Gearpox

Remnants of Magic Cycle, Book 1

By: L. P. Cowling

Narrated by: Nicola Lark

Magic is outlawed.

A corrupt king rules the land.

A mysterious plague fells the people.

Rumors spread that the origins of the plague are stemming from the industrial revolution taking place in The Continent’s capital of Owenoak. Time is ticking for the crown prince to mount a rebellion, form allies, and reunite the ancient magical families before his elder brother’s greed and ignorance swallows the world in a wave of sickness and death.

Written by Cowling, with editing and audio from Lark.

©2020 L. P. Cowling (P)2022 L. P. Cowling

Recommended! Fantasy with a Modern Twist

THE GOOD:
- Everything has been said and done in fantasy, so you're always looking for "what sets it apart", I will elaborate later, but this book indisputably has two traits that set it apart from your run-of-the-mill fantasy.
- L.P. Cowling has an evident vision of this world, you can actually tell he didn't just "make up stuff" as he went, it feels lovingly planned, realized, like you could ask him anything about the world and he'd be able to tell you. This mixture of "medieval fantasy" and "steampunk" embraces both, with descriptions about how each of the two aspects works.
- The characters feel realized and have clear motivations. Someone isn't just going to join a way because of "honor" and "succession", they can choose to sit it out because their life is separate from political qualms, so it makes you wonder how each character will come into play.
- Gets right into the action, it doesn't linger for chapter after chapter of worldbuilding before the inciting incident takes place.
- I like the relationship between Lain and Cyrus (I might be misspelling the names since this was audio, if so, I apologize), that psychic link does build and help you connect with both.
- The Gearpox itself, and the cause behind it seem very interesting, it doesn't necessarily imply "industry BAD", but does point to its cause being more in the abuse and overuse of it, instead of something more balanced.

THE BAD:
- The character of Lyle (again, apologies if I'm misspelling it) was my main reason for docking half a star, in the sense that he feels just evil because he's evil. Yes, there are heavy hints to something else sort of causing this behavior, but you never get a sense of internal conflict, he fees like the "Joffrey from GOT" kind of evil, and that's PERFECTLY fine, all in all, but if the plan is to potentially reveal, there is an inner conflict, I did not get it in this first book, so he can seem one-dimensional.
- Some of the world building, such as the description of weapons of creatures being inserted right in the middle of an action scene, which can bring the scene to a stop. The information itself is VERY INTERESTING and I want to know it, but maybe choosing a better place to introduce it might help the flow of these scenes.

THE DIFFERENT:
The biggest standout for me is the creatures and how they work, and I want to make sure this is interpreted as A POSITIVE, because it is: Game of Thrones meets Pokèmon. No, don't run away. Let me explain. Lain isn't going around catching monsters in a Pokèball and having tournament battles. The comparison comes from the "evolution" aspect, and how each evolution of a creature comes with a different name, a different look, and a different set of powers. In this type of setting, this felt very fresh, and felt like inserting something I honestly thought I'd hate in a way that just worked, because of how dependent that evolution is on the tamer's connection with the magical creature, it's symbiotic in almost every way and it excites you from encountering other creatures and other tamers, it makes a world that you think you've read a hundred times into something different.

DO I RECOMMEND IT? Absolutely! This is on the edge of YA and Adult, mostly for violence, but overall it's a very good read for everyone. If you're into fantasy with a twist, this should sate your thirst and interest you in going along with the journey.