Steal the Sky (The Scorched Continent #1)

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Title: Steal the Sky
Series: The Scorched Continent #1
Author: Megan O'Keefe
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 448
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

A lighter than air substance, the basis of the power for most nations, can be found on the Scorched Continent. One city in particular is being brought into the Empire.
One law enforcement officer is trying to stop a military butcher from being elected governor. A former lord and his "servant" are running from the Empire because it uses those who have power of the substance and said lord has great power of it.

Throw in another power user who is out for revenge and things just get messy, very quickly.

My Thoughts:

I would like to thank Irresponsible Reader for initially bringing this to my attention.

Unfortunately, I wanted to like this much more than I actually did. I think the most positive thing I can say is that it reminds me of a mediocre  Wax & Wayne story by Sanderson.

It had all of the elements that I could like. A roguish lord who is more powerful than he lets on. A sidekick who makes the quips and yet keeps the lord under control. A strong police woman who is trying to keep order. A blood thirsty military genius who is playing games and counter games. A driven mother who wants the death of those who killed her son.

There were times where the direction of the story or a revelation just came from sidewise and completely caught me off guard. It also didn't help that while this is the first book in the story, there is a lot of previous history about the characters, that they mention in passing. Kind of like listening in on 2 old school chums who'll say something like "boofer" and burst out laughing because of a shared experience. It isn't very nice to be on the outside looking in. And it just dragged.

I've got the second book on my tbr list. However, while this wasn't bad by any means, it wasn't nearly good enough for me to continue. Maybe if it was a Forgotten Realms book or some such, I could continue but for a "serious" SFF book, I expect more if I'm going to continue.