The Historian's Tale -Book Review

The Historian's Tale by K.B. Shaw
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received the book as a review copy. I am usually skeptical of self published works, but I have read an earlier novel of Shaw's as well as the short story that he expanded this novel into. So I knew he was capable of delivering a good story and he didn't let me down here. He does a pretty good job of creating this society with its strange rules. He shows some world building skill in the part of the book where they explore the basin, and I imagine/hope that would be further developed later in the series. There are a few weeknesses of this book. The middle part slows down as the characters discover and try to understand the technology that they have found. Not sure how you liven that section up, though. I would have also liked a bit more explanation from the chancilor. I understand the implementation of the sex scenes to differentiate Neworld culture from Earth culture, but it did seem a bit gratuitous, especially for a YA book.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I would love to see the solar map in a future book that shows the binary star and the planet's orbit around them and how it effects the cycles, but I realize, I may be in the minority on that part. It was a quick read, which was a welcome respite after a few of the more recent books that I have read (looking at you 2312 and Consider Phlebas). I would catagorize it more as teen than YA with a 14+ age range.

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