This is my review of “Hunted”, which is the second novella in the Flash Gold Chronicles series by Lindsay Buroker. In this story Ms. Buroker continues the adventure begun in Flash Gold with Kali and Cedar, now business partners as bounty hunters. They’ve left Moose Jaw and are setting out upon a new adventure seeking Cedar’s arch nemesis, both for the bounty and for personal vengeance. This takes them to a mining camp out in the wilds of the Yukon where they encounter Kali’s greatest enemy, and her hero, and find themselves in one desperate situation after another.
The story is tightly written with lots of action, witty banter between our protagonists, as well as a few of the antagonists, and is well edited. The romantic angle steps up a notch, but is still within the comfort zone of those who do not enjoy romance novels. Much more is revealed about both Kali and Cedar: their backgrounds and motivations. Even the mysterious mechanical genius antagonist steps out of the mists for an introduction. And we get another dose of the wonderful machinery for which steampunk stories are known.
My only reservation about this story is that it wanders a good distance into the realm of fantasy. For me – and this is a *personal* preference – any time magic overshadows the mechanics and science I begin to lose interest. “Hunted” defines the direction that this series will be taking well enough that I probably will not continue. But only because I don’t care for magic; Ms. Buroker is an excellent writer and I have already bought Ice Crackers and Encrypted, looking for more of her stories and hoping they will be more suited to my admittedly narrow band of tastes.
Most readers will find this a very enjoyable book. Indeed, I enjoyed it, I just don’t care for the direction it’s heading.
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Thanks for taking the time to read and review the stories, Allan!
Yeah, fantasy and magic tend to go hand in hand. The female antagonist isn’t in the third FG story, and it’s kind of a grizzly murder investigation with some more pesky airship pirates and an even peskier Pinkerton Detective (very magic-lite). If you change your mind about trying it, let me know. I’d be happy to send you a copy when it’s ready to go.
Encrypted has some magic early on and then takes more of a SF turn. It’s definitely the most sciency (okay, that’s not a word) of any of my stories. Had to get help from my chemistry buddy. 😉
Anyway, sorry for rambling! Thanks again for sharing the reviews on your blog.
No, no, Lindsay; please ramble any time you like – especially if I’ve misrepresented your work. 🙁 I truly appreciate the insights into these other books. I have Encrypted on my Kindle (along with 81 other books) to be read. Since Hunted is not the harbinger for the series, I’ll go ahead and keep an eye out for the third book of The Flash Gold Chronicles. I don’t mind a little dabbling, my concern was that you would be building upon events here – which would make for a great fantasy tale and an excellent read for the many people who like fantasy. I don’t; that’s just me. I’m picky. But, if you’re working on a cross-genre sampler, I’ll go along for the ride. I can take small doses of most genres, I just don’t care to be immersed in some of them.