Stasis is an enjoyable book with a riveting story and compelling main characters, but it suffers from a loose plot and a roughly sketched-in setting. What I liked: The main characters and the situation they find themselves in was compelling, even though I feel like we only got the broad strokes of who they are as people and what they've gone through. The plotting was tense and had glued through its resolution. Though in a way it was at the heart of the story, the "romance" wasn't the absolute main focus, and I appreciated that attention spent on plotting and storytelling. (That being said, a *leettle* more development between the leads wouldn't have gone amiss.) Fielding's writing style is smooth and easy to follow. Spelling and grammar errors were almost nonexistent, which is pleasantly refreshing for a self-published book.What I didn't like: As mentioned, the world-building left a lot to be desired. There was this weird juxtaposition of modern language and modern conveniences (auto-flush toilets, hot and cold running water) with more antiquated elements (horse-powered locomotion.) Throw in some fantasy bits like castles and wizards and omnipresent magic, and it left me feeling kind of confused. The "baddie" was a bit of a mustache-twirler, who outed his nefarious deeds and plots in a Bond-villainesque kind of scene. What he did and why he did it was interesting! I would have liked to have seen more development thrown his way. Actually, all of the secondary characters felt like caricatures, and could have stood for a bit more fleshing-out. I should mention that this was apparently written in one month during NaNoWriMo, and as such is an impressive achievement. But I think it also shows in the end result. If the author could go back and give it a once-over and a little tlc, what is a good book could become a fantastic one. Regardless, I'm more than interested enough to move on to the second book in the series, which I intend to do as soon as I finish writing up this review.
Eisheth
Stasis is an enjoyable book with a riveting story and compelling main characters, but it suffers from a loose plot and a roughly sketched-in setting. What I liked: The main characters and the situation they find themselves in was compelling, even though I feel like we only got the broad strokes of who they are as people and what they've gone through. The plotting was tense and had glued through its resolution. Though in a way it was at the heart of the story, the "romance" wasn't the absolute main focus, and I appreciated that attention spent on plotting and storytelling. (That being said, a *leettle* more development between the leads wouldn't have gone amiss.) Fielding's writing style is smooth and easy to follow. Spelling and grammar errors were almost nonexistent, which is pleasantly refreshing for a self-published book.What I didn't like: As mentioned, the world-building left a lot to be desired. There was this weird juxtaposition of modern language and modern conveniences (auto-flush toilets, hot and cold running water) with more antiquated elements (horse-powered locomotion.) Throw in some fantasy bits like castles and wizards and omnipresent magic, and it left me feeling kind of confused. The "baddie" was a bit of a mustache-twirler, who outed his nefarious deeds and plots in a Bond-villainesque kind of scene. What he did and why he did it was interesting! I would have liked to have seen more development thrown his way. Actually, all of the secondary characters felt like caricatures, and could have stood for a bit more fleshing-out. I should mention that this was apparently written in one month during NaNoWriMo, and as such is an impressive achievement. But I think it also shows in the end result. If the author could go back and give it a once-over and a little tlc, what is a good book could become a fantastic one. Regardless, I'm more than interested enough to move on to the second book in the series, which I intend to do as soon as I finish writing up this review.
