Title: Tempest: The Uprising

Author: DancingtheDream

Genre: Fantasy

Quick Summary: A more middle-grade Eragon that's not four books long and also has more dragons. Less imperialism, too.

Thoughts:

This book is really charming!

That's something I kept thinking the more I read this. It's grim at times and downright brutal in others, but on the whole this entire book has this sort of... infectiously cute air to it. There's a lot to like about it, like dragons and magic and some distinctive characters. The setting is also interesting and so is the plot - to an extent.

Another good thing about this is the descriptions used for "new" technology in this world - specifically about trains and guns. The first time a gun is shot, the descriptions of such are engaging and a breath of fresh air, honestly. Same with trains. That integration of new technology into this world was done rather well. Same with the gods and the transition of months. 

As much as I hate to say it, there are also issues with it.

I'm not entirely sure what age bracket this book is intended to be at, but it reads like a middle grade book. That's not necessarily a bad thing - if that's what you're going for. Word choice and level of depth you go into about certain topics would change this, though, if it's not. So would a slightly different "voice". 

Our MC, Dasha/Tempest, reads like she's 13 or 15 but she's supposed to be almost 18. While age doesn't really do much later on in life, in the teenage years, a couple of years makes all the difference. It's not enough to just age her physically. Her mentality should fit as well and it... really doesn't.

The pacing at times is... awkward. It's an awkward stop-and-go dance between skimming over certain areas and elaborating on others. Sometimes, this works. Other times, it feels like I'm being dragged around by a poorly-programmed robot. Along with pacing, some chapters seemed to go on longer than they needed to and cover... a bit too much. Or they skimmed over things, like Klaus being injured.  Or like with the last chapter... the transition from chapter 30 to chapter 31 was... awkward.

There was a lot of info-dumping - mostly about the lore of this world. I get it, of course. The world is fucking cool and all and you want to show readers just how cool it is and I get it, I do. But there's... a whole lot and I only remember slivers of it and most of the things that get dumped on us aren't needed at all or could've been implemented in other, better ways.

Olodum. I get they're the enemy empire taking over and all but... what's their purpose aside from "this thing is not ours so we want it"? It's not the worst motivation for an invading empire but also that's kind of all I know about them. While I've been bitching about info-dumping, that's one thing I would've like to see more of. 

There's leaps in logic that I couldn't quite follow. At one point, Tempest sees a man in an inn who apparently has prophetic dreams. Everyone else dismisses him as "crazy", meanwhile right off the bat she's just assuming it's about here and the new Olodum king. I mean, she's right, but she came to this conclusion IMMEDIATELY. And then she starts doodling symbolism from his dream at times? Even though it got him killed? In other instances, like Prince's dying speech, some people just... take his word for it without being the least bit skeptical? Or how Klaus comes to the conclusion Tempest is Dasha without much evidence? Again, they're RIGHT, and we know they're right, but how did they come to this conclusion in the first place when the entire story is supposed to be about a new oppressive regime and her needing to be in hiding? It's too easy. 

Klaus deserved more than falling off a dragon. I really wanted a horrific end for him - more than he got. I'll just say that.   

Dialogue punctuation. It needs a lot of work.

As a whole, while there are few issues with the book as a whole, it didn't stop me from being oddly enamored with it. With some improvements, this alright book could become GREAT.