Catherine's bookshelf: neovictorians-and-steampunk en-US Mon, 24 Jun 2024 04:53:01 -0700 60 Catherine's bookshelf: neovictorians-and-steampunk 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Night Circus 9361589
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.]]> 506 Erin Morgenstern Catherine 5
Rereading a copy that came my way by chance on vacation. When I read it with my book group (12 years ago? How is that possible?) everyone loved it and I liked it. This time around I absolutely loved it -- for whatever reason, I was more receptive.]]> 4.00 2011 The Night Circus
author: Erin Morgenstern
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/23
date added: 2024/06/24
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk, book-group-books
review:
Everyone who reviews this book either seems to love it and talk about how magical it was, or to dislike it and talk about the shallow characters and critique the author's prose style. I liked it quite a bit, but I didn't fall in love with it; I thought the writing suitable to the story, and the story kept me reading. I would have liked to have known some of the characters better, but as this was more of a fable or fairytale than a realist novel, perhaps that wasn't likely to happen. I'm torn between 3 and 4 stars, and may change that a few times, but I did enjoy the book.

Rereading a copy that came my way by chance on vacation. When I read it with my book group (12 years ago? How is that possible?) everyone loved it and I liked it. This time around I absolutely loved it -- for whatever reason, I was more receptive.
]]> <![CDATA[The Glass of Time (The Meaning of Night, #2)]]> 3419681
In the autumn of 1876, nineteen-year-old orphan Esperanza Gorst arrives at the great country house of Evenwood in Northamptonshire. There she will serve as the new lady's maid to the former Emily Carteret, now Lady Tansor. But Esperanza is no ordinary servant. She has been sent by her guardian, the mysterious Madame de l'Orme, to uncover the secrets that her new mistress has sought to conceal - and to set right a past injustice in which her own life is intertwined.

Unable to escape the reverberations of past misdeeds, Lady Tansor finds herself desperate to keep Esperanza from learning dark, dangerous truths.

As well as a page-turning period mystery, The Glass of Time is a beautifully written and vividly imagined study of seduction, betrayal, and friendship between two powerful women bound together by the past.]]> 586 Michael Cox 0393067734 Catherine 5 neovictorians-and-steampunk
There's one bit in the final pages, when Perseus acquires a new publisher with a familiar set of initials, that I wonder if there might have been a third novel if Cox hadn't sadly died shortly after this book came out. However, the conclusion is satisfying as it is.]]> 4.00 2008 The Glass of Time (The Meaning of Night, #2)
author: Michael Cox
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2015/04/12
date added: 2023/07/26
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
It's nice to read a neoVictorian by someone who gets it as right as Cox (M.R. James biographer and editor of various Victorian ghost story and mystery collections). The language is neither stilted and forced, nor anachronistic, but feels genuinely of the period. The characters are not the ones that Collins or Dickens might have written, but neither are they dressed up moderns. And the plot, nicely intricate, feels like a Victorian novel would feel, and yet comes from a different place. Things come a bit too easily for the protagonist, but while this might have annoyed me in lesser hands, it felt appropriate here.

There's one bit in the final pages, when Perseus acquires a new publisher with a familiar set of initials, that I wonder if there might have been a third novel if Cox hadn't sadly died shortly after this book came out. However, the conclusion is satisfying as it is.
]]> <![CDATA[Cold-Hearted Rake (The Ravenels, #1)]]> 25183451 A twist of fate...

Devon Ravenel, London's most wickedly charming rake, has just inherited an earldom. But his powerful new rank in society comes with unwanted responsibilities . . . and more than a few surprises. His estate is saddled with debt, and the late earl's three innocent sisters are still occupying the house . . . along with Kathleen, Lady Trenear, a beautiful young widow whose sharp wit and determination are a match for Devon's own.

A clash of wills...

Kathleen knows better than to trust a ruthless scoundrel like Devon. But the fiery attraction between them is impossible to deny—and from the first moment Devon holds her in his arms, he vows to do whatever it takes to possess her. As Kathleen finds herself yielding to his skillfully erotic seduction, only one question remains:

Can she keep from surrendering her heart to the most dangerous man she's ever known?]]> 416 Lisa Kleypas 0062371819 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk
I'm still uncertain why the hero is a Cold-Hearted Rake, since he not only saves a crumbling and mismanaged estate, changing the lives of the family, and his own brother, and the tenant farmers, for the better. True, he has commitment issues (with backstory that makes it thoroughly understandable), and the heroine, likewise, is understandably in a place where she is not ready to jump into a conventional relationship. But of course, there is a happy ending, and I was engaged enough that when the author used the Epilogue to set up the next story in the series, I ordered it for my Kindle.

Since I have studied the period fairly extensively, I was delighted to see the use of late Victorian agricultural economics as a central plot motivator, and used effectively.]]> 3.82 2015 Cold-Hearted Rake (The Ravenels, #1)
author: Lisa Kleypas
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2017/08/27
date added: 2022/10/07
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I have an interest in modern representations of the Victorians; also we leave books to exchange in the lobby of my apartment building . . . since I read romances only occasionally, I am never certain I fully understand the conventions in the way that their fans do.

I'm still uncertain why the hero is a Cold-Hearted Rake, since he not only saves a crumbling and mismanaged estate, changing the lives of the family, and his own brother, and the tenant farmers, for the better. True, he has commitment issues (with backstory that makes it thoroughly understandable), and the heroine, likewise, is understandably in a place where she is not ready to jump into a conventional relationship. But of course, there is a happy ending, and I was engaged enough that when the author used the Epilogue to set up the next story in the series, I ordered it for my Kindle.

Since I have studied the period fairly extensively, I was delighted to see the use of late Victorian agricultural economics as a central plot motivator, and used effectively.
]]> <![CDATA[Die Upon a Kiss (Benjamin January, #5)]]> 176243 480 Barbara Hambly 0553581651 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk
2020 reread: This time, I'm reading these through in order. Since the previous book dealt with January returning to the plantation where he'd been born a slave, to solve a mystery, the ups and downs of an opera company seemed comparatively slight, at first. But only at first. Another wonderful entry in this series.]]> 3.99 2001 Die Upon a Kiss (Benjamin January, #5)
author: Barbara Hambly
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2020/04/05
date added: 2020/04/06
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I'm probably not doing myself or this series any favors by reading it out of order, as I come upon copies, but on the other hand, I seem to have enjoyed this one more than many of the other reviewers. I think I enjoyed it more as a novel than as a mystery, if that makes sense -- I was much more engaged with the characters and situation than with whodunnit. Hambly's picture of early nineteenth century New Orleans is vivid and well-researched, her hero Benjamin January, a free man of color who trained in medicine in Paris and is also a professional musician, might be almost too perfect, but he is a character I find myself wanting to read more about. The complexities of New Orleans' society at the time -- Creoles and Americans, free people of color and slaves, etc etc etc -- plays a major factor, and Hambly does an excellent job of recreating that world. This particular story, having to do with two competing opera companies, kept me interested throughout.

2020 reread: This time, I'm reading these through in order. Since the previous book dealt with January returning to the plantation where he'd been born a slave, to solve a mystery, the ups and downs of an opera company seemed comparatively slight, at first. But only at first. Another wonderful entry in this series.
]]> <![CDATA[Murder on Bank Street (Gaslight Mystery, #10)]]> 2288035 336 Victoria Thompson 0425221512 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk
The book was well plotted, and while there was a fair bit of retelling which was helpful to me as a reader coming in ten books into the series, it felt effortless in that good way where the author clearly knows her characters and the world she's writing about. Late nineteenth-century New York was well-handled, though I would have liked perhaps more visual description of what the characters were seeing, but nothing felt anachronistic.
]]> 4.10 2008 Murder on Bank Street (Gaslight Mystery, #10)
author: Victoria Thompson
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2016/03/28
date added: 2019/01/26
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I jumped into this series this far in, because I was looking to make some final purchases at the late and sorely lamented St. Mark's Bookshop in NYC. (They were trying to sell off their stock to pay their creditors . . . ) The cover caught my eye, and so I added it to my stack. So my perceptions are probably very different from those people who've been following the series.

The book was well plotted, and while there was a fair bit of retelling which was helpful to me as a reader coming in ten books into the series, it felt effortless in that good way where the author clearly knows her characters and the world she's writing about. Late nineteenth-century New York was well-handled, though I would have liked perhaps more visual description of what the characters were seeing, but nothing felt anachronistic.

]]> The Black God's Drums 38118138 Rising SFF star P. Djèlí Clark brings an alternate New Orleans of orisha, airships, and adventure to life in his immersive debut novella The Black God's Drums

In an alternate New Orleans caught in the tangle of the American Civil War, the wall-scaling girl named Creeper yearns to escape the streets for the air � in particular, by earning a spot on-board the airship Midnight Robber. Creeper plans to earn Captain Ann-Marie’s trust with information she discovers about a Haitian scientist and a mysterious weapon he calls The Black God’s Drums.

But Creeper also has a secret Oya, the African orisha of the wind and storms, speaks inside her head, and may have her own ulterior motivations.

Soon, Creeper, Oya, and the crew of the Midnight Robber are pulled into a perilous mission aimed to stop the Black God’s Drums from being unleashed and wiping out the entirety of New Orleans.

“Asinewy mosaic of Haitian sky pirates, wily street urchins, and orisha magic.Beguiling and bombastic!� —Scott Westerfeld, New York Times bestselling author

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 112 P. Djèlí Clark 1250294703 Catherine 5 neovictorians-and-steampunk
]]> 4.02 2018 The Black God's Drums
author: P. Djèlí Clark
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/09/07
date added: 2018/09/09
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
The best thing I've read in quite awhile! The use of language, the sense of place, and the vividness of Creeper's narration are extraordinary.


]]> Dragon Teeth 31287693
The year is 1876. Warring Indian tribes still populate America's western territories, even as lawless gold-rush towns begin to mark the landscape. Against this backdrop two palaeontologists pillage the Wild West for dinosaur fossils while deceiving and sabotaging each other in a rivalry that will come to be known as the Bone Wars.

Into this treacherous territory plunges William Johnson, a Yale student with more privilege than sense. Determined to win a bet against his archrival, William has joined world-renowned palaeontologist Othniel Charles Marsh on his latest expedition. But Marsh becomes convinced that William is spying for his nemesis, Edwin Drinker Cope, and abandons him in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a locus of crime and vice.

Soon William joins forces with Cope and stumbles upon a discovery of historic proportions. The struggle to protect this extraordinary treasure, however, will test William's newfound resilience and pit him against some of the West's most dangerous and notorious characters....

©2017 Michael Crichton (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers Limited]]> 295 Michael Crichton 0008173060 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.79 2017 Dragon Teeth
author: Michael Crichton
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2018/08/17
date added: 2018/08/17
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
This posthumously published work feels like a completed first or second draft, tremendously interesting because of its subject matter -- Paleontology Wars! Deadwood! -- but not as fleshed out as presumably a final draft from Crichton's hand would have been. He's got a wonderful subject here, and why this one never got finalized and published during his lifetime is puzzling. But there are forewarnings that never go anywhere (Chekhov's gun didn't go off), a paper thin late-in-the-game love interest, and other development issues that no doubt he would have addressed had he finished the project himself. Certainly it's worth the reading, especially if, like me, you weren't very familiar with Cope and Marsh and the Bone Wars, which is utterly fascinating. A good chunk of the novel takes place in Deadwood. It is certainly not Crichton's fault that David Milch did such an amazing job in the Deadwood tv series that the reader misses Al Swearengen or Seth Bullock in these pages. However, bonus points for effective use of Wyatt Earp.
]]> <![CDATA[Innocent as Sin (The Innocents Mystery Series, #2)]]> 40726638
Abi can’t believe her bad luck! Nat and Jake are about to make her true identity known, and botch the undercover job she has carefully prepared for—a job she’s been working on for months. When Jake discovers she’s cooperating with a sadistic bounty hunter who never brings in his prisoners alive, he suspects Nat might be the next target. How could Abi would betray them like this?

On top of everything else, someone has dumped a frozen corpse after disguising it as a tramp. The town is snowed in and the killer isn’t going anywhere, but can Abigail’s forensic skills solve the murder before anyone else is killed? Abi and Nat manage to admit their feelings for one another, but will that be enough to overcome the fact that they’re on opposite sides of the law?

The Innocents and Abigail MacKay must work together to solve the murder case, but they’re still best enemies. It’s an emotional standoff, and they’re all INNOCENT AS SIN…]]> 306 C.A. Asbrey Catherine 5 neovictorians-and-steampunk 4.63 Innocent as Sin (The Innocents Mystery Series, #2)
author: C.A. Asbrey
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.63
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2018/08/02
date added: 2018/08/03
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Another fantastic read. Asbrey knows her history and her forensics so very well. There were two main mystery plots, both engaging, and the second especially intriguing. Abi, Nat, and Jake continue to deepen as characters, through the glimpses we get of their respective pasts, especially. The alternate slow burn and fireworks between Abi and Nat continues, and leaves the reader eager to see where they go next.
]]> <![CDATA[The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter (The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club, #1)]]> 34728925
But her hunt leads her to Hyde’s daughter, Diana, a feral child left to be raised by nuns. With the assistance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Mary continues her search for the elusive Hyde, and soon befriends more women, all of whom have been created through terrifying experimentation: Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherin Moreau, and Justine Frankenstein.

When their investigations lead them to the discovery of a secret society of immoral and power-crazed scientists, the horrors of their past return. Now it is up to the monsters to finally triumph over the monstrous.]]> 402 Theodora Goss 1534409637 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk Penny Dreadful, though it is feminist and fun.

Also, I confess that in matters Frankenstein, I am team Creature, and here Victor Frankenstein is seen as the better of the two.]]> 3.81 2017 The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter (The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club, #1)
author: Theodora Goss
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2018/06/22
date added: 2018/06/23
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
This book has everything I love most in it, and I . . . liked it. I think it's just that there's too much going on. Mary Jekyll, after her mother's death, discovers a sisterhood of young women who are daughters -- or creations -- of Victorian mad scientists: Diana Hyde, Beatrice Rappacini, Justine Frankenstein, and Catherine Moreau. Plus, they work with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. While the Victorian feel is accurate, and the characters appealling, especially in their trope of found family, it feels overcrowded. It's just no Penny Dreadful, though it is feminist and fun.

Also, I confess that in matters Frankenstein, I am team Creature, and here Victor Frankenstein is seen as the better of the two.
]]> <![CDATA[A Dangerous Liaison with Detective Lewis (The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard, #2)]]> 13261088 The fates had been perversely mischievous of late—case in point, Raphael Lewis. . .

When Fanny Greyville-Nugent’s father suffers a gruesome death in the clutches of his own machine, mourning his loss is not the beautiful heiress’s only heartbreak. Scotland Yard is convinced he was targeted in a plot to halt the rise of industry, and Fanny’s former fiancé, dashing and dubious detective Raphael “Rafe� Lewis, has been assigned to the case.

For the estranged ex-lovers, bringing the notorious assassins to justice proves as tumultuous as quelling pent-up desires. Fighting peril and passion at every turn of a dangerous journey from Edinburgh to London, they are pursued by an anarchist group hell-bent on destroying her father’s mysterious entry into the London Industrial Exposition.

When an astonishing discovery about the couple’s failed engagement surfaces, the sleuthing duo realize they can trust no one. Rafe confesses new details about his infidelity and Fanny risks all to avenge her father’s murder. But will Rafe and Fanny triumph over the pain of their past?]]> 419 Jillian Stone 1451629052 Catherine 2 neovictorians-and-steampunk
It was a quick and enjoyable read, anyway.]]> 3.70 2012 A Dangerous Liaison with Detective Lewis (The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard, #2)
author: Jillian Stone
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at: 2018/06/03
date added: 2018/06/03
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
This one had me a bit puzzled -- it's a Victorian detective romance with more than a bit of steampunk in it. It appeared to be a straight up Victorian, but weird and wonderful inventions kept popping up, as well as a heroine who evinced a desire to become an engineer (classic steampunk heroine). The characters not only had a fair bit of sex (which, after all, it is a romance novel) but also less probably bantered sexually in a way that seemed quite out of period. And the solution came out of nowhere, so that, despite the Scotland Yard officer as hero, there wasn't really a mystery.

It was a quick and enjoyable read, anyway.
]]> <![CDATA[The Innocents (The Innocents Mystery Series, #1)]]> 39694699
Nat and Jake are the ringleaders of The Innocents, a western gang that specializes in holding up trains carrying payrolls—and Nat is pretty savvy when it comes to using the new sciences of 1868 in committing his crimes.

Charismatic Nat and handsome Jake are on the run, and they’ve always gotten away before—before Abi. But when Abi is caught by another band of outlaws during the chase, there’s no other choice for Nat and Jake but to save her life. Abi owes them, and she agrees to help them bring in the murderer of a family friend.

The web of criminal activity grows more entangled with each passing day, but Nat, Jake, and Abi are united in their efforts to find the murderer. Once that happens, all bets are off, and Abi will be turning Nat and Jake over to the law. But can she do it? She finds herself falling for Nat, but is that growing attraction real? Or is he just using her to learn more about the Pinkertons� methods? Abi always gets her man—but she may have met her match in her “best enemies”—THE INNOCENTS.]]> 279 C.A. Asbrey Catherine 5 neovictorians-and-steampunk 4.51 The Innocents (The Innocents Mystery Series, #1)
author: C.A. Asbrey
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.51
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2018/05/05
date added: 2018/05/05
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
This is a book I'd say I wished I'd written, except then I wouldn't have had the fun of reading it. Abigail MacKay, the female Pinkerton, is a delightful heroine, strong and resourceful but deeply human. Hero Nat Quinn is a worthy adversary and love interest, and his partner, Jake Conroy, equally well-drawn. Asbrey's worked in the criminal justice system, and it shows -- she really knows her stuff. I'd say she'd lived in the 19th century, too, as she gets that letter-perfect -- I did my grad work in Victorian literature and way too many historical novels throw me right out of the story with anachronisms; Asbrey absolutely did not. I want to read more about these characters, and see how they're thrown together again, soon -- and luckily, the next one is out later this summer, so I won't have to wait a year to find out . . .
]]> <![CDATA[Hello Stranger (The Ravenels, #4)]]> 34379276 A woman who defies her time.

Dr. Garrett Gibson, the only female physician in England, is as daring and independent as any man—why not take her pleasures like one? Yet she has never been tempted to embark on an affair, until now. Ethan Ransom, a former detective for Scotland Yard, is as gallant as he is secretive, a rumored assassin whose true loyalties are a mystery. For one exhilarating night, they give in to their potent attraction before becoming strangers again.

A man who breaks every rule.

As a Ravenel by-blow spurned by his father, Ethan has little interest in polite society, yet he is captivated by the bold and beautiful Garrett. Despite their vow to resist each other after that sublime night, she is soon drawn into his most dangerous assignment yet. When the mission goes wrong, it will take all of Garrett's skill and courage to save him. As they face the menace of a treacherous government plot, Ethan is willing to take any risk for the love of the most extraordinary woman he's ever known.]]> 400 Lisa Kleypas 0062371894 Catherine 5 neovictorians-and-steampunk Ransom seems a fairly typical romance hero (I dip my toes into these waters only occasionally and could be wrong), but he's extremely appealing and so is she and I got thoroughly caught up in their relationship.]]> 3.99 2018 Hello Stranger (The Ravenels, #4)
author: Lisa Kleypas
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/03/03
date added: 2018/03/03
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
The only female doctor in England, Garrett Gibson (based on real-life Elizabeth Garrett Anderson) falls in love with a government agent. While their instant attraction (apparently he has been thinking about her for two years since meeting her in an earlier installment, but his life is dangerous and he has been keeping away to protect her) feels a bit peculiar -- hasn't he kind of been stalking her? -- the author sold it, as well as building a solidly believable Victorian scenario. Garrett practices bartitsu (that is what cane fighting is really called; you can also use your umbrella) and is dedicated to her career and her elderly father and keeps the world at a safe distance. In other words, she is aweseome.
Ransom seems a fairly typical romance hero (I dip my toes into these waters only occasionally and could be wrong), but he's extremely appealing and so is she and I got thoroughly caught up in their relationship.
]]> <![CDATA[ICE: Prelude to the Navarre Link]]> 38579828 M.A. Brauneis Catherine 5 neovictorians-and-steampunk Alias Smith and Jones tv series will enjoy this, as well anyone who likes action, adventure, and the possibility of redemption.]]> 5.00 ICE: Prelude to the Navarre Link
author: M.A. Brauneis
name: Catherine
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2018/02/28
date added: 2018/03/01
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
This novella is the prelude to a longer book, which I am now looking forward to immensely. Brauneis creates a solid sense of place -- the opening scenes, of a pair of outlaws fleeing a posse on horseback, through blizzard conditions, is so vivid I could imagine myself there. Jack and Leon, outlaws but not truly bad men, stumble across a ranch and meet a family whose welcome shows them a new way of life, but all too soon reality closes back in . . . The author's clear understanding of horses adds to the sense of time and place. Fans of the old Alias Smith and Jones tv series will enjoy this, as well anyone who likes action, adventure, and the possibility of redemption.
]]> <![CDATA[Long Spoon Lane (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt, #24)]]> 72731
As Pitt delves into the case, he finds that there is more to the terrorism than the destructive gestures of misguided idealists. The police are running a lucrative protection racket, and clues suggest that Inspector Wetron of Bow Street is the mastermind. As the shadowy leader of the Inner Circle, Wetron is using his influence with the press to whip up fears of more attacks–and to rush a bill through Parliament that would severely curtail civil liberties. This would make him the most powerful man in the country.

To defeat Wetron, Pitt finds that he must run in harness with his old enemy, Sir Charles Voisey, and the unlikely allies are joined by Pitt’s clever wife, Charlotte, and her great aunt, Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould. Can they prevail? As they strive to prevent future destruction, nothing less than the fate of the British Empire hangs in precarious balance.]]> 352 Anne Perry 0345469283 Catherine 2 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.91 2005 Long Spoon Lane (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt, #24)
author: Anne Perry
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2005
rating: 2
read at: 2017/11/16
date added: 2017/11/19
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I've enjoyed the novels in this series which I've read previously. This one, which I picked up at random in a thrift store, seems very much to want to be read in order. Much of the book was referring to occurrences in previous books, and there was not nearly enough of Charlotte.
]]> Steampunk Voyages 35564466 Steampunk Voyages brings the Romance of steam, the stretch of the imagination, the big, brassy, powerful, and sweaty way of looking at the world sideways in six stories of the Victorian age of wonder. Author Irene Radford offers new and old stories that reach from a weapon of mass destruction that could change the outcome of the U.S. Civil War, the truth behind why the ballet Giselle disappeared for nearly fifty years, pirates in Indonesia questioning whether we should control technology or be controlled by it, to a glimpse of Princess Victoria coming of age as secret operatives try to protect her from madmen acting in the name of long dead Lord Byron.

Adding to the fun, Steampunk Voyages includes a sneak peek at an upcoming novel in the world of dirigibles, necromancy, a steam powered book catalog, and hints of romance.

]]> Irene Radford 1611382807 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.11 2013 Steampunk Voyages
author: Irene Radford
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.11
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2015/08/30
date added: 2017/09/09
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I received this book as an Early Reviewers book from LibraryThing, and the untimeliness of my review is largely because I attempted, and bounced off, the first story several times. Military SF really isn't my thing, even when it's steampunk. What I really enjoyed are the Madame Magdala stories, which spin off from the worldbuilding in the earlier Shadow Conspiracy stories series which Radford edited. Anything to do with Ada Lovelace, Mary Shelley, or Lord Byron, and I'm pretty much there, and Radford plays with these characters in an interesting way. The writing, honestly, did not do much for me -- though Magdala and her sister, the steampunk pirate Trude, are very different characters, their voices didn't seem that different to me. However, there's a good bit of imagination and steampunk tech here.
]]> <![CDATA[Devil in Spring (The Ravenels, #3)]]> 30179647
Most debutantes dream of finding a husband. Lady Pandora Ravenel has different plans. The ambitious young beauty would much rather stay at home and plot out her new board game business than take part in the London Season. But one night at a glittering society ball, she’s ensnared in a scandal with a wickedly handsome stranger.

A cynical rake

After years of evading marital traps with ease, Gabriel, Lord St. Vincent, has finally been caught by a rebellious girl who couldn’t be less suitable. In fact, she wants nothing to do with him. But Gabriel finds the high-spirited Pandora irresistible. He’ll do whatever it takes to possess her, even if their marriage of convenience turns out to be the devil’s own bargain.

A perilous plot

After succumbing to Gabriel’s skilled and sensuous persuasion, Pandora agrees to become his bride. But soon she discovers that her entrepreneurial endeavors have accidentally involved her in a dangerous conspiracy–and only her husband can keep her safe. As Gabriel protects her from their unknown adversaries, they realize their devil’s bargain may just turn out to be a match made in heaven.]]> 384 Lisa Kleypas Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk
I like this very unconventional heroine, though if she was written for a male audience I might accuse her of having manic pixie dream girl tendencies. But watching her engage with a mainstream Victorian culture which she is ill-prepared for, by her isolated upbringing, has many pleasures. Not the least of them is that I can now say I've read a romance novel in which married women's property laws are a central roadblock to the lead pair's happiness, and Victorian women doctors save the day.

I'm looking forward to the final book in the sequence, in which the female doctor character is heroine; if Kleypas had sat down specifically to target me and get me to read romance (as obviously she did not), she'd be going about it all right.

]]> 4.05 2017 Devil in Spring (The Ravenels, #3)
author: Lisa Kleypas
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2017/09/03
date added: 2017/09/03
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Having binge-read the first two books in the series, I bogged down on this one, and took a break -- but came back and finished happily. Pandora was a delightful secondary character in the earlier books, and though I wondered whether she could carry a book on her own, the answer is yes.

I like this very unconventional heroine, though if she was written for a male audience I might accuse her of having manic pixie dream girl tendencies. But watching her engage with a mainstream Victorian culture which she is ill-prepared for, by her isolated upbringing, has many pleasures. Not the least of them is that I can now say I've read a romance novel in which married women's property laws are a central roadblock to the lead pair's happiness, and Victorian women doctors save the day.

I'm looking forward to the final book in the sequence, in which the female doctor character is heroine; if Kleypas had sat down specifically to target me and get me to read romance (as obviously she did not), she'd be going about it all right.


]]> <![CDATA[Marrying Winterborne (The Ravenels, #2)]]> 26242354 A ruthless tycoon.

Savage ambition has brought common-born Rhys Winterborne vast wealth and success. In business and beyond, Rhys gets exactly what he wants. And from the moment he meets the shy, aristocratic Lady Helen Ravenel, he is determined to possess her. If he must take her virtue to ensure she marries him, so much the better . . .

A sheltered beauty.

Helen has had little contact with the glittering, cynical world of London society. Yet Rhys’s determined seduction awakens an intense mutual passion. Helen’s gentle upbringing belies a stubborn conviction that only she can tame her unruly husband. As Rhys’s enemies conspire against them, Helen must trust him with her darkest secret. The risks are unthinkable . . . the reward, a lifetime of incomparable bliss.

And it all begins with . . . marrying Mr. Winterborne]]> 380 Lisa Kleypas 0062371843 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 4.07 2016 Marrying Winterborne (The Ravenels, #2)
author: Lisa Kleypas
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2017/08/28
date added: 2017/09/03
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
This one uses class issues and the rise of retail culture as the background for the central romance. Having devoured every episode of Mr. Selfridge, I enjoyed it quite a bit.
]]> <![CDATA[Sorcerer to the Crown (Sorcerer Royal, #1)]]> 23943137 Magic and mayhem collide with the British elite in this whimsical and sparkling debut.

At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, freed slave, eminently proficient magician, and Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers—one of the most respected organizations throughout all of Britain—ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up.

But when his adventure brings him in contact with a most unusual comrade, a woman with immense power and an unfathomable gift, he sets on a path which will alter the nature of sorcery in all of Britain—and the world at large…]]> 371 Zen Cho 0425283372 Catherine 5 neovictorians-and-steampunk Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. My next-fondest was that I'd find something I enjoyed as much. That second wish, at least, has been granted. Sorcerer to the Crown is worthy of the comparison -- it's briefer, fluffier, and not on the grand scale of JS&MN, and it's entirely fair to call it a cross between Clarke and Georgette Heyer, as I've seen in more than one place. And it's thoroughly enjoyable.

Prunella Gentleman, one of the two protagonists, is in some ways the Jonathan Strange of the text -- her magic is instinctive; she gets bored reading magical theory. At the beginning, she wants nothing more than woman of the upper classes in her time and place want -- to make a good marriage. But the novel doesn't blame her for this -- it's the society she's raised in. And if she can convince this world to overlook her origins as the possibly illegitimate daughter of an English gentleman and an Indian woman, it's a goal she might well succeed at . . . if not for the something far better that awaits her talents and her real heritage.

Zacharias Wythe, the Sorcerer Royal, would prefer to be immured in a library somewhere with his researches, but his guardian, Sir Stephen Wythe, had groomed him as his successor. Zacharias might be the Mr. Norrell of the tale, except that he is young, handsome, and black -- a freed slave whom the Wythe family has raised. But while the Sir Stephen and Lady Wythe love him, the other members of the Thaumaturgical Society hold the usual prejudices of the day.

There are some wonderful secondary characters, and while the plot is somewhat secondary to establishing the world and its inhabitants, the whole thing is delightful. Regency(ish) England is presented as multicultural in the ways it historically *was*, and it's made clear that there is a much larger and more diverse world outside of its borders. Later installments should productively build on what's been established here, and if the stakes are raised, with the Napoleonic Wars at hand, as well as the wry, almost Wodehouse-like fairyland, anything could happen. The next installment will be a hardcover buy for me.
]]> 3.70 2015 Sorcerer to the Crown (Sorcerer Royal, #1)
author: Zen Cho
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2016/08/07
date added: 2016/08/07
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
My fondest wish is that Susanna Clarke will put out another book in the same universe as Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. My next-fondest was that I'd find something I enjoyed as much. That second wish, at least, has been granted. Sorcerer to the Crown is worthy of the comparison -- it's briefer, fluffier, and not on the grand scale of JS&MN, and it's entirely fair to call it a cross between Clarke and Georgette Heyer, as I've seen in more than one place. And it's thoroughly enjoyable.

Prunella Gentleman, one of the two protagonists, is in some ways the Jonathan Strange of the text -- her magic is instinctive; she gets bored reading magical theory. At the beginning, she wants nothing more than woman of the upper classes in her time and place want -- to make a good marriage. But the novel doesn't blame her for this -- it's the society she's raised in. And if she can convince this world to overlook her origins as the possibly illegitimate daughter of an English gentleman and an Indian woman, it's a goal she might well succeed at . . . if not for the something far better that awaits her talents and her real heritage.

Zacharias Wythe, the Sorcerer Royal, would prefer to be immured in a library somewhere with his researches, but his guardian, Sir Stephen Wythe, had groomed him as his successor. Zacharias might be the Mr. Norrell of the tale, except that he is young, handsome, and black -- a freed slave whom the Wythe family has raised. But while the Sir Stephen and Lady Wythe love him, the other members of the Thaumaturgical Society hold the usual prejudices of the day.

There are some wonderful secondary characters, and while the plot is somewhat secondary to establishing the world and its inhabitants, the whole thing is delightful. Regency(ish) England is presented as multicultural in the ways it historically *was*, and it's made clear that there is a much larger and more diverse world outside of its borders. Later installments should productively build on what's been established here, and if the stakes are raised, with the Napoleonic Wars at hand, as well as the wry, almost Wodehouse-like fairyland, anything could happen. The next installment will be a hardcover buy for me.

]]> <![CDATA[Fiddlehead (The Clockwork Century, #5)]]> 17332269
When she’s required to assist Abraham Lincoln himself, she has to put any old loyalties firmly aside � for a man she spied against twenty years ago.Lincoln’s friend Gideon Bardsley, colleague and ex-slave, is targeted for assassination after the young inventor made a breakthrough. Fiddlehead, Bardsley’s calculating engine, has proved an extraordinary threat threatens the civilized world. Meaning now is not the time for conflict.

Now Bardsley and Fiddlehead are in great danger as forces conspire to keep this secret, the war moving and the money flowing. With spies from both camps gunning for her, can even the notorious Belle Boyd hold the war-hawks at bay?]]> 368 Cherie Priest 0765334070 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk
There is certainly room for Priest to return to this version of things in the future, and I hope she does, as some things are very nicely settled, while other things remain still to be resolved . . .

On reread: it seems strange to see the series end so far from Seattle; however, this is a solid entry in an intriguing series. In reading these books, I often felt as though I were reading action films, if that makes sense -- they're quickly paced and move along rapidly from crisis to crisis. Priest is perhaps the best of the second-wave steampunk writers.]]> 3.84 2013 Fiddlehead (The Clockwork Century, #5)
author: Cherie Priest
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2016/03/24
date added: 2016/03/24
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Priest ends her series on a strong note; Fiddlehead is unusual among the Clockwork Century series in that it features historic figures (Grant, Lincoln, Mary Todd Lincoln) among its characters, albeit in alt!history format. It's nice to see Maria Boyd, from Clementine, again, and to see that Mercy Lynch's letters have gotten into the right hands, but the series ends a long way from where it began. As always, the book has a cinematic feel and pacing; ten pages from the end I was genuinely puzzled as to how it was all going to come together.

There is certainly room for Priest to return to this version of things in the future, and I hope she does, as some things are very nicely settled, while other things remain still to be resolved . . .

On reread: it seems strange to see the series end so far from Seattle; however, this is a solid entry in an intriguing series. In reading these books, I often felt as though I were reading action films, if that makes sense -- they're quickly paced and move along rapidly from crisis to crisis. Priest is perhaps the best of the second-wave steampunk writers.
]]> <![CDATA[Jacaranda (The Clockwork Century, #6)]]> 22667736 The Ranger

On the island of Galveston, off the coast of southeast Texas, lies a hotel called the Jacaranda. In its single year of operation, two dozen people have died there. The locals say it's cursed. The Rangers say that's nonsense, but they know a man who might be willing to investigate. Horatio Korman crosses the water from the mainland, and hopes for the best.

The Nun

But the bodies pile up, and a hurricane is brewing up fast. One of the Jacaranda's guests sees time running out, so she seeks an authority of a different sort: a priest from El Huizache who is good at solving problems and keeping secrets. Eileen Callahan has a problem to solve, and a secret to keep. She crosses her fingers, and sends a message that could save them all.

The Padre

Juan Miguel Quintero Rios broke a promise to the Virgin, and so he was punished...but his intentions were pure, so he was also blessed. Now he walks the southwest with second sight and a tattoo across his back: ''Deo, non Fortuna''--By God, not chance. The former gunslinger crosses himself, and makes for the Jacaranda Hotel.

Novella takes place 20 years after the events of Fiddlehead, and will be unrelated to the main arc.]]> 181 Cherie Priest 1596066849 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk
On the other hand, I was pleased to see Sister Eileen Callaghan, the nun-with-a-secret of the non-Clockwork Dreadful Skin, and to meet gunslinger-turned-priest Juan Rios. I'd love to see these two have further ghostbusting adventures -- maybe Priest will revisit them again, someday.

Reread less than a year later (!) as part of a reread of the whole Clockwork Century. I felt a bit more in sympathy with the haunted hotel aspect, but it's still not Priest's best, from my perspective.]]> 3.55 2014 Jacaranda (The Clockwork Century, #6)
author: Cherie Priest
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2016/03/18
date added: 2016/03/18
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
As a final visit to the world of the Clockwork Century series, this is distinctly disappointing -- we find out that the "rotter" plague has run its course, and one of the protagonists is Horatio Korman, the Texas ranger who's played a role in several of the other books. The haunted hotel of the title is mechanized in some ways, but honestly, without those few references, this feels more like Priest's horror fiction than her steampunk.

On the other hand, I was pleased to see Sister Eileen Callaghan, the nun-with-a-secret of the non-Clockwork Dreadful Skin, and to meet gunslinger-turned-priest Juan Rios. I'd love to see these two have further ghostbusting adventures -- maybe Priest will revisit them again, someday.

Reread less than a year later (!) as part of a reread of the whole Clockwork Century. I felt a bit more in sympathy with the haunted hotel aspect, but it's still not Priest's best, from my perspective.
]]> <![CDATA[Ganymede (The Clockwork Century, #3)]]> 10900324 349 Cherie Priest Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk
ETA: Although I enjoyed the characters very much, on reread (I'm rereading the whole series for a project), I stand by my original judgment, several years on.]]> 3.83 2011 Ganymede (The Clockwork Century, #3)
author: Cherie Priest
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2016/03/18
date added: 2016/03/18
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Despite its New Orleans setting, the fabulous Josephine Early, and further developments for the regular cast of characters back in Seattle, this was the least engaging of the Clockwork Century so far. Still, as the menace of the Rotters spreads, I'll keep reading . . .

ETA: Although I enjoyed the characters very much, on reread (I'm rereading the whole series for a project), I stand by my original judgment, several years on.
]]> <![CDATA[Clementine (The Clockwork Century, #1.1)]]> 7670800
Adding insult to injury, her first big assignment is commissioned by the Union Army. In short, a federally sponsored transport dirigible is being violently pursued across the Rockies and Uncle Sam isn't pleased. The Clementine is carrying a top secret load of military essentials--essentials which must be delivered to Louisville, Kentucky, without delay.

Intelligence suggests that the unrelenting pursuer is a runaway slave who's been wanted by authorities on both sides of the Mason-Dixon for fifteen years. In that time, Captain Croggon Beauregard Hainey has felonied his way back and forth across the continent, leaving a trail of broken banks, stolen war machines, and illegally distributed weaponry from sea to shining sea.

And now it s Maria's job to go get him.

He's dangerous quarry and she's a dangerous woman, but when forces conspire against them both, they take a chance and form an alliance. She joins his crew, and he uses her connections. She follows his orders. He takes her advice.

And somebody, somewhere, is going to rue the day he crossed either one of them.]]> 201 Cherie Priest 1596063084 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.70 2010 Clementine (The Clockwork Century, #1.1)
author: Cherie Priest
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2016/03/14
date added: 2016/03/14
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Intriguing characters, solid world-building, and if you told me Priest had actually been in an airship battle, I'd believe you -- she does a wonderful job with describing the imagined. The novella length makes for a fairly condensed plot -- by the time we've gotten through the set-up, the book is nearly over. Also, perhaps this says something about my own limitations, but even in alternative history, I have trouble sympathizing with the Confederacy, and thus I found the heroine difficult to understand. But it was tremendous fun and a quick, involving read. And I did love the other protagonist, an escaped slave turned airship pirate.
]]> <![CDATA[Boneshaker (The Clockwork Century, #1)]]> 1137215
But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.

Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.

His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.]]> 416 Cherie Priest 0765318415 Catherine 4 3.53 2009 Boneshaker (The Clockwork Century, #1)
author: Cherie Priest
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2016/03/12
date added: 2016/03/14
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk, book-group-books
review:
This book contains all the standard tropes of steampunk, from airships to goggles to mad inventors working with extrapolations on 19th century science, and makes something fresh of it. Part of that is the vivid post-local-apocalyptic Seattle setting. It's primarily entertainment -- the literary equivalent of an action movie -- but it's engaging and fast-paced. Mother and son combination Briar and Zeke Wilkes reminded me of Sarah and John Connor from the television version (minus the world-saving destiny part), and the subsidiary characters, even if straight out of central casting, were many, well-drawn, and included some wonderful strong women. Tor's printing of the book on cream paper with brown ink shows real care and thought taken with the production of the book; Priest's storytelling shows the same.
]]> <![CDATA[The House of Storms (The Aether Universe, #2)]]> 440329 457 Ian R. MacLeod 0441013422 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.36 2005 The House of Storms (The Aether Universe, #2)
author: Ian R. MacLeod
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2015/11/28
date added: 2015/11/28
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Appealed to me less than its predecessor, partly because the beginning focused so much on Alice Meynell, who was a stereotypical manipulative social climbing woman, albeit with a more interesting agenda in the very end.
]]> Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell 14201
Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange.

Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very antithesis of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms that between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.]]> 1006 Susanna Clarke Catherine 5
From July 17, 2015: Rereading this book after a decade was liking coming home to an old friend; it was inspired by the BBC production, which I quite liked, but of course, the book is still better. It's amazing how pitch-perfect Clarke is, and how despite the lighthearted tone, her characters have depth and complication. And if anyone isn't delighted by the footnotes -- well, it's a matter of individual taste, of course, but Clarke's imagination and sense of humor astound me.

I do hope there will be more, even just more short stories . . . ]]> 3.84 2004 Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
author: Susanna Clarke
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 2015/07/17
date added: 2015/07/18
shelves: book-group-books, neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
From July 1, 2005: It's like she wrote this book with me in mind -- there is nothing I didn't find perfectly delightful about it.

From July 17, 2015: Rereading this book after a decade was liking coming home to an old friend; it was inspired by the BBC production, which I quite liked, but of course, the book is still better. It's amazing how pitch-perfect Clarke is, and how despite the lighthearted tone, her characters have depth and complication. And if anyone isn't delighted by the footnotes -- well, it's a matter of individual taste, of course, but Clarke's imagination and sense of humor astound me.

I do hope there will be more, even just more short stories . . .
]]> <![CDATA[Clockwork Heart (Clockwork Heart, #1)]]> 2693142 390 Dru Pagliassotti 0809572567 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.77 2008 Clockwork Heart (Clockwork Heart, #1)
author: Dru Pagliassotti
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2015/06/05
date added: 2015/06/05
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
This belongs to the category of steampunk set in a non-Victorian setting -- it's another world, but one in which computing is very much like Babbage's Analytical Engines made real, and where "icarii" -- flying messengers -- operate on metal wings. There's a lot of interesting tech and a social class structure that intrigued me. It centers on a love story, as well as political intrigue, which is done effectively. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next, as there are two sequels.
]]> <![CDATA[The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage]]> 22822839 THE THRILLING ADVENTURES OF LOVELACE AND BABBAGE . . . in which Sydney Padua transforms one of the most compelling scientific collaborations into a hilarious series of adventures.

Meet Victorian London’s most dynamic duo: Charles Babbage, the unrealized inventor of the computer, and his accomplice, Ada, Countess of Lovelace, the peculiar protoprogrammer and daughter of Lord Byron. When Lovelace translated a description of Babbage’s plans for an enormous mechanical calculating machine in 1842, she added annotations three times longer than the original work. Her footnotes contained the first appearance of the general computing theory, a hundred years before an actual computer was built. Sadly, Lovelace died of cancer a decade after publishing the paper, and Babbage never built any of his machines.

But do not despair! The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage presents a rollicking alternate reality in which Lovelace and Babbage do build the Difference Engine and then use it to build runaway economic models, battle the scourge of spelling errors, explore the wilder realms of mathematics, and, of course, fight crime—for the sake of both London and science. Complete with extensive footnotes that rival those penned by Lovelace herself, historical curiosities, and never-before-seen diagrams of Babbage’s mechanical, steam-powered computer, The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage is wonderfully whimsical, utterly unusual, and, above all, entirely irresistible.

(With black-and-white illustrations throughout.)Ěý]]> 317 Sydney Padua Catherine 5 Smart, funny, delightful. 4.02 2015 The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage
author: Sydney Padua
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2015/05/28
date added: 2015/05/28
shelves: literature-and-technology, neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Smart, funny, delightful.
]]> Gwendolen 22561352
This novel is Gwendolen's passionate later-life letter to the man she did not marry, and reveals what happened across the brutal and transformative years of her early twenties. That she is also the heroine of George Eliot's novel Daniel Deronda (and is writing to Deronda) will intrigue and delight legions of Eliot fans, but debut novelist Diana Souhami has brilliantly and movingly breathed fresh life into a classic in ways that will appeal to readers entirely unfamiliar with Eliot's fictions.

"A bold feat of imagination . . . . Intriguing and moving: a fictional recovery of the woman's interior experience . . . and a powerful meditation upon the nature of creativity. Both an arresting interpretation of George Eliot's work and a compelling fiction in its own right." -Rebecca Mead, author of My Life in Middlemarch]]> 336 Diana Souhami 1627793402 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk
The typical critical response has always been that the Gwendolen parts of the novel are the best. I love her to bits, but I disagree -- sure Daniel is a bit of a judgmental prig, but he's interesting. Like Eliot's Dorothea Brooke, he's looking for some kind of meaning, and some kind of transcendence, and he finds it in discovering that he's actually Jewish (the circumstances of his birth having been kept from him). I mean, this is a Victorian Novel, and the hero is all "yay! I've just found out I'm Jewish! Yay!" which is not the kind of thing that happens in most Victorian novels.

But then there's Gwendolen, who's kind of like the pretty anti-heroines who Eliot clearly dislikes, like Rosamund Vincy and Hetty Sorrel. Except she's more self-aware than they are, and so limited by her circumstances, like Dorothea Brooke, who Eliot and I both adore. Souhami's retelling has a nicely feminist ending, involving a friendship with the real Eliot and more importantly, women's rights activist Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, who crusaded for married women's property rights. (Up to this point, when you married, everything belonged to your husband.) So I like that, except that this sort of thing happens pretty often in neovictorian novels.

I liked the narrative voice, but I wasn't really convinced by it. Souhami and I love some of the same characters -- Sir Hugo and Hans and Rex, in particular. But Gwendolen's obsession with Daniel starts to ring wrong to me. I think it's absolutely true she is hoping they will end up together, and is disappointed at the sudden turn of events of his marrying Mirah and going off to the Middle East. But I also think that, priggish and judgmental as Daniel can be, he does care for Gwendolen and he is honorable and would keep his promise to write Gwendolen. The interior life of the characters feels subtly off, at least to me. I do like that "Mrs. Lewes" suggests she thought that Gwendolen and Rex might get together after all (I always wondered that, too, though honestly he's her first cousin so really better not) but she sees that's not happening. That's a pretty cool metacommentary. ]]> 2.94 2014 Gwendolen
author: Diana Souhami
name: Catherine
average rating: 2.94
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2015/05/16
date added: 2015/05/17
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I was excited to read this version of Eliot's Daniel Deronda from Gwendolen's point of view. I should say that I own two sequels to Daniel Deronda called Gwendolen, this one published recently, and the other, anonymously authored, from 1878. (I have only been able to bring myself to skim that one, as Mirah dies, Deronda converts back to Christianity, and the Victorian conformity which this novel wonderfully sidesteps comes right back into place, as Anglican Widowed Daniel can marry Gwendolen. E.)

The typical critical response has always been that the Gwendolen parts of the novel are the best. I love her to bits, but I disagree -- sure Daniel is a bit of a judgmental prig, but he's interesting. Like Eliot's Dorothea Brooke, he's looking for some kind of meaning, and some kind of transcendence, and he finds it in discovering that he's actually Jewish (the circumstances of his birth having been kept from him). I mean, this is a Victorian Novel, and the hero is all "yay! I've just found out I'm Jewish! Yay!" which is not the kind of thing that happens in most Victorian novels.

But then there's Gwendolen, who's kind of like the pretty anti-heroines who Eliot clearly dislikes, like Rosamund Vincy and Hetty Sorrel. Except she's more self-aware than they are, and so limited by her circumstances, like Dorothea Brooke, who Eliot and I both adore. Souhami's retelling has a nicely feminist ending, involving a friendship with the real Eliot and more importantly, women's rights activist Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, who crusaded for married women's property rights. (Up to this point, when you married, everything belonged to your husband.) So I like that, except that this sort of thing happens pretty often in neovictorian novels.

I liked the narrative voice, but I wasn't really convinced by it. Souhami and I love some of the same characters -- Sir Hugo and Hans and Rex, in particular. But Gwendolen's obsession with Daniel starts to ring wrong to me. I think it's absolutely true she is hoping they will end up together, and is disappointed at the sudden turn of events of his marrying Mirah and going off to the Middle East. But I also think that, priggish and judgmental as Daniel can be, he does care for Gwendolen and he is honorable and would keep his promise to write Gwendolen. The interior life of the characters feels subtly off, at least to me. I do like that "Mrs. Lewes" suggests she thought that Gwendolen and Rex might get together after all (I always wondered that, too, though honestly he's her first cousin so really better not) but she sees that's not happening. That's a pretty cool metacommentary.
]]> Swiftly 3419578 368 Adam Roberts 0575082321 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk
Set in 1848, Swiftly takes place in a world where the Lilliputians and Brobdingnagians of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels are not only real, but have been enslaved. The protagonist, Abraham Bates, wants freedom for the enslaved little and big people (alas, his attitudes towards the dark-skinned is less progressive), the Lilliputians & Blefescuans are invaluable in manufacturing because of their small size and the fine work they can do, and the giants are valuable for heavy lifting, construction, and warfare. When Bates learns that the French plan to invade England and set the slaves free on behalf of the Pope, he allies himself with them in order to reach his abolitionist goals . . . and of course, the French turn out to be less interested in liberation than in conquest.

Eleanor Burton, the other protagonist, appears at first to be the young heroine of so much steampunk fiction -- forced by her mother to marry for money, she loves science and technology about all things. But Eleanor is *not* the typical steampunk heroine -- she does not escape dressed as a boy and get to make cool things aboard an airship. Instead, her unhappy marriage becomes the centerpiece of the book's second section. At the same time, though her choices are limited, she's not the oppressed victim of many Victorian and neoVictorian novels, either, and she becomes increasingly unsympathetic in her behavior, which led me to a useful questioning of my own assumptions, but also made it hard to sympathize.

It's after that, when the two unite with the not-very-ecclesiastical Anglican Dean of York on an expedition to the North of England that involves a super-canon constructed by Eleanor's late father and a Babbage-ian computer powered by Lilliputians, that the novel takes a turn I was less than engaged by. The three major characters shout and scream and don't listen to each other very much, the Dean's "snuff" (clearly, he's unknowingly addicted to cocaine) leads to erratic behavior, and there's a great deal of excremental humor that would have been at home in the 18th century but very much not in Victorian England (although in this alternate 1848, England has a King). It's rollicking and fun and rather like reading science fiction by Tobias Smollett -- but not so much to my taste.

In the novel's later sections, there's a fascinating extrapolation based on Voltaire's reading of Swift. Bates gets to know a Lilliputian, sorry, Blefescuan, and Eleanor a Brobdingagian giant, and the germ theory of disease gets a period-appropriate look-in. I like that Eleanor and Abraham are neither especially likable, nor 21st century characters in 19th century dress. There's so much knowledge behind it -- sometimes steampunk and 19th century alt!history are written by people who know a great deal less about the period that I do (it was my field in grad school), and I do a lot of eyerolling. Instead, this is from an author who knows both the 18th and 19th century backgrounds well, and my personal disappointment comes from the fact that I'm more of a Dickens & Collins & Bronte fan than a Swift & Smollett & Fielding one; there's some good critique of the period and its politics here but it sometimes gets a bit lost in the absurdity. I was hoping this would take its place by Gibson & Sterling's The Difference Engine among my personal favorites, and it won't, but that doesn't take away from the fact that it's a very smart book and that there's a lot of interesting stuff going on here.]]> 3.14 2004 Swiftly
author: Adam Roberts
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.14
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 2015/04/25
date added: 2015/04/25
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I just read a book by Roberts that I loved (By Light Alone), and this is, in many ways, the steampunk/19th century alt!history novel I have been looking for -- one written by a professor of Victorian Culture. Roberts knows his time period. But while I liked it, I didn't love it, and towards the end, I figured out why: though it's set in the 19th century, it's in many ways replicating the *18th* century novel of its Swiftian origins.

Set in 1848, Swiftly takes place in a world where the Lilliputians and Brobdingnagians of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels are not only real, but have been enslaved. The protagonist, Abraham Bates, wants freedom for the enslaved little and big people (alas, his attitudes towards the dark-skinned is less progressive), the Lilliputians & Blefescuans are invaluable in manufacturing because of their small size and the fine work they can do, and the giants are valuable for heavy lifting, construction, and warfare. When Bates learns that the French plan to invade England and set the slaves free on behalf of the Pope, he allies himself with them in order to reach his abolitionist goals . . . and of course, the French turn out to be less interested in liberation than in conquest.

Eleanor Burton, the other protagonist, appears at first to be the young heroine of so much steampunk fiction -- forced by her mother to marry for money, she loves science and technology about all things. But Eleanor is *not* the typical steampunk heroine -- she does not escape dressed as a boy and get to make cool things aboard an airship. Instead, her unhappy marriage becomes the centerpiece of the book's second section. At the same time, though her choices are limited, she's not the oppressed victim of many Victorian and neoVictorian novels, either, and she becomes increasingly unsympathetic in her behavior, which led me to a useful questioning of my own assumptions, but also made it hard to sympathize.

It's after that, when the two unite with the not-very-ecclesiastical Anglican Dean of York on an expedition to the North of England that involves a super-canon constructed by Eleanor's late father and a Babbage-ian computer powered by Lilliputians, that the novel takes a turn I was less than engaged by. The three major characters shout and scream and don't listen to each other very much, the Dean's "snuff" (clearly, he's unknowingly addicted to cocaine) leads to erratic behavior, and there's a great deal of excremental humor that would have been at home in the 18th century but very much not in Victorian England (although in this alternate 1848, England has a King). It's rollicking and fun and rather like reading science fiction by Tobias Smollett -- but not so much to my taste.

In the novel's later sections, there's a fascinating extrapolation based on Voltaire's reading of Swift. Bates gets to know a Lilliputian, sorry, Blefescuan, and Eleanor a Brobdingagian giant, and the germ theory of disease gets a period-appropriate look-in. I like that Eleanor and Abraham are neither especially likable, nor 21st century characters in 19th century dress. There's so much knowledge behind it -- sometimes steampunk and 19th century alt!history are written by people who know a great deal less about the period that I do (it was my field in grad school), and I do a lot of eyerolling. Instead, this is from an author who knows both the 18th and 19th century backgrounds well, and my personal disappointment comes from the fact that I'm more of a Dickens & Collins & Bronte fan than a Swift & Smollett & Fielding one; there's some good critique of the period and its politics here but it sometimes gets a bit lost in the absurdity. I was hoping this would take its place by Gibson & Sterling's The Difference Engine among my personal favorites, and it won't, but that doesn't take away from the fact that it's a very smart book and that there's a lot of interesting stuff going on here.
]]> <![CDATA[Alice in Wonderland: Based on the Motion Picture Directed by Tim Burton]]> 7052617 236 Tui T. Sutherland 1423128869 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk ]]> 4.25 2010 Alice in Wonderland: Based on the Motion Picture Directed by Tim Burton
author: Tui T. Sutherland
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2010/03/07
date added: 2015/04/12
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Novelization of a movie I have yet to see; not a patch on Carroll but clever enough use of his characters. (Read for a research project.)

]]> <![CDATA[Prudence (The Custard Protocol, #1)]]> 12799420 From New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger comes a new novel in the world of the Parasol Protectorate starring Prudence, the daughter of Alexia Tarabotti.

When Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama (Rue to her friends) is given an unexpected dirigible, she does what any sensible female would under similar circumstances - names it the Spotted Custard and floats to India in pursuit of the perfect cup of tea. But India has more than just tea on offer. Rue stumbles upon a plot involving local dissidents, a kidnapped brigadier's wife, and some awfully familiar Scottish werewolves. Faced with a dire crisis and an embarrassing lack of bloomers, what else is a young lady of good breeding to do but turn metanatural and find out everyone's secrets, even thousand-year-old fuzzy ones?]]> 357 Gail Carriger 0316212245 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.79 2015 Prudence (The Custard Protocol, #1)
author: Gail Carriger
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2015/03/19
date added: 2015/03/20
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Curtsies & Conspiracies (Finishing School, #2)]]> 15723286 Does one need four fully grown foxgloves for decorating a dinner table for six guests? Or is it six foxgloves to kill four fully grown guests?

Sophronia's first year at Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality has certainly been rousing! For one thing, finishing school is training her to be a spy--won't Mumsy be surprised? Furthermore, Sophronia got mixed up in an intrigue over a stolen device and had a cheese pie thrown at her in a most horrid display of poor manners.

Now, as she sneaks around the dirigible school, eavesdropping on the teachers' quarters and making clandestine climbs to the ship's boiler room, she learns that there may be more to a field trip to London than is apparent at first. A conspiracy is afoot--one with dire implications for both supernaturals and humans. Sophronia must rely on her training to discover who is behind the dangerous plot-and survive the London Season with a full dance card.

In this sequel to New York Times bestselling Etiquette & Espionage, class is back in session with more petticoats and poison, tea trays and treason. Gail's distinctive voice, signature humor, and lush steampunk setting are sure to be the height of fashion this season.]]> 310 Gail Carriger Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 4.12 2013 Curtsies & Conspiracies (Finishing School, #2)
author: Gail Carriger
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2014/05/22
date added: 2015/03/16
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hidden Goddess (Veneficas Americana, #2)]]> 9515638 Ěý
Like it or not, Emily has fallen in love with Dreadnought Stanton, a New York Warlock as irresistible as he is insufferable. Newly engaged, she now must brave Dreadnought’s family and the magical elite of the nation’s wealthiest city. Not everyone is pleased with the impending nuptials, especially Emily’s future mother-in-law, a sociopathic socialite. But there are greater challenges confining couture, sinister Russian scientists, and a deathless Aztec goddess who dreams of plunging the world into apocalypse. With all they must confront, do Emily and Dreadnought have any hope of a happily-ever-after?]]> 374 M.K. Hobson 0553592661 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.72 2011 The Hidden Goddess (Veneficas Americana, #2)
author: M.K. Hobson
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2015/03/16
date added: 2015/03/16
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
An enjoyable quick-paced gaslamp fantasy adventure.
]]> <![CDATA[The Buntline Special (Weird West Tales, #1)]]> 8253037 320 Mike Resnick 1616142499 Catherine 1 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.48 2010 The Buntline Special (Weird West Tales, #1)
author: Mike Resnick
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2010
rating: 1
read at: 2014/12/09
date added: 2015/03/14
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Often cited as a prime example of the "Weird West" subgenre of steampunk. I got about 50 pages in before I realized that I was just not going to care about anyone or anything to do with the story.
]]> Worldshaker (Worldshaker, #1) 6696340
As Col begins to secretly spend more time with Riff, he begins to question everything he was raised to believe was true, and realizes that if Riff is right, then everything he was raised to believe is a lie. And Col himself may be the only person in a position to do something about it—even if it means risking his future.]]> 388 Richard Harland 1416995528 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.63 2009 Worldshaker (Worldshaker, #1)
author: Richard Harland
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2015/01/23
date added: 2015/03/14
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
This is very much a book for younger readers; however, it dealt with issues of class in its steampunk scenario so effectively that it won my heart. For me, as an adult reader, it's probably more of a three-star book, but I'd strongly recommend it for its intended audience, and I will read the sequel because I'm interested in seeing what Harland does in the post-revolutionary world.
]]> <![CDATA[The Delicate Dependency: A Novel of the Vampire Life]]> 1261704 406 Michael Talbot 038077982X Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 4.04 1982 The Delicate Dependency: A Novel of the Vampire Life
author: Michael Talbot
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1982
rating: 4
read at: 2015/03/07
date added: 2015/03/07
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Eterna Files (Eterna Files, #1)]]> 22238164
Their first mission: find the Eterna Compound, which grants immortality. Catastrophe destroyed the hidden laboratory in New York City where Eterna was developed, but the Queen is convinced someone escaped--and has a sample of Eterna.

Also searching for Eterna is an American, Clara Templeton, who helped start the project after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln nearly destroyed her nation. Haunted by the ghost of her beloved, she is determined that the Eterna Compound--and the immortality it will convey--will be controlled by the United States, not Great Britain.]]> 320 Leanna Renee Hieber 076533674X Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk
There's a lot to say in its favor. The Eterna Files is a delight for Hieber's fans, because of the plentiful cameos by characters from her Magic Most Foul and Strangely Beautiful series. Hieber has a genuine feel for, and knowledge of, the era -- I was actually startled to discover one small historic inaccuracy, because she's that good.

The biggest flaw that the Eterna Files has is that it's too short by half. There's a lot going on, between the New York and London plots, and a large number of engaging characters. If the book were a bit slower-paced, there would have been more chance to develop things further.

Still, I'll be waiting eagerly for the next one, and not just because of that cliffhanger ending . . .

]]> 3.14 2015 The Eterna Files (Eterna Files, #1)
author: Leanna Renee Hieber
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.14
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2015/02/22
date added: 2015/02/23
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I'm a fan of Hieber's Victorian gothics/gaslamp fantasies, so I was excited for her hardcover debut.

There's a lot to say in its favor. The Eterna Files is a delight for Hieber's fans, because of the plentiful cameos by characters from her Magic Most Foul and Strangely Beautiful series. Hieber has a genuine feel for, and knowledge of, the era -- I was actually startled to discover one small historic inaccuracy, because she's that good.

The biggest flaw that the Eterna Files has is that it's too short by half. There's a lot going on, between the New York and London plots, and a large number of engaging characters. If the book were a bit slower-paced, there would have been more chance to develop things further.

Still, I'll be waiting eagerly for the next one, and not just because of that cliffhanger ending . . .


]]> Liberator (Worldshaker, #2) 11007236 416 General Dynamics 3941787357 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.89 2011 Liberator (Worldshaker, #2)
author: General Dynamics
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2015/02/08
date added: 2015/02/08
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
A satisfying conclusion to Worldshaker; I was very aware that I was reading a book for younger readers.
]]> All Men of Genius 10839204
Violet Adams wants to attend Illyria College, a widely renowned school for the most brilliant up-and-coming scientific minds, founded by the late Duke Illyria, the greatest scientist of the Victorian Age. The school is run by his son, Ernest, who continues his father's policy that the small, exclusive college remain male-only. Violet sees her opportunity when her father departs for America. She disguises herself as her twin brother, Ashton, and gains entry.

But keeping the secret of her sex won't be easy, not with her friend Jack's constant habit of pulling pranks, and especially not when the duke's young ward, Cecily, starts to develop feelings for Violet's alter ego, "Ashton." Not to mention blackmail, mysterious killer automata, and the way Violet's pulse quickens whenever the young duke, Ernest, speaks to her. She soon realizes that it's not just keeping her secret until the end of the year faire she has to worry about: it's surviving that long.]]> 462 Lev A.C. Rosen 0765327945 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk
Conceptually, Rosen returns to the sort of steampunk where technology matters, but with a fanciful spirit, so that his Illyria, a small but prestigious college for scientists, resembles nothing so much as a small-scale Hogwarts, not in an imitative way, but in the spirit of things.

The young woman who cares more about building and tinkering than dresses and courtship is a cliche of modern-day steampunk, but Violet, the Viola-analogue, is a delightful exception to that. By passing for her twin brother in order to enroll in the males-only school, Violet comes to embrace the femininity she'd hitherto taken for granted, as she has to mimic male behavior and appearance in her everyday life. But she never lets go of her overwhelming passion for science, or her ambition to open the field to all women.

The love story is integrated into the science story, so that both aspects of life are given equal importance. And bonus points for effective incorporation of Ada Lovelace into the story.
]]> 3.69 2011 All Men of Genius
author: Lev A.C. Rosen
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2015/02/07
date added: 2015/02/07
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
A steampunk mashup/retelling of Twelfth Night *and* The Importance of Being Earnest, this was a pure delight. Although there are a few moments when the writing is awkward (one paragraph early on had the protagonist, Violet's, name eight times), for the most part, it captures the spirit of the time and place effectively.

Conceptually, Rosen returns to the sort of steampunk where technology matters, but with a fanciful spirit, so that his Illyria, a small but prestigious college for scientists, resembles nothing so much as a small-scale Hogwarts, not in an imitative way, but in the spirit of things.

The young woman who cares more about building and tinkering than dresses and courtship is a cliche of modern-day steampunk, but Violet, the Viola-analogue, is a delightful exception to that. By passing for her twin brother in order to enroll in the males-only school, Violet comes to embrace the femininity she'd hitherto taken for granted, as she has to mimic male behavior and appearance in her everyday life. But she never lets go of her overwhelming passion for science, or her ambition to open the field to all women.

The love story is integrated into the science story, so that both aspects of life are given equal importance. And bonus points for effective incorporation of Ada Lovelace into the story.

]]> <![CDATA[The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque]]> 998119 310 Jeffrey Ford 0060936177 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.75 2002 The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque
author: Jeffrey Ford
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at: 2015/01/27
date added: 2015/01/27
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
This one is off to a great start -- an intriguing mystery, a strong atmosphere. The life of an artist in 19th century NYC is portrayed convincingly, except for a few odd anachronisms (did anyone use the term "West Village" in those days?). The ending fell somewhat flat, however.
]]> <![CDATA[The Osiris Ritual (Newbury and Hobbes, #2)]]> 6066181
A steampunk mystery adventure featuring immortality, artifacts, and intrepid sleuths Sir Maurice Newbury and Miss Veronica Hobbes

Sir Maurice Newbury, Gentleman Investigator for the Crown, imagines life will be a little quieter after his dual successes solving The Affinity Bridge affair. But he hasn't banked on his villainous predecessor, Knox, who is hell-bent on achieving immortality, not to mention a secret agent who isn't quite what he seems....

So continues an adventure quite unlike any other, a thrilling steampunk mystery and the second in the series of Newbury & Hobbes investigations.
]]> 348 George Mann 190672704X Catherine 2 neovictorians-and-steampunk Enjoyable, unremarkable. 3.83 2009 The Osiris Ritual (Newbury and Hobbes, #2)
author: George Mann
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2009
rating: 2
read at: 2015/01/25
date added: 2015/01/25
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Enjoyable, unremarkable.
]]> The Iron Duke (Iron Seas, #1) 7864587
But when Mina uncovers the victim's identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and treacherous oceans-and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen, as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke.]]> 384 Meljean Brook 0425236676 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk
However, it's well-written, well-paced, and features a very proactive heroine. It deals with issues of race and class (despite the weird orientalism of the Mongol Horde as enemies) and the technology is interestingly imagined. It's everything I would want from steampunk, just in romance novel form. On that basis, the stars go up a few notches.

I do wish that, like Gail Carriger, the author had stuck to the further adventures of Mina and Rhys, so that we could be past the courtship and just see them maneuvering in this well-crafted world. Luckily, the heroine of the next is an interesting secondary character in this one, so I'll give it a try.]]> 3.84 2010 The Iron Duke (Iron Seas, #1)
author: Meljean Brook
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2014/12/23
date added: 2014/12/23
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I've been catching up on the steampunk books I've acquired over the past few years, and surprisingly, this is one of my favorites. Surprisingly because of the man's-bare-torso cover and because of the classic romance novel Alpha male hero, who on his own would be enough to send me running. (You may call that courtship, your Grace, but I'd term it sexual harrassment.) On that basis, this would get two stars.

However, it's well-written, well-paced, and features a very proactive heroine. It deals with issues of race and class (despite the weird orientalism of the Mongol Horde as enemies) and the technology is interestingly imagined. It's everything I would want from steampunk, just in romance novel form. On that basis, the stars go up a few notches.

I do wish that, like Gail Carriger, the author had stuck to the further adventures of Mina and Rhys, so that we could be past the courtship and just see them maneuvering in this well-crafted world. Luckily, the heroine of the next is an interesting secondary character in this one, so I'll give it a try.
]]> <![CDATA[The Ripper Affair (Bannon & Clare, #3)]]> 18459434 The enthralling conclusion to the Bannon and Clare trilogy from New York Times bestselling author, Lilith Saintcrow.
Sorcery. Treason. Madness. And, of course, murder most foul...

A shattering accident places Archibald Clare, mentath in the service of Britannia, in the care of Emma Bannon, sorceress Prime. Clare needs a measure of calm to repair his faculties of Logic and Reason. Without them, he is not his best. At all.

Unfortunately, calm and rest will not be found. There is a killer hiding in the sorcerous steam-hells of Londinium, murdering poor women of a certain reputation. A handful of frails murdered on cold autumn nights would make no difference...but the killings echo in the highest circles, and threaten to bring the Empire down in smoking ruins.

Once more Emma Bannon is pressed into service; once more Archibald Clare is determined to aid her. The secrets between these two old friends may give an ambitious sorcerer the means to bring down the Crown. And there is still no way to reliably find a hansom when one needs it most.

The game is afoot...

Bannon and Clare
The Iron Wyrm Affair
The Red Plague Affair
The Ripper Affair
The Damnation Affair (e-only)
]]> 402 Lilith Saintcrow 0316183725 Catherine 2 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.75 2014 The Ripper Affair (Bannon & Clare, #3)
author: Lilith Saintcrow
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2014/12/22
date added: 2014/12/22
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Iron Wyrm Affair (Bannon & Clare, #1)]]> 12899734 them as seduce them into treachery toward their Queen.

In an alternate London where illogical magic has turned the Industrial Revolution on its head, Bannon and Clare now face hostility, treason, cannon fire, black sorcery, and the problem of reliably finding hansom cabs.

The game is afoot..
]]> 323 Lilith Saintcrow 031620126X Catherine 2 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.36 2012 The Iron Wyrm Affair (Bannon & Clare, #1)
author: Lilith Saintcrow
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at: 2014/12/21
date added: 2014/12/21
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
This one started out by intriguing me, but it didn't really hold my interest. The plot felt somehow muddled. Though it's been marketed as steampunk, it's more properly gaslamp fantasy, since it's a largely magic-based system and most of the alternate tech is magic-based. I did like that Emma Bannon, despite her powers as a sorcereress, still has to deal with the restrictions her society places on a woman, and I found Emma, Clare, and Mikal appealing enough to keep reading. But the constant reminders that "this is an alternate Victorian England where everything is spelled slightly differently" got annoyed -- Yton? Greenwitch? St. Jemes Palace? Really?
]]> <![CDATA[The Glass Sentence (The Mapmakers Trilogy, #1)]]> 18668056 Ěý
Boston, 1891. Sophia Tims comes from a family of explorers and cartologers who, for generations, have been traveling and mapping the New World—a world changed by the Great Disruption of 1799, when all the continents were flung into different time periods. ĚýEight years ago, her parents left her with her uncle Shadrack, the foremost cartologer in Boston, and went on an urgent mission. They never returned. Life with her brilliant, absent-minded, adored uncle has taught Sophia to take care of herself.

Then Shadrack is kidnapped. And Sophia, who has rarely been outside of Boston, is the only one who can search for him. Together with Theo, a refugee from the West, she travels over rough terrain and uncharted ocean, encounters pirates and traders, and relies on a combination of Shadrack’s maps, common sense, and her own slantwise powers of observation. But even as Sophia and Theo try to save Shadrack’s life, they are in danger of losing their own.

The Glass Sentence plunges readers into a time and place they will not want to leave, and introduces them to a heroine and hero they will take to their hearts. It is a remarkable debut.]]> 493 S.E. Grove 0670785024 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.82 2014 The Glass Sentence (The Mapmakers Trilogy, #1)
author: S.E. Grove
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2014/11/28
date added: 2014/11/28
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I really like where Grove is going with concepts of mapping and time and etc. Nothing about the narrative was really surprising, but it read quickly and enjoyably.
]]> <![CDATA[Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon (Burton & Swinburne, #3)]]> 11225502 399 Mark Hodder 1616145358 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.80 2012 Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon (Burton & Swinburne, #3)
author: Mark Hodder
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2014/11/27
date added: 2014/11/28
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I'm always of two minds about this series: on the one hand, there's quite an imagination at work, and Hodder uses historical figures interestingly. On the other, there's a Boy's Own Adventure feel to them that doesn't really appeal to me, though this time around the return of Isabel and the daughters of Al-Manat were a delight. Maybe it's the pacing, or that Hodder trots so many characters onstage and then doesn't quite know what to do with them all. I was sorry that book three ended up where it did; I'm not sure yet whether I'm motivated to follow the series further, so I would have liked a bit more resolution.
]]> <![CDATA[The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln]]> 12953517 From the best-selling author of The Emperor of Ocean Park and New England White, a daring reimagining of one of the most tumultuous moments in our nation’s past
Ěý
Stephen L. Carter’s thrilling new novel takes as its starting point an alternate history: President Abraham Lincoln survives the assassination attempt at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865. Two years later he is charged with overstepping his constitutional authority, both during and after the Civil War, and faces an impeachment trial . . .

Twenty-one-year-old Abigail Canner is a young black woman with a degree from Oberlin, a letter of employment from the law firm that has undertaken Lincoln’s defense, and the iron-strong conviction, learned from her late mother, that “whatever limitations society might place on ordinary negroes, they would never apply to her.â€� And so Abigail embarks on a life that defies the norms of every stratum of Washington society: working side by side with a white clerk, meeting the great and powerful of the nation, including the president himself.Ěý But when Lincoln’s lead counsel is found brutally murdered on the eve of the trial, Abigail is plunged into a treacherous web of intrigue and conspiracy reaching the highest levels of the divided government.

Here is a vividly imagined work of historical fiction that captures the emotional tenor of post–Civil War America, a brilliantly realized courtroom drama that explores the always contentious question of the nature of presidential authority, and a galvanizing story of political suspense.]]> 516 Stephen L. Carter 030727263X Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk
An alternate history that is not science fiction, but a legal thriller. By a law professor who is also an accomplished novelist. With an African-American female lead who wants to be a lawyer, shortly after the Civil War, but is credible because of her background (family prosperous and free for generations; Oberlin College education) -- you had me when you mentioned Myra Bradwell!

Abigail is smart and beautiful and ahead of her time, but she is also well-developed and credible as a character. I did get tired of everyone telling her how awesome she was, but luckily, I liked her a great deal. Her friend/coworker Jonathan Hilliman (rich, white, smitten) is pretty naive; he seems like someone who only got to his position because of the position into which he was born.

I do wish this novel was more Bechdel-passing; it turns out a lot of women are doing a lot of interesting things, but we mostly see them sniping at each other and making assumptions about each other's courtships. A lot of their awesomeness is offstage.

Interesting take on what would happen if Lincoln survived the assassination attempt. Shows the complexities of the characters and situations, but somehow Lincoln remains more . . . Lincoln, than he does in Gore Vidal's take on the subject.

Like the ending in its indefinite nature.

Would kinda like to see Abigail in her early legal career. (In the US there actually were a small number of women lawyers starting after the Civil War.)

Mostly I only give five stars to great works of literature, but I'm debating this one because it does what it sets out to and does it well. If I teach my American Lit and Law class again, I might consider trying this.]]> 3.68 2012 The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln
author: Stephen L. Carter
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2014/06/12
date added: 2014/06/12
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I plan to add a more considered review, but I will start with this:

An alternate history that is not science fiction, but a legal thriller. By a law professor who is also an accomplished novelist. With an African-American female lead who wants to be a lawyer, shortly after the Civil War, but is credible because of her background (family prosperous and free for generations; Oberlin College education) -- you had me when you mentioned Myra Bradwell!

Abigail is smart and beautiful and ahead of her time, but she is also well-developed and credible as a character. I did get tired of everyone telling her how awesome she was, but luckily, I liked her a great deal. Her friend/coworker Jonathan Hilliman (rich, white, smitten) is pretty naive; he seems like someone who only got to his position because of the position into which he was born.

I do wish this novel was more Bechdel-passing; it turns out a lot of women are doing a lot of interesting things, but we mostly see them sniping at each other and making assumptions about each other's courtships. A lot of their awesomeness is offstage.

Interesting take on what would happen if Lincoln survived the assassination attempt. Shows the complexities of the characters and situations, but somehow Lincoln remains more . . . Lincoln, than he does in Gore Vidal's take on the subject.

Like the ending in its indefinite nature.

Would kinda like to see Abigail in her early legal career. (In the US there actually were a small number of women lawyers starting after the Civil War.)

Mostly I only give five stars to great works of literature, but I'm debating this one because it does what it sets out to and does it well. If I teach my American Lit and Law class again, I might consider trying this.
]]> <![CDATA[The Solitary House (Charles Maddox, #2)]]> 13147813 Lynn Shepherd’s first acclaimed novel of historical suspense, Murder at Mansfield Park, brilliantly reimagined the time of Jane Austen. Now, in this spellbinding new triumph, she introduces an unforgettable duo of detectives into the gaslit world of Dickens.

London, 1850. Charles Maddox had been an up-and-coming officer for the Metropolitan police until a charge of insubordination abruptly ended his career. Now he works alone, struggling to eke out a living by tracking down criminals. Whenever he needs it, he has the help of his great-uncle Maddox, a legendary “thief taker,� a detective as brilliant and intuitive as they come.

On Charles’s latest case, he’ll need all the assistance he can get. To his shock, Charles has been approached by Edward Tulkinghorn, the shadowy and feared attorney, who offers him a handsome price to do some sleuthing for a client. Powerful financier Sir Julius Cremorne has been receiving threatening letters, and Tulkinghorn wants Charles to—discreetly—find and stop whoever is responsible.

But what starts as a simple, open-and-shut case swiftly escalates into something bigger and much darker. As he cascades toward a collision with an unspeakable truth, Charles can only be aided so far by Maddox. The old man shows signs of forgetfulness and anger, symptoms of an age-related ailment that has yet to be named.

Intricately plotted and intellectually ambitious, The Solitary House is an ingenious novel that does more than spin an enthralling tale: it plumbs the mysteries of the human mind.]]> 340 Lynn Shepherd 0345532422 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.36 2012 The Solitary House (Charles Maddox, #2)
author: Lynn Shepherd
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2013/05/06
date added: 2014/03/01
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I was really excited about this book; it's intertextual with Dickens' Bleak House, and Collins' The Woman in White, two of my favorite Victorian novels. Shepherd's original touches -- Mr. Tulkinghorn's cabinet of curiosities, and detective Charles Maddox -- work well, as do the moments when Shepherd's characters inhabit the same space as Dickens's. However, the reworking becomes . . . well, obvious. We all accept that the Victorian era was darker than the way it liked to portray itself, but the transformations of Dickens's characters/plot made for less interesting social critique than the original, and her choices were obvious. I'd happily read an original 19th century mystery by Shepherd, but was underwhelmed by this one. For what it's worth, there is an unusually excellent portrayal of a pet cat.
]]> Mary Reilly 274975 Property comes a fresh twist on the classic Jekyll and Hyde story, a novel told from the perspective of Mary Reilly, Dr. Jekyll's dutiful and intelligent housemaid.

Faithfully weaving in details from Robert Louis Stevenson's classic, Martin introduces an original and captivating character: Mary is a survivor-scarred but still strong-familiar with evil, yet brimming with devotion and love. As a bond grows between Mary and her tortured employer, she is sent on errands to unsavory districts of London and entrusted with secrets she would rather not know. Unable to confront her hideous suspicions about Dr. Jekyll, Mary ultimately proves the lengths to which she'll go to protect him. Through her astute reflections, we hear the rest of the classic Jekyll and Hyde story, and this familiar tale is made more terrifying than we remember it, more complex than we imagined possible.]]> 256 Valerie Martin 0349117810 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.68 1990 Mary Reilly
author: Valerie Martin
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at: 2014/01/30
date added: 2014/01/30
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Obviously, Dr. Jekyll had servants. This is the story of one of them, Mary, who managed to get a basic education and thus is literate and can leave a diary. It's interesting to see the story unfold from her perspective, though the story takes while to develop suspense of its own, rather than borrowed from the source narrative.
]]> The Mulberry Empire 715237
At the center of The Mulberry Empire is Alexander Burnes, a Scots explorer who travels to the unfathomably remote kingdom of Afghanistan and first befriends and then reluctantly betrays its wise and impeccably courteous Amir. But he is only one character in a cast that includes ladies and generals, princes and deserters, all brilliantly and sympathetically realized. At once stirring and harrowing, exotic and cautionary, and as vividly colored as a Persian miniature, the result is a tour de force of re-creation and invention.]]> 496 Philip Hensher 1400030897 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.35 2002 The Mulberry Empire
author: Philip Hensher
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2014/01/18
date added: 2014/01/18
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I really loved the first book by Hensher I read, The Northern Clemency; he does something similar here by inhabiting the rather alienated inner lives of a large number of characters over time, but in this case, his characters are early Victorians, so that there's a strange double consciousness. For a novel that's about the First Afghan War, I found it interesting that the war takes up very little actual space in the text -- it's the lead ups that are most significant. On the one hand, it jumps around so much that it's hard to get too attached to any particular figure, and on the other, that gives a good sense of the scale of things.
]]> Spring-Heeled Jack 24778
The story begins as three young innocents escape their orphanage one dark and stormy night. As they make their way through the treacherous streets of London danger lurks, for hiding in the shadows is Mack the
Knife, the most villainous of villains. Enter
Spring-Heeled Jack, the springiest of heroes. But will Jack’s powers be enough to save
the orphans?

Originally published in paperback, Spring-Heeled Jack is back—now as a hardcover with eye-catching new jacket art.]]> 112 Philip Pullman 044041881X Catherine 3 3.37 1991 Spring-Heeled Jack
author: Philip Pullman
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.37
book published: 1991
rating: 3
read at: 2013/12/14
date added: 2013/12/17
shelves: book-group-books, neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Tale of Victorian orphans, rescued from their peril by Spring-Heeled Jack. The only problem is that Jack gets very little development in the story, so it's not quite as labeled on the tin. It moves back and forth between prose and graphics panels, as though it can't quite decide what it wants to be. Still, it's clever and charming, for the right audience.
]]> <![CDATA[The Mammoth Book of Steampunk (Mammoth Books)]]> 12377549 The Mammoth Book of Steampunk showcases the very best in the form of stories by Paul Di Filippo, Neil Gaiman, Cherie Priest, and many more.

An anthology that looks to the future through the lens of the past, these 30 mash-ups of past and future push the boundaries of steampunk.

This is steampunk with a modern, post-colonial sensibility. Contributors include: Jeff VanderMeer, CaitlĂ­n Kiernan, Mary Robinette Kowal, Jay Lake, Cherie Priest, Cat Rambo, Catherynne M. Valente, Genevieve Valentine, and many more.

Contents:
Steampunk : looking to the future through the lens of the past / Ekaterina Sedia --
Fixing Hanover / Jeff VanderMeer --
The Steam Dancer (1896) / Caitlin R. Kierman --
Icebreaker / E. Catherine Tobler --
Tom Edison and his amazing telegraphic harpoon / Jay Lake --
The Zeppelin Conductors' Society Annual Gentlemen's Ball / Genevieve Valentine
Clockwork fairies / Cat Rambo --
The mechanical aviary of Emperor Jala-ud-din Muhammad Akbar / Shweta Narayan --
Prayers of forges and furnaces / Aliette de Bodard --
The effluent engine / N.K. Jemisin --
The clockwork goat and the smokestack magi / Peter M. Ball --
The armature of flight / Sharon Mock --
The anachronist's cookbook / Catherynne M. Valente --
Numismatics in the reigns of Naranh and Viu / Alex Dally MacFarlane --
Zeppelin City / Eileen Gunn & Michael Swanwick --
The people's machine / Tobias S. Buckell --
The hands that feed / Matthew Kressel --
Machine maid / Margo Lanagan --
To follow the waves / Amal El-Mohtar --
Clockmaker's requiem / Barth Anderson --
Dr Lash remembers / Jeffrey Ford --
Lady Witherspoon's solution / James Morrow --
Reluctance / Cherie Priest --
A serpent in the gears / Margaret Ronald --
The celebrated carousel of the Margravine of Blois / Megan Arkenberg --
Biographical notes to ''A discourse on the nature of causality, with air-planes'' by Benjamin Rosenbaum / Benjamin Rosenbaum --
Clockwork chickadee / Mary Robinette Kowal --
Cinderella suicide / Samantha Henderson --
Arbeitskraft / Nick Mamatas --
To seek her fortune / Nicole Kornher-Stace --
The ballad of the last human / Lavie Tidhar.]]> 498 Sean Wallace 0762444681 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.48 2012 The Mammoth Book of Steampunk (Mammoth Books)
author: Sean Wallace
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2013/09/16
date added: 2013/09/17
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Some excellent stories (many, not all, previously published elsewhere), some mediocre ones, and some of both that didn't really feel steampunk at all.
]]> <![CDATA[Dreadnought (The Clockwork Century, #2)]]> 7911067
But crossing the country is no small task; it's a harrowing adventure through war-torn border states by dirigible, rail, and the Mississippi River. And once Mercy finally arrives in St. Louis, the only Tacoma-bound train is pulled by a terrifying Union-operated steam engine called the Dreadnought. Lacking options and running out of money, Mercy buys a ticket and climbs aboard.

What ought to be a quiet trip turns deadly when the train is beset by bushwackers, then vigorously attacked by a band of Rebel soldiers. The train is moving away from battle lines into the vast, unincorporated west, so Mercy can't imagine why it's meeting such resisitance. Perhaps it has something to do with the mysterious cargo in the second and last train cars?

Mercy is just a frustrated nurse who wants to see her father before he dies. But she'll have to survive both Union intrigue and Confederate opposition if she wants to make it off the Dreadnought alive.]]> 400 Cherie Priest 0765325780 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.86 2010 Dreadnought (The Clockwork Century, #2)
author: Cherie Priest
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2013/05/23
date added: 2013/07/14
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Much of the novel seems to be setup for things-yet-to-come in the series, but the trip -- literally, most of the trip is protagonist Mercy Lynch's journey from Virginia to Seattle, in this alt!Civil War steampunk world -- is worth taking. Well-drawn characters, and Mercy is a strong female protagonist without being a superwoman.
]]> <![CDATA[Tanglefoot (The Clockwork Century, #1.2)]]> 7670787 34 Cherie Priest 1596064994 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.50 2008 Tanglefoot (The Clockwork Century, #1.2)
author: Cherie Priest
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2013/06/22
date added: 2013/06/22
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I think because this was published as a standalone, it felt a bit undeveloped; if it had been part of an anthology I would have perceived it as a short story and probably felt differently. It was truly unnerving, and a nice addition to the Clockwork Century series.
]]> The Kingdom of Ohio 6444533
After discovering an old photograph, an elderly antiques dealer living in present-day Los Angeles is forced to revisit the history he has struggled to deny. The photograph depicts a man and a woman. The man is Peter Force, a young frontier adventurer who comes to New York City in 1901 and quickly lands a job digging the first subway tunnels beneath the metropolis. The woman is Cheri- Anne Toledo, a beautiful mathematical prodigy whose memories appear to come from another world. They meet seemingly by chance, and initially Peter dismisses her as crazy. But as they are drawn into a tangle of overlapping intrigues, Peter must reexamine Cheri-Anne?s fantastic story. Could it be that she is telling the truth and that she has stumbled onto the most dangerous secret the key to traveling through time?

Set against the mazelike streets of New York at the dawn of the mechanical age, Peter and Cheri-Anne find themselves wrestling with the nature of history, technology, and the unfolding of time itself.]]> 322 Matthew Flaming 0399155600 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.09 2009 The Kingdom of Ohio
author: Matthew Flaming
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.09
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2013/06/10
date added: 2013/06/10
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Featuring Tesla, Edison, the bars and technology of 19th century New York, a female scientist/engineer frustrated with the limitations placed on her sex, alternate history and time/dimensional travel . . . sounds like steampunk, but has a different feeling. Well-written and engaging, but I found my interest laggng towards the end.
]]> <![CDATA[Brilliant Devices (Magnificent Devices, #4)]]> 16126082 328 Shelley Adina Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.98 2013 Brilliant Devices (Magnificent Devices, #4)
author: Shelley Adina
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2013/06/02
date added: 2013/06/02
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Her Own Devices (Magnificent Devices, #2)]]> 13327471
Seventeen-year-old Lady Claire Trevelyan, left alone after the Arabian Bubble financial disaster claims home and family, now leads the cleverest gang in the London underworld. Between outwitting a rival gang, inventing a device that will net her and her scientist employer worldwide fame, and keeping her mother from marrying her off, she can almost forget that a powerful lord wants to get closer ... and if he succeeds, can destroy it all with a single word ...]]> 291 Shelley Adina Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 4.05 2011 Her Own Devices (Magnificent Devices, #2)
author: Shelley Adina
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2013/05/28
date added: 2013/05/28
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
A fun steampunk romp, with a young female inventor of aristocratic background wanting to find her place in the world, a collection of working class orphans who she ends up mentoring, and a plot involving lots of machinations. Some of the characters are a bit too over-the-top -- Lord James practically twirls his moustache -- but overall it's quite appealing.
]]> <![CDATA[The Chemickal Marriage (The Glass Books #3)]]> 14623646 516 Gordon Dahlquist 0670921653 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.86 2012 The Chemickal Marriage (The Glass Books #3)
author: Gordon Dahlquist
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2013/04/18
date added: 2013/04/20
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I didn't enjoy this book as much as the other two in the series -- I suspect the time that elapsed between reading them and it meant I'd lost momentum with the text. Pacing seemed a little off, too. Nonetheless, I'm glad the third and final book is available -- was it only published in the UK? -- and I was glad to get the resolution.
]]> <![CDATA[Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy]]> 15793149
Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells is an anthology for everyone who loves these works of neo-Victorian fiction, and wishes to explore the wide variety of ways that modern fantasists are using nineteenth-century settings, characters, and themes. These approaches stretch from steampunk fiction to the Austen-and-Trollope inspired works that some critics call Fantasy of Manners, all of which fit under the larger umbrella of Gaslamp Fantasy. The result is eighteen stories by experts from the fantasy, horror, mainstream, and young adult fields, including both bestselling writers and exciting new talents such as Elizabeth Bear, James Blaylock, Jeffrey Ford, Ellen Kushner, Tanith Lee, Gregory Maguire, Delia Sherman, and Catherynne M. Valente, who present a bewitching vision of a nineteenth century invested (or cursed!) with magic.

The Line-up:
“Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells� by Delia Sherman
“The Fairy Enterprise� by Jeffrey Ford
“From the Catalogue of the Pavilion of the Uncanny and Marvelous, Scheduled for Premiere at the Great Exhibition (Before the Fire)� by Genevieve Valentine
“The Memory Book� by Maureen McHugh
“La Reine D’Enfer� by Kathe Koja
“Briar Rose� by Elizabeth Wein
“The Governess� by Elizabeth Bear
â€ÂŮłľľ±łŮłó´Úľ±±đ±ô»ĺâ€� by James P. Blaylock
“The Unwanted Women of Surrey� by Kaaron Warren
“Cłó˛ą°ů˛µ±đ»ĺâ€� by Leanna Renee Hieber
“Mr. Splitfoot� by Dale Bailey
“Płó´Ç˛ő±čłó´Ç°ůłÜ˛őâ€� by Veronica Schanoes
“We Without Us Were Shadows� by Catherynne M. Valente
“The Vital Importance of the Superficial� by Ellen Kushner and Caroline Stevermer
“The Jewel in the Toad Queen’s Crown� by Jane Yolen
“A Few Twigs He Left Behind� by Gregory Maguire
“Their Monstrous Minds� by Tanith Lee
“Estella Saves the Village� by Theodora Goss]]> 352 Ellen Datlow 0765332272 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.45 2013 Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy
author: Ellen Datlow
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2013/03/30
date added: 2013/04/01
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Thoroughly enjoyable anthology of neoVictorian fantasies. I was lucky enough to hear Leanne Renee Hieber, Genevieve Valentine, Ellen Kushner, Delia Sherman, and Veronica Schanoes read from their stories at the book release party -- all excellent, though very different. Other favorites included stories by Jeffrey Ford, Maureen McHugh, Elizabeth Gatland, and Jane Yolen. Theodora Goss' "Estella Saves the Village" hit a personally sour note for me - the girl who dreams of being a writer and grows up to be a professor of Victorian literature instead, as the current academic market means my chances of being a published writer someday are looking better than my chances of ever being a tenure-track professor of Victorian literature.
]]> <![CDATA[Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling]]> 13029036
However, everything comes with a price, and as Charlotte begins to understand the unspeakable bargain Mrs. Darrow has made for a second chance at motherhood, she uncovers a connection to the sinister occurrences in Blackfield and enters into a deadly game with the master of Darkling--one whose outcome will determine the fate of not just the Darrows but the world itself.

Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling is a Victorian Gothic tale about family ties, the realm beyond the living, and the price you pay to save those you love.]]> 296 Michael Boccacino 0062122614 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.26 2012 Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling
author: Michael Boccacino
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.26
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2013/03/16
date added: 2013/03/17
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
If you're going to cite the Brontes, Kazuo Ishiguro and H.P. Lovecraft as influences, along with Susanna Clarke, China Mieville, and Neil Gaiman, I'm probably already listening. I thoroughly enjoyed this first outing, which gets better and better as it goes along.
]]> Sebastian O 22367 80 Grant Morrison 140120337X Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.41 2004 Sebastian O
author: Grant Morrison
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 2013/03/12
date added: 2013/03/12
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
This is a brief graphic novel featuring a Wildean decadent dandy, determined to revenge himself against the man who imprisoned him. It has steampunk elements, but is more about the decadence, in an almost Huysmanian manner. Sebastian is based on Oscar Wilde, but has something of Lord Alfred Douglas about him as well, if only the rather peculiar blond bowl haircut. It was enjoyable, but could easily have been twice as long, if only to develop the characters and situations enough for there to be something real at stake.
]]> <![CDATA[The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black]]> 15799400 Ěý
The Resurrectionist offers two extraordinary books in one. The first is a fictional biography of Dr. Spencer Black, from a childhood spent exhuming corpses through his medical training, his travels with carnivals, and the mysterious disappearance at the end of his life. The second book is Black’s magnum opus: The Codex Extinct Animalia, a Gray’s Anatomy for mythological beasts—dragons, centaurs, Pegasus, Cerberus—all rendered in meticulously detailed anatomical illustrations. You need only look at these images to realize they are the work of a madman. The Resurrectionist tells his story.]]> 208 E.B. Hudspeth 1594746168 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk
I visited the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia for the first time last summer, and the book seems steeped in that atmosphere, especially the teratogenic specimens for which the museum is famous, as well as its Victorian cabinet-of-curiosities feel. There's a feel that echoes the science of the day, and the post-Darwinian anxiety is palpable. The book contains a fairly obvious tribute to Mary Shelley in naming two of Black's children Victor and Elizabeth, and one of the sons who survives to adulthood, Alphonse (Alphonse Frankenstein was Victor's father in Shelley's book).

The ARC I had, from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers' program, had many pages of "illustration TK" which saddens me, because what was present was amazing. I may have to wishlist this just to see the rest.]]> 3.60 2013 The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black
author: E.B. Hudspeth
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2013/03/02
date added: 2013/03/02
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
The biography of a fictional Victorian anatomist who slips from a successful research career into madness (making stops at the carnival circuit on the way) is appropriately chilling in its brevity. We have only the sources that can be reconstructed from documents left after Spencer Black's disappearance, and their very scantness provides a sense of verisimilitude. Black's theory, that the human body cannot attempt what it does not know possible, suggests to him that the conjoined twins and humans with extra parts are not mistakes, but throwbacks to an earlier form of being, leads him to believe that mythological beings are an earlier stage on the evolutionary ladder. He begins to construct specimens to show his theories are possible, but when dead specimens are no longer enough, the trouble begins.

I visited the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia for the first time last summer, and the book seems steeped in that atmosphere, especially the teratogenic specimens for which the museum is famous, as well as its Victorian cabinet-of-curiosities feel. There's a feel that echoes the science of the day, and the post-Darwinian anxiety is palpable. The book contains a fairly obvious tribute to Mary Shelley in naming two of Black's children Victor and Elizabeth, and one of the sons who survives to adulthood, Alphonse (Alphonse Frankenstein was Victor's father in Shelley's book).

The ARC I had, from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers' program, had many pages of "illustration TK" which saddens me, because what was present was amazing. I may have to wishlist this just to see the rest.
]]> <![CDATA[Catastrophone Orchestra: A Collection of Works]]> 13515073
The underside of the city is laid bare in this collection. The Orchestra itself provides only the bookends for five seasonals, a distinctly Victorian genre of short fiction that has been given new life in these pages. Street brawls and gangs, mechanical mothers, slaughterhouses and circuses, magicians and orphanages, laborers and strikes, the Catastrophone Orchestra has seen it all.

Five seasonals, a backstory, and two groundbreaking steampunk essays are herein collected.]]> 149 Catastrophone Orchestra 0983497141 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 4.00 2011 Catastrophone Orchestra: A Collection of Works
author: Catastrophone Orchestra
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2013/02/16
date added: 2013/02/16
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
A breath of fresh air in a field that needs it. This collection of steampunk stories, some of which have previously appeared in Steampunk Magazine, put the punk back in steampunk in a serious way. Set in a Gangs of New York milieu, both the ongoing characters from the frame narrative and those in each individual story deal with social injustice, particularly that facing the working class and the destitute. Well-researched and atmospheric on the historic side, the steampunk elements are also well-chosen. It may be a problem with the ebook formatting, but sometimes things jump around a bit. But this is on my steampunk shortlist, for successfully exploring the genre's possibilities.
]]> <![CDATA[Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School, #1)]]> 10874177 It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners--and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but they also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage--in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education.]]> 307 Gail Carriger 031619008X Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.82 2013 Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School, #1)
author: Gail Carriger
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2013/02/12
date added: 2013/02/13
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Another enjoyable romp, set in the same universe as the Parasol Protectorate series, but earlier on and with younger characters. It was nice to see some familiar faces, and I defy anyone to read this book and not want a Bumbersnoot of his/her own.
]]> <![CDATA[Willful Impropriety: 13 Tales of Society, Scandal and Romance]]> 13478084
Deliciously alluring, these thirteen historical romances from a talented array of YA authors will make even the most cynical heart swoon.

Table of Contents:
“The Dancing Master� by Genevieve Valentine
“The Unladylike Education Of Agatha Tremain� by Stephanie Burgis
“At Will� by Leanna Renee Hieber
“Steeped In Debt To The Chimney Pots� by Steve Berman
“Outside The Absolute� by Seth Cadin
“Resurrection� by Tiffany Trent
“Mrs Beeton’s Book Of Magickal Management� by Karen Healey
“The Garden Of England� by Sandra Mcdonald
“False Colours� by Marie Brennan
“Nussbaum’s Golden Fortune� by M. K. Hobson
“The Colonel’s Daughter� by Barbara Roden
“Mercury Retrograde� by Mary Robinette Kowal
“The Language Of Flowers� by Caroline Stevermer]]> 384 Ekaterina Sedia 0762444304 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.36 2012 Willful Impropriety: 13 Tales of Society, Scandal and Romance
author: Ekaterina Sedia
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2013/01/11
date added: 2013/01/11
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
This collection was a delightful surprise -- neoVictorian stories -- some involving magic or steampunk elements, some not -- in which impropriety is a theme in its many forms. With stories by Genevieve Valentine, Leanna Renee Hieber, and Mary Robinette Kowal contributing, it's already clear it's going to be above average. Most of the writers had a solid sense of the time period they were playing with -- I caught the word "deconstruct" used once, which took me out of the moment -- but overall they skewer the conventions nicely, often playfully.
]]> Heyday 58558 Heyday is a brilliantly imagined, wildly entertaining tale of America’s boisterous coming of age–a sweeping panorama of madcap rebellion and overnight fortunes, palaces and brothels, murder and revenge–as well as the story of a handful of unforgettable characters discovering the nature of freedom, loyalty, friendship, and true love.

In the middle of the nineteenth century, modern life is being born: the mind-boggling marvels of photography, the telegraph, and railroads; a flood of show business spectacles and newspapers; rampant sex and drugs and drink (and moral crusades against all three); Wall Street awash with money; and giddy utopian visions everywhere. Then, during a single amazing month at the beginning of 1848, history lurches: America wins its war of manifest destiny against Mexico, gold is discovered in northern California, and revolutions sweep across Europe–sending one eager English gentleman off on an epic transatlantic adventure. . . .

Amid the tumult, aristocratic Benjamin Knowles impulsively abandons the Old World to reinvent himself in New York, where he finds himself embraced by three restless young Americans: Timothy Skaggs, muckraking journalist, daguerreotypist, pleasure-seeker, stargazer; the fireman Duff Lucking, a sweet but dangerously damaged veteran of the Mexican War; and Duff’s dazzling sister Polly Lucking, a strong-minded, free thinking actress (and discreet part-time prostitute) with whom Ben falls hopelessly in love.

Beckoned by the frontier, new beginnings, and the prospects of the California Gold Rush, all four set out on a transcontinental race west–relentlessly tracked, unbeknownst to them, by a cold-blooded killer bent on revenge.

A fresh, impeccable portrait of an era startlingly reminiscent of our own times, Heyday is by turns tragic and funny and sublime, filled with bona fide heroes and lost souls, visionaries (Walt Whitman, Charles Darwin, Alexis de Tocqueville) and monsters, expanding horizons and narrow escapes. It is also an affecting story of four people passionately chasing their American dreams at a time when America herself was still being dreamed up � an enthralling, old-fashioned yarn interwoven with a bracingly modern novel of ideas.]]> 640 Kurt Andersen 0375504737 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.51 2007 Heyday
author: Kurt Andersen
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2013/01/02
date added: 2013/01/02
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
A panoramic view of mid-19th century America, from the perspective of characters of varied social classes and backgrounds who all end up linked together (it does suffer a little from "one girl" syndrome). The story is wide-ranging, the characters well-drawn, and Andersen's research is impeccable. Color me a little surprised at some of the reviewers who complain about the "boring" historic details -- Andersen gives a detailed and lively depiction of life as it was, and as someone who's read quite a bit about the period, I rarely felt a wrong note. It's a bit predictable that the one female protagonist has a very modern view of sexuality, but her background quite fairly accounts for that. A lovely long read to get lost in.
]]> <![CDATA[The Unnaturalists (The Unnaturalists, #1)]]> 12988074 In an alternate London where magical creatures are preserved in a museum, two teens find themselves caught in a web of intrigue, deception, and danger.

Vespa Nyx wants nothing more than to spend the rest of her life cataloging Unnatural creatures in her father’s museum, but as she gets older, the requirement to become a lady and find a husband is looming large. Syrus Reed’s Tinker family has always served and revered the Unnaturals from afar, but when his family is captured to be refinery slaves, he finds that his fate may be bound up with Vespa’s—and with the Unnaturals.

As the danger grows, Vespa and Syrus find themselves in a tightening web of deception and intrigue. At stake may be the fate of New London—and the world.]]> 308 Tiffany Trent 1442422068 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.47 2012 The Unnaturalists (The Unnaturalists, #1)
author: Tiffany Trent
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2012/12/23
date added: 2012/12/23
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Steampunk/fantasy hybrids seem to be the order of the day, and although what really interests me about steampunk is the exploration of alternative technologies and their impact, this one deals with the science-magic continuum quite nicely by essentially reversing it. In New London, a city drawn from our world into Fairyland when Tesla opened a door that should not have been opened, Science is a matter of faith, and magic is part of everyday life. Vespa Nyx, an aspiring "Unnaturalist" who works with her father in a natural, er, unnatural history museum, aspires towards intellectual integrity, and doesn't care much about making a good match until she meets the book's hero. It's a YA, with all the strengths and faults of that genre; the world-building makes it worth a read.
]]> <![CDATA[The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart (Magic Most Foul, #2)]]> 10553047 336 Leanna Renee Hieber 1402262035 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.77 2012 The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart (Magic Most Foul, #2)
author: Leanna Renee Hieber
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2012/12/09
date added: 2012/12/09
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Quickly-paced, full of engaging characters, and well-researched -- Hieber's latest is a pleasure to read. Nice cameo from a couple of favorite characters from her Strangely Beautiful universe.
]]> <![CDATA[Steaming into a Victorian Future: A Steampunk Anthology]]> 15863887
In Steaming into a Victorian A Steampunk Anthology, Julie Anne Taddeo and Cynthia J. Miller have assembled a collection of essays that consider the social and cultural aspects of this multi-faceted genre. The essays included in this volume examine various manifestations of steampunk—both separately and in relation to each other—in order to better understand the steampunk sub-culture and its effect on—and interrelationship with—popular culture and the wider society. This volume expands and extends existing scholarship on steampunk in order to explore many previously unconsidered questions about cultural creativity, social networking, fandom, appropriation, and the creation of meaning.

With a foreword by popular culture scholar Ken Dvorak, and an afterword by steampunk expert Jeff VanderMeer, Steaming into a Victorian Future offers a wide ranging look at the impact of steampunk, as well as the individuals who create, interpret, and consume it.]]> 360 Julie Anne Taddeo 0810885867 Catherine 0 neovictorians-and-steampunk As I'm a contributor, I'm not going to give this stars lest it be seen as self-serving, but I will recommend it.]]> 3.86 2012 Steaming into a Victorian Future: A Steampunk Anthology
author: Julie Anne Taddeo
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at: 2012/11/08
date added: 2012/11/08
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
The first edited collection of academic essays on the steampunk phenomenon -- covers literature, film, subculture, politics, and aesthetic.
As I'm a contributor, I'm not going to give this stars lest it be seen as self-serving, but I will recommend it.
]]> Misfortune 379343
Then, a miracle occurs. As his carriage passes a trash dump, Geoffroy spies an abandoned baby in the jaws of a cur. He saves the child, names her Rose, and declares her his rightful heir. The shock fells Lady Loveall on the spot, and Rose becomes the pampered daughter of Lord Loveall and his bride of convenience, the resident librarian Anonyma. This joyful period lasts until Rose's adolescence, when it becomes increasingly difficult to hide the one great secret of Love Hall: namely, that Rose, now in the position of fending off suitors for her titled hand, is in fact a boy.

Rose's whiskers, deepening voice, and affection for the daughter of a courtier have not gone unnoticed. Armed with the new revelation, the Loveall's unscrupulous relatives launch a coup, and a desperately confused Rose is cast adrift -- until he finds the renewed vitality that comes from the love of true family and realizes that he can and must go home.]]> 531 Wesley Stace 0316830348 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.71 2005 Misfortune
author: Wesley Stace
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2012/10/02
date added: 2012/10/03
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Neo-Victorianism: The Victorians in the Twenty-First Century, 1999-2009]]> 9571515 335 Ann Heilmann 0230241131 Catherine 5 neovictorians-and-steampunk 4.38 2010 Neo-Victorianism: The Victorians in the Twenty-First Century, 1999-2009
author: Ann Heilmann
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2012/08/26
date added: 2012/08/27
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:

]]> <![CDATA[True History of the Kelly Gang]]> 110090
In True History of the Kelly Gang, the legendary Ned Kelly speaks for himself, scribbling his narrative on errant scraps of paper in semiliterate but magically descriptive prose as he flees from the police. To his pursuers, Kelly is nothing but a monstrous criminal, a thief and a murderer. To his own people, the lowly class of ordinary Australians, the bushranger is a hero, defying the authority of the English to direct their lives. Indentured by his bootlegger mother to a famous horse thief (who was also her lover), Ned saw his first prison cell at 15 and by the age of 26 had become the most wanted man in the wild colony of Victoria, taking over whole towns and defying the law until he was finally captured and hanged. Here is a classic outlaw tale, made alive by the skill of a great novelist.
]]> 369 Peter Carey 0375724672 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.83 2000 True History of the Kelly Gang
author: Peter Carey
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2012/06/28
date added: 2012/06/28
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
The story of a famous Australian bushranger, and the inequitable conditions in nineteenth century Australia. Carey pulls off the "semi-literate author" trope effectively here -- I found myself thoroughly engrossed by Kelly's first-person narrative and his world.
]]> <![CDATA[The House in the High Wood: A Story of Old Talbotshire (Western Lights, #2)]]> 1560536 Dark Sleeper, returns with a novel as charming-and chilling-as a good old-fashioned ghost story...

Strange things are afoot in the town of Shilston Upcot. A mysterious owl hovers in the sky. Mournful voices cry out for a lost child. Townsfolk are besieged by nightmares. And only one man, the reclusive squire Mark Trench, dares to investigate the strange omens to face the truth: The horror has returned.]]> 337 Jeffrey E. Barlough 0441008410 Catherine 5 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.91 2001 The House in the High Wood: A Story of Old Talbotshire (Western Lights, #2)
author: Jeffrey E. Barlough
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 2012/04/13
date added: 2012/05/23
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I liked the first of Barlough's Western Lights series of alt!history fantasy-mysteries, set in a nineteenth-century inflected world with bonus prehistoric mammals, but I didn't love it. Accordingly, the sequel's been sitting around TBR for a couple of years now. With the second, though, he really hit his stride; he's one of the rare authors who can write Victorian-style prose without sounding affected. The book has a long slow build and a devastating conclusion; this is horror that proves you can be restrained and still disturbing. Looking forward to catching up with the rest.
]]> Hide Me Among the Graves 11966655
But Polidori's taste for debauchery has grown excessive. He is determined to possess the life and soul of an innocent young girl, the daughter of a veterinarian and a reformed prostitute he once haunted. And he has resurrected Dante's dead wife, transforming her into a horrifying vampire. The Rossettis know the time has come � Polidori must be stopped. Joining forces with the girl's unlikely parents, they are plunged into a supernatural London underworld whose existence they never suspected.

These wildly mismatched allies � a strait-laced animal doctor, and ex-prostitute, a poet, a painter, and even the Artful Dodger-like young daughter � must ultimately choose between the banality and constraints of human life and the unholy immortality that Polidori offers. Sweeping from high society to grimy slums, elegant West End salons to pre-Roman catacombs beneath St. Paul's cathedral, Hide Me Among The Graves blends the historical and the supernatural in a dazzling, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride.]]> 511 Tim Powers 0061231541 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk The Stress of Her Regard (Keats, Byron, Shelley, and lamia-like vampires which spark your creativity but destroy your loved ones). This one has the entire Rossetti family, including some fabulous Christina Rossetti selections as chapter headings, plus Swinburne, Trelawney, Polidori-as-vampyre, and the son of the protagonists from Stress. I liked Powers' characterization of Christina, particularly. The text doesn't quite seem to flow somehow, at least in places; I would have liked more development on the subject of his quite interesting take on vampires (if I hadn't read Stress I'm not sure how easy it would have been to follow), and some of the characters seemed a little too sketched in.

Great idea, good book.]]> 3.57 2012 Hide Me Among the Graves
author: Tim Powers
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2012/03/30
date added: 2012/03/31
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
The idea of this one is terrific -- a sequel to my Powers favorite, The Stress of Her Regard (Keats, Byron, Shelley, and lamia-like vampires which spark your creativity but destroy your loved ones). This one has the entire Rossetti family, including some fabulous Christina Rossetti selections as chapter headings, plus Swinburne, Trelawney, Polidori-as-vampyre, and the son of the protagonists from Stress. I liked Powers' characterization of Christina, particularly. The text doesn't quite seem to flow somehow, at least in places; I would have liked more development on the subject of his quite interesting take on vampires (if I hadn't read Stress I'm not sure how easy it would have been to follow), and some of the characters seemed a little too sketched in.

Great idea, good book.
]]> <![CDATA[Timeless (Parasol Protectorate, #5)]]> 11324166 407 Gail Carriger 0748122680 Catherine 5 neovictorians-and-steampunk
Prudence is tremendous fun (she is the classic child you wish on your friends, not yourself. Really in her case the extra parents make sense; it's a good thing she's got Alexia and Conall *and* Akeldama and his drones). For once I can't complain about insufficient Lord Akeldama appearances. I've been expecting Biffy/Lyall and I was right; their relationship is really sweet.

But the biggest tragedy is that the series is ended and I NEED to know about Ivy Tunstell, Fashion-Challenged Vampire Queen, NOW. Hopefully she'll turn up in one of the sequel series (well, she won't be getting any older).]]> 4.11 2012 Timeless (Parasol Protectorate, #5)
author: Gail Carriger
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2012/03/04
date added: 2012/03/04
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I'm giving this one five stars, not because it was perfect, but because it was a delightful ending to a charming series.

Prudence is tremendous fun (she is the classic child you wish on your friends, not yourself. Really in her case the extra parents make sense; it's a good thing she's got Alexia and Conall *and* Akeldama and his drones). For once I can't complain about insufficient Lord Akeldama appearances. I've been expecting Biffy/Lyall and I was right; their relationship is really sweet.

But the biggest tragedy is that the series is ended and I NEED to know about Ivy Tunstell, Fashion-Challenged Vampire Queen, NOW. Hopefully she'll turn up in one of the sequel series (well, she won't be getting any older).
]]> <![CDATA[The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man (Burton & Swinburne, #2)]]> 9740847
Time has been altered, and Sir Richard Francis Burton, the king’s agent, is one of the few people who know that the world is now careening along a very different course from that which Destiny intended.

When a clockwork-powered man of brass is found abandoned in Trafalgar Square, Burton and his assistant, the wayward poet Algernon Swinburne, find themselves on the trail of the stolen Garnier Collection—black diamonds rumored to be fragments of the Lemurian Eye of Naga, a meteorite that fell to Earth in prehistoric times.

His investigation leads to involvement with the media sensation of the age: the Tichborne Claimant, a man who insists that he’s the long lost heir to the cursed Tichborne estate. Monstrous, bloated, and monosyllabic, he’s not the aristocratic Sir Roger Tichborne known to everyone, yet the working classes come out in force to support him. They are soon rioting through the streets of London, as mysterious steam wraiths incite all-out class warfare.

From a haunted mansion to the Bedlam madhouse, from South America to Australia, from séances to a secret labyrinth, Burton struggles with shadowy opponents and his own inner demons, meeting along the way the philosopher Herbert Spencer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Florence Nightingale, and Charles Doyle (father of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).

Can the king’s agent expose a plot that threatens to rip the British Empire apart, leading to an international conflict the like of which the world has never seen? And what part does the clockwork man have to play?

Burton and Swinburne’s second adventure�The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man—is filled with eccentric steam-driven technology, grotesque characters, and a deepening mystery that pushes forward the three-volume story arc begun in The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack.
]]> 355 Mark Hodder 1616143592 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.95 2011 The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man (Burton & Swinburne, #2)
author: Mark Hodder
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2012/01/08
date added: 2012/01/08
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Hodder continues his entertaining alternate history series; I do enjoy the way he plays with various Victorians and their alternate futures. I very much want to know why the parakeets are so fond of Herbert Spencer, and I was amused by the Very Polite Zombies. And as someone who's interested in the legal history of 19th century England, I could hardly failed to be interested in Hodder's take on the Tichborne Claimant. However, I was dismayed by his take on working class rebellion, which was purely threatening and manipulated, and could have existed in an actual 19th century novel. Too bad; that loses him a star.
]]> Ghosts by Gaslight 10575798 Seventeen all-new stories illuminate the steampunk world of fog and fear!

Modern masters of the supernatural weave their magic to revitalize the chilling Victorian and Edwardian ghostly tale: here are haunted houses, arcane inventions, spirits reaching across the centuries, ghosts in the machine, fateful revelations, gaslit streets scarcely keeping the dark at bay, and other twisted variations on the immortal classics that frighten us still.]]> 391 Jack Dann 0061999717 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.53 2011 Ghosts by Gaslight
author: Jack Dann
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2011/12/12
date added: 2011/12/12
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Unusually strong collection of neo-Victorian ghost stories; although a few of the stories have steampunk elements, the subtitle is a bit misleading. I was a bit apprehensive of a number of established science fiction writers having a go at writing steampunk stories, but in fact, there's quite a bit of good writing here, very little in the way of steampunk cliche, and a decent attempt at writing Victorian-style fiction. I particularly enjoyed stories by Margo Lanagan, Theodora Goss, Lucius Shepard, Paul Park, and Terry Dowling.
]]> The Anubis Gates 142296
Caught up in the intrigue between rival bands of beggars, pursued by Egyptian sorcerers, and befriended by Coleridge, Doyle somehow survives and learns more about the mysterious Ashbless than he could ever have imagined possible...]]> 387 Tim Powers 0441004016 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.93 1983 The Anubis Gates
author: Tim Powers
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1983
rating: 4
read at: 2011/11/27
date added: 2011/11/28
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
On rereading this, I'm moving it up to four stars; having explored the 1980s Jeter-Blaylock-Powers roots of steampunk, this is by far the most satisfying of the narratives. I have some trouble warming to the narrator, Brendan Doyle (even though he's a professor of 19th century literature), but the plotting is satisfying, and the secondary character Jacky is winning. And there's Byron, and Coleridge, and the lovely paradox of William Ashbless . . .
]]> <![CDATA[Darker Still (Magic Most Foul, #1)]]> 10841336 I was obsessed.

It was as if he called to me, demanding I reach out and touch the brushstrokes of color swirled onto the canvas. It was the most exquisite portrait I'd ever seen--everything about Lord Denbury was unbelievable...utterly breathtaking and eerily lifelike.

There was a reason for that. Because despite what everyone said, Denbury never had committed suicide. He was alive. Trapped within his golden frame.

I've crossed over into his world within the painting, and I've seen what dreams haunt him. They haunt me too. He and I are inextricably linked--bound together to watch the darkness seeping through the gas-lit cobblestone streets of Manhattan. Unless I can free him soon, things will only get Darker Still.]]> 320 Leanna Renee Hieber 1402260520 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk
Hieber has a good feel for 19th century New York City; Natalie's father works for the new Metropolitan Museum of Art; she roams Central Park, and investigates murders in the perilous Five Points area. There are a few moments that struck me as anachronistic, but Hieber tells a fast-paced and enjoyable story.

]]> 3.64 2011 Darker Still (Magic Most Foul, #1)
author: Leanna Renee Hieber
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2011/11/17
date added: 2011/11/19
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
A young adult thriller with a plot that's partly Dorian Grey, partly lots of other Victorian gothics, and quite delightful. Natalie, whose diary this is, is an engaging character, using the written word to communicate because a childhood trauma has left her mute. When she finds herself entranced by the portrait of a mysteriously disappeared young English lord, she winds up in the middle of romance, adventure, and magic.

Hieber has a good feel for 19th century New York City; Natalie's father works for the new Metropolitan Museum of Art; she roams Central Park, and investigates murders in the perilous Five Points area. There are a few moments that struck me as anachronistic, but Hieber tells a fast-paced and enjoyable story.


]]> <![CDATA[Infernal devices: A mad Victorian fantasy]]> 49806
A romp through Victorian England by an author said to have "the brain-burned intensity of his mentor, Philip K. Dick."

"This is the real thing - a mad inventor, curious coins, murky London alleys and windblown Scottish Isles ...a wild and extravagant plot that turns up new mysteries with each succeeding page." - James P Blaylock]]> 282 K.W. Jeter 031200706X Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk Infernal Devices may be Jeter's "mad Victorian fantasy", though compared to his earlier steampunk Morlock Nights, it is relatively sane -- sane in a way that incorporates rampaging clockwork automatons and Aetheric Regulators and fish people, not to mention inexplicably bad American accents (which actually have an explanation). The narrative voice, that of proper Victorian George Dower, who inherits his father's watchmaking business and sets up to take it over, untrained, is suitably confused; he's always a step behind the other characters, but understandably so. The novel is fun, but relatively slight; a sudden infodump near the end brings us up to speed, but the narrative feels a bit truncated.]]> 3.29 1986 Infernal devices: A mad Victorian fantasy
author: K.W. Jeter
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.29
book published: 1986
rating: 3
read at: 2011/11/19
date added: 2011/11/19
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Infernal Devices may be Jeter's "mad Victorian fantasy", though compared to his earlier steampunk Morlock Nights, it is relatively sane -- sane in a way that incorporates rampaging clockwork automatons and Aetheric Regulators and fish people, not to mention inexplicably bad American accents (which actually have an explanation). The narrative voice, that of proper Victorian George Dower, who inherits his father's watchmaking business and sets up to take it over, untrained, is suitably confused; he's always a step behind the other characters, but understandably so. The novel is fun, but relatively slight; a sudden infodump near the end brings us up to speed, but the narrative feels a bit truncated.
]]> Goliath (Leviathan, #3) 9918083
While on their top-secret mission, Alek finally discovers Deryn's deeply kept secret. Two, actually. Not only is Deryn a girl disguised as a guy...she has feelings for Alek.

The crown, true love with a commoner, and the destruction of a great city all hang on Alek's next--and final--move.

The thunderous conclusion to Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan series, which was called "sure to become a classic" (SLJ).]]> 543 Scott Westerfeld 1416971777 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 4.23 2011 Goliath (Leviathan, #3)
author: Scott Westerfeld
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2011/11/13
date added: 2011/11/16
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Fitting conclusion to the trilogy; satisfying character resolution and some lovely new bits of technology. Takes place in Siberia, Japan, California, Mexico, and New York, so there's not the same development of sense of place you get in the first two books -- it would have been nice to spend more time in any of these places, but the world-spanning is nice.
]]> Behemoth (Leviathan, #2) 7826116
Deryn is a girl posing as a boy in the British Air Service, and Alek is the heir to an empire posing as a commoner. Finally together aboard the airship Leviathan, they hope to bring the war to a halt. But when disaster strikes the Leviathan's peacekeeping mission, they find themselves alone and hunted in enemy territory.

Alek and Deryn will need great skill, new allies, and brave hearts to face what's ahead.]]> 481 Scott Westerfeld 1416971750 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk
I bought this series in hardcover, largely because they are so *pretty*, but it is, indeed, a Behemoth of a book, heavy and well-made.]]> 4.17 2010 Behemoth (Leviathan, #2)
author: Scott Westerfeld
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2011/11/11
date added: 2011/11/11
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
It tells you how busy I've been that it took me a week to get through a YA, but Behemoth is also worth taking your time with. As with the first, set in the midst of wartime, which is not ordinarily my thing, but Westerfeld's gadgets and machines, both biotechnological Darwinist and fantastical mechanical Clanker, are endlessly fascinating, especially as illustrated by Keith Thompson. The geopolitics of an alternative World War I era, set mostly in an alt!Ottoman Empire where the sultan still reigns, take this book far beyond the boys'-and-girls'-own-adventure that it could have been. Deryn/Dylan remains my favorite character, as she continues to negotiate the familiar "girl-disguised-as-boy" without falling entirely into stereotype.

I bought this series in hardcover, largely because they are so *pretty*, but it is, indeed, a Behemoth of a book, heavy and well-made.
]]> Heart of Iron 10799644 311 Ekaterina Sedia 160701257X Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.09 2011 Heart of Iron
author: Ekaterina Sedia
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.09
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2011/10/09
date added: 2011/10/09
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Sedia's alt!history/steampunk Russia and China are well-drawn, and Sasha, the main character, is appealling. I particularly enjoyed her travails as one of the first female students at university in St. Petersburg, and the train travel through Siberia into China. There are some pacing problems, and Sasha's friends, particularly Chiang Tse and the Englishman-with-a-secret, Jack, could have been better realized, but there was still a good deal here to enjoy.
]]> Fevre Dream 382450
Marsh meant to turn down York’s offer. It was too full of secrets that spelled danger. But the promise of both gold and a grand new boat that could make history crushed his resolve—coupled with the terrible force of York’s mesmerizing gaze. Not until the maiden voyage of his new sidewheeler Fevre Dream would Marsh realize he had joined a mission both more sinister, and perhaps more noble, than his most fantastic nightmare...and mankind’s most impossible dream.

Here is the spellbinding tale of a vampire’s quest to unite his race with humanity, of a garrulous riverman’s dream of immortality, and of the undying legends of the steamboat era and a majestic, ancient river.]]> 334 George R.R. Martin 0553383051 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.88 1982 Fevre Dream
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1982
rating: 3
read at: 2011/09/29
date added: 2011/09/30
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Vampires on a Mississippi riverboat, by George R. R. Martin. What could be bad about that? Absolutely nothing, but neither did it get me past my vampire fatigue.
]]> Homunculus (Narbondo, #2) 421130 248 James P. Blaylock 1930235135 Catherine 2 neovictorians-and-steampunk
But like the skeletal remains of Southcote, it's just somehow not fleshed out. The characterization is all on the surface, and the writing just seems to skitter around from subplot to subplot, without sufficiently developing anything. It also harps, with mean-spirited glee, on the skin problems of one of the villains; that actually put me out of sympathy with the narrative as a whole.]]> 3.55 1986 Homunculus (Narbondo, #2)
author: James P. Blaylock
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.55
book published: 1986
rating: 2
read at: 2010/01/07
date added: 2011/08/31
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I so wanted to like this book -- it's one of the first steampunk novels, and it features neat stuff like the Trismegistus Club and a sort of Flying Dutchman dirigible and the reanimated head of late 18th century mystic Joanna Southcote.

But like the skeletal remains of Southcote, it's just somehow not fleshed out. The characterization is all on the surface, and the writing just seems to skitter around from subplot to subplot, without sufficiently developing anything. It also harps, with mean-spirited glee, on the skin problems of one of the villains; that actually put me out of sympathy with the narrative as a whole.
]]> Morlock Night 645954 What happened when the time machine returned?

Morlock Night is a memorably different excursion in science fiction - a gripping classic adventure in past, present and future - with some startling surprising!]]> 190 K.W. Jeter 0586204385 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk Homunculus, and while I found Powers' The Anubis Gates wonderfully imaginative, overall I didn't care for it nearly as much as I did the darker and more ambitious early steampunk The Difference Engine (Gibson & Sterling) or Powers' own play with the Romantics and the lamia legend in The Stress of Her Regard.

So I approached this one nervously; was I going to strike out completely with the Original Steampunks? Having just finished rereading H. G. Wells' The Time Machine, to which this book sets itself up as a sequel, I thought I'd give it a try. And . . .

this book is, as they say, on crack. All the crack in the world. It is absolutely insane . . . there are Atlantean submarines in the sewers of London and Morlock troops have commandeered the Wellsian Time Machine and are colonizing the past and somehow a gentleman claiming to be Merlin shows up in the midst of all of this . . . It's hilarious and though it's not played as a comedy, it's playful enough that it can stand being taken lightly.

The prose is creditable and barring a few anachronistic moments I can buy the protagonist as a Victorian gentleman thrown in the midst of all this insanity. The Angry Robot reprint also has a useful introduction by Tim Powers, explaining how the novel came about. I'm not sure this book is good, exactly, but it is good fun.

]]> 3.43 1979 Morlock Night
author: K.W. Jeter
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1979
rating: 3
read at: 2011/08/31
date added: 2011/08/31
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
By now the Jeter/Blaylock/Powers origins of steampunk are legendary; I really didn't like Blaylock's Homunculus, and while I found Powers' The Anubis Gates wonderfully imaginative, overall I didn't care for it nearly as much as I did the darker and more ambitious early steampunk The Difference Engine (Gibson & Sterling) or Powers' own play with the Romantics and the lamia legend in The Stress of Her Regard.

So I approached this one nervously; was I going to strike out completely with the Original Steampunks? Having just finished rereading H. G. Wells' The Time Machine, to which this book sets itself up as a sequel, I thought I'd give it a try. And . . .

this book is, as they say, on crack. All the crack in the world. It is absolutely insane . . . there are Atlantean submarines in the sewers of London and Morlock troops have commandeered the Wellsian Time Machine and are colonizing the past and somehow a gentleman claiming to be Merlin shows up in the midst of all of this . . . It's hilarious and though it's not played as a comedy, it's playful enough that it can stand being taken lightly.

The prose is creditable and barring a few anachronistic moments I can buy the protagonist as a Victorian gentleman thrown in the midst of all this insanity. The Angry Robot reprint also has a useful introduction by Tim Powers, explaining how the novel came about. I'm not sure this book is good, exactly, but it is good fun.


]]> <![CDATA[The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack (Burton & Swinburne, #1)]]> 7293120 511 Mark Hodder 1906727201 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk
So why only three stars? Perhaps it's Connie Willis's fault, but having just read the most recent entries in her Oxford time travellers' series (Blackout/All Clear), I didn't find the time travel here particularly convincing, nor the time traveler a compelling character. And while I'm not opposed to taking the wind out of some of our Eminent Victorians, making Darwin and Brunel the bad guys seems to play right into a certain anti-scientific bent in American culture that may not have been so troubling to Hodder, coming from Britain. I liked the concept and the cast of characters well enough that I will certainly read the next; the things that bothered me are specific to this book and the things I enjoyed look like they'll continue throughout the series.]]> 3.71 2010 The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack (Burton & Swinburne, #1)
author: Mark Hodder
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2011/08/24
date added: 2011/08/25
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
The market is getting to be flooded with a) Victorian mystery series and b) steampunk alt!history romps that incorporate all sorts of historical characters. This is the latter and has all kinds of promise; Sir Richard Francis Burton, a Victorian explorer who genuinely immersed himself in the cultures of the places he visited (he spoke 24 languages, among other things), makes a good protagonist, and who doesn't love Algernon Swinburne? There are lovely gadgets ("hoverchairs" and coal-powered velocipedes) and a playfully altered timeline which includes Victoria's assassination and Albert's accession to the throne (they haven't had any children yet, so instead of being regent, he is appointed king). In works like this, an appearance by Oscar Wilde is nigh-obligatory, if at all possible in the timeline. This is a bit early for Wilde the playwright, but Hodder complies nicely, making Oscar a young newsboy who's come to England to escape the famine, but still has his trademark wit. There's not only tech, but there's genetic engineering going on (although the swearing messenger parakeets struck me as more gimmicky than really amusing). And there's a fascinating time-travel paradox.

So why only three stars? Perhaps it's Connie Willis's fault, but having just read the most recent entries in her Oxford time travellers' series (Blackout/All Clear), I didn't find the time travel here particularly convincing, nor the time traveler a compelling character. And while I'm not opposed to taking the wind out of some of our Eminent Victorians, making Darwin and Brunel the bad guys seems to play right into a certain anti-scientific bent in American culture that may not have been so troubling to Hodder, coming from Britain. I liked the concept and the cast of characters well enough that I will certainly read the next; the things that bothered me are specific to this book and the things I enjoyed look like they'll continue throughout the series.
]]> <![CDATA[The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb]]> 9689093 Alice I Have Been, Melanie Benjamin imagined the life of the woman who inspired Alice in Wonderland. Now, in this jubilant new novel, Benjamin shines a dazzling spotlight on another fascinating female figure whose story has never fully been told: a woman who became a nineteenth century icon and inspiration - and whose most daunting limitation became her greatest strength.

"Never would I allow my size to define me. Instead, I would define it."

She was only two-foot eight-inches tall, but her legend reaches out to us more than a century later. As a child, Mercy Lavinia "Vinnie" Bump was encouraged to live a life hidden away from the public. Instead, she reached out to the immortal impresario P. T. Barnum, married the tiny superstar General Tom Thumb in the wedding of the century, and transformed into the world's most unexpected celebrity.

Here, in Vinnie's singular and spirited voice, is her amazing adventure - from a showboat "freak" revue where she endured jeering mobs to her fateful meeting with the two men who would change her life: P. T. Barnum and Charles Stratton, AKA Tom Thumb. Their wedding would captivate the nation, preempt coverage of the Civil War, and usher them into the White House and the company of presidents and queens. But Vinnie's fame would also endanger the person she prized most: her similarly-sized sister, Minnie, a gentle soul unable to escape the glare of Vinnie's spotlight.

A barnstorming novel of the Gilded Age, and of a woman's public triumphs and personal tragedies, The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb is the irresistible epic of a heroine who conquered the country with a heart as big as her dreams - and whose story will surely win over yours.]]> 424 Melanie Benjamin 0385344155 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk Alice I Have Been because she thought through potential scenarios in the Alice Liddell/Charles Dodgson friendship, rather than just recycling rumor and innuendo as in Katie Roiphie's Still She Haunts Me. But while I've done a great deal of research into Lewis Carroll and his creations, I knew very little about Lavinia Warren. A performer with P.T. Barnum's operations, in the mid-late 19th century, she was several inches short of three feet tall as an adult, and married another Barnum performer in a lavish public wedding, which actually got so much attention it distracted the newspapers from the Civil War for nearly a week.

Benjamin recreates Vinnie's world in loving detail, and gives her a presence that is notable. She is smart, practical, and very realistic about who she is and what life has to offer her, and she finds her intellectual equal not in her husband Charles, but in Barnum himself. Vinnie's younger sister Minnie is almost too saintly to be true; her initial timidity and her later unrealistic determination struck me as less true than the picture of Minnie, but she is also being seen through her loving sister's filter. Worth reading for memorable, determined Vinnie herself. ]]> 3.69 2011 The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb
author: Melanie Benjamin
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2011/08/24
date added: 2011/08/24
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I enjoyed Melanie Benjamin's first historical novel, Alice I Have Been because she thought through potential scenarios in the Alice Liddell/Charles Dodgson friendship, rather than just recycling rumor and innuendo as in Katie Roiphie's Still She Haunts Me. But while I've done a great deal of research into Lewis Carroll and his creations, I knew very little about Lavinia Warren. A performer with P.T. Barnum's operations, in the mid-late 19th century, she was several inches short of three feet tall as an adult, and married another Barnum performer in a lavish public wedding, which actually got so much attention it distracted the newspapers from the Civil War for nearly a week.

Benjamin recreates Vinnie's world in loving detail, and gives her a presence that is notable. She is smart, practical, and very realistic about who she is and what life has to offer her, and she finds her intellectual equal not in her husband Charles, but in Barnum himself. Vinnie's younger sister Minnie is almost too saintly to be true; her initial timidity and her later unrealistic determination struck me as less true than the picture of Minnie, but she is also being seen through her loving sister's filter. Worth reading for memorable, determined Vinnie herself.
]]> Leviathan (Leviathan, #1) 6050678
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.

With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.]]> 440 Scott Westerfeld 1416971734 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk Leviathan was unmissably a Farscape reference. But Westerfeld and illustrator Keith Thompson kept the concepts fresh. Definitely a YA; it felt even aimed at a slightly younger audience, perhaps.]]> 3.92 2009 Leviathan (Leviathan, #1)
author: Scott Westerfeld
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2011/07/22
date added: 2011/07/22
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Fantastic concepts, appealing characters, quick-paced steampunk narrative. The British Darwinists, who've genetically engineered animals into war machines vs. the Hapbsburg Clankers, with elaborate mechanical vehicles and armaments, at the brink of an alternate history WWI. I don't ordinarily care much for war narratives, but the concepts were interesting enough to keep me engaged. Lots of standard tropes: the Clanker vehicles were Imperial Walkers fro Star Wars, while a living ship called Leviathan was unmissably a Farscape reference. But Westerfeld and illustrator Keith Thompson kept the concepts fresh. Definitely a YA; it felt even aimed at a slightly younger audience, perhaps.
]]> <![CDATA[Camera Obscura (The Bookman Histories, #2)]]> 9280057
File Under :Ěý Steampunk Ěý[ Alternate History | Reptilian Royalty | Murder Most Foul | The World’s Fair ]]]> 416 Lavie Tidhar 0857660942 Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.43 2010 Camera Obscura (The Bookman Histories, #2)
author: Lavie Tidhar
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2011/07/05
date added: 2011/07/05
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I didn't love this as much as The Bookman -- while I was happy to see the world of the first novel open out to a broader world that included France, China, and "Vespuccia" (including a visit to the Chicago Exhibition), there wasn't quite as much delight in this one. Milady de Winter was a worthy heroine (even if her wardrobe was more suitable to cyberpunk than steampunk) and there was still a lot of play with characters and imagery, but if felt a little more obligatory this time around. Some intriguing new concepts and well worth the read.
]]> <![CDATA[The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess (Strangely Beautiful, #3)]]> 9647782 In the beginning, there were lovers: a winged deity of power and light, and a queen of grace and beauty. Phoenix was murdered, his beloved stolen away to the Whisper-world. But their passion inspired the Muses. Through great sacrifice, it could live again.

The Guard:
There are always six, mortal hosts for the divine. Battling spirits through the ages, they defy Darkness, Lord of the Dead. In 1867, a shadow rises. The tide turns against them, and all hope falls on a child of prophecy, an eerie, snow-white girl yet to be born. But her path must be cleared. A Great War is coming, and song, wind and stars whisper that the eighteen-year-old Beatrice Smith must give everything to prepare.]]> 354 Leanna Renee Hieber 1428511164 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk
Also, she quotes Elizabeth Gaskell, in lovely circumstances.]]> 3.74 2011 The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess (Strangely Beautiful, #3)
author: Leanna Renee Hieber
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2011/06/22
date added: 2011/07/02
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I've been enjoying Leanna Renee Hieber's Strangely Beautiful series from the beginning, but in Book #3, a prequel to the others, she has given us exactly what I wanted: more detail on her mythology, and more on the Guard, the group she calls her "Victorian ghostbusters." It's nice to learn more about Beatrice and Ibrahim from book #2, and the multicultural Cairo Guard is intriguing; I would have liked to have more time with them before the novel shifts to London and Alexi's group. Nonetheless, I'm not complaining. The world building in this series has been intriguing; I wanted to know more, and now I do. And, as always, she handles the nineteenth century gracefully; she captures the feel of the period, but never overdoes the faux-Victorian rhetoric.

Also, she quotes Elizabeth Gaskell, in lovely circumstances.
]]> <![CDATA[Heartless (Parasol Protectorate, #4)]]> 8356487
Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it is too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf's clothing? And what, exactly, has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama's second best closet?]]> 400 Gail Carriger 0316127191 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 4.06 2011 Heartless (Parasol Protectorate, #4)
author: Gail Carriger
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2011/07/02
date added: 2011/07/02
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
I always read the latest Carriger releases too quickly, but I just can't stop myself -- they're just that kind of books -- when the final one comes out, I'll try a slower reread, in order to savor them. I think for the last two I complained "not enough Lord Akeldama," but as he played a far larger role in this one, I was thoroughly delighted. Carriger also upped the steampunk quotient with several delightful gadgets, and we even get backstory on one of my favorite characters, Professor Lyall. Oh, and Ivy gets to show she's not an idiot. Alexia does not let being extremely pregnant slow her down more than is absolutely necessary, and her indomitable nature is highlighted throughout.
]]> <![CDATA[The Bookman (The Bookman Histories, #1)]]> 6922360 416 Lavie Tidhar 0007346611 Catherine 4 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.32 2010 The Bookman (The Bookman Histories, #1)
author: Lavie Tidhar
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.32
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2011/06/29
date added: 2011/06/29
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
A steampunk romp that *gets it* -- there's a cast of historical and fictional personages intermingled here, but it never feels like they're forced or obligatory. Rather, Tidhar's clearly having a good time with the story of Orphan, who works in a bookshop and loves marine biologist Lucy, in an alternative England ruled by the Lizard Queens and Kings from Caliban's Island. Other reviews here have complained that too much is going on, but that's one of the book's strengths -- Tidhar knows his stuff and plays with it delightfully. With Isabella Beeton and Karl Marx as unlikely members of the same revolutionary cadre, Irene Adler as a police Inspector (while Moriarty serves as Prime Minister), and a Lord Byron automaton with a will of its own. I'm looking forward to the sequel.
]]> The Shadow Conspiracy II 10366784
All new tales of adventure and intrigue in the age of steam, from the authors at Book View Café.

“Mad Bad Richard Dadd,� by Amy Sterling Casil

“The Peculiar Case of Sir Willoughby Smythe,� by Judith Tarr

“Pirate Queen of French Prairie,� by Irene Radford

“The Maiden Mechanical,� by Brenda Clough

“Shadow of Kilimanjaro,� by Sue Lange

“Nuthin� but a Man,� by C.L. Anderson

“Abide with Me,� by Katharine Eliska Kimbriel

“Steel Seraph,� by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

“New Lives,� by Nancy Jane Moore

“Clair de Lune,� by Pati Nagle

“What Ho! Automaton,� by Chris Dolley]]> 0 Phyllis Irene Radford Catherine 2 Shadow Conspiracy collection; this one impressed me less, I'm afraid. A few stood out: Nancy Jane Moore brought back an intriguing character from the first collection; the story was fairly uneventful but dealt with race and gender nicely. Pati Nagle did another of her Marie Laveau stories; this one incorporated Mary Shelley and I enjoyed her characterizations of both. Chris Dolley's Wodehouse tribute short story "What ho! Automaton" is fun. Amy Sterling Casil's "Mad Bad Richard Dadd" was entertaining, but shows elements of the Byronphobia that pervades the collections -- honestly, if Lord Byron could live forever in an artificial body, would that be such a bad thing? (Not that I can see a sensualist like Byron wanting that.) As a whole the collection felt uninspired, though, and moved largely away from the central core plot in the original.

I received this ebook as a reviewer's copy from the LibraryThing Early Reviewer Program.]]> 3.40 2011 The Shadow Conspiracy II
author: Phyllis Irene Radford
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2011/06/28
date added: 2011/06/28
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk, romantics
review:
I rather enjoyed the short stories in the original Shadow Conspiracy collection; this one impressed me less, I'm afraid. A few stood out: Nancy Jane Moore brought back an intriguing character from the first collection; the story was fairly uneventful but dealt with race and gender nicely. Pati Nagle did another of her Marie Laveau stories; this one incorporated Mary Shelley and I enjoyed her characterizations of both. Chris Dolley's Wodehouse tribute short story "What ho! Automaton" is fun. Amy Sterling Casil's "Mad Bad Richard Dadd" was entertaining, but shows elements of the Byronphobia that pervades the collections -- honestly, if Lord Byron could live forever in an artificial body, would that be such a bad thing? (Not that I can see a sensualist like Byron wanting that.) As a whole the collection felt uninspired, though, and moved largely away from the central core plot in the original.

I received this ebook as a reviewer's copy from the LibraryThing Early Reviewer Program.
]]> <![CDATA[The Shadow Conspiracy: Tales of the Steam Age Vol. I]]> 7454542 318 Phyllis Irene Radford 0982844018 Catherine 4 4.14 2009 The Shadow Conspiracy: Tales of the Steam Age Vol. I
author: Phyllis Irene Radford
name: Catherine
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2011/04/16
date added: 2011/06/28
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk, romantics
review:
Anything that starts with Byron and the Shelleys and moves into alternate history is going to at least get a look from me; ditto with anyone playing with his daughter Ada Lovelace and her friend Charles Babbage. The Shadow Conspiracy is a set of related short stories by various authors, and overall I'd say it does a good job. Because the stories are often only loosely related, there are issues that never resolve (perhaps in later volumes), and the quality of the stories varies. But overall, a good job. Although somebody's definitely got issues with Byron.
]]> <![CDATA[The Alchemy of Murder (Nellie Bly, #1)]]> 6777990
The world's most famous reporter - the intrepid Nellie Bly - is convinced that the killings are connected to the epidemic. Hot off another sensational expose, she travels to Paris to hunt down the mysterious man she calls "the Alchemist." Along the way she enlists the help of a band of colorful characters: science fiction genius Jules Verne, notorious wit and outrageous rogue Oscar Wilde, and the greatest microbe-hunter in history, Louis Pasteur.

This dazzling historical adventure pits Nellie and her friends against one of the most notorious murderers in history. Together they must solve the crime of the century.]]> 368 Carol McCleary 076532203X Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.37 2009 The Alchemy of Murder (Nellie Bly, #1)
author: Carol McCleary
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2011/06/25
date added: 2011/06/25
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Nineteenth century investigative reporter Nelly Bly is a historical figure who's well worth bringing to the attention of a present-day audience, and the first book in Carol McCleary's series does just that. But this novel, incorporating Bly, Jack the Ripper, Louis Pasteur, Jules Verne, and Oscar Wilde, takes on too much and doesn't do it all justice. It's perfectly enjoyable, it's just nothing remarkable.
]]> The Difference Engine 337116 Sybil Gerard - dishonored woman and daughter of a Luddite agitator; Edward "Leviathan" Mallory - explorer and paleontologist; Laurence Oliphant - diplomat and spy. Their adventure begins with the discovery of a box of punched Engine cards of unknown origin and purpose. Cards someone wants badly enough to kill for...

Part detective story, part historical thriller, The Difference Engine is the first collaborative novel by two of the most brilliant and controversial science fiction authors of our time. Provocative, compelling, intensely imagined, it is a startling extension of Gibson's and Sterling's unique visions - in a new and totally unexpected direction!]]> 429 William Gibson 055329461X Catherine 5 neovictorians-and-steampunk
The answer is yes, because of the memories and expectations I brought to it. This book is amazingly well-researched and well thought out; everything hinges on Charles Babbage actually having constructed his Difference Engine (computer) in the early nineteenth century. The various historical and fictional personages have lives that have turned out differently, accordingly, and as someone who's studied the period in depth, I'm fascinated by their choices.

For a reader who's less versed in the history, much of this may be lost. For someone who's looking for more adventure, maybe this isn't the book. And it is an extremely dark, unoptimistic work, though for anyone who's read Gibson's or Sterling's cyberpunk novels, this shouldn't be a surprise.

For me, though -- there's an incredible attention to detail. I loved seeing threads from early in the book reappear later in the book. I love that a miraculously middle-aged Keats has become a kinotropist, that characters are lifted wholesale from a novel by Benjamin Disraeli (and their fates play out very differently), that Lord Byron's become prime minister and that ideas of Chartism, Luddism, etc. are adapted to the new circumstances.

Is it flawless? No, by no means. (And I could do without the cyberpunk-y last two pages.) Is it fun? Intermittently. Is it a deeply satisfying read to me, is it something that stands up to my knowledge of the period. Absolutely. Jeter/Blaylock/Powers may have originated steampunk, but for me, this is where it first explored its true potential.]]> 3.49 1990 The Difference Engine
author: William Gibson
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.49
book published: 1990
rating: 5
read at: 2011/05/26
date added: 2011/05/28
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
This book was my first introduction to steampunk as a concept, back in the 90s. I'd been delaying my reread because, I think, I see mixed reactions to the book in reviews, and I wondered if it could live up to my memories and expectations.

The answer is yes, because of the memories and expectations I brought to it. This book is amazingly well-researched and well thought out; everything hinges on Charles Babbage actually having constructed his Difference Engine (computer) in the early nineteenth century. The various historical and fictional personages have lives that have turned out differently, accordingly, and as someone who's studied the period in depth, I'm fascinated by their choices.

For a reader who's less versed in the history, much of this may be lost. For someone who's looking for more adventure, maybe this isn't the book. And it is an extremely dark, unoptimistic work, though for anyone who's read Gibson's or Sterling's cyberpunk novels, this shouldn't be a surprise.

For me, though -- there's an incredible attention to detail. I loved seeing threads from early in the book reappear later in the book. I love that a miraculously middle-aged Keats has become a kinotropist, that characters are lifted wholesale from a novel by Benjamin Disraeli (and their fates play out very differently), that Lord Byron's become prime minister and that ideas of Chartism, Luddism, etc. are adapted to the new circumstances.

Is it flawless? No, by no means. (And I could do without the cyberpunk-y last two pages.) Is it fun? Intermittently. Is it a deeply satisfying read to me, is it something that stands up to my knowledge of the period. Absolutely. Jeter/Blaylock/Powers may have originated steampunk, but for me, this is where it first explored its true potential.
]]> Wonderland 2320474
Now, the amazingly talented folks at SLG Publishing, through a licensing deal with Disney, have finally answered this age-old question. In their beautifully executed comic book series, WONDERLAND, readers experience Alice’s fantastic world as they’ve never seen it before. Writer Tommy Kovac’s Wonderland is missing Alice herself, but it’s still populated by the other characters that make the world such a curiously exciting place. The Queen of Hearts is present, barking orders to lop off people’s heads, as is the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter and the rest of Wonderland’s beloved cast. And there are some new faces, too, including the book’s main protagonist, the mysterious Maryann herself. All are beautifully illustrated by Wonderland’s artist, Sonny Liew.

The graphic novel will collect the six issues that comprised the Wonderland comic series in a beautiful, collectible, jacketed hardcover edition.]]> 160 Tommy Kovac 142310451X Catherine 3 neovictorians-and-steampunk 3.60 2008 Wonderland
author: Tommy Kovac
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2011/05/24
date added: 2011/05/25
shelves: neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
Truly charming graphic novel about Mary Ann, the White Rabbit's housemaid (he mistakes Alice for her in Alice's Adventures). The hardback is published by Disney, which may be why many of the characters resemble Disney's versions more than Tenniel's or any original approach. It would have been nice to see something more in the way of class politics (there's a nod to Mary Ann's and the White Rabbit's burgeoning friendship at the end), or more new concepts and characters rather than reusing so many of Carroll's, but it is a lovely little book, appropriate for all ages, and very nicely drawn by Sonny Liew.
]]> <![CDATA[The Native Star (Veneficas Americana, #1)]]> 7236997
The year is 1876. In the small Sierra Nevada settlement of Lost Pine, the town witch, Emily Edwards, is being run out of business by an influx of mail-order patent magics. Attempting to solve her problem with a love spell, Emily only makes things worse. But before she can undo the damage, an enchanted artifact falls into her possession--and suddenly Emily must flee for her life, pursued by evil warlocks who want the object for themselves.

Dreadnought Stanton, a warlock from New York City whose personality is as pompous and abrasive as his name, has been exiled to Lost Pine for mysterious reasons. Now he finds himself involuntarily allied with Emily in a race against time--and across the United States by horse, train, and biomechanical flying machine--in quest of the great Professor Mirabilis, who alone can unlock the secret of the coveted artifact. But along the way, Emily and Stanton will be forced to contend with the most powerful and unpredictable magic of all--the magic of the human heart.]]> 387 M.K. Hobson 0553592653 Catherine 3
[Just don't ever have a nineteenth-century character say "Have you slept with him?", please. Way to take the reader right out of the story.]]]> 3.55 2010 The Native Star (Veneficas Americana, #1)
author: M.K. Hobson
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2011/05/14
date added: 2011/05/14
shelves: book-group-books, neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
This Weird West not-quite-steampunk fantasy (I'm told the author calls it "bustlepunk") took awhile to win me over -- the whole "loathe each other far too much to not be destined for true love" trope is played heavily from the beginning, and Emily, the viewpoint character, struck me as too limited in her worldview at first. However, the book grew on me, particularly when the characters headed East and the situation got more complicated. Interesting concepts of magic, and really nice touches, like zombies-as-exploited-mine-laborers and a tapping of the earth's magical resources that amounted to a fantasy equivalent of hydrofracking. There were some things I wish had played out differently, but overall, it turned out to be quick-paced and enjoyable.

[Just don't ever have a nineteenth-century character say "Have you slept with him?", please. Way to take the reader right out of the story.]
]]> <![CDATA[Jane Goes Batty (Jane Fairfax, #2)]]> 8203510 Ěý
Life was a lot easier for Jane when she was just an unknown, undead bookstore owner in a sleepy hamlet in upstate New York. But now the world embraces her as Jane Fairfax, author of the bestselling novel Constance —and she’s having a killer time trying to keep her true identity as the Jane Austen a secret. Even the ongoing lessons in How to Be a Vampire, taught by her former lover Lord Byron, don’t seem to be helping much. Jane can barely focus on her boyfriend, Walter, while keeping him in the dark about her more sanguine tastes.

To make matters worse, Walter announces that his mother is coming for a visit—and she’s expecting Jane to be Jewish. Add in a demanding new editor, a convention of romance readers in period costume, a Hollywood camera crew following Jane’s every move, and the constant threat of a certain bloodsucking Brontë sister coming back to finish her off, and it’s enough to make even the most well-mannered heroine go batty!]]> 285 Michael Thomas Ford 0345513665 Catherine 3 3.64 2011 Jane Goes Batty (Jane Fairfax, #2)
author: Michael Thomas Ford
name: Catherine
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2011/03/05
date added: 2011/03/05
shelves: romantics, neovictorians-and-steampunk
review:
This is possibly the worst title for a book, um, ever, but I've got the distinct impression that was intended. The second in Ford's wry Austen-and-Byron-are-vampires series is nearly as much fun as the first, although the satiric edge is somewhat blunted, as the target has shifted from the Austen Industry to the easy target of Hollywood, with romance bloggers in his sights as well. Lord Byron has shifted from Annoying Ex and Potential Menace to Mischievous Gay Best Friend (more accurately, Mischievous Bi Best Friend); that speaks well for his longevity in the series -- and Austen-and-Byron work better for me than either would as a vampire solo act -- but, er, defangs the character somewhat. The author's acknowledgments make me wonder if his heart is really in these; I hope so, because he's spoofing a lot of things that need spoofing, but needs to keep his edge.
]]>