An Autist Reviews: The Sky Man (The War Master: Only The Good 3)

*All Reviews Are Spoiler-Free Aside From Any Spoiler Sections*

Cole Jarnish just wants to save one planet. He knows he can, even without the Master’s help. He chooses a planet of farmers who have abstained from technological advancement for their own safety, but their primitive technology won’t save them now. As hatred, suspicion, and resentment grow, so do the Master’s grapes, and so does Cole’s love for Elidh, and so does his care for her father, Anvar along with every other inhabitant of the planet. Can Cole truly save them all? And if so, at what cost?

“Forgive me, I didn’t know what I was doing.”

James Goss is a god. If you want a good, emotional, creepy, character-driven story, he’s your man. The basics of this story are amazing, the characters are all lovable and understandable, the scary moments are brilliant, the adorable and happy moments are even better, and don’t forget that James had 1 hour to make you fall in love with a planet of people who, in all likelihood, were not going to live whatsoever, AND HE SUCCEEDED. The problem is that some of the dialogue isn’t quite right, as in I think it needed another pass to ensure it all lined up properly and had the time it needed, also some of the random citizens are rather poorly written. The Master swooping in and his conversation with Cole immediately afterward are both also a little off, mostly because Cole has to have certain emotions clearly put on him, and the subtlety has to be lost. Of course, the Master is a joy in this and so are Elidh and Cole, and Anvar, as all three are adorable and funny. Now… onto the worst part of the entire story. The acting.


“You are our savior, and now we must destroy you.”

The side characters are a weird mixture of amazingly acted and horribly acted, really. One moment they are 10/10 and the next they feel wooden and then they’re right back to being amazing. The bad parts aren’t so bad and they don’t last very long, but it’s bad enough that it drags down the entire rating pretty substantially. As for certain… things… that wind up trying to kill Cole, they are brilliantly acted, if not perfectly written. What brings down the bad guy acting score would be the random yokels who keep trying to kill Cole. To say they’re bad would be insulting to bad acting, it’s clear that they’re just these dumb small roles nobody actually cares about. There’s no thought put into their acting, and even less put into their writing. The best acting, as you’d expect, comes from the Master and Cole. Cole, obviously, is the worse acted of the two, but he’s still brilliant, delivering chilling and emotional dialogue with ease, even if his small-talk could use some work. The Master, on the other hand, is perfect, as one would expect. Moving swiftly on!

The most common music is reminiscent of lullabies, and the rest is downright terrifying more or less. The lullabies could have been better and felt a little overused and are a little loud, but generally, the music is good, if not underutilized. The voice effects, which really are only one kind, muffled by a full-body suit of some kind, are all perfect, period, no discussion. The action effects are next to perfect, with only the occasional scooch of a chair, encasing of an old man in metal, or stuff like that being rather impressionistic or poorly done. The background effects are really weird, as they are perfectly fitting, but they’re way too loud and way too bare for me to actually enjoy them, hence the low rating. As for the transitions, they’re perfect, fades, cuts, fades into music, and so on; They’re all just amazing.

This story is a classic War Master story, a must-listen for anyone who loves a dark character-driven story, so, to say it’s got replay value is insulting, as it has ALL THE REPLAY VALUE. That being said, aside from better understanding metaphors and so on, you won’t get anything more out of relistening to it but a good time, if you enjoy watching lives being ruined in slow motion, that is.

All in all, this story is amazing, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. I struggled with giving this a 10 or leaving it a 9, but I can’t in good conscience give it a 10. The acting is the worst part of this, along with the odd line of dialogue, but it’s more than enough to stop me from giving this story any more than a 9. Really, it’s brilliant, it’s dark, it’s sad, it’s happy, and it has the Master gaslighting Cole who may as well be a damn child, so you know it’s gonna be good even if the Master is rarely in it. Go ahead and enjoy this story, my beloved masochists, go ahead and enjoy, because everything aside from what I've mentioned is utter perfection.

“Tell me, what happens to me now?”

Total - 9

Original Guesstimate - 10

Plot - 9
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Story - 10
Pacing - 10
Dialogue - 8
Narration - NR
Exposition - 9
Enjoyment - 10
Twist/s - NR
Resolution/s - 8
Ending - 9

Acting - 8
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MC/s - 9
SC/s - 8
BG/s - 7
Narrator/s - NR

Effects - 9
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Music - 8
Voices - 10
Actions - 9
Background - 6
Transitions - 10

Replay - 9
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Re-Enjoyment - 10
New Details - 7

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