Review of Sunchaser
Posted: 20 Oct 2023, 13:48
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Sunchaser" by I.P. Eviston.]
Sunchaser continues The Vanguard Chronicles book series written by I.P. Eviston. On the hunt for the divine artifacts left by the gods, Spirit and the rest of his Vanguard squad, led by Captain Isaac, head to Aloweth. Their enemies won’t let them get away so easily, however. The Kindred are hot on their heels, lurking in the shadows and waiting for the perfect time to strike. If that wasn’t enough, the demons are making their move, ready to wage war on the aether-rich humans. Can the members of the team deal with their baggage and find the artifacts before their enemies?
Compared to the prequel, Sunchaser had way more flashbacks, and they weren’t limited to the young adult cast of characters. This added to the worldbuilding, and I like that the settings were switched up.
The direction of the plot was very satisfying. Spirit and his group are battling against two villainous factions, and where we saw more of the demons’ side before, the Kindred’s actions receive most of the limelight now. In my review of Demonslayer, I mentioned understanding a little about the demons’ thought processes and motives for their actions. Contrarily, I wanted to mete out violence to the Kindred, unable to fathom the reasons for what they did. It’s interesting to see the dual takes on antagonism. It’ll be a major plus for the series if Eviston has the main characters approach the two enemies with different strategies and according to their separate causes—even though the two groups of villains do have the same end goal.
As for characterization, more characters were introduced, yes, but they were supporting characters and didn’t interfere with the protagonists’ screen time except for relevant plot devices. Romance entered the equation, and I liked how it was carried out by Eviston. Skylar is still my favourite character by far, evoking in me a strong feeling of sympathy when she went through a rather hard time near the climax. How the plot left off has me wondering about a lot of people’s fates, and I can’t wait to see what Eviston cooks up next for our group of aetheren.
I doubt readers will receive full enjoyment from reading or grasp the storyline without first reading the previous book, as it contains a lot of information that sets the stage for this book. I think continuity has improved somewhat, and I appreciated that the book’s length was way less than before. The length was just the right amount to tell the story, and readers who are normally daunted by a drawn-out read won’t have this to worry about.
As was seen in the last book, mistakes present made for a poor reading experience. I firmly believe that it has not gone through any basic editing, much less professional editing. I think the author needs to revise how certain sentences are framed, especially because they interrupt the flow of the story, which can affect how readers perceive the story overall.
I rate Sunchaser four out of five stars. Though it has more or less the same issues that were prevalent in the first instalment of the series, Demonslayer, I felt more invested in the characters this time around, watching the bonds and characters themselves develop. It still had a problematic writing style and poor editing quality to thank for the one-star deduction, however.
People looking for an ongoing series (as of this review’s publication, anyway) with a character-driven story that shows promise will be sure to enjoy this. Let me reiterate that it would be prudent to read the prequel before diving into this book.
******
Sunchaser
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Sunchaser continues The Vanguard Chronicles book series written by I.P. Eviston. On the hunt for the divine artifacts left by the gods, Spirit and the rest of his Vanguard squad, led by Captain Isaac, head to Aloweth. Their enemies won’t let them get away so easily, however. The Kindred are hot on their heels, lurking in the shadows and waiting for the perfect time to strike. If that wasn’t enough, the demons are making their move, ready to wage war on the aether-rich humans. Can the members of the team deal with their baggage and find the artifacts before their enemies?
Compared to the prequel, Sunchaser had way more flashbacks, and they weren’t limited to the young adult cast of characters. This added to the worldbuilding, and I like that the settings were switched up.
The direction of the plot was very satisfying. Spirit and his group are battling against two villainous factions, and where we saw more of the demons’ side before, the Kindred’s actions receive most of the limelight now. In my review of Demonslayer, I mentioned understanding a little about the demons’ thought processes and motives for their actions. Contrarily, I wanted to mete out violence to the Kindred, unable to fathom the reasons for what they did. It’s interesting to see the dual takes on antagonism. It’ll be a major plus for the series if Eviston has the main characters approach the two enemies with different strategies and according to their separate causes—even though the two groups of villains do have the same end goal.
As for characterization, more characters were introduced, yes, but they were supporting characters and didn’t interfere with the protagonists’ screen time except for relevant plot devices. Romance entered the equation, and I liked how it was carried out by Eviston. Skylar is still my favourite character by far, evoking in me a strong feeling of sympathy when she went through a rather hard time near the climax. How the plot left off has me wondering about a lot of people’s fates, and I can’t wait to see what Eviston cooks up next for our group of aetheren.
I doubt readers will receive full enjoyment from reading or grasp the storyline without first reading the previous book, as it contains a lot of information that sets the stage for this book. I think continuity has improved somewhat, and I appreciated that the book’s length was way less than before. The length was just the right amount to tell the story, and readers who are normally daunted by a drawn-out read won’t have this to worry about.
As was seen in the last book, mistakes present made for a poor reading experience. I firmly believe that it has not gone through any basic editing, much less professional editing. I think the author needs to revise how certain sentences are framed, especially because they interrupt the flow of the story, which can affect how readers perceive the story overall.
I rate Sunchaser four out of five stars. Though it has more or less the same issues that were prevalent in the first instalment of the series, Demonslayer, I felt more invested in the characters this time around, watching the bonds and characters themselves develop. It still had a problematic writing style and poor editing quality to thank for the one-star deduction, however.
People looking for an ongoing series (as of this review’s publication, anyway) with a character-driven story that shows promise will be sure to enjoy this. Let me reiterate that it would be prudent to read the prequel before diving into this book.
******
Sunchaser
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
