THE BENIGHTED by
A. M. Dunnewin
For me, this was one of those hot/cold stories, which made it difficult to review and rate. What I liked was the fantasy world this tale took place in, a mix of medieval with modern elements. They call it Steampunk. Dunnewin didn’t get into much detail about the world, other than the fact there’s another kingdom with more advanced technology. I assume this will be explained in the second book. But, it did leave me wondering why there’s such a disparity of technology.
The characters were fleshed out in great detail, maybe a little too much, as I became bored with the continuous descriptions of Skylar’s gowns and jewels. I‘m not a clothes horse and I felt they weren’t necessary, thought I understand Dunnewin was trying to set the stage. Even though the characters were well-developed, I had a hard time feeling of them. I had more feelings for the villain, Cross Lutherous, than I did for what happened to Skylar. I believe some of that was the writing style, a little too passive for my tastes. Also, there were issues with sentence structures that didn’t read well and some misused words like shutter for shudder. Really?
What I liked, was how Dunnewin built the back story via dreams/memories. But, even these became redundant. I just wanted the plot to get going. I finally became more involved with Skylar and Harlin once we spent more time in the present, and less in the past. Then I found myself rooting for her and Harlin, reading faster and faster until the end. I felt the latter part of the book was written better and the ending was perfect. Now, I want to see how Skylar will defend her kingdom against the Bellumortis.
If you like fanciful Steampunk stories, with princesses and knights, I recommend this story. I give it 4 feathers.
