Official Review: The Imperium Collection by Gareth Torrance

Mariami · Post by **Mariami** » 30 Mar 2016, 05:29

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Imperium Collection" by Gareth Torrance.]

3 out of 4 stars

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Gareth Torrance is a young author born in Luton, England and raised near Cambridge. After travelling all around Europe and Turkey, he finally moved back to UK, settling down in Bourne. Best known for the Imperium Collection, Gareth Torrance is quite a phenomenon among the fans of Steampunk short stories, his work gaining international acknowledgement through the years.

The Imperium Collection is a compilation of three short stories, part of a larger series known as The Rhythlan. The first story - "The Inquisitor's Confession" - tells the tale of the Imperium's birth as seen and lived by Ser Arin, an Inquisitor who has turned his back to the Imperium and now fights against the Imperial cruelty and laws. "The Musketeer's Dream" is about Craven, a young Lieutenant in the Musketeers Corps forced to face his first battle against the Valkyries while attempting to launch an attack on Alexandria, The Imperium's largest city. In the last story - "The Pirate's Premonition" - Aerin, the young and attractive female pirate Captain of Hyperion, is compelled to steal a diamond from Lord Cartery's private vault in order to save her crew's life and her ship.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I enjoyed most of "The Inquisitor's Confession" and I really loved Aerin's adventures, but Craven's story was rather depressing. Without doubts, the universe designed by Gareth Torrance is intriguing, but there were so many things left unsaid, so many details that could bring more life to the story: how did the all the knowledge and technology disappeared from the face of the Earth? What about the plague? Or the Valkyries? What was the essence of the state religion, Arcana? What's the nature of the conflict between Peaks and Alexandria? I wish the stories were longer, as soon as you grow fond of a character, the tale is over and you are left quite confused and wanting more.

On the other hand, I loved how all the stories in the collection were tied to one another thus creating a greater and fascinating world, each tale and character showing you a different side of Alexandria's history, culture, social structure and civilization. In the same time, I was quite fascinated by the idea of Unknown History and was really looking forward on some development on that matter, maybe my curiosity will be satisfied by Torrance's future stories.

I would recommend this book to all the science fiction and post-apocalyptic short fiction readers out there; even though I prefer novels, I've found myself caught in the tales of Gareth Torrance and promise to keep an eye on his next books.

Way to go, Mr. Torrance!

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The Imperium Collection
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