Flotsam (Peridot Shift)

What a ride!

People call Flotsam "genre bending," but I think it belongs to a genre we haven't seen much of since Harlequin ruined to word "romance." But back in the Verne and Burroughs and the like wrote what were called "scientific romances," books about places that couldn't exist like Barsoom or Pellucidar or Liliput, but were great settings for rip-snorting good yarns.

Add R. J. Theodore's Peridot: an exploded planet held together by alchemy where steam-powered hot air balloons sail the skies and gods are willing to sit down for a chat, a world that the author seems to visualize perfectly and is able to describe in powerful and evocative terms. Enter Talis, a tough, smart salvage captain who gets sucked deeper and deeper into the plots of alien invaders, trailed and thwarted by her mysterious ex, Hankirk...Oh, yeah. Theodore puts the pedal to the metal in chapter one and does not let up.

One spoiler here: Flotsam is book one of trilogy, and in Flotsam a god dies. A god! I don't know where the next books can go from there, but you know it's going to be a heckuva ride!

Do you like airships, steampunk, aliens, sky pirates, cults and otherworldly beings? Then probably you should read this book because it’s a lot of fun.

I think mixing aliens, technology (both of the “modern” and steampunk variety) and magic is a tricky recipe to get right and Theodore succeeded.

From what I can tell, the world of Peridot is a fragmented planet, held together with breathable air thanks to the power of five gods. After the Cataclysm, the gods managed to save the planet and create their own unique races to populate it. These races, named for their creators, populate the islands of Peridot and navigate by way of airships. Newly arrived aliens, the Yu’Nyun, have come to explore the planet and research life on Peridot. Their ships are far more advanced than any of the fleets of the planet, but the race seems peaceful, only interested in history and obscure artifacts.

I did struggle to imagine Peridot, but I think I got the gist of it. Most of the book takes place on airships anyway, so that was much easier to picture. Amid airships and pre-Cataclysm ‘tronics, there are hints of the alchemical arts, as well as the power the gods possess. All these elements combined to make an interesting world.

Enter Talis and her small crew, Sophie, Tisker and Dug. The small crew allowed readers to get a good sense of each character and their history throughout the story, rather than info-dumping or too many underdeveloped characters. I enjoyed following Talis as she struggled, sometimes due to her own actions, because she was trying to find a way to provide for herself and her crew. Her motivations were clear and understandable – even amidst the chaos later in the book, she’s still trying to find a way to do right by her crew, who really is her family.

Theodore created a detailed world and I think she found the right balance between showing enough and leaving more to be revealed in the next books. We see a great deal of one of the gods, Onaya Bone, including some of her powers and a look into her temple. I loved that the gods are living beings, present (somewhat anyway) in the lives of those they created – they weren’t just an abstract idea or something long gone. We’re also given information on some of the races; there’s Cutter folk who are the main power in Peridot and come across as your garden variety humans, though many have prayerlocks (I thought of them as dreadlocks) used to invoke the blessing of their god and Bone folk who have feathers mixed in with their hair and seem to be built to be warriors.

We do get a bit about the Vein who are blind, have four arms and are possibly psychic, the Breakers who seem to be built sort of like walrus, and the Rakkar who have chitin, armor-like plates on their skin. I hope that Theodore delves more into the lives of those races in her next book.

Oh, and how could I forget to mention BLOOD DRINKING FLYING SKYMERMS! These are my favorite creatures ever! They live inside storms in the sky and prey on ships who aren’t protected and I need more of them in my life, stat! Can someone make some fan art of that?

Theodore also helpfully provides a glossary in the back that gives more details about locations, characters, the gods and their races. I found the information on the five races (and the aliens) to be especially helpful. Had I known this existed when I started reading, I would have referenced it. Instead I tried to take notes on my phone every time new info was given about a specific race.

My issues with the book are small and mostly nitpicky. As I mentioned, I did have trouble imagining the physical geography of the planet, but it was a visual (well, mental) issue and it didn’t really affect the story for me. I also noticed a few phrases that were used in back to back sentences, like “a testament to” and “little more than.” They pulled me out of the story for a moment because of the repetition. I had a similar issue with fragmented sentences. I can’t quite explain, but sometimes I would have to go back and reread a sentence or two prior because I was confused about who or what the subject of the sentence was. Again, not a huge deal. One final gripe is that Theodore describes the smell of a room with scenes of “heavy spices, sand and feathers.” What even? I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and let sand represent heat (even though you really can’t smell heat, I think I know what she was going for) but what on earth to feathers smell like? And if the spices are heavy would you even smell the sand and feathers?

Again, these are little issues and didn’t deter me from truly enjoying this book. I was fully immersed in the world, I cared about the characters and I’m eager for the next books! Not to mention, the cover is lovely and there are some drawings inside by the author! I highly recommend if you’re looking for a magical, high-tech, steampunk adventure. Skymerms, guys – skymerms!

Struggled to finish just too little of a lot going on. There is a glossary at the end of the book that I would have found helpful at the first to describe expanse of characters and places. Book has gods, aliens, and a crew of misfit beings that are fighting to retrieve items for pay. At the same time being chased by the imperial law of the planet. "A copy of this book was supplied by Parvus Press via Netgalley with no requirements for a review. Comments here are my honest opinion.

Flotsam is a book that intrigued me from the first line of its cover blurb.

"A fantastical steampunk first contact novel that ties together high magic, high technology, and bold characters to craft a story you won’t soon forget."

Seriously, that one line promises a lot. The further I read, the more excited I became, until I started to worry my expectations were becoming too high. No matter how good a read it might be, R.J. Theodore had her work cut out for her - through no fault of her own - in delivering on those expectations.

Having had a few days to digest the book, to separate the emotions from the thoughts, I am pleasantly surprised to say it was everything I wanted - and perhaps even a bit more.

This is a book that starts out with a crazy treasure hunt that is of neither the deep-sea nor the outer-space variety, but somewhere in between. We're introduced to Captain Talis as she's dangling in the air, waiting to explore a shipwreck within the detritus strewn layer of the atmosphere. It has all the elements of a pulp adventure to it, complete with betrayal, attack, and pursuit, and kicks things up a notch with the appearance of a freakin' spaceship. Yeah, you heard me, a beautifully odd ship of silver, floating alongside sail-driven steampunk airships.

There is a lot to like here, beyond the rather cool concept. The characters are a lot of fun, some more developed that others, but all of them more than just stock figures. The world building is impressive, and even if it feels like there is a lot that's been held back at this point, what we do get is satisfying enough to turn questions into anticipation. The action is fantastic, something of a cross between space opera and nautical warfare, and the hand-to-hand combat is refreshingly unorthodox. Theodore does a great job of playing to the genre conventions, but never settles for being predicable, even if it means forcing the reader outside their comfort zone sometimes. As an added bonus, the aliens are truly that - alien - humanoid in appearance, but visibly crossed with other species, and having a class-based system that surpasses any question of gender.

While Flotsam does explore some themes of gender, class, and authority that are interesting, it is most successful as fantasy escapism. This is fun, fast-paced, and, and clever enough to keep you guessing. As a standalone novel it does, perhaps, leave too much unknown or open-ended - especially with its cliffhanger ending - but as the opening to a series it is everything it needs to be to keep us reading.

Flotsam has one of the strangest non-dream settings I’ve experienced in books. The planet Peridot underwent a catastrophic event, known as the Cataclysm, that resulted in the world being split into pieces that are loosely held together by the power of the Nexus. Each piece is an island, floating in space. One assumes that the Nexus maintains the loose configuration, atmosphere and gravity that allows the islands to support thriving populations. Oh, and the gods live within the Nexus and seem to have some responsibility for creating life, maintaining the balance of the Nexus and controlling all magic (alchemy).

Most of the action takes place in the skies on board the Wind Sabre, an airship, lending the steampunkish feeling. Though the presence of gods and magic/alchemy also give it a fantasy feeling. The non-earth space-like setting gives it a scifi feel. Plus there are aliens. So it is hard to define the genre of Flotsam. But, since I enjoy steampunk, fantasy and scifi, I really savored the combination.

There are many vividly described locations throughout Peridot that are part of the story. I appreciated the author’s descriptions of all these fascinating places.

I loved that the adventure never, NEVER slowed down. Will Captain Talis next decision be a good one, or will she get her crew into even more trouble? Spoiler – there was a lot of leaping from the frying pan into the fire. Followed by more leaping…..

There are plenty of colorful characters in this book. The least well known major character is the lead, Talis, as only parts of her story come out. But this is a series. There will be opportunities for Talis’ secrets to come out in a future story. Throughout Flotsam, you get to know about the crew of Wind Saber as you learn how Dug, Sophie, and Tisker came to be part of the crew. An there Talis’ ex-boyfriend, Hankirk, who is stupid and dangerous. And, I suspect, he will not go away easily.

There was a cliffhanger ending, which I am not fond of. I really liked this book, so Flotsam gets 4 stars – minus one star for the cliffhanger.

Through NetGalley, I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This isn’t the kind of book I normally choose, so I will say right now that I bought it and read it when I met the author. It’s hard for me to categorize, being something of a space adventure, steampunk thriller, but I was pleasantly surprised by it. Really good writing (which is important to me) a world conjured from thin air and a heroine I could root for made it an engaging read. I did find the immersion in a new world a little hard to keep track of, but that may not be a problem for regular readers of this genre

I can’t wait for the next book. I wish I’d had the time to sit down and read this straight through from start to finish. It would have held my attention all the way through. Inventive, unique, and merging so many aspects of both Sci-fi and fantasy into one your left with awe and wonder that they can coexist so peaceably. As stated before I cannot wait for the next installment and look forward to all that the author has in store for the world of Peridot.

Flotsam is a joyride through a majestic, fractured planet, complete with open skies, seedy undercities, floating islands of sand fountains, and VICIOUS SKY MERMAIDS. Fans of Firefly will find a familiar found-family core of space smugglers doing their best to get by in a wild world, with aliens, gods, and old flames hunting them down at every turn. A friggin' delight.

This is a sweeping steampunk influenced space opera with a touch of magic. I loved it. It's so imaginative and colorful - you can picture everything the author describes as if you were there. I felt transported to this world, and can't wait to return in the sequel!

I won this book prior to publication in a competition, and I could hardly wait to review it.
This is a wonderful start to a series that promises loads of fun as it continues.
I loved the world the author created with a shattered world held together by some mysterious force, and
goodies and baddies that are somewhat interchangable. The world building and characterisation is wonderful, and this is backed up by a wonderful story line. Loved it.