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Jackelian #1
The Court of the Air
When Molly Templar witnesses a brutal murder at the brothel she has just been apprenticed to, her first instinct is to return to the poorhouse where she grew up. But there she finds her fellow orphans butchered, and it slowly dawns on her that she was in fact the real target of the attack. For Molly carries a secret deep in her blood, a secret that marks her out for destruction by enemies of the state. Soon Molly will find herself battling a grave threat to civilization which draws on an ancient power thought to have been quelled millennia ago.
Oliver Brooks has led a sheltered life in the home of his merchant uncle. But when he is framed for his only relative's murder he is forced to flee for his life. He is accompanied by Harry Stave, an agent of the Court of the Air -- a shadowy organization independent of the government that acts as the final judiciary of the land, ensuring that order prevails.
Chased across the country, Oliver finds himself in the company of thieves, outlaws and spies, and gradually learns more about the secret that has blighted his life, but which may also offer him the power to avert the coming catastrophe. Their enemies are ruthless and myriad, but Molly and Oliver are joined by indomitable friends in this endlessly inventive tale full of drama, intrigue and adventure.
Oliver Brooks has led a sheltered life in the home of his merchant uncle. But when he is framed for his only relative's murder he is forced to flee for his life. He is accompanied by Harry Stave, an agent of the Court of the Air -- a shadowy organization independent of the government that acts as the final judiciary of the land, ensuring that order prevails.
Chased across the country, Oliver finds himself in the company of thieves, outlaws and spies, and gradually learns more about the secret that has blighted his life, but which may also offer him the power to avert the coming catastrophe. Their enemies are ruthless and myriad, but Molly and Oliver are joined by indomitable friends in this endlessly inventive tale full of drama, intrigue and adventure.
582 pages, Paperback
First published April 2, 2007
About the author
Stephen Hunt
273 books341 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Stephen Hunt is a British writer living in London. His first fantasy novel, For the Crown and the Dragon, was published in 1994, and introduced a young officer, Taliesin, fighting for the Queen of England in a Napoleonic period alternative reality where the wars of Europe were being fought with sorcery and steampunk weapons (airships, clockwork machine guns, and steam-driven trucks called kettle-blacks). The novel won the 1994 WH Smith Award, and the book reviewer Andrew Darlington used Hunt's novel to coin the phrase Flintlock Fantasy to describe the sub-genre of fantasy set in a Regency or Napoleonic-era period.
Stephen Hunt is a British writer living in London. His first fantasy novel, For the Crown and the Dragon, was published in 1994, and introduced a young officer, Taliesin, fighting for the Queen of England in a Napoleonic period alternative reality where the wars of Europe were being fought with sorcery and steampunk weapons (airships, clockwork machine guns, and steam-driven trucks called kettle-blacks). The novel won the 1994 WH Smith Award, and the book reviewer Andrew Darlington used Hunt's novel to coin the phrase Flintlock Fantasy to describe the sub-genre of fantasy set in a Regency or Napoleonic-era period.
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December 13, 2008
Have you ever been to an orgy?
They can be fun if you approach them correctly. You need to find a small section of the orgy and focus on that spot. Think about your pleasure first and don’t be tempted into straying from the spot you’ve chosen. But if you are unable to find your spot, if you are unable to focus your sexual energy in that spot, you are more likely to have an overwhelming and, ultimately, unfulfilling experience.
You'll see beauty, you'll feel pleasure, you'll probably even have an orgasm, but you’re also sure to wind up with the most unattractive swinger in the room, feel a whole bunch of discomfort and find yourself on your knees a lot more often than you’ll like.
That's also what you'll get with Stephen Hunt’s The Court of the Air. It is the closest thing to a literary orgy I’ve ever read. It is like a particularly horny night in the bedchambers of Caligula. I loved it; I hated it; I liked it; I disliked it; I hated it; I loved it; I disliked it; I liked it. It was too much. It wasn’t enough. It was all over the place.
There were some absolutely gorgeous moments of original prose and inventive creativity, but these were matched by painfully clichéd prose and derivative banality. Hunt’s diametric proclivities create maximum frustration. Who would put together pseudo-Aztec gods with fey-misted mutants, or barely veiled Marxists with undying steammen? But then how could he allow his characters to speak with every tired metaphor known to modern man, and let those tired words flow from the mouths of characters stripped from Mel Gibson movies, Marvel Comics and Stephen King’s longest monstrosity? The competition between these two Stephen Hunts is a constant irritant for the reader, and it turns The Court of the Air into a bit of a slog.
Furthermore, there was one constant in The Court of the Air, that further degraded my enjoyment of the book, and that was Hunt's constant need for action. There is very little downtime. Hunt sets up a dual narrative, flipping between Molly and Oliver as they try to stay alive and come together (even though neither knows they are looking for the other). This leads to action sequence after action sequence, escape after escape, and each time one of the main characters thinks they might be safe they are suddenly caught in another trap. It's like a Saturday Movie Serial without the week long break to catch your breath. It's like moving from group to group in an orgy without taking any time out to replenish your fluids or take a pee. It just increases your discomfort and makes you long for quiet.
And Hunt's orgy of action doesn't do his characters any favours. There is very little depth of emotion; they all have minuscule interior lives, and that makes them very difficult to care about.
In the end, I don’t know what to make of The Court of the Air, and I don’t really know what I think. It is going to take another reading to be firm in my opinion, but that extra reading is going to be a long time coming. I would much rather reread The Anubis Gates or Perdido Street Station.
So will I really get back to it? Someday, but I don’t know when.
They can be fun if you approach them correctly. You need to find a small section of the orgy and focus on that spot. Think about your pleasure first and don’t be tempted into straying from the spot you’ve chosen. But if you are unable to find your spot, if you are unable to focus your sexual energy in that spot, you are more likely to have an overwhelming and, ultimately, unfulfilling experience.
You'll see beauty, you'll feel pleasure, you'll probably even have an orgasm, but you’re also sure to wind up with the most unattractive swinger in the room, feel a whole bunch of discomfort and find yourself on your knees a lot more often than you’ll like.
That's also what you'll get with Stephen Hunt’s The Court of the Air. It is the closest thing to a literary orgy I’ve ever read. It is like a particularly horny night in the bedchambers of Caligula. I loved it; I hated it; I liked it; I disliked it; I hated it; I loved it; I disliked it; I liked it. It was too much. It wasn’t enough. It was all over the place.
There were some absolutely gorgeous moments of original prose and inventive creativity, but these were matched by painfully clichéd prose and derivative banality. Hunt’s diametric proclivities create maximum frustration. Who would put together pseudo-Aztec gods with fey-misted mutants, or barely veiled Marxists with undying steammen? But then how could he allow his characters to speak with every tired metaphor known to modern man, and let those tired words flow from the mouths of characters stripped from Mel Gibson movies, Marvel Comics and Stephen King’s longest monstrosity? The competition between these two Stephen Hunts is a constant irritant for the reader, and it turns The Court of the Air into a bit of a slog.
Furthermore, there was one constant in The Court of the Air, that further degraded my enjoyment of the book, and that was Hunt's constant need for action. There is very little downtime. Hunt sets up a dual narrative, flipping between Molly and Oliver as they try to stay alive and come together (even though neither knows they are looking for the other). This leads to action sequence after action sequence, escape after escape, and each time one of the main characters thinks they might be safe they are suddenly caught in another trap. It's like a Saturday Movie Serial without the week long break to catch your breath. It's like moving from group to group in an orgy without taking any time out to replenish your fluids or take a pee. It just increases your discomfort and makes you long for quiet.
And Hunt's orgy of action doesn't do his characters any favours. There is very little depth of emotion; they all have minuscule interior lives, and that makes them very difficult to care about.
In the end, I don’t know what to make of The Court of the Air, and I don’t really know what I think. It is going to take another reading to be firm in my opinion, but that extra reading is going to be a long time coming. I would much rather reread The Anubis Gates or Perdido Street Station.
So will I really get back to it? Someday, but I don’t know when.
March 27, 2009
This was a book with a lot of potential. Interesting concept, with some nods to Dr. Who, but the author left way too much up to the reader. I can't believe I'm saying this, but this book needed more exposition. Slang that was almost indecipherable, barely there descriptions of the characters, people, environment, etc. I like to have a good visual image while I read, and this book simply did not provide that. How can I enjoy an escape when I can't imagine what anything looks like? If the author resubmits this (maybe as two books since it is pretty long already) with some more description, a map of the world in which the story takes place, and a glossary of what the heck everyone is talking about, I would give this book a higher rating.
February 22, 2011
Oliver Brooks, a boy altered by the feymist, has his life turned upside down when his uncle is killed and he's framed for murder. Molly Templar escapes murder at the brothel where she was being trained, only to find her orphanage home the scene of a massacre and quickly figures out she was the real target. What bonds these two orphans together and what does the mysterious Court of the Air have to do with things?
Court of the Air was definitely worth my seven bucks. It's full of action and twists. Steampulp would be a good word for it. The world is by far the best part. The Kingdom of Jakals is a steampunk version of London patrolled by a navy of aerostats and policed by the worldsingers, a wizard-ish army that has penny-dreadfuls depicting
their adventures. The people that police the police are the Court of the Air and their Wolftakers. Cool concepts, right? How about the feymist, a cloud of gas that mutates people? Or the steammen, intelligent steam-powered robots? Or a sleeping race of insectile gods? The final battle was one of my favorites since Stormbringer and the Hood o'the marsh made me smile.
I liked this book but I really wanted to love it. Why didn't I? Too much going on. It was like being at the best buffet in the world and not being able to sample everything. A glossary would have been a big help. There was almost too much action and not enough exposition. While I hate that all fantasy stories seem to be trilogies these days, I would have really liked this one to be expanded and the pace slowed down just a bit. The story jumped from viewpoint to viewpoint so often it was disorienting.
All that being said, The Court of the Air has quite a bit going for it. It's suspenseful and jam packed with interesting concepts. It just overflows a bit at times.
Court of the Air was definitely worth my seven bucks. It's full of action and twists. Steampulp would be a good word for it. The world is by far the best part. The Kingdom of Jakals is a steampunk version of London patrolled by a navy of aerostats and policed by the worldsingers, a wizard-ish army that has penny-dreadfuls depicting
their adventures. The people that police the police are the Court of the Air and their Wolftakers. Cool concepts, right? How about the feymist, a cloud of gas that mutates people? Or the steammen, intelligent steam-powered robots? Or a sleeping race of insectile gods? The final battle was one of my favorites since Stormbringer and the Hood o'the marsh made me smile.
I liked this book but I really wanted to love it. Why didn't I? Too much going on. It was like being at the best buffet in the world and not being able to sample everything. A glossary would have been a big help. There was almost too much action and not enough exposition. While I hate that all fantasy stories seem to be trilogies these days, I would have really liked this one to be expanded and the pace slowed down just a bit. The story jumped from viewpoint to viewpoint so often it was disorienting.
All that being said, The Court of the Air has quite a bit going for it. It's suspenseful and jam packed with interesting concepts. It just overflows a bit at times.
September 21, 2013
Have you ever been stalked by book? When I was in Toronto earlier this summer, I swear The Court of the Air was stalking me. It was in the first bookstore I entered; it had a prominent position at every book store. I finally decided to get it once I got home, after all Borders was having a "buy four, get one free" sale, and I was getting the four Kitty Norville books I didn't have. Sadly, despite the stalking and Hunt's very cool website*, I didn't like the book. In fact, I couldn't even finish it.
This is very strange because I loved the beginning of the book. Hunt drops the reader in the middle of a world, and the reader must piece together the picture or idea of that world. And it is a wonderful world, a steampunk version of Cromwell's England. The problem occurred around page 250 for me. Once you figured out the world, and it is put upon the reader to do so, there is little else to keep you reading. Blurbs on the cover and in the book itself, compare it to Dickens. Well, I don't see why. I'm not a huge fan of Dickens, but at least, Dickens drew good characters (with the exception of some of his female characters). You can see and hear a great many of Dickens' creations. That is not the case with Hunt. There is a huge cast of characters, but there is no way to tell them apart except for their names. The reader can tell the difference between species, in particular the steammen, but outside of that, there is no real difference, every character is a type, not drawn. Even worse, the two central characters of Oliver and Molly are interchangeable, and they are different sexes. There is little or description of the characters. The only physical things I know about Molly are that she is a girl and she has red hair. I don't even know Molly and Oliver's ages. They are children, but they don't act or talk like children. Molly is old enough to be hired by a brothel but even then who knows how old she is?
No character merits a strong emotional response from the reader. No hate, no love, no pity. No sorrow when characters die. The violence itself in the book seems completely neutral. It excites no horror because it isn't really described. It is treated like video game violence.
The character problem is a huge one for why else would the reader keep reading close to 600 pages. There is the world, that is true, but even with that there are problems. I really wanted a map because I couldn't figure out which direction the characters were traveling. Were they going up? Sideways? Inside out?
Despite the fact that I couldn't finish the book, if I could I would give it 1.5 stars because of the world building. Sadly, a well crafted world, and only a well crafted world, does not hold my attention for 600 pages. I need characters, otherwise the book is little more than a role playing setting.
* I stuck the bit about the website because I think it might violate the new terms of service, it's not about the book or anything.
This is very strange because I loved the beginning of the book. Hunt drops the reader in the middle of a world, and the reader must piece together the picture or idea of that world. And it is a wonderful world, a steampunk version of Cromwell's England. The problem occurred around page 250 for me. Once you figured out the world, and it is put upon the reader to do so, there is little else to keep you reading. Blurbs on the cover and in the book itself, compare it to Dickens. Well, I don't see why. I'm not a huge fan of Dickens, but at least, Dickens drew good characters (with the exception of some of his female characters). You can see and hear a great many of Dickens' creations. That is not the case with Hunt. There is a huge cast of characters, but there is no way to tell them apart except for their names. The reader can tell the difference between species, in particular the steammen, but outside of that, there is no real difference, every character is a type, not drawn. Even worse, the two central characters of Oliver and Molly are interchangeable, and they are different sexes. There is little or description of the characters. The only physical things I know about Molly are that she is a girl and she has red hair. I don't even know Molly and Oliver's ages. They are children, but they don't act or talk like children. Molly is old enough to be hired by a brothel but even then who knows how old she is?
No character merits a strong emotional response from the reader. No hate, no love, no pity. No sorrow when characters die. The violence itself in the book seems completely neutral. It excites no horror because it isn't really described. It is treated like video game violence.
The character problem is a huge one for why else would the reader keep reading close to 600 pages. There is the world, that is true, but even with that there are problems. I really wanted a map because I couldn't figure out which direction the characters were traveling. Were they going up? Sideways? Inside out?
Despite the fact that I couldn't finish the book, if I could I would give it 1.5 stars because of the world building. Sadly, a well crafted world, and only a well crafted world, does not hold my attention for 600 pages. I need characters, otherwise the book is little more than a role playing setting.
* I stuck the bit about the website because I think it might violate the new terms of service, it's not about the book or anything.
January 16, 2009
This book has its flaws. It's a crazy mass of characters and governments and shadow governments and shadow gods - there are so many forces at work throughout these 600 pages that I wished I had an eBook reader with a search function so I could go back and remind myself how it all fit together. But it was a hell of a ride, and I found myself reluctant to finish it because I wasn't quite ready to be done with it.
Unlike with other sprawling, epic stories, I didn't find myself emotionally attached to any of the characters (I didn't find myself even blinking at any of the deaths), but I did find them pretty interesting. The steammen are a great take on robots, and I enjoyed following both Molly and Oliver on their journeys, even if their eventual evolutions seemed sort of shaky.
Unlike with other sprawling, epic stories, I didn't find myself emotionally attached to any of the characters (I didn't find myself even blinking at any of the deaths), but I did find them pretty interesting. The steammen are a great take on robots, and I enjoyed following both Molly and Oliver on their journeys, even if their eventual evolutions seemed sort of shaky.
October 13, 2009
There is really nothing I can add to a review about this book that 90% of these reviews don't already say. I am very glad that pretty much everyone else has been as frustrated with this book as I have. I literally have been slogging through it for weeks now, barely reading a page at a time before I get bored. And considering my reading speed is enough to finish the entire Hyperion quartet in about a week and a half, that is bad. Bad bad bad.
In fact, I think reading too fast may be part of the problem. The narrative powers through in what can only be described as literary monotone. There are no breaks of pace, clues when major plot elements are happening. One can literally read down a page that goes, "minor crap minor crap HUGE PLOT POINT minor crap..." and have no idea until a couple pages later when you stop and go, "Wait what?" and go back.
Character development is hackneyed. Interesting ideas are shoe-horned in with no preamble and then abandoned just as quickly. The author cheats so much in his writing that this is a great example for beginning writers to work through and deconstruct. I am finally in the last scenes of the book where there is actual action and I've pulled together just enough details to have a framework of whats going on...but this thing just won't end.
Stick with China Mieville. I sure will.
In fact, I think reading too fast may be part of the problem. The narrative powers through in what can only be described as literary monotone. There are no breaks of pace, clues when major plot elements are happening. One can literally read down a page that goes, "minor crap minor crap HUGE PLOT POINT minor crap..." and have no idea until a couple pages later when you stop and go, "Wait what?" and go back.
Character development is hackneyed. Interesting ideas are shoe-horned in with no preamble and then abandoned just as quickly. The author cheats so much in his writing that this is a great example for beginning writers to work through and deconstruct. I am finally in the last scenes of the book where there is actual action and I've pulled together just enough details to have a framework of whats going on...but this thing just won't end.
Stick with China Mieville. I sure will.
May 24, 2011
After two hundred pages into the book, I just couldn't bring myself to finish it. While Stephen Hunt's worldbuilding is very interesting, all of his characters are completely flat. Even the two main characters of the book seem just like cookie-cutter archetypes. Two orphans with a special, mysterious destiny and absolutely zero character flaws? Yawn! Not only do they not have any flaws, but these orphans don't seem to actually contribute anything useful either. They drift around the novel getting into trouble, and having to be rescued, all the while hearing hints about how 'special' they are.
Additionally, as I mentioned, I'm two hundred pages in and the main characters haven't even bothered to ask why people are trying to kill them. Furthermore, none of the adult characters that end up saving them time and time again seem able to articulate a clear reason for putting their lives at risk to help out these two kids. Or how they even knew that the children needed help in the first place!
It's not often that I won't finish a book, but this is definitely one of those times.
Additionally, as I mentioned, I'm two hundred pages in and the main characters haven't even bothered to ask why people are trying to kill them. Furthermore, none of the adult characters that end up saving them time and time again seem able to articulate a clear reason for putting their lives at risk to help out these two kids. Or how they even knew that the children needed help in the first place!
It's not often that I won't finish a book, but this is definitely one of those times.
September 4, 2009
I got to page 172 before deciding against finishing this story. The author crams many different ideas into this steampunk-fantasy-mashup of a tale. The two main characters are orphans. Molly Templar gets placed by the orphanage into prostitution, but her very first john turns out to be an assassin. She escapes but we don't know much about who the assassin is, who he works for, or why Molly would be targeted. By page 172 I still don't know.
Then there's Oliver. When he was very young he and his parents crashed an aerostat (an airship) and he lived for 4 years within the "feymist." The feymist has been known to alter people only after casual contact yet Oliver seems unaffected. Then his guardian uncle and household are murdered and Oliver is framed. Again we don't know why his uncle was targeted or what the motivations are of the killers. Ugh.
There's various fun things thrown into the mix: other races like the craynarbians (crab-like people), autonomous "steammen" (think robots) with their own culture, floating pieces of land (often the result of floatquakes), underground cities, etc. The problem is that all these new things keep on coming and keeping everything straight is a complicated chore. Place names are thrown about but no maps are provided. Various terms are sprinkled in, but their definitions are lacking (no glossary either). And so far Molly and Oliver are fairly one-dimensional. I don't feel like I know them. I should after 172 pages, no?
So, dang. I was looking forward to getting into this one but the hypercomplicated, incomprehensible plot along with the cardboard characters and indeterminate world has me scratching my head. There's too much other stuff to read before I continue plodding through this one hoping it'll get better. (Plus, this could be first in a series that may number seven books... and I've already committed to too many other series.) On to other venues.
Then there's Oliver. When he was very young he and his parents crashed an aerostat (an airship) and he lived for 4 years within the "feymist." The feymist has been known to alter people only after casual contact yet Oliver seems unaffected. Then his guardian uncle and household are murdered and Oliver is framed. Again we don't know why his uncle was targeted or what the motivations are of the killers. Ugh.
There's various fun things thrown into the mix: other races like the craynarbians (crab-like people), autonomous "steammen" (think robots) with their own culture, floating pieces of land (often the result of floatquakes), underground cities, etc. The problem is that all these new things keep on coming and keeping everything straight is a complicated chore. Place names are thrown about but no maps are provided. Various terms are sprinkled in, but their definitions are lacking (no glossary either). And so far Molly and Oliver are fairly one-dimensional. I don't feel like I know them. I should after 172 pages, no?
So, dang. I was looking forward to getting into this one but the hypercomplicated, incomprehensible plot along with the cardboard characters and indeterminate world has me scratching my head. There's too much other stuff to read before I continue plodding through this one hoping it'll get better. (Plus, this could be first in a series that may number seven books... and I've already committed to too many other series.) On to other venues.
September 6, 2011
I would say this book along with book 2 by Hunt set in the same world are now two of my new favorites. Yes- there are tons of sub-plots, slang and characters parading together through this novel, and I love it! I guess from reading the reviews that some readers got frustrated and gave it a lower rating based on the notion that they thought too much was going on at once and couldn't keep up. I do not understand this problem. Other readers said that the author left too much up to the reader; which is another thing I actually loved about it. I don't want to be led by the nose down one solitary lane of a plot-line.
Hunt's imagination is astounding and the world he created in this novel is exquisite. Overall, I thought this was an outstanding book.
Hunt's imagination is astounding and the world he created in this novel is exquisite. Overall, I thought this was an outstanding book.
September 2, 2009
Here's what's wrong with The Court of the Air
- It's a little to obvious the author's read the Bas Lag books.
- He makes puns off of things that are in our world. This would be okay if it felt like the world of the book and our world were linked in some solid way, or if this were a kind of satire disguised as fantasy like Pratchett does, or if it were some kind of "the ages pass and each is of the other" scenario where this is some future or past us, but none of that ever comes through, so the only effect of the puns is to needlessly break the fourth wall and jerk you out of the book. No one even LIKES puns! We get it Hunt! You're clever! STOP!
- You never quite spend enough time with any one side character, which becomes frustrating.
- You never really get to know the leads quite as much as you want to.
- The leads are connected, one is referred to as Offensive, the other as being Defensive, but this distinction is only said, never really seen.
- I greatly admire one book fantasy in this age of trilogies +, but there's too much here for one book. Either about 150 - 200 pages could have been cut, or you could have gotten two solid books that would have allowed for all the people and places you see to get some real breathing room.
All that being said (and there's probably more I could have said), I actually had a fun time reading this overall. For all that we all love steampunk (and there are zeppelins... I mean airships here, which means it must be steampunk) it's amazing in that it's a genre/style that's produced, to my knowledge, nothing that's actually any good except some awesome jackets and a killer keyboard I once saw. So Court of the Air is actually the best steampunk novel I've read, and if Hunt takes a deep breath and slows down a little, spends more time with his characters and resists the urge to put every one of the good ideas he has in the same book, I think he's going to be able to write a honestly good book, not just a good steampunk book.
Side rant A: Seriously though people, books like this make me wonder w.t.f. happened to editors in fantasy? Did fantasy publishers look at all the crap that fantasy readers are willing to read and just say "Well hot damn! They're willing to swallow that swill so let's all save a dime and fire the editors! These books don't need to actually be good to sell!" Is this our fault as readers? This is a book that could have been much much better with a guiding hand behind it! Where was that person!?? Exclamation point!
Side rant B: Good job on the cover though! It's all classy-like and such, and it ties in nicely to the adventure pamphlets they talk about in the book.
- It's a little to obvious the author's read the Bas Lag books.
- He makes puns off of things that are in our world. This would be okay if it felt like the world of the book and our world were linked in some solid way, or if this were a kind of satire disguised as fantasy like Pratchett does, or if it were some kind of "the ages pass and each is of the other" scenario where this is some future or past us, but none of that ever comes through, so the only effect of the puns is to needlessly break the fourth wall and jerk you out of the book. No one even LIKES puns! We get it Hunt! You're clever! STOP!
- You never quite spend enough time with any one side character, which becomes frustrating.
- You never really get to know the leads quite as much as you want to.
- The leads are connected, one is referred to as Offensive, the other as being Defensive, but this distinction is only said, never really seen.
- I greatly admire one book fantasy in this age of trilogies +, but there's too much here for one book. Either about 150 - 200 pages could have been cut, or you could have gotten two solid books that would have allowed for all the people and places you see to get some real breathing room.
All that being said (and there's probably more I could have said), I actually had a fun time reading this overall. For all that we all love steampunk (and there are zeppelins... I mean airships here, which means it must be steampunk) it's amazing in that it's a genre/style that's produced, to my knowledge, nothing that's actually any good except some awesome jackets and a killer keyboard I once saw. So Court of the Air is actually the best steampunk novel I've read, and if Hunt takes a deep breath and slows down a little, spends more time with his characters and resists the urge to put every one of the good ideas he has in the same book, I think he's going to be able to write a honestly good book, not just a good steampunk book.
Side rant A: Seriously though people, books like this make me wonder w.t.f. happened to editors in fantasy? Did fantasy publishers look at all the crap that fantasy readers are willing to read and just say "Well hot damn! They're willing to swallow that swill so let's all save a dime and fire the editors! These books don't need to actually be good to sell!" Is this our fault as readers? This is a book that could have been much much better with a guiding hand behind it! Where was that person!?? Exclamation point!
Side rant B: Good job on the cover though! It's all classy-like and such, and it ties in nicely to the adventure pamphlets they talk about in the book.
September 27, 2016
Um dia vou ser capaz de me mentalizar que esta vida é demasiado curta para perder tempo com maus livros. Ainda não foi desta.
'A Corte do Ar' foi-me emprestado pelo meu namorado, que adquiriu o livro a um preço relativamente baixo. No entanto, na minha opinião, um só cêntimo dado por este livro seria desperdiçar dinheiro.
Então e porquê?
Ora bem, imaginem que querem fazer um bolo com as vossas frutas preferidas? Pegam nas frutas, que são várias, cortam aos pedaços e deitam numa taça. Juntam também algum sumo e açúcar. Por algum motivo, não adicionam ovos, farinha e fermento. No final, têm um bolo? Não, têm uma salada de fruta, com frutas que se calhar nem vão bem juntas, provavelmente bem enjoativa. Vão comê-la? Talvez, mas sem grande vontade.
Para mim, 'A Corte do Ar' é assim. Uma amálgama de ideias, individualmente boas, que foram atiradas para as páginas de um livro sem qualquer atenção à forma como tudo se interliga.
Eu queria ter gostado, a sério que sim. Gosto imenso da capa e steampunk não é um género que costume ler. Por isso, embora as expectativas não fossem desmesuradas, admito que não estava nos meus planos dar apenas uma estrela. Mas não consegui dar mais, simplesmente não deu.
O mundo imaginado por Stephen Hunt remete para a época vitoriana, mas com máquinas, humanos, criaturas híbridas, indivíduos com poderes sobrenaturais, "vaporomens", radicais "comunitistas", deuses-gafanhoto que parecem ir beber à mitologia Inca, reis que ficam sem braços, enfim, uma salganhada de ideias.
No meio disto tudo, como personagens principais, temos dois órfãos, Molly e Oliver (alguma referência a Charles Dickens?), que passam grande parte da história a ser perseguidos sem se perceber muito bem porquê. Pior ainda, para personagens principais, os dois passam uma boa parte a ser postos em último plano da história, limitando-se a ser arrastados por outras personagens que vão aparecendo e que, por terem grande destaque, acabam por ser mais interessantes. Para ser sincera, eu nem consegui sentir qualquer afinidade, o que quer que fosse, com a Molly ou o Oliver. Nem um nem o outro são descritos de forma ao leitor forma uma ideia de como eles são fisicamente. Sabemos a cor do cabelo da Molly e como é que ele é. Do Oliver nem sei dizer, ou porque não foi escrito, ou porque já me esqueci. A idade de ambos também fica um bocado no ar. Acredito que sejam adolescentes, embora algumas das falas e acções pareçam de adultos. Outra coisa que me irritou, relativamente às personagens principais, é que ambos são umas mosquinhas mortas até certa parte do livro. Depois, sem nada o prever, tanto Molly como Oliver se transformam em super-heróis, com poderes incríveis. What the hell...?
Infelizmente, não foram só as personagens principais e suas incoerências que tornaram a leitura penosa. Tomara que tivessem sido.
Como escrevi mais acima, esta história é uma amálgama das ideias que brotaram da cabeça do autor. Mas são demasiadas e a história está tão mal executada que nem foi preciso chegar a meio para concluir que este livro não me estava a agradar. Na realidade, até me estava a irritar.
Quando leio um livro, não aprecio que o autor tenha despejado uma série de conceitos e não se tenha dado ao trabalho de explicar o que quer que seja. Este livro está pejado de termos completamente desconhecidos, talvez mesmo inventados, e em lado algum encontramos o seu significado. Glossário inexistente.
Stephen Hunt, no meio das suas mais variadas ideias, deve-se ter esquecido que, perante um mundo inventado e complexo, a existência de um mapa ajuda o leitor a não se perder. E também a perceber se está perante um país, uma cidade, uma região, o que seja. N'A Corte do Ar' não há mapas para ninguém! Ao princípio, ainda pensei que fosse falha da edição portuguesa, mas depois li algumas resenhas da versão em inglês, e as queixas relativamente à falta de um mapa também abundavam. Não dá para perceber! Eu, que não me considero uma pessoa ignorante, fiquei sem saber se Laborterra, Ferromédio e outros que tais, eram países ou cidades, ou outra coisa qualquer. Fiquei igualmente perdida durante a história, sem saber se as personagens iam para Norte, Sul, ou outra direcção qualquer. Simplesmente não há forma de o leitor se orientar geograficamente nesta história.
Só que não foi apenas no sentido geográfico que me senti perdida. Foi em toda a história. Os eventos sucedem-se, existe acção permanentemente, mas eu não consegui perceber, na maior parte das vezes, como e porque é que determinada coisa aconteceu. Para ser sincera, eu teria muitas dificuldades em explicar sobre o que trata esta história. São demasiadas coisas. E essas coisas, articuladas de uma forma deficiente, tornaram as 507 páginas do livro numa leitura penosa e muito cansativa. E demasiado longa.
Sinceramente, não posso recomendar. Tenho a certeza de que existirão outros livros deste género muito superiores e espero poder vir a lê-los. De Stephen Hunt é que não me parece. Sei que este é o primeiro livro de uma série de não sei quantos, mas duvido que vá ler o próximo. Este foi mau.
Ah. E quanto à Corte do Ar... Epá, esqueçam. Não seria capaz de explicar o que é, já que não estou certa de ter percebido.
'A Corte do Ar' foi-me emprestado pelo meu namorado, que adquiriu o livro a um preço relativamente baixo. No entanto, na minha opinião, um só cêntimo dado por este livro seria desperdiçar dinheiro.
Então e porquê?
Ora bem, imaginem que querem fazer um bolo com as vossas frutas preferidas? Pegam nas frutas, que são várias, cortam aos pedaços e deitam numa taça. Juntam também algum sumo e açúcar. Por algum motivo, não adicionam ovos, farinha e fermento. No final, têm um bolo? Não, têm uma salada de fruta, com frutas que se calhar nem vão bem juntas, provavelmente bem enjoativa. Vão comê-la? Talvez, mas sem grande vontade.
Para mim, 'A Corte do Ar' é assim. Uma amálgama de ideias, individualmente boas, que foram atiradas para as páginas de um livro sem qualquer atenção à forma como tudo se interliga.
Eu queria ter gostado, a sério que sim. Gosto imenso da capa e steampunk não é um género que costume ler. Por isso, embora as expectativas não fossem desmesuradas, admito que não estava nos meus planos dar apenas uma estrela. Mas não consegui dar mais, simplesmente não deu.
O mundo imaginado por Stephen Hunt remete para a época vitoriana, mas com máquinas, humanos, criaturas híbridas, indivíduos com poderes sobrenaturais, "vaporomens", radicais "comunitistas", deuses-gafanhoto que parecem ir beber à mitologia Inca, reis que ficam sem braços, enfim, uma salganhada de ideias.
No meio disto tudo, como personagens principais, temos dois órfãos, Molly e Oliver (alguma referência a Charles Dickens?), que passam grande parte da história a ser perseguidos sem se perceber muito bem porquê. Pior ainda, para personagens principais, os dois passam uma boa parte a ser postos em último plano da história, limitando-se a ser arrastados por outras personagens que vão aparecendo e que, por terem grande destaque, acabam por ser mais interessantes. Para ser sincera, eu nem consegui sentir qualquer afinidade, o que quer que fosse, com a Molly ou o Oliver. Nem um nem o outro são descritos de forma ao leitor forma uma ideia de como eles são fisicamente. Sabemos a cor do cabelo da Molly e como é que ele é. Do Oliver nem sei dizer, ou porque não foi escrito, ou porque já me esqueci. A idade de ambos também fica um bocado no ar. Acredito que sejam adolescentes, embora algumas das falas e acções pareçam de adultos. Outra coisa que me irritou, relativamente às personagens principais, é que ambos são umas mosquinhas mortas até certa parte do livro. Depois, sem nada o prever, tanto Molly como Oliver se transformam em super-heróis, com poderes incríveis. What the hell...?
Infelizmente, não foram só as personagens principais e suas incoerências que tornaram a leitura penosa. Tomara que tivessem sido.
Como escrevi mais acima, esta história é uma amálgama das ideias que brotaram da cabeça do autor. Mas são demasiadas e a história está tão mal executada que nem foi preciso chegar a meio para concluir que este livro não me estava a agradar. Na realidade, até me estava a irritar.
Quando leio um livro, não aprecio que o autor tenha despejado uma série de conceitos e não se tenha dado ao trabalho de explicar o que quer que seja. Este livro está pejado de termos completamente desconhecidos, talvez mesmo inventados, e em lado algum encontramos o seu significado. Glossário inexistente.
Stephen Hunt, no meio das suas mais variadas ideias, deve-se ter esquecido que, perante um mundo inventado e complexo, a existência de um mapa ajuda o leitor a não se perder. E também a perceber se está perante um país, uma cidade, uma região, o que seja. N'A Corte do Ar' não há mapas para ninguém! Ao princípio, ainda pensei que fosse falha da edição portuguesa, mas depois li algumas resenhas da versão em inglês, e as queixas relativamente à falta de um mapa também abundavam. Não dá para perceber! Eu, que não me considero uma pessoa ignorante, fiquei sem saber se Laborterra, Ferromédio e outros que tais, eram países ou cidades, ou outra coisa qualquer. Fiquei igualmente perdida durante a história, sem saber se as personagens iam para Norte, Sul, ou outra direcção qualquer. Simplesmente não há forma de o leitor se orientar geograficamente nesta história.
Só que não foi apenas no sentido geográfico que me senti perdida. Foi em toda a história. Os eventos sucedem-se, existe acção permanentemente, mas eu não consegui perceber, na maior parte das vezes, como e porque é que determinada coisa aconteceu. Para ser sincera, eu teria muitas dificuldades em explicar sobre o que trata esta história. São demasiadas coisas. E essas coisas, articuladas de uma forma deficiente, tornaram as 507 páginas do livro numa leitura penosa e muito cansativa. E demasiado longa.
Sinceramente, não posso recomendar. Tenho a certeza de que existirão outros livros deste género muito superiores e espero poder vir a lê-los. De Stephen Hunt é que não me parece. Sei que este é o primeiro livro de uma série de não sei quantos, mas duvido que vá ler o próximo. Este foi mau.
Ah. E quanto à Corte do Ar... Epá, esqueçam. Não seria capaz de explicar o que é, já que não estou certa de ter percebido.
October 30, 2009
I just finished my second read of this one. And wow. I loved it.
This book has everything, which in all fairness is the primary complaint from its critics. Steammen, airships, steam subs (only mentioned in passing), magic, politics, clear heroes, villians, and everyone in between.
There are only two things that I would change, Mr. Hunt needs to add some maps and an appendix/character list.
This book has everything, which in all fairness is the primary complaint from its critics. Steammen, airships, steam subs (only mentioned in passing), magic, politics, clear heroes, villians, and everyone in between.
There are only two things that I would change, Mr. Hunt needs to add some maps and an appendix/character list.
March 14, 2011
I'm no stranger to long books, fantasy, or science fiction, but this huge mess of ideas grew increasingly tiresome for me the further I got into it. Many of the tropes for a good adventure are there: orphans with curious untapped powers who may be able to save the world, kingdoms in conflict, people who are born with magic powers, an aeronautical navy, the steampunkish computer/robot noble "steammen", assassins, ancient artifacts, elder gods and on and on and on. And that's really the problem with the book -- there's just too much stuff with not enough room to breathe, and it just keeps going on and on and on... Far too many characters flitting in and out with not enough development, a world in chaos that's almost impossible to orient oneself to (my edition lacked a map, and a map would have improved matters a great deal, as would a historical timeline), and relationships between factions that get very hard to keep track of.
The plot seems revolves around a war between a "communityist" nation (presumably inspired by the 18th-century Paris commune revolutionaries) who are seeking to "equalize" everyone, and a nation who seems to be modeled on Victorian England, with it's humble shopkeepers and awesome (air) navy. There's also some stuff about a monarch whose arms are ritually chopped off, a magic mist that rises to give people magic powers, a kind of Inquisition that tracks these people down and enslaves them, the mining of the helium-like substance that keeps the air navy up, the underground cities and ruins of the world that collapsed a thousand years ago, some kind of bear deity.... Sigh, never mind, it's pretty much impossible to explain.
So, on the plus side, lots and lots of interesting ideas. But on the minus side, most of these are very poorly explained on sketched out. The author clearly has an amazing imagination, but not the skills to translate what's in his head to paper. For example, the book never pauses for a paragraph to explain what various particular races look like, leaving you with cartoon ideas of what the lobstermen and locust priests actually look like. In theory, the two teenage hero orphans are supposed to lead the reader through all this, but unfortunately, they're never developed as people, and end up just being plot elements in this confusing mess -- albeit ones that are frequently rescued by one deus ex machina after another. Several of the supporting characters have a great deal more life to them, and they are often able to get off some rather clever and amusing dialogue. I would actually really like to see the author try some kind of very constrained tale about a gang of rogues or pirates or something, because he does rascally banter quite well.
Ultimately, huge ambition and a witches brew of a hundred borrowed ingredients will only get you so far, and in this case, the result is an unpalatable stew. I'm guessing that some readers with more tolerance for sloppiness in their fantasy fiction will get more out of it than me, but I certainly can't recommend spending your time with it. I sure wish I hadn't.
The plot seems revolves around a war between a "communityist" nation (presumably inspired by the 18th-century Paris commune revolutionaries) who are seeking to "equalize" everyone, and a nation who seems to be modeled on Victorian England, with it's humble shopkeepers and awesome (air) navy. There's also some stuff about a monarch whose arms are ritually chopped off, a magic mist that rises to give people magic powers, a kind of Inquisition that tracks these people down and enslaves them, the mining of the helium-like substance that keeps the air navy up, the underground cities and ruins of the world that collapsed a thousand years ago, some kind of bear deity.... Sigh, never mind, it's pretty much impossible to explain.
So, on the plus side, lots and lots of interesting ideas. But on the minus side, most of these are very poorly explained on sketched out. The author clearly has an amazing imagination, but not the skills to translate what's in his head to paper. For example, the book never pauses for a paragraph to explain what various particular races look like, leaving you with cartoon ideas of what the lobstermen and locust priests actually look like. In theory, the two teenage hero orphans are supposed to lead the reader through all this, but unfortunately, they're never developed as people, and end up just being plot elements in this confusing mess -- albeit ones that are frequently rescued by one deus ex machina after another. Several of the supporting characters have a great deal more life to them, and they are often able to get off some rather clever and amusing dialogue. I would actually really like to see the author try some kind of very constrained tale about a gang of rogues or pirates or something, because he does rascally banter quite well.
Ultimately, huge ambition and a witches brew of a hundred borrowed ingredients will only get you so far, and in this case, the result is an unpalatable stew. I'm guessing that some readers with more tolerance for sloppiness in their fantasy fiction will get more out of it than me, but I certainly can't recommend spending your time with it. I sure wish I hadn't.
June 17, 2009
I'll admit; I was browsing through the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section of the ICPL and I picked up this book mostly because the cover looked beautiful. That was a mistake I'd like to say I won't make again, but I probably will.
Jay Lake, author of the Mainspring says: "If Charles Dickens and Jack Vance had ever collaborated, they might have written this book... The Court of Air is a collision between English letters and the hard-edged vision of grunge fantasy." Thanks Jay, you've just ensured I will never pick up one of your books. By Dickensian he means that the character all speak in heavily stilted Victorian brogue. It's more comical than interesting, and feels more contrived than natural.
For the first half I slogged through the plot holes and under-developed characters. To be fair there were some interesting ideas and relationships, but while there were plenty of words they some how failed to create the immersion I crave from a well-developed fantasy world. Background, character history, and information about the world were often communicated not through a compelling narrative a la the Golden Compass (a *great* example of a story driven by a spunky young heroine), but instead by asides and expositional dialogue that at times was hilariously bad.
The absolute low point came around page 302 with this quote:
"Don't you not understand? Molly softbody is a descendant of Vindex, which is why her system juices bubble with the very stuff of mechomancy."
Ugh. That was akin to the moment in the Star Wars prequel where we learn that the force is all caused by some goofiness at the mitochondrial level... 302 - 309 seeks to artificially unite all the hints and teases that were laid out ever so ponderously in the first 300 pages.
Fortunately mid-way through page 309 the pitch of the whole novel changes, and this is where Hunt is most proficient. In essence the central conflict of the story finally begins. From there till the end of the book the suspense crackles (as much as it could with my minimal investment in the characters) and the action is genuinely well-written, 4 out of 5 star quality. I just wish he could have gotten to it about 200 pages earlier.
Jay Lake, author of the Mainspring says: "If Charles Dickens and Jack Vance had ever collaborated, they might have written this book... The Court of Air is a collision between English letters and the hard-edged vision of grunge fantasy." Thanks Jay, you've just ensured I will never pick up one of your books. By Dickensian he means that the character all speak in heavily stilted Victorian brogue. It's more comical than interesting, and feels more contrived than natural.
For the first half I slogged through the plot holes and under-developed characters. To be fair there were some interesting ideas and relationships, but while there were plenty of words they some how failed to create the immersion I crave from a well-developed fantasy world. Background, character history, and information about the world were often communicated not through a compelling narrative a la the Golden Compass (a *great* example of a story driven by a spunky young heroine), but instead by asides and expositional dialogue that at times was hilariously bad.
The absolute low point came around page 302 with this quote:
"Don't you not understand? Molly softbody is a descendant of Vindex, which is why her system juices bubble with the very stuff of mechomancy."
Ugh. That was akin to the moment in the Star Wars prequel where we learn that the force is all caused by some goofiness at the mitochondrial level... 302 - 309 seeks to artificially unite all the hints and teases that were laid out ever so ponderously in the first 300 pages.
Fortunately mid-way through page 309 the pitch of the whole novel changes, and this is where Hunt is most proficient. In essence the central conflict of the story finally begins. From there till the end of the book the suspense crackles (as much as it could with my minimal investment in the characters) and the action is genuinely well-written, 4 out of 5 star quality. I just wish he could have gotten to it about 200 pages earlier.
October 13, 2010
I can't finish this. I've been "reading" it for months now, a couple of pages at a time, but now I give up. I don't care about any of the characters - which I'd have thought impossible, seeing as one of the protagonists is an orphan running from her killers - but there you have it. The world building is hasty and haphazard, the story, which is supposed to be thrilling, is boring, and the characters are...meh, as the damn kids today would say. Shame, really. I love steampunk. I wanted to like this.
August 3, 2009
Trashy, steampunk fantasy kitchen-sink. This would make a pretty decent thing to read at the beach and that is no small accomplishment, but overall it kind of annoyed me. There were some rather clumsy bits of writing, awkward exposition, things appearing when they were convenient and disappearing when they weren't, the main characters were twinked out general issue orphans who weren't particularly interesting and were drafted by assorted ancient powers and deus ex machinae (excuse me, the "Hexmachina!") to save the world. The villains are properly heart eating villainous. Also, it went on for a long time without the plot really advancing. This was the sort of book that needed serious editing. It turns out that unless you're really good, because it would be cool shouldn't be the only reason to put something in a book.
That said, there were some interesting bits and a good amount of cool stuff that worked. I think this was his first or second book and I would consider reading something else by him, if I heard good things.
That said, there were some interesting bits and a good amount of cool stuff that worked. I think this was his first or second book and I would consider reading something else by him, if I heard good things.
September 11, 2018
I tried, I really did, but... I just could´t like it.
It´s just, to much... to much of everything, to many characters, to much weirdness, to many things to explain... just to much.
The main idea was good, but for me, didn´t really worked.
It´s just, to much... to much of everything, to many characters, to much weirdness, to many things to explain... just to much.
The main idea was good, but for me, didn´t really worked.
April 12, 2021
Breit angelegter Steampunk/New Weird-Roman. Monumentales Gemälde mit Maschinen-, Fabel- und Menschenwesen. Magie und Dampfkraft, Verstand und Gefühl. Abentuer und Kämpfe in der Luft aber auch auf dem Land. Unterhaltsam und farbenprächtig.
July 19, 2012
Já há algum tempo que queria ler este livro por causa do ambiente steampunk onde se desenvolve a história.
"A Corte do Ar" conta a história de dois jovens, Molly Templar e Oliver Brooks, cada qual com a sua história de vida. Molly vive num orfanato em Ferromédio, uma cidade do estado de Laborterra. Oliver vive numa pensão, com o seu tio e a empregada deste.
O mundo dos jovens está prestes a mudar quando coisas estranhas começam a acontecer à volta deles. Depressa esses acontecimentos provam estar intimamente ligados aos jovens: não são meros acasos.
E esses acontecimentos, por sua vez, estão ligados a outros factores e intervenientes.
A prosperidade de Laborterra assenta no seu poderio da Real Marinha Aerostatica, uma frota de aerostátos de guerra. Também assenta na politica liberal e republicana, na policia, na industria, na amizade com o povoavapor (povo de indivíduos mecânicos que vive nas montanhas de Mecância e é governado pelo Rei Vapor), na lei, na ordem de feiticeiros cantores-mundo, na Guarda Especial, na demonstração de "domesticação" do Rei, na detenção de indivíduos encantados (pessoas que estiveram em contacto com a Brumaencantada) e...na Corte do Ar.
O enredo é rico em factos históricos que vão explicando os acontecimentos da história e isso é muito importante para perceber o que se está a ler.
Molly e Oliver vêm-se no papel de possíveis salvadores de Laborterra (devido a certas especificidades deles mesmos) e vão fazer tudo para conseguir salvar a humanidade (humanos e não só) da calamidade que se quer abater sobre Laborterra. Uma calamidade ancestral que tem como objetivo aniquilar a existência e congelar o mundo e que mil anos antes tinha imperado no mundo.
Muitas são as intrigas em que os dois se vêm infiltrados e isso é parte importante da história porque são detalhes importantes para entender tudo.
Depois de ler tenho a dizer que gostei bastante.
Gostei muito do ambiente criado pelo autor, gostei da Arte com que o universo de "A Corte do Ar" foi desenhado. Todas as cidades/estados/reinos têm as suas diferenças (a imensos níveis) e essas diferenças estão muito bem delineadas e descritas.
Gostei muito da intriga e da ação. Aliás, a ação é o grande pilar deste livro. Tem momentos de imensa ação, ação intensa, principalmente nas partes finais.
Gostei do tom ligeiramente humorado da escrita.
Gostei do povoavopor e das aventuras de Molly por Sinistraesperança (cidade subterrânea de foras-da-lei) e das deambulações de Oliver.
Gostei do desenlace antes do final.
Mas acho que o final foi demasiado apressado e pareceu ficar com algo por dizer (fica tudo dito, mas não é explicito). Não sei se tal se deve ao facto deste livro ser o primeiro de uma "saga" (apesar de poderem ser lidos independentemente).
Em suma, é um excelente livro, com um enredo diferente e uma vista artística bastante interessante.
Recomendo!
Blog:
http://oimaginariodoslivros.blogspot....
"A Corte do Ar" conta a história de dois jovens, Molly Templar e Oliver Brooks, cada qual com a sua história de vida. Molly vive num orfanato em Ferromédio, uma cidade do estado de Laborterra. Oliver vive numa pensão, com o seu tio e a empregada deste.
O mundo dos jovens está prestes a mudar quando coisas estranhas começam a acontecer à volta deles. Depressa esses acontecimentos provam estar intimamente ligados aos jovens: não são meros acasos.
E esses acontecimentos, por sua vez, estão ligados a outros factores e intervenientes.
A prosperidade de Laborterra assenta no seu poderio da Real Marinha Aerostatica, uma frota de aerostátos de guerra. Também assenta na politica liberal e republicana, na policia, na industria, na amizade com o povoavapor (povo de indivíduos mecânicos que vive nas montanhas de Mecância e é governado pelo Rei Vapor), na lei, na ordem de feiticeiros cantores-mundo, na Guarda Especial, na demonstração de "domesticação" do Rei, na detenção de indivíduos encantados (pessoas que estiveram em contacto com a Brumaencantada) e...na Corte do Ar.
O enredo é rico em factos históricos que vão explicando os acontecimentos da história e isso é muito importante para perceber o que se está a ler.
Molly e Oliver vêm-se no papel de possíveis salvadores de Laborterra (devido a certas especificidades deles mesmos) e vão fazer tudo para conseguir salvar a humanidade (humanos e não só) da calamidade que se quer abater sobre Laborterra. Uma calamidade ancestral que tem como objetivo aniquilar a existência e congelar o mundo e que mil anos antes tinha imperado no mundo.
Muitas são as intrigas em que os dois se vêm infiltrados e isso é parte importante da história porque são detalhes importantes para entender tudo.
Depois de ler tenho a dizer que gostei bastante.
Gostei muito do ambiente criado pelo autor, gostei da Arte com que o universo de "A Corte do Ar" foi desenhado. Todas as cidades/estados/reinos têm as suas diferenças (a imensos níveis) e essas diferenças estão muito bem delineadas e descritas.
Gostei muito da intriga e da ação. Aliás, a ação é o grande pilar deste livro. Tem momentos de imensa ação, ação intensa, principalmente nas partes finais.
Gostei do tom ligeiramente humorado da escrita.
Gostei do povoavopor e das aventuras de Molly por Sinistraesperança (cidade subterrânea de foras-da-lei) e das deambulações de Oliver.
Gostei do desenlace antes do final.
Mas acho que o final foi demasiado apressado e pareceu ficar com algo por dizer (fica tudo dito, mas não é explicito). Não sei se tal se deve ao facto deste livro ser o primeiro de uma "saga" (apesar de poderem ser lidos independentemente).
Em suma, é um excelente livro, com um enredo diferente e uma vista artística bastante interessante.
Recomendo!
Blog:
http://oimaginariodoslivros.blogspot....
March 25, 2015
Postado em
http://livrosecitacoes.com/resenha-sa...
3,5 STARS
Nessa aventura steampunk de Stephen Hunt, ele nos apresenta a Molly, uma órfã que carrega em seu sangue um segredo que a torna alvo de inimigos do Estado. Já Oliver, outro órfão, é acusado de assassinato do seu único parente, seu tio, e precisa fugir para salvar sua vida. Logo, os dois se juntam para lutar contra um antigo poder que parecia derrotado havia milênios.
Amantes do Steampunk tremam com essa versão purista do gênero! Sim, sim, este livro é para os apreciadores deste estilo literário e se você nunca leu nada nessa linha recomendo que leia algo antes de se aventurar nessa série do Hunt. Ele construiu um universo bem interessante aqui, mas como tudo não são flores…
Mesmo um relógio quebrado está certo duas vezes por dia.
Eu não sei se me sinto decepcionada ou não a respeito deste livro. Sim, realmente é uma fantasia Steampunk misturada com Deuses diversos e política revolucionária (Chacália é um país muito louco!), às vezes uma bagunça dos infernos! Não, não me entenda mal, há grandes ideias nesse livro e uma enorme riqueza de detalhes, mas que em um determinado momento começam a deixar a história muito enrolada.
Adicione a isso tudo um ritmo frenético (de fuga) e era como se eu estivesse sendo sugada por um redemoinho de intrigas e informação e faltou mais aprofundamento nos personagens, eu sentia Molly e Oliver meio perdidos como cegos em tiroteio!
Eu tinha grandes expectativas em relação a este livro por amar o gênero e de fato este é o legitimo Steampunk descrito aqui por Hunt! (então imaginem a minha frustração!) Eu gostava de muitos conceitos e algumas cenas de ação e de alguns personagens como a Ver’fey (imaginem uma mulher caranguejo) e o Capitão faísca, mas realmente faltou um pouco de fôlego, talvez seja o fato de ser apenas o primeiro livro no próximo isso pode mudar.
A escrita de Hunt é ambiciosa demais e o resultado final pelo menos para mim não foi tão satisfatório. Pretendo ler o a continuação da série para ver aonde ele deseja chegar e confesso que estou curiosa até porque já li a sinopse do próximo livro. E recomendo para os amantes de Steampumk como eu.
May 27, 2009
Many people have made comments about how the numberous characters, organizations, etc make the book hard to follow...I don't find that to be true.
That being said, however, the argument that the characters seem somewhat shallow and archetypal, and don't really engage the reader's interest, that one's dead-on. Hell, if it hadn't mentioned on the back cover synopsis that the two main characters were the orphan kids, you probably wouldn't have a clue who the main characters were supposed to be. Hunt spreads himself way too thin trying to cover too much ground and too many characters in one setting, and the result is that without that "depth", one doesn't feel any particular attachment to the characters. And when a character DOES die, the way it's carried out seems...well, very "cliche".
Another small point of irritation is that Hunt tends to attach himself to a particular adjective for a character and use it...ad infinitum, ad nauseum . Mr. Hunt, I'll pick up the next book in this series, because overall it IS good...but if I have to sit through another repetition of the "disreputable Stave" every other freakin page, I will Hunt you down, and shove a disreputable Stave(+1) right up your ass, good sir.
In short, the plot is decent, the characters somewhat shallow, and Mr Hunt still has a few kinks to work out of his writing system, but it's still a very likeable book and I look forward to the next in the series.
That being said, however, the argument that the characters seem somewhat shallow and archetypal, and don't really engage the reader's interest, that one's dead-on. Hell, if it hadn't mentioned on the back cover synopsis that the two main characters were the orphan kids, you probably wouldn't have a clue who the main characters were supposed to be. Hunt spreads himself way too thin trying to cover too much ground and too many characters in one setting, and the result is that without that "depth", one doesn't feel any particular attachment to the characters. And when a character DOES die, the way it's carried out seems...well, very "cliche".
Another small point of irritation is that Hunt tends to attach himself to a particular adjective for a character and use it...ad infinitum, ad nauseum . Mr. Hunt, I'll pick up the next book in this series, because overall it IS good...but if I have to sit through another repetition of the "disreputable Stave" every other freakin page, I will Hunt you down, and shove a disreputable Stave(+1) right up your ass, good sir.
In short, the plot is decent, the characters somewhat shallow, and Mr Hunt still has a few kinks to work out of his writing system, but it's still a very likeable book and I look forward to the next in the series.
July 8, 2012
I've been meaning to pick up The Court of the Air for a long time. Can't remember how Stephen Hunt got on my radar, but he's been sort of hanging around there for a while, so I grabbed this from the library on one of my recent trips there. I'm not entirely sure I want to read the sequel: The Court of the Air has some astonishing ideas, and some really great bits, and even some characters I found interesting, but it got tangled up in itself. The writing is competent enough but the planning leaves something to be desired: it's like looking at the wrong side of a bit of cross-stitching -- you can see what it's meant to look like, but it's a bit of a mess.
There is a lot to enjoy about it, but it's bogged down by that confusion. On the one hand, it's the start of a series which could well improve a lot; on the other, I took a break from reading it for a couple of days and struggled to get my feet when I came back to it. That's going to get worse with an ongoing series that's still getting new books.
Still, I have the second book out of the library too, so I might as well at least try it. Stephen Hunt's work doesn't fill me with the same excitement as Philip Palmer's work does, so it doesn't really help his case that I discovered Philip Palmer at the same time.
There is a lot to enjoy about it, but it's bogged down by that confusion. On the one hand, it's the start of a series which could well improve a lot; on the other, I took a break from reading it for a couple of days and struggled to get my feet when I came back to it. That's going to get worse with an ongoing series that's still getting new books.
Still, I have the second book out of the library too, so I might as well at least try it. Stephen Hunt's work doesn't fill me with the same excitement as Philip Palmer's work does, so it doesn't really help his case that I discovered Philip Palmer at the same time.
August 20, 2013
This was a book that elicited conflicting feelings in me. The premise is great: a Steampunk alternate world with magical fantasy tossed in. Two orphans, both with evident potential and secrets, are chased through the environs allowing us a progressive discovery of the bizarre and intricate world.
Yet it's chaotic. There is a deluge of ideas, that take most of the book to gain substance. The writing is variable, and the characterisation feels random. The two MCs don't always resonate, particularly Oliver, who seems at times childish and at times a warrior akin to Conan.
Great supporting characters (the Commodore and all of the Steamsmen) which often ring truer than the main ones. Yet there just doesn't seem to be real depth to the protagonists; just excessive layers of depth to the world.
I'll read the others knowing that the author must get better, and hopefully got tighter editors as the books went along. And hopefully the appalling formatting of the kindle edition will improve too!
Yet it's chaotic. There is a deluge of ideas, that take most of the book to gain substance. The writing is variable, and the characterisation feels random. The two MCs don't always resonate, particularly Oliver, who seems at times childish and at times a warrior akin to Conan.
Great supporting characters (the Commodore and all of the Steamsmen) which often ring truer than the main ones. Yet there just doesn't seem to be real depth to the protagonists; just excessive layers of depth to the world.
I'll read the others knowing that the author must get better, and hopefully got tighter editors as the books went along. And hopefully the appalling formatting of the kindle edition will improve too!
July 30, 2009
I have no idea what to think of this book. Overall, I think it is very deeply flawed and uneven on a number of levels. On the other hand, I really did enjoy it, and I think the setting is totally fascinating and want to know more. I guess I'll go in the middle and give it 3 stars, but I will probably also read more by the author.
PS, the mass market paperback edition of this has one of the most gorgeous covers I have ever seen and is in fact 90% of the reason I bought it.
PS, the mass market paperback edition of this has one of the most gorgeous covers I have ever seen and is in fact 90% of the reason I bought it.
October 12, 2008
Two kids of magic, a lot of blood, a lot of politics, steam driven machines, no black and white scheme. No read for a rainy Saturday afternoon.
I'm impressed and I will definitely read the sequels.
In the meantime I could convince my nearly 17 years old daughter to read it.
I'm impressed and I will definitely read the sequels.
In the meantime I could convince my nearly 17 years old daughter to read it.
January 31, 2019
An interesting scifi/steampunk/fantasy, The Court of the Air has a slow build to an invigorating and complicated climax. Molly and Oliver grow and change in strange ways due to the nature of themselves and the secret parts of the world they inhabit. It took some time for me to get past the first portion of the book, but the second half speeds you along with a sense of urgency that makes a pause near impossible. The story itself is completely enclosed in this book, no cliffhanger leading into the next story or some such to insist you reading further. I might pick up the second book, but I wouldn't mind returning to enjoy this one at some future date. If you're up for adventure with high stakes and some honestly horrific moments, then this is a fun read.
May 11, 2012
Call it two and a half stars, rounded up because I did actually finish the thing. But the final half to a third was a real slog, a number of elements of simmering discomfit coming to the boil and sadly eclipsing the good aspects of the creativity.
There was a lot of creativity. It was wild and free and heedless, which was occasionally exhilirating, but overall rather incoherent. I found myself growing quite discontent with an English setting that had simply had new names and faint tweaks plastered over its inherent Englishness. (Four-poles? Really? Why not just call it cricket?) When you add in the Tibetan steammen and the (is that even a spoiler?) it started to sour the creativity somewhat, making it look less like a breathtaking original drawing and more like a gleeful scrapbooking of the colourful parts of human history.
Plus there were all the wonderful elements that I was disappointed not to see more of (especially because instead we got pages of lurid horror-esque detail of Frankenstein and heart-eating). Lady Riddle! I mean... Lady Riddle. And it's called the Court of the Air, and we really only spend thirty seconds with them until (that one probably is really a spoiler).
But probably the shark-jump for me was the zany development of our heroes, and their Destinies (capital definitely necessary). Oliver, in particular, I had immense difficulty following with any sort of investment once he got seriously armed and started pulling answers on his heritage and the situation out of thin air. I don't feel like he earned or learned the powers that he became invested with, and to me the foundation of spec fic has to be the cost of advancement. (Molly, on the other hand, was much more balanced.)
A big final problem for me was the style. There was an almost books-for-children simplicity about the storytelling, in the general omniscience of the narration and particularly in the repetitiveness of the prose (if I read "the disreputable Stave" one more time I was going to actually scream). However, the story itself was bloodthirsty and violent and horrible beyond even what I gleefully recognise kids adore - throat slittings and neck breakings and heart carving-outs and all. The simplicity of the style seemed to sit in between me and genuinely feeling these things, but the depth of the horror to which the story descends really eviscerated the whimsy. I found myself without any clear idea of why I was reading this, or how on earth I was supposed to enjoy it, and that was what made the final half of it extremely little fun.
There was a lot of creativity. It was wild and free and heedless, which was occasionally exhilirating, but overall rather incoherent. I found myself growing quite discontent with an English setting that had simply had new names and faint tweaks plastered over its inherent Englishness. (Four-poles? Really? Why not just call it cricket?) When you add in the Tibetan steammen and the (is that even a spoiler?) it started to sour the creativity somewhat, making it look less like a breathtaking original drawing and more like a gleeful scrapbooking of the colourful parts of human history.
Plus there were all the wonderful elements that I was disappointed not to see more of (especially because instead we got pages of lurid horror-esque detail of Frankenstein and heart-eating). Lady Riddle! I mean... Lady Riddle. And it's called the Court of the Air, and we really only spend thirty seconds with them until (that one probably is really a spoiler).
But probably the shark-jump for me was the zany development of our heroes, and their Destinies (capital definitely necessary). Oliver, in particular, I had immense difficulty following with any sort of investment once he got seriously armed and started pulling answers on his heritage and the situation out of thin air. I don't feel like he earned or learned the powers that he became invested with, and to me the foundation of spec fic has to be the cost of advancement. (Molly, on the other hand, was much more balanced.)
A big final problem for me was the style. There was an almost books-for-children simplicity about the storytelling, in the general omniscience of the narration and particularly in the repetitiveness of the prose (if I read "the disreputable Stave" one more time I was going to actually scream). However, the story itself was bloodthirsty and violent and horrible beyond even what I gleefully recognise kids adore - throat slittings and neck breakings and heart carving-outs and all. The simplicity of the style seemed to sit in between me and genuinely feeling these things, but the depth of the horror to which the story descends really eviscerated the whimsy. I found myself without any clear idea of why I was reading this, or how on earth I was supposed to enjoy it, and that was what made the final half of it extremely little fun.
June 2, 2010
I bought this book only after having bought his second book, The Kingdom Beyond the Waves, when several reviewers on Goodreads commented that the second book, though not a direct sequel to the first, would have made more sense had they already read The Court of the Air. They are steampunk fantasy adventure novels and The Kingdom of the Waves drew me in with its ocean-y cover art featuring a submarine and diver, a sting ray, a turtle, and a wrecked ship at the bottom of the ocean. Sounds good, right?
I still want to read that one, but I'm not sold on The Court of the Air. It's somehow both too long and not long enough. The first part drags as it takes way too much time to switch back and forth between the various characters and their narratives (the middle and end pick up speed as the action builds and Hunt switches back and forth much more quickly, however); at the same time, though, there is simply too much book for this book. He doesn't seem to have enough time and space to do the necessary world-building, move the plot forward, and develop the characters into people I care about. To do all of these things successfully, this should probably be expanded upon and split into two or three books. As it is, the book seems to be mostly plot. The world-building is sometimes great and sometimes lackluster. And I don't care at all about the characters. I want to like them, but if they all died, I wouldn't be terribly sad. I would just know I was probably supposed to be terribly sad.
Despite these flaws, there are definitely good things about this book (steammen and magic and mysterious history) and I will still read the next book in the series--not just because of the cover art. It's set in the same world and I'm looking forward to more development of that world; I'm also hoping that maybe Hunt will have learned some things between books.
I still want to read that one, but I'm not sold on The Court of the Air. It's somehow both too long and not long enough. The first part drags as it takes way too much time to switch back and forth between the various characters and their narratives (the middle and end pick up speed as the action builds and Hunt switches back and forth much more quickly, however); at the same time, though, there is simply too much book for this book. He doesn't seem to have enough time and space to do the necessary world-building, move the plot forward, and develop the characters into people I care about. To do all of these things successfully, this should probably be expanded upon and split into two or three books. As it is, the book seems to be mostly plot. The world-building is sometimes great and sometimes lackluster. And I don't care at all about the characters. I want to like them, but if they all died, I wouldn't be terribly sad. I would just know I was probably supposed to be terribly sad.
Despite these flaws, there are definitely good things about this book (steammen and magic and mysterious history) and I will still read the next book in the series--not just because of the cover art. It's set in the same world and I'm looking forward to more development of that world; I'm also hoping that maybe Hunt will have learned some things between books.
April 18, 2017
This novel started out engrossingly, introduces many characters, races, settings, with no exposition; which initially draws the reader in. However, the author never quits introducing more and more stuff, with the already introduced items are left undeveloped. I have three other complaints. The author is too preachy, especially about faith, he has some amorphous idea that being subservient to any "idea" be a religious faith, political ideology or cause is BAD; only those cheeky relativistic independent thinkers are true heros; please. Secondly, it is really two books, each of the two main protagonists really need their own book to fully develop. Lastly, I hate it when authors suddenly give their main protagonist super powers in order to solve problems and Hunt is nuts for this, the two main characters instantly develop heretofore unmentioned powers just in the nick of time. I didn't enjoy this book, however, the first 300 pages were interesting and I noticed there is a sequel, I am tempted to try and read the sequel to see if the author improves. However this plan of attack has failed before see, the Hickory Staff Trilogy.
September 24, 2011
c2007. Confused! Not only am I confused, but I think the plot and target market has also been confused. The cover of the hard back from the library is indicative of a YA book but the content certainly isn't. The protagonists are young but what they say, do and think are not consistent with their ages. After the first couple of pages, I did not think I was going to like the book then it started to get really good and then, for me, it kind of went downhill into a maelstrom of ideas, plot lines, characters and story arcs - 582 pages worth. The world seems to be a mixture of 18th and 19th C fashions, ideas and politics. The idea of candles and horses seems so strange juxtaposed with the flight devices and the "steammen". FWFTB orphans, fantastical (sic), rogues, black, dreadfuls. "He felt the thrum of the leylines in the bones of the earth, six great currents of power crossing at the top of Hawklam Hill. The mound had been a place of power and superstition for as long as Jackelians had lived in these lands. Ancient religions had raised standing stones here, spilt blood here, tracked the dance of the stars and buried war chiefs here. So much earthflow, so much power."
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