3.5 out of 5 stars.

This was my first chance to read anything by Bryan Thomas Schmidt though he has been in my TBR pile for some time. Below are my thoughts.

Pros:
-Very fast and fun read.
-Not sure if was intentional or not, but I felt like this really worked well as a MG/YA story.
-The story started a bit rough, but found its stride about a third of the way through.
-Good description, especially in the latter half of the book.
-Good buildup to the final conflict.

Cons:
-The main conflict seemed a bit forced.
-Actions of the Professor didn’t come across as realistic given the actions of the antagonist.
-A bit info dumpy in spots while tying the story into the main series.
-Dialogue felt unnatural in spots.
-Ending was a bit of a letdown after all the build-up leading up to that event.

Recommended and will be picking up The Worker Prince in the future. ( )