Gideon the Ninth

Fine enough. A cute little story that succeeds in having likable enough characters. It's got way too much going on to pay attention to all its parts and develop them equally, but I'd prefer novels bite off more than they can chew, I guess. Highly reminiscent of fanfic in that way, though; it languishes in implication rather than action. It doesn't show or tell, just kind of gestures. Still, it's a first novel, so that's understandable.

What really kills me are the crappy internet jokes that totally undercut the tension of important scenes, and the overreliance on visual cues. You can tell the inspiration for this novel is visual rather than prose (a webcomic and, I assume, from the way the fight scenes work, plenty of anime). The worldbuilding is good enough to stand on its own, but it feels like the author is strangely embarrassed of it unless someone is saying bizznach or yass kwneen. Extremely irritating.

Overall a good first effort, though, and clearly engaging enough that I read every word. Most of every word. I've read enough Naruto that my eyes glazed over the final fight scene.