The good stuff: Martha Wells has always excelled at worldbuilding, and the alternate reality of this book is no exception. It's strongly reminiscent oThe good stuff: Martha Wells has always excelled at worldbuilding, and the alternate reality of this book is no exception. It's strongly reminiscent of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne's stories--obviously, since it's about a world that exists at the center of ours--and I think it's not a stretch to tag it as steampunk, though the substance powering the devices of that reality is aether, not steam. The story's sustained action keeps things moving; it reads very much like a Victorian adventure novel. And I like the "alien" races Wells creates, villainous and not.
The less good stuff: This is supposed to be a young adult novel, and in terms of content, it is, but stylistically, this is closer to being a juvenile novel. I had the hardest time remembering that Emilie was supposed to be 16; she acted and was treated as if she were closer to 12. I normally won't dismiss a book for being something other than what I wanted, but in this case, I think all the signs point to this being supposed to be a true YA title, so I think this is a valid criticism. A novel in this tradition (the Victorian action-adventure novel) is supposed to be light, but this is maybe too light. I enjoyed it well enough, but frankly, I expect more from Martha Wells....more
I don't think I appreciated Christopher Golden's contribution to the Hellboy series until I read this--an unrelated, illustrated novel, but one that cI don't think I appreciated Christopher Golden's contribution to the Hellboy series until I read this--an unrelated, illustrated novel, but one that clearly shows how Mignola and Golden make a good creative team. It felt a little too much like a movie for me to fully enjoy it as a book, but it's a good story in a dramatic setting, and I liked it very much....more
I went into this knowing that it was a very early example of steampunk fiction, so if the science/steampunkiness was lacking, I wasn't going to mark iI went into this knowing that it was a very early example of steampunk fiction, so if the science/steampunkiness was lacking, I wasn't going to mark it down for that. And it turned out that the science/steampunkiness was very good! Lots of clockwork things and people, and you can tell that Jeter came out of the same primordial puddle as Tim Powers. The plot was also pretty good. It was the characters that killed it for me.
Basically, the hero, George, is a gormless panty-waisted wuss of the first order, complete with spine of jelly and brain of pudding. He spends most of the book stumbling into all sorts of trouble because he can't learn from the past. I can understand him being out of his depth at first, but he continues to be confused and useless whenever something weird happens. I was also frustrated that his adventure was a long series of misunderstandings in which he could never explain the truth. When it happens to Bertie Wooster, it's funny, because Bertie at least tries to act on his own initiative, but George is just as dumb as a bag of hammers. And this is more or less the entirety of the story--George stumbles into a situation in which he is either accused of something he didn't do, or is manipulated by someone else, and hilarity doesn't ensue.
There's a bit of authorial manipulation near the end, when we learn (view spoiler)[that Sir Charles, who's been a major antagonist for most of the book, is actually one of the good guys. In at least two instances, if he'd really been a good guy, he would have behaved very differently than he did, but then we couldn't have had the big reveal at the end. I don't have any respect for this kind of story manipulation. (hide spoiler)]. Between this and George's complete wussiness, I couldn't enjoy the book, though I'm not enough turned off that I won't read any of Jeter's other books if I happen upon them....more
I really wish I was connecting with this series better. I like the setting a lot, and the alternate history is very well thought out. But even though I really wish I was connecting with this series better. I like the setting a lot, and the alternate history is very well thought out. But even though the characters are well-rounded, I have trouble caring about them, and I feel like I should. It's like I enjoy the concept of these characters--brothel madam, her former lover-slash-air pilot, the Texas Ranger who showed up in the previous book...actually, I think I like him a lot. In general, this seems like a mismatch with the reader rather than a criticism of the book. Four stars for the setting and craft, three for not liking the characters, and I'm rounding up because I admire what Priest is doing here....more
I had a hard time deciding how to rate this. Cherie Priest has a beautiful writing style and her alternate-history world interests me. I especially liI had a hard time deciding how to rate this. Cherie Priest has a beautiful writing style and her alternate-history world interests me. I especially like the idea that the Civil War has stretched on for twenty-plus years, with all its implications. Mercy, the protagonist, is a Confederate nurse whose husband died in Andersonville (a Confederate POW camp for Union soldiers), and her perspective of the Union as the wrong side makes for a great story. "Wrong side," not "bad guys," because there are plenty of good guys on both sides of the divide. The story of the rotters, begun in Boneshaker, expands beyond Seattle as a division of Mexican soldiers goes missing in northern Texas, only to reappear as a growing horde of ravenous undead. The scene where the rotters attack the train Mercy is traveling on is deliciously horrible and creepy. Priest's skill with description and world-building is superb, as usual.
On the other hand, this felt very much like a string of events rather than a real plot. Mercy has to travel from Richmond, Virginia, to Seattle in Washington Territory, to answer her estranged father's plea for her presence. That's a lot of ground to cover when you can't fly there directly, and the changing war front means the route is even more circuitous than usual. But the story doesn't really begin until Mercy boards the war-engine Dreadnought, which happens more than a third of the way through; her earlier journey is a series of stops and short journeys by dirigible and train, providing color and background but nothing in terms of plot development. In most other books, this would have been tedious; I like Priest's writing enough that I was willing to stick with it, and the rest of the book made up for any flaws in the beginning....more
I'm always in the mood for a good alternate-history novel, and one with steampunk underpinnings is even better. Sixteen years ago, in Washington TerriI'm always in the mood for a good alternate-history novel, and one with steampunk underpinnings is even better. Sixteen years ago, in Washington Territory, possibly-mad scientist Leviticus Blue built a machine to break the Alaskan ice to reach the gold underneath. Instead, the Boneshaker tore Seattle apart and ruptured some underground seam that began leaking poisonous, heavy yellow gas. The gas can kill you, but what's worse is that it doesn't let you stay dead. The survivors built an enormous wall around most of downtown Seattle to keep the undead, and the gas, at bay, but life on the frontier didn't get any easier. It's worse for Briar Wilkes, Blue's widow, and her son Ezekiel (Zeke), born after Blue's death; many believe Blue's disaster was intentional, and Briar was (and is) suspected of complicity. Zeke has never believed it, and sneaks into the walled-off city to prove it, and Briar has to follow to get him back alive.
I love that this is a story about a mother and son and their relationship. Through most of the book, chapters alternate between Briar's and Zeke's point of view, and Priest handles the alternating viewpoints very well. I never felt impatient at being forced to sit through one person's part of the story when I wanted to see what the other was doing. All the secondary characters were interesting, too; I liked it when someone from the beginning of the story showed up later, especially Andan Cly and the Princess. It's also a very exciting story, mostly because the zombies ("rotters") crank up the tension as Briar and Zeke try to find their answers. The rotters are your basic nouveau zombies, super-fast and super-strong, but the story isn't about them, so they don't need to be innovative. The scenes where Briar or Zeke are running away from them are very tense.
The plot is well-defined and well-paced, so it's a good story, but I think what makes it excellent is Priest's worldbuilding. She's changed a number of historical details (the Civil War has lasted for 20 years and is still going on; gold was discovered much earlier, so settlement and development are accelerated) to support the story she wants to tell, but she's given a lot of thought to the rationale for and the consequences of those changes. The Civil War, for example, has lasted so long because the South has railroads and an infrastructure that better supports their military. And the scenes in Seattle are simply creepy; it's like late-Victorian London with its pea-souper fogs, with dozens of Rippers around every corner. The descriptions are evocative enough that I'd have liked it even if the characters and story weren't as good as they are. Excellent beginning to a series....more
The Bookman is a steampunk/alternate history chock-full of literary characters--so full that it's surprising the book isn't overwhelmed by them. The pThe Bookman is a steampunk/alternate history chock-full of literary characters--so full that it's surprising the book isn't overwhelmed by them. The premise: sometime in the very early 16th century, lizard-like aliens were discovered on a remote Caribbean island, and proceeded to conquer most of the western world. As the story opens, they've been ruling Great Britain for a couple of centuries, long enough that most people just accept Les Lezards as their masters. All this is background, though, because the story is about a young man called Orphan (because he's, you know, an orphan) and his marine biologist girlfriend Lucy. (She studies the whales who swim in the Thames. This is my favorite reality-change in the whole book.) When Lucy is killed by a terrorist attack, Orphan turns his life into a hunt for the mysterious attacker--the Bookman.
There's a lot to like about this novel, though I think the sheer overabundance of literary references may overwhelm some readers. Tidhar does a good job of integrating all of those characters out of literature, mainly by not having them play the roles they do in their own stories; Irene Adler is chief of police, Moriarty the Prime Minister. Tidhar's writing style is engaging, and in general this book feels like a Jules Verne novel written in contemporary prose.
Unfortunately, as much as I enjoyed the background, I never warmed to the central plot. Orphan's quest is centered on his love for Lucy, his grief at her death, and his hope to get her back somehow, but since she dies very early in the book, she isn't much more than a handful of characteristics to the reader. Orphan cares way more about her than I did, so I didn't care about what motivated him, and by extension I didn't care that much about his quest or its outcome. It probably didn't help that Orphan is a character type (idealistic young man with mysterious past) that I don't generally care about either.
Oddly, I think I'd like the sequel, Camera Obscura, better, now that Orphan's quest objectives in The Bookman have been resolved. The big question that's always danced around here is--why on Earth are the English so passive about being ruled by intelligent lizards? Anglo-Saxons accepting the Normans, yeah, but lizards? I'd like to see this question answered....more
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