Friday, January 6, 2017

Book Review: The Alchemists of Loom by Elise Kova

I received a free ecopy of this book from Netgalley and Keymaster Press in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Alchemist's of Loom
Author: Elise Kova
Series: Loom Saga #1
Publisher: Keymaster Press
Publication Date: January 10, 2017
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 380 pages
Format: ebook
Source: Netgalley


Synopsis: 
Her vengeance. His vision. 
Ari lost everything she once loved when the Five Guilds' resistance fell to the Dragon King. Now, she uses her unparalleled gift for clockwork machinery in tandem with notoriously unscrupulous morals to contribute to a thriving underground organ market. There isn't a place on Loom that is secure from the engineer turned thief, and her magical talents are sold to the highest bidder as long as the job defies their Dragon oppressors. 

Cvareh would do anything to see his sister usurp the Dragon King and sit on the throne. His family's house has endured the shame of being the lowest rung in the Dragons' society for far too long. The Alchemist Guild, down on Loom, may just hold the key to putting his kin in power, if Cvareh can get to them before the Dragon King's assassins.

When Ari stumbles upon a wounded Cvareh, she sees an opportunity to slaughter an enemy and make a profit off his corpse. But the Dragon sees an opportunity to navigate Loom with the best person to get him where he wants to go. 

He offers her the one thing Ari can't refuse: A wish of her greatest desire, if she brings him to the Alchemists of Loom. 

My Thoughts: 
This was fantastic! A very enjoyable high fantasy with amazing worldbuilding and memorable characters. 


Arianna is the infamous White Wraith, a Master Rivet that left the Alchemist's Guild after the Dragon King of Nova took over all of Loom. She's talented and mysterious and hates dragons. To be honest, I had an issue with her character at first, mostly due to her seemingly narrow-minded and cynical attitude towards everyone other than her young apprentice, Florence. But I loved seeing her walls come down brick by brick as the story went on. She's pretty badass and is hell bent on vengeance. 

Cvareh is a dragon that offers Ari a boon to take him to the Alchemist's Guild. He has a plan that could change the lives of both the inhabitants of Loom and Nova. With the help of Florence, Ari soon comes to trust the dragon just enough to get them across Loom without getting themselves killed.

I love the worldbuilding! There are two worlds; Loom and Nova. Loom is where the Fenthri reside under the rule of the Dragon King whom lives in Nova, which is in the sky above the cloudline. 


The dragons live 'in the sky' but they are not your typical winged dragons. They can fly, but only thanks to help of gliders that are powered by their magic. 
The best way I can describe these dragons, or how I envisioned them anyway, was that they are like the Argonians from the popular Elder Scrolls RPG games (Skyrim, Oblivion, etc) just without tails and maybe a more human face. They have reptilian-like skin that is brightly colored, sharp teeth, and claws.
Fenthri are mostly similar to humans but they have grey skin.
Chimeras are Fenthri that have had certain organs replaced with magical dragon organs and have endured dragonblood transfusions. Because of this, they have magic themselves. 


This is such a unique new world/s and when you add in all the action, steampunk elements, the Five Guilds (that you can test yourself online to see which one you might be in), and the unique characters, you get an amazing story. Elise Kova did an amazing job with this and I'm super eager to continue this series! 

My Rating: 4.5 stars

3 comments:

  1. I like the steampunk sound and the idea of the Guilds (I might just go take the quiz lol) and the dragons sound different. I keep thinking this coverr looks awesome but I haven't actually checked the book out yet. Maybe I will now, great review!

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    1. Thanks, Greg! This one was such a unique read. I really loved the steampunk elements of the world and the Dragons are pretty cool even though they aren't the typical dragon. :)

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  2. I've been curious about this series. I read the first in Kova's last series, but I haven't managed to keep up with it. But I really enjoyed it and I plan to keep reading!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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