Angel from the Rust - Jason Link - ★★★.¾

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AUTHOR: Jason Link
NARRATOR: Tiffany Morgan Baker
SERIES: Earth Medieval Series, #1 
GENRE: Dystopian Fantasy
RATING: 3.75 stars.


In a Nutshell: An interesting indie work combining various sub-genres into a tightly woven apocalyptic setting. Will be a great read for those who enjoy dystopian fantasy. First of a planned series; no cliffhanger ending.


Story Synopsis:
Corvala is a young musician who knows that madness lies in her future, courtesy her mother’s family line. She seeks a cure but ends up being a fugitive from law.
When a strange being falls from the skies and sets himself up as a god, Corvala’s bloodline is activated, and she is called to defeat the false god with only two characters for support.
(This synopsis is looking too boring, but I don’t want to reveal a lot here. The plot is quite complicated with multiple tracks, and thus, best discovered for yourself.)


Where the book worked well for me:
🔥 The plot, as I mentioned above, is not a straightforward one. Unlike what the blurb seems to promise, Corvala is not the only character we hear from. There are multiple third person povs and multiple story arcs. The other perspectives are from characters who are morally grey, so it takes time to discern which side of the good-evil spectrum they lie on. The author handles all the storylines well though, gotta give credit for that.

🔥 The world-building is amazing. The series is titled “Earth Medieval”, but it is set in the distant future about 600 years ahead. So the story is an explosive combination of past and future, with ancient social beliefs and futuristic tech. Add into the wacky medley some trolls and dragons and space travellers and goblins and androids! It is the weirdest dystopian fantasy I have ever read, and I am saying this in the most astounded tone!
(ETA: I just read the author’s bio on Goodreads and saw this line: “His world building course for fantasy writers is a bestseller on Udemy, and his writing courses have over 14,000 students enrolled from all over the world.” Dayyum! No wonder he got the world-building spot on!)

🔥 Corvala makes for an appealing lead character. Her uncertainties about the future combined with her talent with the fiddle offer some good scenes. Her being the ‘Chosen One’ might seem predictable but the overall arc was well-written. Another character I truly enjoyed was Serapha – “She” was a bundle of surprises. I want to know more about her origin in the sequels. The antagonist was creepy! I loved to hate him and hated to love him.

🔥 Though the first of a series, the book doesn’t end with a cliffhanger. While there are questions left unanswered, the key plot points are brought to a satisfying completion.

🔥 The pacing is just right. The book takes its time to set up the world and the characters, and the action moves ahead steadily without feeling rushed. At the same time, it doesn’t slow down even when it enters one of the minor story tracks.

🔥 There are plenty of action-filled tense scenes at regular intervals, making sure you stay hooked.

🔥 I must include that awesome cover art in my positives list. Ever seen a character holding the fiddle with such cool swag!? 😍


Where the book could have worked better for me:
💢 Because of the multi-character multi-track approach, the characters sometimes felt a little under-developed. (This is what gave me some YA vibes.) It was tough to feel connected to anyone except Corvala.

💢 Wanted to know more about the outer space side of the story. (Yup! There’s outer space also!) This might be covered in the rest of the series, but I would have liked at least a little more detailing in this book. A part of it gave me Wall-E vibes, so I’d have loved to see how things reached that stage.

💢 Things get resolved a bit too conveniently at times.

💢 A part of me feels that the storyline went a tad too ambitious, trying to incorporate too many distinct elements into one work. Of course, if this build-up will be utilised in the next novel, then it wont be a negative any more.


The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at 11hrs 50 min, is narrated by Tiffany Morgan Baker. She does an amazing job, voicing all the characters to perfection. She even sings well! For a book with so many characters and parallel plots, the audio is surprisingly easy on the ears.


Overall, I enjoyed this unusual story way more than I had expected. (This is not to take away from the author; it is just that I don’t usually read apocalyptic fiction as I am not a big fan of the genre.) It makes an engaging attempt at putting together a plot with many novel aspects. I'm keen to read the sequel to discover what lies ahead for Corvala. 

Recommended to those who enjoy dystopian fantasies with spunky heroines and slow-burn thrills. 

My thanks to author Jason Link for providing me with a complimentary audio copy of “Angel from the Rust”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

The book is available for free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers in India.

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