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Book: “Echoes of the Imperium” by Nicholas and Olivia Atwater
Publishing Info: Starwatch Press, October 2024
Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: Captain William Blair has taken shady jobs before—what goblin hasn’t? But this shady job has pirates off the port bow and legendary aethermancers knocking at his cabin door. Unfortunately, Wil has sworn an Oath to escort his newest dubious passenger wherever she wants to go… and a goblin must be worth his word.
The ragtag crew of the Iron Rose once survived the fall of an empire—but none of them are interested in revisiting the experience. As the dregs of the Imperium rise again to claw at their heels, Wil and his crew must face the literal ghosts of their past… or else history may well repeat itself.
Review: Something unfortunate seems to have happened with the marketing of this book. In that, I follow upcoming fantasy releases very closely (obviously, I need to for the blog!) and am even more on the look-out for new titles from authors whose books I’ve enjoyed in the past, like Olivia Atwater. But the only reason I became aware of this book was through a note included on the Kickstarter email I received when my order of the special edition of ‘The Witchwood Knot” was shipping out! Of course, I then immediately skipped off to place a request on Netgalley. But with my packed reading schedule, here we are with a review coming out about a month after the book has actually dropped, all because I didn’t hear about this one in a conventional manner!
Olivia Atwater always talks about her husband’s influence and input into her books in her author’s notes, so I’m not surprised to see a book coming out that is now written by them both together. You never quite know how well a book will worked when trying to combine two people’s writing styles, but I think this one turned out well! I can recognize elements of Olivia’s style, but the book is also very different from the one’s she’s written alone.
Overall, the main difference is one of tone. Olivia’s books are often on the lighter side, with a few creepy elements thrown in here and there. This one, however, is much darker in a lot of ways. Right from the start, the authors don’t shy away from putting their characters through the ringer. There was a particularly impactful scene that came within the first 20% of the book that had me surprisingly emotional, especially coming from characters whom I’d only just been introduced to!
One of my favorite parts of this book was the world-building and overall themes of pirate adventures! While the plot was very fast paced (especially in the first half, things slowed down towards the back half), this was definitely a character-based story. Much of the fun of the reading experience was simply following the characters as they got into one type of trouble or another. Pirates are always a good time, but pirates in airships are something else! That said, much of this action does revolve around the characters themselves, so your enjoyment of the book will come down to how invested you become in these people and their stories.
Overall, I very much enjoyed this book! It reminded me a lot of “Treasure Planet” and is definitely a breath of fresh air from the type of fantasy books I more often gravitate towards. That said, while I appreciate the inclusion of an asexual main character, I did find myself missing Olivia Atwater’s lovely romance storylines. But that’s mostly a me issue, as that’s not what this book is or was ever meant to be. I guess I’m mostly just hankering for the next entry in her “Victorian Faerie Tales” series!
Rating 8: All the best of the steampunk genre, this character-driven story is a romp of a ride from start to finish!
Reader’s Advisory:
“Echoes of the Imperium” isn’t on any Goodreads lists but it should be on Flying Ships and Air Pirates.
The Library Ladies 