Extracted by Tyler Jolley and Sherry Ficklin
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MerryLove
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Extracted by Tyler Jolley and Sherry Ficklin
Extracted is the first in a trilogy. The entire series has been released as ebooks, but currently only the first is available in paperback.
This steampunk fantasy follows the story of both Ember and Lex, members of opposite time traveling factions at war with each other. The story follows their journeys to when they eventually cross paths and have to learn more about the opposite faction and each other.
The story is fast paced throughout, with plenty of action and exciting revelations about the ways and truths of time travel in this world. I loved how easy it was to get immersed in this book, without slow dull moments to sift through. The perspective changes between Ember and Lex flowed seamlessly and were effectively to paint a whole picture of their time traveling world, from both sides.
As much as I loved this book from the get go, I was left with mixed feelings by the end. The first half of this book was a fun, exciting read that left me happily anticipating the sequel. Then, around the middle of the story, the tone of the story changed. Instead of being about the events and the actions and the time traveling factions, the focus became emotions. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the emotional ties. In many ways, a lot of those emotional moments were necessary parts of the story. But the tone it was presented in left the characters feeling disconnected from their former selves. While the characters up until this point had shown a great amount of maturity for young adults in their given situation, suddenly they were reacting to emotional situations like middle schoolers at their first dance. Instead of reading about 16-20 year olds, I began to wonder if maybe they were only 13. Their thoughts on the situations that I was privy to as a reader didn't mesh well with their actions and thoughts up until that point. It was incredibly frustrating, but still readable.
Eventually the book does pull itself out of this middle “funk” and get back to the elements of action and excitement the book was all about from the beginning. By the end, it's back to being a great book again that sounds like it will have a great sequel. Still, that middle section removed a lot of the initial hype I had for the book.
Ember was perhaps one of my favorite characters. She level headed and smart, but she's not perfect. That combined with some naivety she discovers later really shape her into a realistic, believable person.
Lex took a completely different role in the story. He was more of the comic relief in the story. Instead of feeling like a large main character himself, he was more of the vessel that was used to teach us about the people and the workings of his faction. As such, I didn't really find myself caring about him all that much. He was important, sure, but not for anything special he brought to the table on his own.
Stein, a member of Lex's faction, was much more interesting a character and wins out Ember for favorite character by just a smidge. She has a perfect persona she displays for the world that others (and Ember) tend to admire, but it is very much her public front. She is much more reserved and private than she lets on, and I couldn't help but admire her for that. The sequel is about her story, and that alone left me wanting to give it a shot.
Ethan, the other main character in Ember's faction, was a likeable character in his relationship to Ember. He is a great friend that sticks up for her and is there when she needs him. He didn't have a lot of story himself in this book, but the third book in the trilogy is supposed to be more about him.
Rating
Overall, I would give this book a 3 out of 4. It had such great potential for a 4 in the beginning, but the lack of development for a few of the characters the disjunction in the middle of the story sent it on a quick nose dive. The end redeemed itself, however, and I'm hopeful that the potential indicated for the sequel will be much more like beginning of this book was.
I would recommend you give this book a try. Maybe the middle won't bother you as much as it did me. It also happens to be free for kindle at the time of this posting. If the sequel turns out to be great, this book will be a must read for the background information.
This steampunk fantasy follows the story of both Ember and Lex, members of opposite time traveling factions at war with each other. The story follows their journeys to when they eventually cross paths and have to learn more about the opposite faction and each other.
The story is fast paced throughout, with plenty of action and exciting revelations about the ways and truths of time travel in this world. I loved how easy it was to get immersed in this book, without slow dull moments to sift through. The perspective changes between Ember and Lex flowed seamlessly and were effectively to paint a whole picture of their time traveling world, from both sides.
As much as I loved this book from the get go, I was left with mixed feelings by the end. The first half of this book was a fun, exciting read that left me happily anticipating the sequel. Then, around the middle of the story, the tone of the story changed. Instead of being about the events and the actions and the time traveling factions, the focus became emotions. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the emotional ties. In many ways, a lot of those emotional moments were necessary parts of the story. But the tone it was presented in left the characters feeling disconnected from their former selves. While the characters up until this point had shown a great amount of maturity for young adults in their given situation, suddenly they were reacting to emotional situations like middle schoolers at their first dance. Instead of reading about 16-20 year olds, I began to wonder if maybe they were only 13. Their thoughts on the situations that I was privy to as a reader didn't mesh well with their actions and thoughts up until that point. It was incredibly frustrating, but still readable.
Eventually the book does pull itself out of this middle “funk” and get back to the elements of action and excitement the book was all about from the beginning. By the end, it's back to being a great book again that sounds like it will have a great sequel. Still, that middle section removed a lot of the initial hype I had for the book.
Ember was perhaps one of my favorite characters. She level headed and smart, but she's not perfect. That combined with some naivety she discovers later really shape her into a realistic, believable person.
Lex took a completely different role in the story. He was more of the comic relief in the story. Instead of feeling like a large main character himself, he was more of the vessel that was used to teach us about the people and the workings of his faction. As such, I didn't really find myself caring about him all that much. He was important, sure, but not for anything special he brought to the table on his own.
Stein, a member of Lex's faction, was much more interesting a character and wins out Ember for favorite character by just a smidge. She has a perfect persona she displays for the world that others (and Ember) tend to admire, but it is very much her public front. She is much more reserved and private than she lets on, and I couldn't help but admire her for that. The sequel is about her story, and that alone left me wanting to give it a shot.
Ethan, the other main character in Ember's faction, was a likeable character in his relationship to Ember. He is a great friend that sticks up for her and is there when she needs him. He didn't have a lot of story himself in this book, but the third book in the trilogy is supposed to be more about him.
Rating
Overall, I would give this book a 3 out of 4. It had such great potential for a 4 in the beginning, but the lack of development for a few of the characters the disjunction in the middle of the story sent it on a quick nose dive. The end redeemed itself, however, and I'm hopeful that the potential indicated for the sequel will be much more like beginning of this book was.
I would recommend you give this book a try. Maybe the middle won't bother you as much as it did me. It also happens to be free for kindle at the time of this posting. If the sequel turns out to be great, this book will be a must read for the background information.
Latest Review: "Coppers Journey" by Julius Green
