmed by too many characters too quickly.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I really loved this and it’s one of the best straight-out fantasy books I have read in some time. I loved the unique story and interesting world, the amazing characters, and the fast pace. This is a long book and it took me a while to read, but it never felt long...I enjoyed every minute of it. I would recommend to those who enjoy adventure fantasy with some interesting magic and some politics. show less

I was so disappointed with this book. I wanted to love it. I've very much enjoyed the authors' previous work, and the concept of Havemercy was so interesting.

But not one female character. Not one. There's a woman who is either raped or wasn't, and is slut shamed and harassed either way - all offstage; it's just a plot point. There's a shrew mother-in-law who faints a lot. There's a little girl for a couple of paragraphs, who cries a lot. There's someone's ex girlfriend, who shows a little show more promise by having a name, being on the page, and speaking a few lines, but she dies in the next scene. There's the Mysterious Mindreader, who Mysteriously speaks a few lines in one scene and is never heard from again, either. There's the misnamed woman at a palace party who is there to be the 'sluts totally ask to get raped by the rapist character' stand-in, and that scene is all about the two men in it anyway. That's all.

Oh, and the three kindly prostitutes who raised one of the main characters. They don't have names, either.

The metal dragons are called 'girls'. But beast-machines, while cool, do not count as representations of women, and besides which none of them speak more than a few lines either. And then they all sacrifice themselves for their country.

All other references to women are derogatory. Sluts, whores, and shews, and when a male character wants to insult another it's by comparing him to a woman.

This from two women writers who I've liked in the past was incredibly disappointing. One of the protagonists that we're supposed to like is almost definitely a rapist, and is without question an out and out misogynist. That could have been forgivable if there was a foil to him. There wasn't. By having no female characters, and only the one ineffectual other character who's supposed to teach him to 'respect women' - why would he do that, in this imagined world where apparently there aren't any? - his attitudes stand unchallenged.

I really couldn't get past this. I would have liked to see more of the dragons, as well. And rather less of what looked like racial stereotyping of the enemy state.

Two stars because the characters were interesting, when they weren't awful. show less

I hate starting in the middle of a series. I'm usually pretty compulsive about it - if I haven't read book one, I won't read any of it. But sometimes I will put my name in for something on the LibraryThing Early Reviewers page, wherever the book falls in its series - kind of on the assumption that I'm not going to get it. From the May batch of early reviewers I received Steelhands, by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett - "Havemercy #4". Feeling my duty to get the read and review done before show more the anticipated release date in August, I squared my shoulders and plunged in.

The two ladies who wrote this should give lessons to all writers, fantasy and otherwise, who write more than one book in the same world. All of them. I don't remember ever reading another book which handled the problem of InfoDump in such a skilful manner: I always knew exactly what I needed to know, when I needed to know it - no less, but also no more, or not much more, so I'm left with the deep need to read the other books. Soon.

The story is told in a revolving first person point of view, moving fluidly from ex–Chief Sergeant of the Dragon Corps to his old comrade Balfour to (from Goodreads via randomhouse.com) "Laurence, a feisty young woman whose father raised her to be the son he never had, and Toverre, her fiancé, a brilliant if neurotic dandy who would sooner share his wife-to-be’s clothes than her bed". That's pretty good. They're terrific characters, and each has his own voice which is identifiable and unique from the others, in small ways and large. I've read reviews of other books which don't like alternating first-person narrations; this is not for them (though I wish they'd give it a try). I do (I've actually started a book using the technique), and I loved this.

Steelhands was beautifully written - original, and wonderfully imagined and thought through. I've read very little steampunk so far, but this is exactly what I hoped for and wanted from the genre. The characters were not necessarily all people I'd want to go out to dinner with (most of them not, I think), but I loved spending page-time with them, and I look forward to meeting many of them again. They were all of them excellent companions on the page.

I've discovered a reason to plunge in in the middle of a series: it's lovely that there are more books in a current series already in existence - I don't have to wait for their publication. My birthday's coming up ... show less

I didn't think it was possible, but I love Shadow Magic even more then Havemercy, the debut novel from this young author team. Shadow Magic continues right after Volstov wins the war against Ke-Han, but with an entirely new set of characters. Two of the characters were on the fringes in Havemercy and two are entirely new, but Jones and Bennett prove that their flair with the character-driven novel isn't a fluke: they can create stunningly original people and put them in situations where they show more develop in such a way that it's impossible not to care about them (even when, like Rook in Havemercy, you'd really rather not).

In Shadow Magic, Volstov sends a delegation to Ke-Han to negotiate the peace treaty, but they arrive early, just after the emperor's ritual suicide. This inauspicious beginning does not help the negotiations, which are understandably fraught with cultural misunderstandings (Volstov's informal, direct manner is quite different from the ritualized formality and politeness of Japanese-inspired Ke-Han) and buried resentment. Included in Volstov's delegation are previously-exiled magician Caius Greylace and war hero General Alcibiades, who are not so busy being at odds with each other that they fail to overlook something very strange going on in the Ke-Han court. Their suspicions only grow when the new emperor declares his innocent younger brother Mamoru a traitor, forcing the boy to flee with his devoted servant Kouje. Suddenly trapped in the palace and unable to get word back to Volstov, Caius and Alcibiades try to uncover the emperor's ultimate plan, but Mamoru is the one who truly uncovers the depth of his brother's betrayal.

Like in Havemercy, the authors take time to develop their characters (all four are first-person narrators) before the action really gets going, but their lives are absorbing enough. Jones and Bennett manage to give each person a distinctive voice that is clearly evident in their speech patterns and just as clearly matching with that person's personality and behavior. Caius is foppish and effeminate, flouncing around in ridiculous outfits and camping it up, but he's also shrewd and terribly creepy in his use of power and his matter-of-fact attitude toward his occasional insanity. Alcibiades is stubborn and taciturn and very physical, and he starts out determined to hate everything about the Ke-Han and about Caius. Caius drives Alcibiades nuts, of course, and enjoys it greatly, while Alcibiades does everything in his power to avoid Caius and ends up saddled with him nonetheless, and liking it at times, too. Watching them grow in each other's esteem is hilarious and sometimes touching. Mamoru and Kouje, a prince and his servant, undergo changes in their relationship that seem subtle but are actually huge, as they finally have the freedom to see each other operate out of the stifling formality of the palace, as equals. Secondary characters are as skillfully developed, too, especially the powerful new emperor, who is not a good man but still a deep one.

The suspense ratchets up in the second half, as Caius and Alcibiades plan for their escape and Mamoru and Kouje discover how far the new emperor's paranoia has taken him (into the realm of forbidden blood magic). The conclusion happened a little fast for me, just like in Havemercy as well; there's a long build-up, where the characters and politics are drawn in great detail, and some foreshadowing and tension, and then, boom boom boom, everything races to the finish. It's still an awesome finish, however, so I'm not complaining much. I only wish I'd had more resolution between the four characters after the climax, to view them a little longer in the new situations and new relationships they find themselves in. Wishing for more is hardly a negative, however, and so I'm sure that whatever Jones and Bennett decide to do next, I'll be there. show less