Note: this is a collective review of the first three books in the series. If there's some chance you might click that “like� button, I ask that you clNote: this is a collective review of the first three books in the series. If there's some chance you might click that “like� button, I ask that you click through and read the copy of the review on the first book so those are collected in one neat pile.
Josiah Bancroft’s Books of Babel series has a broad array of well-crafted and compelling characters involved in an ever-escalating series of adventures.
Senlin Ascends starts simply, with Thomas Senlin, a clever but innocent (okay, dorky) schoolteacher, bringing his delightful young bride, Marya, on honeymoon to the Tower of Babel. The Tower is an enigma, standing taller than the highest mountains, its top shrouded in clouds. Inside, one atop another, is a series of “ringdoms�, each hosting a society different from any other, and all posing a challenge to survival. It turns out to be more than expected, with incredible chaos that separates the two almost upon arrival. Senlin, alone, must ascend the Tower — now obvious quite threatening � to the pre-arranged level to meet his wife. He makes enemies and finds friends, but does not solve his conundrum (this is a series, after all).
In Arm of the Sphinx and The Hod King, the number of friends and enemies continues to climb and Senlin makes grudging progress on his marital quest, but also acquires new responsibilities.
There’s a good reason these books are rated so highly � 4.20 out of five stars for the first, rising to 4.54 for the latest. Most first-time novelists don’t seem able to create a cast that is both individuated and engaging. (Even famous authors sometimes struggle. Which is Merry and which is Pippin?) Even one of the villains is quite deep in motivation and complexity, although most aren’t very interesting.
But I’m probably not going to read the last in the series, when it comes out.
Why?
Importantly, there’s just a lot of other stuff that I know I’ll also enjoy reading. The struggle is that so much will inevitably go unread. (The economic term “opportunity cost� is well worth considering: When an option is chosen from alternatives, the opportunity cost is the “cost� incurred by not enjoying the benefit associated with the best alternative choice.)
What makes this easier to dismiss is how the subgenre of steampunk has evolved. As Wikipedia puts it, “examples of steampunk contain alternative-history-style presentations of such technology as steam cannons, lighter-than-air airships, analogue computers, or such digital mechanical computers as Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine.� That latter is somewhat galling � to me, it’s Ada Lovelace’s Analytical Engine that provides the promise. If Babbage had agreed to her terms, it is quite plausible that Victorian England could have leapt ahead to something of an information age. How might that have played out?
Unfortunately (imho) steampunk has instead become a fantasy subgenre, with a stylistically retro technology playing the role of the magic. And, as in weaker fantasy stories, seldom is any restraint shown in the deployment of magic.
As I’ve written before (although I can’t recall within which if my reviews), I believe any author of speculative fiction gets one big lie. Maybe with a few smaller lies tucked in, but I believe that discipline is essential. Author, figure out what your big lie is, and stick with it. Don’t expand it willy-nilly as a crutch to a plot development.
One definition of “hard� science fiction is purely speculative: following all of our known laws of nature, what if this had happened instead of this? In the eternal tug-of-war between Star Trek and Star Wars, I’m firmly on the side of the former: it mostly tries to stick with known physics, while the latter relies heavily on magic, as well as technological miracles.
I don’t think I’ve read a single steampunk novel that doesn’t throw out the window any inconvenience that physics or chemistry implies, and I’m tired of it. In Bancroft’s novel, one particular sin broke the camel’s back, but that’s a spoiler.(view spoiler)[
Well, since you’ve asked, it’s anti-gravity. Yeah, worse than steampunk time-travel. In The Hod King, some enterprising steamship captain has finally chosen to take advantage of the staggering vulnerability of using hydrogen (⁉️⁉️) — just set the stuff on fire, and your enemy disappears. Duh! But, no, the ship has “levitators� to come to the rescue. Gag. (hide spoiler)]
Bancroft hasn’t written anything other than this series. Maybe I’ll change my mind and read the final book, but I hope in his next efforts he applies his skills within a less absurdly fantastical world.
Verdict: this is definitely a pleasure to read, as long as you don’t care much about such geeky things as physics.
P.S. My initial stub of a review pointed out that Senlin Ascends doesn’t pass the Bechdel Test. He quite a bit better later on. If you don’t know or care what the is� well, you should be ashamed of yourself....more
Note: this is a collective review of the first three books in the series. If there's some chance you might click that “like� button, I ask that you clNote: this is a collective review of the first three books in the series. If there's some chance you might click that “like� button, I ask that you click through and read the copy of the review on the first book so those are collected in one neat pile.
Josiah Bancroft’s Books of Babel series has a broad array of well-crafted and compelling characters involved in an ever-escalating series of adventures.
Senlin Ascends starts simply, with Thomas Senlin, a clever but innocent (okay, dorky) schoolteacher, bringing his delightful young bride, Marya, on honeymoon to the Tower of Babel. The Tower is an enigma, standing taller than the highest mountains, its top shrouded in clouds. Inside, one atop another, is a series of “ringdoms�, each hosting a society different from any other, and all posing a challenge to survival. It turns out to be more than expected, with incredible chaos that separates the two almost upon arrival. Senlin, alone, must ascend the Tower — now obvious quite threatening � to the pre-arranged level to meet his wife. He makes enemies and finds friends, but does not solve his conundrum (this is a series, after all).
In Arm of the Sphinx and The Hod King, the number of friends and enemies continues to climb and Senlin makes grudging progress on his marital quest, but also acquires new responsibilities.
There’s a good reason these books are rated so highly � 4.20 out of five stars for the first, rising to 4.54 for the latest. Most first-time novelists don’t seem able to create a cast that is both individuated and engaging. (Even famous authors sometimes struggle. Which is Merry and which is Pippin?) Even one of the villains is quite deep in motivation and complexity, although most aren’t very interesting.
But I’m probably not going to read the last in the series, when it comes out.
Why?
Importantly, there’s just a lot of other stuff that I know I’ll also enjoy reading. The struggle is that so much will inevitably go unread. (The economic term “opportunity cost� is well worth considering: When an option is chosen from alternatives, the opportunity cost is the “cost� incurred by not enjoying the benefit associated with the best alternative choice.)
What makes this easier to dismiss is how the subgenre of steampunk has evolved. As Wikipedia puts it, “examples of steampunk contain alternative-history-style presentations of such technology as steam cannons, lighter-than-air airships, analogue computers, or such digital mechanical computers as Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine.� That latter is somewhat galling � to me, it’s Ada Lovelace’s Analytical Engine that provides the promise. If Babbage had agreed to her terms, it is quite plausible that Victorian England could have leapt ahead to something of an information age. How might that have played out?
Unfortunately (imho) steampunk has instead become a fantasy subgenre, with a stylistically retro technology playing the role of the magic. And, as in weaker fantasy stories, seldom is any restraint shown in the deployment of magic.
As I’ve written before (although I can’t recall within which if my reviews), I believe any author of speculative fiction gets one big lie. Maybe with a few smaller lies tucked in, but I believe that discipline is essential. Author, figure out what your big lie is, and stick with it. Don’t expand it willy-nilly as a crutch to a plot development.
One definition of “hard� science fiction is purely speculative: following all of our known laws of nature, what if this had happened instead of this? In the eternal tug-of-war between Star Trek and Star Wars, I’m firmly on the side of the former: it mostly tries to stick with known physics, while the latter relies heavily on magic, as well as technological miracles.
I don’t think I’ve read a single steampunk novel that doesn’t throw out the window any inconvenience that physics or chemistry implies, and I’m tired of it. In Bancroft’s novel, one particular sin broke the camel’s back, but that’s a spoiler.(view spoiler)[
Well, since you’ve asked, it’s anti-gravity. Yeah, worse than steampunk time-travel. In The Hod King, some enterprising steamship captain has finally chosen to take advantage of the staggering vulnerability of using hydrogen (⁉️⁉️) — just set the stuff on fire, and your enemy disappears. Duh! But, no, the ship has “levitators� to come to the rescue. Gag. (hide spoiler)]
Bancroft hasn’t written anything other than this series. Maybe I’ll change my mind and read the final book, but I hope in his next efforts he applies his skills within a less absurdly fantastical world.
Verdict: this is definitely a pleasure to read, as long as you don’t care much about such geeky things as physics.
P.S. My initial stub of a review pointed out that Senlin Ascends doesn’t pass the Bechdel Test. He quite a bit better later on. If you don’t know or care what the is� well, you should be ashamed of yourself....more
Josiah Bancroft’s Books of Babel series has a broad array of well-crafted and compelling characters involved in an ever-escalating series of adventureJosiah Bancroft’s Books of Babel series has a broad array of well-crafted and compelling characters involved in an ever-escalating series of adventures.
Senlin Ascends starts simply, with Thomas Senlin, a clever but innocent (okay, dorky) schoolteacher, bringing his delightful young bride, Marya, on honeymoon to the Tower of Babel. The Tower is an enigma, standing taller than the highest mountains, its top shrouded in clouds. Inside, one atop another, is a series of “ringdoms�, each hosting a society different from any other, and all posing a challenge to survival. It turns out to be more than expected, with incredible chaos that separates the two almost upon arrival. Senlin, alone, must ascend the Tower — now obvious quite threatening � to the pre-arranged level to meet his wife. He makes enemies and finds friends, but does not solve his conundrum (this is a series, after all).
In Arm of the Sphinx and The Hod King, the number of friends and enemies continues to climb and Senlin makes grudging progress on his marital quest, but also acquires new responsibilities.
There’s a good reason these books are rated so highly � 4.20 out of five stars for the first, rising to 4.54 for the latest. Most first-time novelists don’t seem able to create a cast that is both individuated and engaging. (Even famous authors sometimes struggle. Which is Merry and which is Pippin?) Even one of the villains is quite deep in motivation and complexity, although most aren’t very interesting.
But I’m probably not going to read the last in the series, when it comes out.
Why?
Importantly, there’s just a lot of other stuff that I know I’ll also enjoy reading. The struggle is that so much will inevitably go unread. (The economic term “opportunity cost� is well worth considering: When an option is chosen from alternatives, the opportunity cost is the “cost� incurred by not enjoying the benefit associated with the best alternative choice.)
What makes this easier to dismiss is how the subgenre of steampunk has evolved. As Wikipedia puts it, “examples of steampunk contain alternative-history-style presentations of such technology as steam cannons, lighter-than-air airships, analogue computers, or such digital mechanical computers as Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine.� That latter is somewhat galling � to me, it’s Ada Lovelace’s Analytical Engine that provides the promise. If Babbage had agreed to her terms, it is quite plausible that Victorian England could have leapt ahead to something of an information age. How might that have played out?
Unfortunately (imho) steampunk has instead become a fantasy subgenre, with a stylistically retro technology playing the role of the magic. And, as in weaker fantasy stories, seldom is any restraint shown in the deployment of magic.
As I’ve written before (although I can’t recall within which if my reviews), I believe any author of speculative fiction gets one big lie. Maybe with a few smaller lies tucked in, but I believe that discipline is essential. Author, figure out what your big lie is, and stick with it. Don’t expand it willy-nilly as a crutch to a plot development.
One definition of “hard� science fiction is purely speculative: following all of our known laws of nature, what if this had happened instead of this? In the eternal tug-of-war between Star Trek and Star Wars, I’m firmly on the side of the former: it mostly tries to stick with known physics, while the latter relies heavily on magic, as well as technological miracles.
I don’t think I’ve read a single steampunk novel that doesn’t throw out the window any inconvenience that physics or chemistry implies, and I’m tired of it. In Bancroft’s novel, one particular sin broke the camel’s back, but that’s a spoiler.(view spoiler)[
Well, since you’ve asked, it’s anti-gravity. Yeah, worse than steampunk time-travel. In The Hod King, some enterprising steamship captain has finally chosen to take advantage of the staggering vulnerability of using hydrogen (⁉️⁉️) — just set the stuff on fire, and your enemy disappears. Duh! But, no, the ship has “levitators� to come to the rescue. Gag. (hide spoiler)]
Bancroft hasn’t written anything other than this series. Maybe I’ll change my mind and read the final book, but I hope in his next efforts he applies his skills within a less absurdly fantastical world.
Verdict: this is definitely a pleasure to read, as long as you don’t care much about such geeky things as physics.
P.S. My initial stub of a review pointed out that Senlin Ascends doesn’t pass the Bechdel Test. He quite a bit better later on. If you don’t know or care what the is� well, you should be ashamed of yourself....more
Oh, funny. The first time I enter for a free book on ŷ that I've won. I'm definitely looking forward to it.
Update: ŷ told me I won thiOh, funny. The first time I enter for a free book on ŷ that I've won. I'm definitely looking forward to it.
Update: ŷ told me I won this, but I never actually got it. Since I'd never "won" before, I can't tell how often that happens.
The first of the author's series that involves the descendants of characters from the previous series is a little weak. The cleverness is no longer novel, and the silliness has long since gotten quite routine.
Is it time for Ms. Carriger to find a new schtick?...more
This is the cotton candy of reading. Light and fluffy, but fun. Well, considering how nasty we're increasiPretty much the same thing as the first one.
This is the cotton candy of reading. Light and fluffy, but fun. Well, considering how nasty we're increasingly realize that sugar is, I'm doing a disservice to Carriger, since her books won't harm you.
Because this is steampunk, it does somewhat fit into the category of science fiction, which I frequently read.
But toss in vampires and werewolves and preparatory boarding schools for boys, heading for "careers" as evil geniuses, or girls, as intelligencers and assassins, and you're in a very strange world. The book focuses on the girls, although the boys come in as secondary characters. Keep in mind that these are early Victorian girls, wearing corsets and multiple petticoats — and those petticoats are part of the story more often than you'd expect.
If you want some innocent* quick and silly reading, you could do a lot worse.
*If you want something a bit less innocent, the author's Parasol Protectorate series is similar, but with actual lust-laden adults, albeit with many more vampires and werewolves....more
Definitely a hoot. Four stars for its sub-sub-sub genre; this is not to be taken as a recommendation that this "These ladies put the poise in poison."
Definitely a hoot. Four stars for its sub-sub-sub genre; this is not to be taken as a recommendation that this is anything but a fun but silly fluff of a book....more
Take a large measure of Jules Verne, for his late nineteenth century steampunk milieu and wild, individualistic adventuring, and mix in a heap of ChinTake a large measure of Jules Verne, for his late nineteenth century steampunk milieu and wild, individualistic adventuring, and mix in a heap of China Miéville, to add the fantastic fabulation that he does in that weird-fiction world. Stir in the spice of militant anarchism (remember, those ante bellum years were the heyday of anarchism!) and place the resulting dish on a bed of ice, to represent the arctic locale for the story.
Now, throw the whole thing away and read Valtat's Aurorarama. After all, he almost certainly writes better than you anyway, and why try to re-create what he has done so marvelously? Because he also has some wonderfully memorable characters, both at the center and the edges of his story. And he's done the research to be able to weave in those crazy decades of arctic exploration and Inuit culture.
This isn't quite at the heights of strange-fiction storytelling, like Miéville's The City and the City, but it's still an exciting yarn and a darn good read....more
A lot of imagination went into this book, but not enough discipline or storytelling craft. For the majority of the book, the author shoves the first-pA lot of imagination went into this book, but not enough discipline or storytelling craft. For the majority of the book, the author shoves the first-person narrator through inexplicable and astonishing events, and then crams their eventual denouement into a few pages via telling instead of showing, when other characters explain to our befuddled protagonist what was happening.
For most folks, that would probably be enough to shove this down to a one- or two-star rating, but I'm more generous. What really irked me about this book was the complete disdain for the laws of physics. Steampunk is, ideally, a subgenre of science fiction, which means it is supposed to show respect for as much of science as is possible within the bounds of the story. Want time travel? Faster than light travel? Or maybe teleporting "transporters"? Sure; but choose what you're going to mangle and keep it to a minimum. Steampunk in general doesn't deal well with this kind of parsimony, and this one is worse than most.
And how can you have a Victorian England steampunk story that appears to be completely missing railroads?!?
This is pretty vintage for steampunk � in fact, the author , however, since it was published in 1987. I found the couple that was from the future (kind of) quite entertaining, although the explanation of their origins (another of those annoying "tellings") was disappointing.
Recommended only for steampunk completists. Sorry.
(This was the book of the month for the SciFi and Fantasy Reading Group for April 2013. It was discussed here). ...more
I was mildly enjoying this book, but it just wasn't enough — the thing is huge, and almost nothing happens.
You know what it seemed like? A grown-up veI was mildly enjoying this book, but it just wasn't enough — the thing is huge, and almost nothing happens.
You know what it seemed like? A grown-up version of Lemony Snicket'sA Series of Unfortunate Events. Unfortunately, "grown up" in the world means dull and dumb, so the snarky humor is all gone, and all that is left is the mood.
Meh. Don't bother, unless you really need a big book to put you gently to sleep, night after night, for a long time.
(This is #4 on io9.com's list of , which is why I dove in. I also disagree with their #7, but agree with some of the others. So: whatever.)...more
Same review as the first in the series: Definitely fluff. I felt guilty reading this, but it was fun. I note that the vast majority of folks reading thSame review as the first in the series: Definitely fluff. I felt guilty reading this, but it was fun. I note that the vast majority of folks reading this are women, which makes sense. This is written from the perspective of an empowered smart-aleck struggling with fools on all sides. But there's worse: she's got mild body issues (albeit a completely enamored husband) and the constant burden of wearing Victorian clothing. Definitely a hoot.
Definitely fluff. I felt guilty reading this, but it was fun. I note that the vast majority of folks reading this are women, which makes sense. This iDefinitely fluff. I felt guilty reading this, but it was fun. I note that the vast majority of folks reading this are women, which makes sense. This is written from the perspective of an empowered smart-aleck struggling with fools on all sides. But there's worse: she's got mild body issues (albeit a completely enamored husband) and the constant burden of wearing Victorian clothing. Definitely a hoot....more
In the “extras� section at the end of the novel, the author answers some questions. She provides a fairly succinct description of the book:
Why, in the
In the “extras� section at the end of the novel, the author answers some questions. She provides a fairly succinct description of the book:
Why, in the dedication, do you call The Spiritwalker Trilogy a “mash-up�? � A mash-up involves taking songs, or video clips, or bits of disparate media from different sources and “mashing� them up together to make a song of video of program or other content that is a new whole based on a bunch of different parts. So when I call Cold Magic an “Afro-Celtic post-Roman icepunk Regency novel with airships, Phoenician spies, and the intelligent descendants of troödons� (which were a small, intelligent, and agile species of dinosaur), I’m thinking of the novel as a mash-up of disparate elements. Since I happen to really enjoy mash-ups, it made sense for me to try one.
(For all your real mash-up needs, head over to !)
The map in the front shows a Europe recognizable in its general outlines, although the continuing ice age results in a lower sea level, thus England, er, Brigantia?, is attached to the continent via a land bridge. Which is where the action takes place, oddly enough. And many of the peoples of Europe are kinda represented, including the remnants of the Roman Empire. But apparently North America is occupied by those intelligent dinosaur descendants, and “salt ghouls� have overrun parts of Africa.
Anyway, this is an alternate-universe/alternate-history fantasy story, with a huge helping of romance novel. Elliott alludes to this with the “Regency novel� bit, but Jane Austen never got quite this melodramatic. So, what makes it a romance novel, you ask? Well, couples that are clearly purr-fect for each other start off hating one another as the result of an epic misunderstanding. And then their pride keeps them apart even though both recognize that they’re stupid with lust for the other. Oh, and everybody is beautiful. Well, everybody that matters, that is. There are some dowdy servants, but they don’t count, do they? Okay, not a bodice-ripper � we’re probably still Rated G, with only hints of PG-13 in the occasional deep longing for the touch of his lips...
But don’t get me wrong! Unless you really dislike the foregoing, then this is a delightful romp. Not life changing, but Elliott might get this made into a Sci-Fi Channel series (although they’d ruin it, of course).
Oh, the other problem: yet another darn series. Some of the story arcs are just a little bit resolved in this first installment, but most are left dangling big-time. Getting kinda tired of this series shtick. Doesn’t anyone known how to write a standalone novel anymore?
This is the fantasy selection for the ŷ SciFi and Fantasy Book Club for the month of February 2011. Visit this link to see all of the discussions, group member reviews, etc....more
Book selection for the Hard SciFi group (aka the ) for the month of February, 2011. Book selection for the Hard SciFi group (aka the ) for the month of February, 2011. ...more
Well, not my usual cup o' tea, but a fun and innovative book, nonetheless.
Takes place in the middle of the nineteenth century. Many � perhaps most � oWell, not my usual cup o' tea, but a fun and innovative book, nonetheless.
Takes place in the middle of the nineteenth century. Many � perhaps most � of the characters are real-world historical individuals, but things are happening here that aren't quite in the history books. Is it "alternative history", like Guy Gavriel Kay'sThe Lions of al-Rassan? (Which, otherwise, it shares no similarity with.) Actually, no: it is our history, just... something is interfering.
Definitely and clearly in the steampunk sub-sub-genre. Time-travel is also in there. Anything more would be a spoiler, and I'd recommend especially staying away from spoilers for this book, since unraveling the mystery is one of the delights of the narrative.
This is apparently a debut novel. This Hodder guy certainly has a wild imagination. As I was getting to the end I was thinking, "Hmmmm, this has indications of a sequel set-up...", and I note that book two of the "Burton & Swinburne" series has been announced for publication later this year.
Despite the four-star review, I think it likely I'll never get to the sequel. I'm sure I'd enjoy it, but there are just too many books waiting to be read.
Fast read, though. I finished it in about seven or eight hours when I should have been sleeping :-)
( Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club met on Sunday, 20 February, 2011, at 6 pm to discuss The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder.) ...more
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