Stormdancer

Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When the Shogun demands someone bring him an arashitora (griffin), a group of adventurers gos on an airship voyage to capture the beast, long thought to be extinct. The airship goes down and a girl named Yukiko befriends the captured arashitora. Can the two of them be reunited with Yukiko's friends and overthrow the Shogun?

I received this ARC from the fine folks at St. Martin's. It's freeness does not diminish its awesomeness.

Not too long ago, I got an email asking if I wanted to give Stormdancer a try. Once I read the phrases "steampunk feudal Japan" and "free," I was sold.

Stormdancer takes place in a fantasy version of feudal Japan, one with an environment fouled by the blood lotus, a plant that blights the land but has many beneficial properties, like being smoked or turned into a super-fuel. Thus, the island nation of Shima has an impressive empire, ruled by mad and cruel Shogun.

Yukiko, the heroine, is the daughter of an aging hero Masaru, The Black Fox, and a yokai, one of the people touched by the spirits. The Yokai are relentlessly hunted by The Lotus Guild, armored machine-men who keep the Shima technology moving forward.

If I had one gripe about the book, it's that it takes a little while for the main plot to kick off. To be fair, though, there is a ton of worldbuilding that needs to be done before then. Anyway, once Yukiko meets the arashitora, the book grabs on tight and doesn't let go. I found myself getting really attached to the characters and probably would have went into seclusion if Buruu had died. The relationship between Buruu and Yukiko was my favorite part of the book.

You know how most steampunk seems to be Paranormal Romance with some gears and brass added on? Stormdancer is not one of those. This book is jam packed with interesting concepts, like the Iron Samurai, the Lotus Guild, ninja cells with agents hidden everywhere, yokai, the list goes on and on. Still skeptical? Two words: chainsaw katana.

The ending was poignant yet satisfying. If one were so inclined, one could read this book and not read the subsequent volumes and be satisfied. I'll be continuing, though. Stormdancer is the most original science fiction/fantasy novel I've read in a long time. Five easy stars.

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The Bookman

The Bookman by Lavie Tidhar

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Just minutes before a space cannon launches a probe to Mars, a terrorist called The Bookman kills poet Orphan's love in an explosion. Orphan's quest for the truth takes him below the streets of London, aboard the Nautilus with Jules Verne and Captain Nemo, and to the mysterious island home of Les Lezards, the lizard men who rule the world...

Okay, now this is what all steampunk books should aspire to be! What Lavie Tidhar has done in The Bookman is simply marvelous. Most of the steampunk books I've read had too much going on or the steampunk element seemed tacked on. Not so in The Bookman.

The world Tidhar has created is a curious mix of Victorian London and alternate history. In this case, the jonbar point was the rise of the Les Lezards from an island in what we call the Caribbean. Queen Victoria is a lizard woman, a probable nod to The Steampunk Trilogy. The word is chock-full of steam punk goodness: airships, automatons, etc, and all is integral to the plot and not just window dressing.

Orphan, the protagonist, is a poet and certainly no superhero. He takes quite a beating throughout the book, going from the frying pan to the fire on many occasions. His quest to find The Bookman, a terrorist who uses exploding books as weapons, is just the tip of the iceberg.

Fictional characters mingle with real ones. Karl Marx and Henry Irving exist in the same world as Harry Flashman and Moriarty, who is the Prime Minister. Jules Verne rubs shoulders with Captain Nemo, and Irene Adler is an Inspector while Watson is working in a hospital.

I really want to gush about all the plot twists but rather than be a tremendous spoiler, I'm going to go into the huge number of Easter Eggs in this thing. At one point, Orphan goes into a bookstore and there are books written by William Ashbless, Cosmo Cowperthwait, Jubal Harshaw, and Gordon Lachance. Quite a mix. In fact, Ashbless is mentioned multiple times..

I could go on and on but you'd be better served to just read the book yourself. For what it is, a steampunk adventure story, it's a solid five.



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Jack Cloudie

Jack Cloudie by Stephen Hunt

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


War brews between the Kingdom of Jackals and Cassarabia. A young thief named Jack Keats is pressed into service on an experimental airship, the Iron Patridge after a botched bank job. A Cassarabian slave named Omar learns of his true parentage, only to have it stolen from him. As Jack and Omar learn what it means to be men, will war be averted or will the two world powers engage in a conflict that will destroy them both?

Jack Cloudie fleshes out two aspects of Stephen Hunt's Jackalian saga that have been repeatedly mentioned but never really explored: the airship navy and the womb mages of Cassarabia. It tells the story of Jack Keats gaining acceptance among the crew of the Iron Patridge and Omar becoming a guardsman and learning to not be a lazy ass all the time. The threads are united by a vizier's attempts to wrest the rulership of Cassaraba away from the Eternal Caliph.

Stephen Hunt's steampunk series continues to move forward, although it seems to get more wobbly as it goes. This was not my favorite of his books. Aside from a returning character, most of the cast didn't really engage me. In fact, I found some of them bland and some of them irritating. There wasn't a whole lot going on, either, not compared to his other books. There wasn't a whole lot of excitement to be had, a pity since I've been waiting forever for him to do an airship novel. Both plot threads were fairly standard coming of age tales.

So why did I give it a 3 after I just shat all over it? Well, three reasons.
1 - Commodore Black is the man! I missed Old Blackie. He's easily my favorite character in the entire series.
2 - The womb mages of Cassarabia had been talked about for four books prior to this one. Hunt built them up quite a bit but they were even more horrifying than I imagined. The Cassarabian culture wound up being my favorite part of the book.
3 - While I thought it was a tad predictable, I loved that the Iron Partridge wound up being sentient.

So, Jack Cloudie isn't a bad book. It's just not the action-packed adventure I was hoping for from Stephen Hunt. It's a solid three.



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The Osiris Ritual

The Osiris Ritual by George Mann

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Soon after Sir Maurice Newbury attends a mummy unwrapping, people connected to the expedition that recovered it turn up dead. Meanwhile, Veronica Hobbes is investigating the disappearances of young girls that seem to be connected to a traveling magician. How do their investiations intersect? What does it have to do with the mysterious agent who was supposed to meet Newbury at the train station? And who is behind the Osiris Ritual?

The Osiris Ritual is the second Newbury & Hobbes Investigation book and is a vast improvement on the first. The villains are more vile, the action more furious, and Newbury sinks further into the depths of opium addiction while Hobbes debates telling him the secret we all learned at the end of The Affinity Bridge, the previous volume. Knox and Ashford were both interesting characters. Knox had more dimension than most villains. The story itself had a lot of twists. I was sure I knew who the killer was until about two-thirds of the way through.

Any gripes? Yeah. Once again, Newbury seems a little obtuse for a Holmes-level detective. This time, it's the young reporter Purefoy that feeds him the necessary hints.

All in all, this was a good steampunk thriller and an improvement on the Affinity Bridge. I'll definitely be picking up the next Newbury & Hobbes adventure.



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The Affinity Bridge

The Affinity Bridge by George Mann

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Sir Maurice Newbury and his assistant Veronica Hobbes investigate an airship crash in Victorian London. Why were all the victims lashed to their seats? Where was the pilot? And why is the Queen so intent on Newbury and Hobbes finding out what happened? The trail leads them to the airship manufacturers who also happen to make automatons. Can Newbury and Hobbes solve the mystery before the mysterious glowing policeman takes them?

The Affinity Bridge is a fast-moving steampunk mystery. Once it gets going, it's definitely a page turner. The action feels very much like a movie. Sir Maurice Newbury is a combination of James Bond and Sherlock Holmes, complete with laudanum addiction, and Hobbes is like a Victorian Emma Peel. The setting was probably my favorite part of the book. A London with airships, automatons, Queen Victoria kept alive by machines, a zombie plague in the slums, what's not to like?

So why did I only give it a 3? The characters are a little on the thin side. In fact, I was ready to blast this book in one of the early chapters. Newbury, although supposedly a great detective, misses some really obvious things only to have Hobbes suggest them. Not very Sherlockian if you ask me.

Still, this is a quick and enjoyable read. It's not the best steampunk book ever written by any means but it's fun and fairly accessible. It's actually a little light on the steampunk side. I'd recommend it to fans of steampunk in general, as well of those of The Domino Men and The Somnambulist.


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Whitechapel Gods

Whitechapel Gods by S.M. Peters

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Whitechapel has been cut off from the rest of London and is ruled by two mechanical alien gods, for the lack of a better description, Grandfather Clock and Mama Engine. John Scared schemes to usurp Grandfather Clock's power while Oliver Sumner and other revolutionaries look to overthrow both gods. Who will reign supreme?

First of all, there were lots of things to like about this book. The hyper-industrialized pseudo-Victorian hell Whitechapel has become under the rule of Grandfather Clock and Mama Engine is a well-described place. The Boilermen and the Cloaks are both interesting antagonists, as are John Scared and Giselle. The clacks, a disease that causes people to slowly grow gears and wiring beneath their skin, is also quite innovative. The story had a lot of twists and turns.

Things I don't like? I hate to admit that few of the characters really grabbed me. It took me forever to figure out that Oliver was the central character in the story. Too much was made of events that little to nothing was revealed about, such as the rise of Baron Hume and the creation of Grandfather Clock and Mama Engine. In my opinion, the story would have been better had it focused more on Oliver and revealed more backstory.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy Whitechapel Gods. I'd recommend it to new weird, steampunk and horror fans. Officially, I'm giving this 3.5 stars. It might be upgraded to a 4 on a re-read.



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Secrets of the Fire Sea

Secrets of the Fire Sea by Stephen Hunt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Jethro Daunt, the premeire consulting detective of his age, along with Boxiron, his robot Watson, go to the Isle of Jago to solve the murder of the Archbishop, a woman to whom Daunt was betrothed to before he left the clergy. The Archbishop's ward, Hannah Conquest, has been conscripted to the Guild of Valvemen in the wake of her death. But what was the Archbishop murdered to protect?



Secrets of the Firesea was worth the wait. The plot has a lot more twists and turns than I originally thought, as it seemed very cut and dry at the beginning. Commodore Black continues to be my favorite of the Hunt supporting cast. Hannah Conquest was a little bland for my tastes but Black and Jethro Daunt made up for it. The writing had a taste of Wodehouse, much like the earlier books. I smiled every time Ortin urs Ortin called someone "old fruit." Jago was a well-realized setting and I liked how the Ursine faith was tied to what actually happened on Jago in the past. The ab-locks and ursks were interesting, as Hunt's monsters usually are. The revelation of what actually happened and the ordeal that ensues were awesome.



Why only four stars? While I liked Secrets of the Firesea, it wasn't my favorite of the Hunt books. The pace was slower and everything took place in one locale and I thought too much focused on code breaking and aspects of the Circlist religion. Other than that, I thought it was great.



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The Rise of the Iron Moon

The Rise of the Iron Moon by Stephen Hunt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Purity Drake escapes the Royal Breeding House with a strange escaped slave. Molly Templar receives a strange message from the Hexmachina just before Earth is invaded! Can Purity Drake, last queen of Jackals, stop the invaders from the Iron Moon? Can Molly Templar, Commodore Black, Coppertracks, and a motley crew reach Kaliban to cut off the invasion at its source after being shot out of a giant cannon with riding an intelligent spacecraft?



Stephen Hunt does it again. When I picked up The Court of the Air, I never thought I was also picking up a new favorite author. Hunt once again shows his love for proto-sf in this yarn. The Rise of the Iron Moon is part War of the Worlds, part First Men on the Moon, a little of John Carter of Mars, with a dash of King Arthur thrown in. The invaders, the slats and their overseers, are disgusting and appropriately fearsome. You know things are going to be bad when The Court of the Air gets their collective asses handed to them.



It was good to see all the old favorites in action again, both from Kingdom Beyond the Waves and The Court of the Air. Molly, Oliver, and of course Old Blackie. Purity Drake was a bit of a cliche but you can't fault Hunt too much for that, not when the story is a page-turner brimming with ideas. The story takes a few unexpected turns, especially when everything goes horribly pear-shaped about 2/3rds of the way through.



This one is brimming with intresting ideas. Steampunk space travel, space elevators, bioengineered servants, a time singularity, all wrapped in a grand adventure straight out of H.G. Welles or Jules Verne.



There's so many good things I want to share about this book. The plot is top notch, revelations about the world of Jackals are well done, and the usual steampunkery is in fine form. Highly recommended but you would be best served to read the previous two volumes first.



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The Court of the Air

The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Oliver Brooks, a boy altered by the feymist, has his life turned upside down when his uncle is killed and he's framed for murder. Molly Templar escapes murder at the brothel where she was being trained, only to find her orphanage home the scene of a massacre and quickly figures out she was the real target. What bonds these two orphans together and what does the mysterious Court of the Air have to do with things?



Court of the Air was definitely worth my seven bucks. It's full of action and twists. Steampulp would be a good word for it. The world is by far the best part. The Kingdom of Jakals is a steampunk version of London patrolled by a navy of aerostats and policed by the worldsingers, a wizard-ish army that has penny-dreadfuls depicting

their adventures. The people that police the police are the Court of the Air and their Wolftakers. Cool concepts, right? How about the feymist, a cloud of gas that mutates people? Or the steammen, intelligent steam-powered robots? Or a sleeping race of insectile gods? The final battle was one of my favorites since Stormbringer and the Hood o'the marsh made me smile.



I liked this book but I really wanted to love it. Why didn't I? Too much going on. It was like being at the best buffet in the world and not being able to sample everything. A glossary would have been a big help. There was almost too much action and not enough exposition. While I hate that all fantasy stories seem to be trilogies these days, I would have really liked this one to be expanded and the pace slowed down just a bit. The story jumped from viewpoint to viewpoint so often it was disorienting.



All that being said, The Court of the Air has quite a bit going for it. It's suspenseful and jam packed with interesting concepts. It just overflows a bit at times.



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The Steampunk Trilogy

The Steampunk Trilogy by Paul Di Filippo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Victoria: Naturalist Cosmo Cowperthwait succeeds in creating a human-newt hybrid he names Victoria, after the Queen who she resembles. Unable to support her, Cosmo stashes her in a brothel. Meanwhile, Queen Victoria vanishes and the Prime Minister proposes they swap one Victoria with the other. Will anyone notice before they find the Queen and return her to the throne?



This story was a hoot! Steampunk lends itself to Python-esque humor so easily I'm surprised more people don't go for the humorous approach. The characters and setting were well done, especially for an 80 page novella. The idea of a fly-eating amphibian impersonating the queen without anyone knowing is a gem.



Hottentots: Professor Agassiz and his group of scientists scramble to track down a fetiche (with happens to be a preserved vulva in a jar) that will summon Lovecraftian beasties when invoked. But can Agassiz put aside his prejudice toward blacks long enough to get the fetiche?



Hottentots was just as funny as the first story once you got past the racism of the main character. How can you not love a story with a chapter title like Moby Dagon? Lots of Easter eggs in this one, like Herman Melville and HPL being minor characters.



Walt & Emily: As romance blooms between Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, the two poets join an expedition to the afterlife with a group of spiritualists and scientists. Will their romance survive the trip?



Yeah, this story was the most bizarre of the collection. The afterlife they visited was unique, though it may be drawn from spiritualist sources. While I don't know much about Dickinson, Whitman's character seemed pretty authentic from what I've read of the man. The medium heading up the expedition was by far the best character in the story.



To sum up,if you like your steampunk stories to have a strange and humorous bend, this is the book for you.



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Boneshaker

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Sixteen years after Leviticus Blue reputedly robbed a string of banks and released the Blight using his drilling machine, the Boneshaker, his son Ezekiel goes back into the walled remains of Seattle, braving rotters and Doornails, to clear his name. His mother, Briar Wilkes, goes into the walled wasteland to bring him out. Can she find Zeke before Dr. Minnericht finds him?



I've got mixed feelings about this one. For one thing, the writing doesn't tickle my innards and the characters are all pretty weak. It also feels like it could have been 70 or 80 pages shorter. A steampunk book with zombies and airships shouldn't have so many dull spots. Also, there was a 35 page block missing from my copy but I don't think I missed a whole lot due to the aforementioned pacing issues. Furthermore, Boneshaker is a misleading title since the Boneshaker doesn't make an appearance until the very end.



However, I did manage to enjoy myself while reading it. I love the idea of a walled up city infested by zombies as well as the culture of those that stayed behind to live off of what was left, the Doornails. The concept of zombies being created by subterranean pockets of gas was interesting, as was lemon sap, the drug made from said gas. The steampunk tech was nicely done, complete with artificial limbs and a sound cannon. The airships were also good, even if under-utilized. Zeke and Briar's struggle to find one another was well done, even if it dragged for my tastes. Dr. Minnericht was a Darth Vader-ish enemy but the reveal of his identity was pretty good, as was his death.



I wouldn't exactly say I'd recommend buying this but if you could find someone to lend it to you, I don't think you'll be very disappointed.







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The Kingdom Beyond the Waves

The Kingdom Beyond the Waves by Stephen Hunt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Professor Amelia Harsh joins an expedition, funded by Abraham Quest, to find the fabled city of Camlantis. Joining her are Commodore Black and his U-boat, a blind sonar man named Billy Snow, a crazy steamman named Ironflanks, and assorted dregs of society. Meanwhile, Cornelius Fortune, aka Furnace-breath Nick, a demon masked vigilante, stumbles upon what Abraham Quest is really planning...



Two words come to mind when I think about The Kingdom Beyond the Waves: "F@cking" and "Great." All of my problems with the Court of the Air were remedied in this, the next book in the series. The stories are clearer and the characters more interesting and likeable. While some of the characters made appearances in the Court of the Air, I wouldn't think it would be essential to read that one first.



Amelia Harsh is like a musclebound female Indiana Jones/Doc Savage, archaeologist and explorer extrordinaire. The story reads like a Doc Savage tale written by Jules Verne. Hunt's world is a very original place, free of many fantasy cliches.



I recommend this to all steampunk fans and those of pulp adventure tales.







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Soulless

Soulless by Gail Carriger

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


After Alexia Tarabotti commits a faux pas and accidentally kills a vampire at a party and falls under the eye of Lord Maccon, the Queen's investigator of the supernatural, she inadvertently gets involved in a plot involving werewolves, vampires, and deranged scientists. Will she be able to survive whatever is going on without suffering further embarrassment?



Normally, I'm so overflowing with sheer manliness that a book with this much pink on the cover would fall beneath my radar. It sounded interesting though. High society, werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, what's not to like?



Gail Carriger takes a fairly predictable plot and uses it to mine a rich vein of comedic gold. If Jane Austen and P.G. Wodehouse collaborated on a novel about werewolves and vampires, this would be it. The relationship of Lord Maccon and Alexia is straight out of every romantic comedy ever made and still comes off pretty funny. Alexia herself is by far one of the funnier characters I've come across recently, both in dialogue and in deed. Her friend, the flamboyantly gay vampire Lord Akeldama is worth the price of admission alone.



To sum up, while it has the distinctive taste of chick lit, Soulless was a pretty enjoyable read for those who like their humor to have a British flavor. And guys, it probably won't make a significant dip in your testosterone level to give it a read.



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