Initial thoughts about Sunborn
This is the first story by new writer NOVA with Jester supervising. Let’s just say that Jester’s influence is still very visible.
The pacing
Slower than I expected. Much slower. I honestly fell asleep towards the end of Ep. 2. I don’t even remember what happened in the alley or how they got there.
Then I remembered Jester’s involvement. 😮💨
Patience, ADHD! Patience!
It’s getting there… I just have to wait another 7 weeks for the exciting part.
The world building
The mood and world building is actually very similar to AN3, but obviously way more organized. I’d say it’s like AN3 and SOS2 settings combined. There’s a huge concrete wall, an old abandoned city, military-like structure, an elite class… I can’t say that I understand all of it. But it feels less messy and more believable than AN3. It helps that the MC knows wtf is going on with the world.
Also, I didn’t actually read Moonborn, but I imagine it wasn’t like this at all? Were there wights in Moonborn? The wights in Lord of the Rings used to scare the crap out of me, but these guys look like charred demogorgons.
The LIs
This is where I gripe a little. One thing I don’t like about Jester’s books is that all his LIs have the same personality. Cold, stoic, stone-faced… heaven forbid any actual facial expressions!
This works for vampires. But for werewolves… I expect them to be more primal, animalistic, heated and rugged… I wanted more growling and hair.
Kinda like these guys…
Not that I’m complaining about what Eli looks like. He’s gorgeous. I’m happy to finally have another male Asian LI and one that doesn’t have ivory porcelain skin. But I guess I imagined the alpha to look a little more gruff, with fiery oppressive presence. He still comes across as cold and a little too neat. I’m telling you, it’s the expressionless sprites!
Adrian is the male vampire. This is a minor, nitpicking complaint, but I wish the writers wouldn’t reuse names. There’s an Adrian in Rage of the Titans. It’s just that there are soooo many different names available. Why keep picking the same ones?
Anyway, I like Adrian. I bet players are already gushing about him because he’s beautiful and blonde. I find him intriguing.
Thea is Wren’s bff/roommate. I’m less happy with her. She comes across as weak and… I’m not a fan of what she looks like. The light eyes don’t bother me as much as the blonde/gray A1 type hair. Listen, I’m Asian. I have straight hair. Something I will never have is glorious, voluminous, gravity defying texture! I just want to admire natural black beauty, which doesn’t get appreciated enough… 😭 Teen Luna and off duty Safaa are so gorgeous. Same concept applies to the black male LIs too. They all have the same haircut!
So far we only have 3 LIs. I assume one more is coming. I just hope it’s not another cold, stoic person.
The plot & politics
There are multiple factions. Vampires rule over the werewolves. There’s a lot of sneaking around, espionage, and complicated politics. Very Jester. I wonder if this is just like Psi, but with werewolves and vampires instead of psionics and the Church. Kinda feels like it but grittier. Will the werewolves ultimately end up fighting the vampires? I kinda hope so. They’re classic enemies. It has to go down.
Anyway, even though I like Adrian, I’m honestly really tired of being blackmailed into submission by a cold, powerful, rich man. Can we have something else? Please?!!!!
TBD
I can’t say if I like this story yet. There’s still a lot that I don’t know and idk what’s going on. I really hope there’s more relationship stuff and character development and not only plot, plot, plot…
But that seems to be the case right now.
Just 7 more weeks until I find out what happened to Eli… 😮💨
