Review: Rebel of the Sands

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Rebel of the Sands is one of those books that I could never really make a decision about: on the one hand the notion interested me, on the other hand I wasn’t pulled in the same way other fantasy books have pulled me in. I was never really sure if I would read it, not until I found it going cheap in the university second-hand bookstore. It was at this point that I decided to just go for it. As there were many books sitting by my bedside, though, I let my friend read it first. She came back having enjoyed it, and I bumped it up my to-read list.

Somehow, I was pulled in and not at the same time. I was turning page after page, wanting to see where things would head. At the same time, I wasn’t engage in the characters and story in the way I had hoped to be. I was constantly left wanting to know more, but it wasn’t because of strong feelings – it was just a case of needing to know. As the book progressed this wanting to know turned into enjoyment, mainly because things started happening, but it was never enough to remove the three star rating the book had sat at for so long.

The book promises a great fantasy world. Things that go bump in the night. Characters with amazing powers. Magic that gives the world a new light. All the great aspects of any fantasy novel. Whilst these things were present to a degree, they felt lacking. The things that go bump in the night weren’t as prevalent as I had hoped they would be. We have one real scene with the scary monsters of the world, and there really wasn’t much to it. In fact, it existed only to create a very clichéd moment. The characters with amazing powers can be seen more, although they don’t really arrive until later in the book. The same can be said about the magic, actually. Whilst we know all of these aspects exist, they never really show up in the way I had hoped. A lot of the book is given over to other aspects of the story, holding back on the proof of the magical world we were promised. Then, when things do appear, things are either lacking or clichéd.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all bad. The overall story was interesting, it did leave me wanting to know more about what was happening in the world. Once the action started, I was pulled into the story. Aspects come together that leave a lot of promise for the future books. It just felt as though everything took a very long time to come together. We go on this big journey, made up of our main character needing to escape their life, and this journey wasn’t as interesting as I had hoped it would be. There were some fun moments, but mostly it seemed to drag by.

There really was a lot of potential with this book. There could have been some truly great things. However, it simply didn’t give enough for me to love it. It left me willing to read the second book, leaving me with the hope that the next book will have a lot more action, yet I wasn’t as crazy about the story as I’d been hoping to be. Truth be told, when I started this book I had the hidden desire for it to truly win me over, for it to be something amazing. Now, I’m just hoping the next book will live up to the glimmer of promise we see towards the end of this one.

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