Book Review: Incognito by Micah Swanson Harris

Author: Micah Swanson Harris

Title: Incognito

Series: Agents of the Rune Stone Ring #4

Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Steampunk, Novella, Short Story

Format: Paperback

Pages: 114

Published: November 21, 2023

Where I Got It: My shelf (Given to me by the author/publisher for my honest opinion)

Amazon

Summary: 

A steampunk adventure of a kidnapped queen, an obsessed pirate king, and the ice-traveling battle brig that he has sailed over a multiverse-spanning glacier to claim her!

Now, Bulan, the dreaded "Hawk of the Ice," is headed with Queen Freyja for his alternative timeline with the royal navy and the vigilante Wurger Mendicant in hot pursuit.

What Bulan doesn't know is that the captive queen is also the Mendicant's partner in crime, the Winter Witch.

They thought their past was behind them. Now, they are forced once more to go...

Incognito!

Review:

This is a continuation of the series. I have loved the series and of course, I said yes to giving this a go even though it is steampunk-esque. I'm not crazy in love with that genre, but there are always exceptions. There have been books and games that I ended up loving because I took a chance. *fingers crossed*

Here we follow our epic duo. Queen Freyja is kidnapped by the Hawk of the Ice and he is heading towards his alternative timeline with the royal navy and the vigilante Wurger Mendicant in pursuit. Little does the Hawk of the Ice know...this captive queen is no damsel. She is the Mendicant's partner and lover....the Winter Witch. 

Now, you can read this as a standalone, but I do encourage reading the others. I feel like it would flesh out these characters a bit more and make you appreciate everything they've gone through. BUT again, this would do perfectly fine as a standalone. The author gives you enough info to enjoy but doesn't info-dump. 

This was a super, duper slow start for me. It took me some to warm up to this story. Don't get me wrong I LOVE Freyja and her man, but it was slow-moving for me. Once things really started getting going for me (maybe about page 50) I flew by and didn't want to stop reading. Not sure why it took me a little bit to become invested, but once I was.... I was hooked. 

I love pirates and sea battles. So much fun. Scary but I have always been a sucker for pirates and the sea. With a sprinkle of steampunk, it just added another interesting layer. I'm so glad the steampunk element wasn't overbearing but it did add an extra flair.

There were a lot of twists and turns here which kept it interesting. I had no idea what was going to happen or how anything was going to be resolved. 

The ending was intense but good!

Overall, I did end up liking this even with my hesitations. The steampunk elements were NOT overbearing and it worked well. The beginning was a little slow for me, but at a certain point, I couldn't stop reading. You can read this alone well enough, but I strongly suggest the other books of the series. This wasn't my favorite of the series, but I still had a lot of fun with it. In the end, I'll stamp this with 3 stars. I can't wait for more!!! *cheers*