THE RED HOURGLASS - Ashley Capes

The opening sentence describing this book on Goodreads really is a very good set-up. "Escape isn’t the hardest challenge for a slave – it’s staying free afterwards."

Mia and Thomas are brother and sister, on the run from the tyrannical King Williams. Mia has a magical power of foresight and the king wants her to use that power for him and his securing of power over the kingdom. But the siblings aren't interested in being used in this way.

The territory they travel through is a gritty, desolate landscape with dangers of its own (such as the fierce sand-hogs) which Mia can't seem to foretell with her sight. Escape seems hopeless until they encounter a band of rebels and hear rumors of an airship that might help take them away.

This book is billed as a steampunk adventure with shades of magic and alchemy tossed into the mix.  And while I understand why this classification, I find it to be more of an adventure fantasy (escape the mad king!) in a dystopian world.  There's not enough steam, or punk, to qualify here.  I don't find this good, or bad, just notating it in case someone wants to read it because of the steampunk label.

The adventure is fine but not particularly original (the e-shelves are FULL of books like this) and the characters don't really stand out. Typically there would be a romance in a book like this, but being siblings takes that out of the mix.  In many ways this is great because romance often just muddies the story.  In this case, however, I felt we needed SOMEthing to draw us in.  Thomas and Mia are just too bland to be the heroes of the story.

The writing is also generally fine, but in no way exceptional.  Twice I highlighted a description that struck me as odd.  "The sun pummelled (sic) his head and shoulders..." and "The sun pummelled (sic) the homes yet barely seemed to penetrate the black windows, long since empty of glass."  Is 'pummel' the right verb for the action of the sun?  The sun 'beats' but to pummel is to beat rapidly with fists.

There was also an awkward phrasing "...along with some of the supplies Ethan had obviously specifically gathered for the possibility of fleeing into the marsh..."  "Obviously, specifically, for the possibility"? Really?

This is a very, very average fantasy.  I wouldn't recommend this, but if you are a fan of this kind of fantasy, it's a fair read for the price.

Looking for a good book? The Red Hourglass by Ashley Capes is a dystopian, steampunk fantasy that does nothing to stand out or make it recommendation-worthy.

2-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

The Red Hourglass

author: Ashley Capes

series: Slaves of the New World #1

publisher: Close-Up Books

ISBN: 9780987623195

paperback, 245 pages

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