YA
Deathscent is doing that very Robin Jarvis thing where the world arrives first and the plot has to keep up. The alternate-past, “Scyence Fyctione” business is gloriously odd, and honestly that’s what I stayed for.
The atmosphere carries a lot of the weight here. The story itself didn’t quite match the inventiveness of the setting for me, but I’d still rather read something this strange than another tidy, interchangeable fantasy with all the personality of damp cardboard.
The atmosphere carries a lot of the weight here. The story itself didn’t quite match the inventiveness of the setting for me, but I’d still rather read something this strange than another tidy, interchangeable fantasy with all the personality of damp cardboard.
That kind of setting-first writing can be a gift and a problem. If the world is the main event, the plot has to earn its seat at the table, not just wander in wearing a costume. I’m usually more forgiving of that in children’s fiction, though. Let it be strange. Just don’t let “strange” become a substitute for momentum.