D.I.Y by John Wiswell
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, LGBTQ
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by AstilbeWhen the the elitist institution of Ozymandias Academy and its headmaster, Vamon Kinctuarin, can’t find a solution to the city’s worsening drought, 2 self-taught magicians, Noah and his partner Manny, take it upon themselves to find a solution to the crisis.
Not all change comes slowly.
The character development was handled nicely, especially considering how few pages the author had to work with here. I grinned as I got to know the two main characters better. They were both compassionate individuals who genuinely cared about everyone around them. This was even more true for the low-income people in their lives who were suffering terribly due to the drought. I’ll leave it up to other readers to discover exactly how Noah and Manny reacted to this humanitarian crisis, but it solidified both my interest in the plot as well as in these two characters in particular.
I would have liked to see more energy spent on world building. Mr. Wiswell casually mentioned interesting things like angel bones or what sounded like a war between angels and humans, but he never dug into how all of those references fit together in the timeline. There seemed to be plenty of material for him to work with. He simply needed to explain it all a little better in order for me to feel comfortable going for a full five-star review.
Some of my favorite scenes were the ones that explored Noah and Manny’s feelings about their health and how they responded when they wanted to do things that bumped up against what they were physically capable of. My diagnosis is different from either of theirs, but I nodded along in recognition of all of the work-arounds people find when they really want to do something but need to be mindful of what their bodies are currently capable of doing. It was refreshing to read about heroes who aren’t invincible.
D.I.Y made me yearn for more.
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