🌺ARC Review🌺
Steel In The Blood by N.T. Narbutovskih

Date DNF'ed: 24/11/2023
Publish date: 12th Dec 2021

Series: The Reckoning Cycle #1

💀DNF chapter 10, 36%💀

📱

Thank you to @Netgalley for approving this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A sci-fi with a bit of a mystery, sounds like it was right up my alley. Unfortunately, this one fell very flat for me.

From the first sentence, it made absolutely no sense. The characters were extremely flat and 1 dimensional. The writing felt very disjointed and hard to follow.
When the event of the treason finally came to light, it was uneventful, and a little boring. Honestly, I have no interest in finding out how the main character clears his name or what will happen along the way.

Stars: 2.5 out of 5

I am not sure why this was published as a book. As far as story goes, it's only Part 1 of a bigger book. The part that sets up the characters and the premise and doesn't nothing else. By the end of Steel in the Blood, the main conflict of the story was set up, alright, but no questions were answered, there was no emotional payoff for sticking with the story so far. It just ended. So if you want to learn what this story is actually about, you have to buy the next book.

Unfortunately, there is nothing I hate more in a book than a cliffhanger designed solely to make you buy the next book, so I'm afraid that this series and I will be parting ways. Which is a shame, because from the little I have seen of the world and history in this small installment, it might be an interesting story.

The human empire has existed for thousands of years, ruled by an immortal Empress. It's big, safe and prosperous (or so we're told), but it has stopped growing. Innovation is discouraged, exploration is non-existent. It's a well-oiled machine designed for one purpose only - to keep trade flowing to the capital worlds. No part of the Empire is self-sufficient. They all depend on each other for food, raw materials, trade, or goods. Each section of the empire is governed by members of different genelines, who have been cloned and enhanced to rule their sections for millennia as well. There has been no war in a thousand years, after the last Medicant Wars have ended. But now one is brewing...

Wonderful premise for an exciting book, right? That's what I thought as well. I already mentioned the first problem with this story - this book is only a set-up. A transit point from one geneline is seemingly attacked by agents of another geneline, even though the Executor of that geneline never ordered the attack he is accused of. He has to find those who are responsible and clear his name or a civil war will break out. He leaves to do just that and puts his daughter in charge of their whole sector... And that's it. That's where the story ends.

If you are expecting answers to all the questions asked in this book, you will have to purchase the next book in the series.

My second problem is that while the world setting is intriguing, the characters are a lot less so. Erick seems very naïve and indecisive for a leader who supposedly ruled his corner of the Empire for 400 years. Bryn seems a little more interesting, but we haven't really been in her head enough to get attached. In fact, the character I found the most interesting and whom I could empathize the most with is the Medicant. Yes, an android is has more personality than the humans in this story.

The ending also feels a bit flat - we are introduced to a whole assault team of characters we've never seen before who have a brief battle to capture a saboteur at a fold array. Said saboteur explodes, literally, damaging the array. The end. Again, if you were looking for answers and emotional payoff for sticking with this story for a few hours, buy the next book. Maybe the story will get better, maybe not. I am out either way.

PS: I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The description caught my attention but the story kept me hooked. While it did take me a bit for it to get my full interest, once it did, there was no way I could put it down. I can't wait to get started on book #2.

Steel in the Blood is an interesting first segment of a space opera. The characters, a father and his daughter are the leaders of a bloodline in support of the Empress. There had been a thousand years of peace. Now someone sets up the father and daughter for treason.

There is nothing wrong with basic space opera. Its just another setting and whilst as a writer you have plenty of options to make your version of a far future civilisation with active spaceships distinct, there are genre tropes for a reason. Steel In The Blood leans lightly on some Russian / Nordic background, but when it comes to its future politics we have a benevolent overlord who latterly becomes shocked to discover that the people don't see it that way. There is also an ancient evil (an AI) who turns out not to be quite as evil as all the tales suggest. And that's pretty much it. Prejudices are overturned, battles waged, and the stages is set for the next book in the series which I think I'll check out on as nothing here really grabbed me. Its a solid start to a series but in a crowded market nothing really stood out for me.

Steel in Blood

[Blurb goes here]

The first few chapters should be, in my opinion, the setting upon which the world building takes place, just to make sense of things. The author decided against it and things get confusing. For the rest of the book, most of what happens, happens without explanation. The book is short and raises more questions that it cares to answer. It doesn't give the characters a chance to grow. What makes the main characters interesting? Sadly, nothing.

Now, and I can't stretch this enough: this is only my opinion. You might find things different, if you give it a try.

Thank you for the free copy!

Do you like Vikings? Do you like the idea of refined Vikings in space? Did you like the part of Dune where entire planetary economies were controlled by family empires? Then do I have the book for you! All humor aside, this is a very Norse-heavy space opera that was really hitting its groove about the time the book came to a close. This book focuses on world-building and kicking off an intrigue plot that I can only hope comes to a climactic head in book two which will be out later this year. An quick and interesting read, I look forward to seeing where this story goes.

<i>I read this as an ARC on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

<b> 4 stars </b>, but only because I can see the potential, otherwise more a 3.

As you can already see from my rating, this book is good but it has also a "problem" that for being the kind of space opera scifi it's promising to be, it's too short, it's barely a "1st part" of what I suppose it would be the real story. And I'm not saying it's not good, I really like almost all the elements but it's an intro to the setting where very little happens and you just meet the cast of characters.
Besides that, I really loved it: the author is amazing in the way he introduces the various techs/history/general worldbuilding without doing lore drops but letting the context make you understand what is happening. And that is a wonderful way to write sci-fi, because from the characters' POV nothing is new and so it doesn't need long explanations or a dissertation about how X stuff works. Maybe a little confusing if you're not ready for it but, personally, I love it because you can see that the author really KNOWS his world.
As I said, the book is quite short to get to know the characters but they seem promising and I really like the father/daughter dynamics (for once it's not weird and it's quite healthy and they seem to care for each other). Also, [Spoiler] is intriguing, I want to know more about him and the Mendicanti.
My only ??? moment was when another character was cold drop introduced at like 2 chapters from the end but I think it's still part of the "too short" problem, so it's not a big deal.

<b>To summarized </b>
I really like it, too short (even knowing that the next part is soo coming), the setting is well written and the cast of characters is promising. And good and healthy father/daughter dynamic that is a rarity these days

Erick, executor (leader) of the Geneline Ollson has kept the peace and helped provide for his trillion people for hundreds of years (at least he thinks he has), doing his job in an incredibly vast but decaying empire. He and his daughter Bryn travel to a summit of the executors, and they seemingly carry the day over a rival in an important meeting. However, then comes news that his soldiers have attacked this rival, and he and his daughter make the decision to run back to the home system. She takes over preparations for war, and he undertakes to find out what is actually going on. In my opinion, the really interesting part is the artificial intelligence which accompanies Eric and which is atrociously illegal in this empire. The book ends with the feeling that the story won't be complete until at least five more volumes are published... things are just getting started, really, and so the book was unsatisfactory in that regard. However, it was engaging and enjoyable in other respects.

<i>Steel in the Blood</i> is the first instalment of a new science fiction series. For this series, author <b>N. T. Narbutovskih</b> created a universe in a far future, ruled by an Empress. The empire has known peace for a thousand years, and has stopped expanding. Under the Empress’s reign, several families called Genelines, act as governors, each over a part of this empire. The Ollsons are such a Geneline. At this moment in time Erick is head of this family and has been for several hundreds of years. In time, his successor will be Bryn, his daughter. Peace gets disrupted when a space harbour is attacked and the inhabitants slaughtered. All evidence points to Erick. He and Bryn know it wasn’t them, but the evidence the Empress and other Genelines have, says otherwise. In no time, Erick finds himself outlawed. While trying to stay out of the hands of those who seek him, he must find out who planned all this, and why.

On its cover, the book is compared to <i>Dune</i> and <i>The Expanse</i>. That is not a lie, but it’s also not a striking truth. It’s a different story in a different universe, with minor resemblances but nothing all too obvious. Although it has a fuzzy beginning, the plot line becomes clearer after a while and starts heading somewhere. It’s a smooth read that contains some intriguing elements. It’s mostly politically inspired, with a little bit of mysticism here and there. The Mendicants, a not-entirely-human race, are an interesting addition that could potentially shift the story in a totally unexpected direction at some point in this series. Some action scenes are present as well, with clashes between space ships, and some espionage activities by the protagonists. In the next paragraph I’ll elaborate on why this is not enough.

About this fuzzy beginning. The first chapters are confusing. The world is new and unknown, and a lot of what happens makes no sense yet. That is not uncommon at the start of a new science fiction or fantasy series. Not seldom it takes a writer hundred pages or more to introduce the characters and setting. It’s the same here. That should not be a problem, but it is. With a total of less than 190 pages there is hardly any room left to bring all the pieces together and explain what the reader actually has been reading. So not surprisingly, at the end almost no questions get answered. Only few characters have received any attention so far, aren’t developed well yet, and haven’t evolved in any way. Main protagonist Erick, for instance, hasn’t shown any strength yet, and only appeared to me as an unrealistically weak personality, given his role in the Empire. Until the last chapter, new characters get introduced even, and the story quite abruptly ends with a ‘to be continued in part two: <i> Iron on the Tongue</i>’ message. Bummer! Sadly enough, this second part is expected to be released not sooner than October 2022.

This first book is an unfinished story with no answers, an introduction to something bigger. I’d rather call this “episode 1” instead of “book 1”. It has potential but it requires a second book to see how this will evolve. There was not enough for me to connect with, and therefore I can only rate <i>Steel in the Blood</i> preliminary (2.5/5). I’ll reconsider once <i> Iron on the Tongue</i> is available.

(Many thanks to NetGalley and the auther for this DRC.)

A beautifully written science fiction war story set in a vivid and fascinating world of advanced technology and AI. Unfortunately, while I was interested in the world, class system, and technology presented, I wasn't as grabbed by the plot or characters as I would have liked.

What I enjoyed:
- The writing style and prose was wonderful. I didn't catch any mistakes or awkward writing.
- The dialogue and crisp and never feels out of place
- While I didn't love any of the characters, they were well written and never felt annoying. They (particularly the father) had character flaws as well and changes of perspective
- The world was fascinating (with the use of ghosts created by tech, AI, and a clear distinction between authority and regular people)
- It starts slow but the story seems to find its comfort zone halfway through

What I didn't enjoy:
- I didn't latch onto the plot as well as I would have liked. I had trouble following along with the story in the beginning and wasn't hooked by the end
- I personally felt a lack of tension in terms of the main character's safety, especially near the end
- By the end of the story, I couldn't really connect with the characters (especially Brynn) but they did become more interesting from the middle onwards

Overall, this is a great book for fans of the sci-fi genre, especially those who like big ships and politics with a little bit of intrigue. I didn't love it and won't be picking up the second book but do recommend it to fans of the genre.

Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4660684448

I thoroughly enjoyed this first installment in the Reckoning trilogy. The book read like an enjoyable space opera, with a possible war in the Empire, spies, backstabbing, and hints at hidden history. The main character, with his big heart and apparent lack of context, seems to be about to learn where allies can actually be found, and they may not be who he expects.