Official Review: The Tower's Alchemist by Alesha L. Escobar

[saturday+deviant]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Tower's Alchemist (The Gray Tower Trilogy, 1)" by Alesha Escobar.]

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I would give this book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars.

Set during World War II with Nazi vampires fighting Allied alchemists, The Tower’s Alchemist tells the story of alchemist Isabella George on her final mission for her agency, the SOE [which I still don’t know what this acronym stands for]. Her final mission is to find and bring in a man named Dr. Veit Heilwig who has created a disease, called The Plague, which has the power to wipe out practically the entire world. Sounds like a simple job to accomplish. However, once Isabella is in enemy territory things get a lot more complicated. There is a spy within the SOE and Isabella is finding that her romantic choice is someone that she cannot trust completely. The story itself is uncomplicated, yet it ends on a huge cliffhanger that screams “buy the next book” - in a good way though.

There are several points within the story that I was attracted to from the very beginning. The biggest is Isabella’s romantic interests that are developed throughout the book with Drake/Ken and Brande. I liked the concept of bringing 21st century ideologies and myths into the past. It was made even better because what was included made sense. Lastly, I also thought that added information from World War II grounded the book and made it seem like something that could have actually happened.

“’I don’t hate you.” I smiled at him and he just stood there and gazed at me - well, it was more like he was ravishing me with his eyes, but I wasn’t going to complain.”

It just warms my heart to see the relationship that she has with Brande. I am a little biased though after all the times he saved Isabella at risk to his own health and life. Although to be honest a lot of the guys in this book come off as good looking and masculine. It has to be obvious that I am partial to romance novels, however don’t let my rant about Brande put you off the book because the romance is only a small portion of the overall plot. I just love that it was included at all. A book like this could have become an action adventure tale filled with blood and death, but the romance levels it out and makes it more palatable. It makes Isabella into a character and not just some perfect fighting girl with the emotional range of a robot.

“Liver sandwiches?” I wanted to grimace but unless I was cooking for myself I had no right to object…. “I’m trying to follow the ration recipes from Woman’s Weekly.”

Rationing is just one of the little tidbits that are interspersed throughout the book that add a realness to the setting that cannot be created through the presence of the vampires and alchemists. Another piece of information that added to the imagery is the description of the campus that Isabella infiltrates in chapter seven. Its not something that really changes the book, but it adds to the overall experience of reading this book and for that reason alone I liked this.

While this book is definitely a win for me, there were a few things that I got confused about throughout the book. The most confusing was the use of names and codenames within the book. Similar to the problems with the codenames was the issue of information being introduced in a jarring manner. They are not super detrimental to the understanding of the book, but they screw up the flow of the passages that they are in.

“Isabella-” “When we’re over here, I’m Emelie.”

Names created a source of frustration throughout the book for me. In the first chapter I had established that her name was Emelie, but shortly after that idea was refuted with Brande revealing her real name as Isabella. Then later on this changes to Noelle when the name Emelie is discovered to be a codename. This is a little unsettling at first but by the end of the book it becomes just another quirky quality to Isabella. However, this also happens with one of her lovers as well named Kenneth Aspen, codename Drake. Throughout the book his name changes between the two whenever there is a reference to him. It was more of an annoyance than a source of confusion for me because one person should have one name used by the author, if not by the characters in dialogue. It reflects a sloppiness that I didn’t get anywhere else in the book.

“He rose to his feet and lurched backward when a man with a silver sword nearly decapitated him.”

Where did the man come from?! That was my question that I made note of while reading. This isn’t the only instance that a random man pops in to save Isabella when she is about to be captured or killed. While I appreciate the good Samaritan feel to these situations and the elation of the cavalry arriving, I don’t appreciate the randomness. She gets saved by this swordsman and continues to fight without blinking an eye. Considering the amount of times she gets saved in this manner it’s not surprising that she isn’t shocked. However, I am and I find the lapse in time before my questions are answered is a negative to the book.

What a book. This sums up my feelings after writing this review and reliving the key aspects that The Tower’s Alchemist has to offer. It’s a great book that has something that could appeal to a broad range of readers including history, action, romance, and family. This book reminds me a lot of The Traveler trilogy by John Twelve Hawks. The strong independent Isabella is just like Maya and this just added another layer to my appreciation of what this book offers.

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[whero]

I love this inclusion of quotes in your review. Thanks for a well written review.