Cathedral of Silver by Ian Wall is the start of a new sci-fi saga, featuring progenitors, astrobeings, and dronesmiths, and also left somewhat wanting. We follow the adventures of Paul, a high-ranking military lord turned bounty, Ramona, a highly skilled and curious drone mechanic, and Abel, a prince seeking vengeance for the assassination of the empress. Continue reading to get my take on this debut novel for the Galaxy Saga series.
Summary
The beautiful snow-capped mountains of Kanchi are places of nightmares. Paul Tarseus, a ruthless Lord of the Tuyet Voi, seeks to uncover the secrets of this unknown darkness. But when twisted into the company of young Ramona and her mother, Paul’s goals and brutal views of the galaxy are flipped on end.
Never has Paul imposed the service of underworld mercenaries, sided with arch-rivals, been swept into family dramas, and he certainly has never been told to apologize to a drone. But he’ll do whatever it takes to protect those around him and to drag the evils, lurking in the shadows of the galaxy, into the light.
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the author. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Pacing
I’m not really sure what to make of the pacing of Cathedral of Silver. It starts in media res, which felt like it was trying to get started at a very fast pace. Unfortunately, this was not the case and just left to confusion. Throughout the book, it was difficult to tell how much time was passing. The plot makes it seem like some of these things should be happening quickly. After all, Paul is technically forced on the lam. At the same time, however, Paul is making deep connections with Ramona and her family that seem unlikely in too short a period of time.
Characters
We have our main characters of Paul, Ramona, and Abel. Honestly, I didn’t feel a compelling connection with them. Paul and Abel, I especially didn’t feel intrigued by. At times they seemed essentially the same character, but just in different circumstances. Ramona, her mother, Martha, and droid pal, Eights were the most interesting. Unfortunately, Ramona was still a little flat and too stereotypical.
In addition, the names were just similar to each other with led to a lot of confusion. In Cathedral of Silver, we meet Ramona, Rex, Roy, and Rougar as well as Omega, Owlen, and Olsaqy. What makes that even more confusing is that several of these characters were side characters that you only occasionally saw. So when they did pop up, as a reader you are like “wait, which O name person is that?”
Plot
This all brings me to the plot of Cathedral of Silver, which at this point you might easily guess my thoughts. Confusion. I understand there is a lot of galaxy-building since Wall is starting this series. Unfortunately, it throws too much information at the reader. I do not doubt that the world that Wall is building is interesting and well thought out.
It just is overwhelming while also trying to learn about the characters, their motivations, and what is happening to them. Because there was so much going on, I was not sure what the main plot was. I felt like I was reading a lot of side quests of at least three different characters. I will say that the end does set up well for the sequel that could really cause a reader to wish to continue to read.
Overall
The core idea behind Cathedral of Silver is very interesting and solid. It just does not come through well for the reader. I waded through all of the information and as a result, I think that instead of giving enriched detail it instead lead to a vague understanding of the plot and characters.
There is definitely room for positive growth. I hope that the second book is able to better develop the characters so that they are no longer vague apparitions, but solid compelling actors in the story.
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Cathedral of Silver by Ian Wall was a cozy and exciting sci-fi read. It was easy to read because it had limited jargon that was hard to pronounce or remember. In addition, many of the characters had short and simple names, making it ideal for newcomers to the genre. However, it also had suspense, compelling action scenes, and sprawling vista settings to engage any reader. I enjoyed all the character and planet/galaxy descriptions that decorated this novel, though at times it made the novel seem a bit long winded. Overall, I enjoyed this sci-fi tale. The main character of Ramona was really well developed- complicated, funny, lost, and eager. Abel was also a really complex character who evolved throughout the story.