Book Review - ALL OF OUR SINS by Yuval Kordov

 

(Title: All of Our Sins / Author: Yuval Kordov / Publisher: Self-Published / Publication Date: October 31, 2013 / Total Pages: 348)

Back Cover Blurb

"The mountains became plains, and the seas boiled into deserts."

So went the earth.

First came the World War, humanity's suicide. Then came the War against Hell, humanity's redemption. Esther, the Eternal One, led the way from darkness to light. a new order, by her will.

So went civilization.

For a time. But as history fades and the Eternal One's yoke tightens, man turns upon man once more. Ancient dreams of independence rise in Cathedral's shadow. Bastion's vengeance awakens. War beckons.

And Hell is watching.

Review

This is the second book in Yuval Kordov's Dark Legacies inspired world. I enjoyed the first book The Hand of God and thought it was a really cool post-apocalyptic sf thriller that incorporated lost technology effectively into its compelling storyline. Admittedly I enjoy anything that involves lost tech or ancient artifacts, so this series is kind of up my alley so to speak. I was psyched when I saw that book two was coming out on Halloween and so I eagerly requested a review copy and eventually sat down for what I expected would be another wildly entertaining ride.

ALL OF OUR SINS begins in a pretty unique way as it doesn't immediately pick up after the events that concluded the previous book. Rather it fills in a parallel storyline gap that the reader doesn't get to experience in book one. I kind of liked this and thought it was a refreshing way to continue this story, kind of doubling back briefly before finally laying out the new plot with some familiar faces and settings a number of chapters in. 

I will say that this book has a lot of the same tension and mystery that I liked so much in THoG. There are moments of intense action and the characters are thrown into a maelstrom of edge-of-your-seat perilous situations. Kordov can really spin an exciting narrative in that regard. At the same time there are also poignant moments where the breakneck pace slows a bit and we get to have some introspective moments with some of the major players. So there is a nice balance and I found that to be a plus.

That all being said there were also some things that didn't work for me in this sequel. I don't know if it is because this is a middle/continuation book but even though there were a lot of things going on, I didn't feel like I got to see the significant progression of the overall plot that I would have hoped for in this one. It might be a bit of a nitpick on my part but I was somewhat dissatisfied with that aspect and even though I enjoyed much of the book, it seemed that there was a strong cliffhanger element and setup for the next entry or entries to come. This was just my personal feeling upon completing the book and others may feel differently.

All in all though I found ALL OF OUR SINS to be a very worthy follow up and I look forward to seeing where things go from here on out. There are so many things to love about this series: ultra cool worldbuilding, mysterious lost technology, and feverish action scenes. I am sure that we are going to be in for one hell of a finish (no pun intended) once Yuval Kordov ultimately wraps this series up. I definitely think he is an up and coming sff author that many people need to take notice of. Check this book and series out, it's a unique breath of fresh air in an oft times trope-filled landscape.

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