Review: Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Boneshaker (The Clockwork Century #1)

By Cherie Priest

Steampunk

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It's 1880 in Seattle and things have gone a little differently then history proposed, the Boneshaker happened. Leviticus Blue invented the Boneshaker a huge drill that was supposed to dig down and find gold, but all it found was the Blight, a greenish gas that turns the people who inhale it into Rotters, the walking dead. Sixteen years later, Leviticus Blue's widow Briar Blue now Wilkes and her son Zeke are living in the Outskirts the are outside the walled in Seattle the evidence of her husbands catastrophe on their doorstep. Zeke determined that his father wasn't responsible for the Blight goes behind the wall and tries to find the Boneshaker machine, Briar soon follows knowing that he will not find the answer he is looking for.
I have had this on my bookshelf for ages, so long I actually forgot I had it. Big mistake. This book was just what I was in the mood for, it was a big steampunk adventure story with a great some mystery and zombies thrown in.

The first impression I got of this book was it's fabulous cover, it just screams steampunk and it is one of my favourite covers on my bookshelf. Then you open the page and instead of having black and white it is sepia, the writing is brown, like aged ink and although it is only a small detail I though it was a brilliant idea.

You see this book through Zeke and Briar's point of view and each POV and what was great is that you can tell who's POV it is when you reading, each character has a distinct narrative voice. Although it took me about 50 pages or so to get into this it is well worth the effort once both Zeke and Briar aer inside the wall the action really get interesting and intriguing as you see a motley cast of characters, from the Lucy the woman with one mechanical arm, Captain Cly the 7 and half foot tall air ship captain and the most mysterious character of all Dr Minnericht who seems eerily familiar to Briar...

Although this was a little predictable, it still had me turning the pages to try and find out how it ends and if the main characters aren't perhaps the most original ones I have read they are still likable and I was behind them all the way. This was a good solid book, entertaining, fun and a little sinister it had me eating up the pages.

Review: The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

The Girl in the Steel Corset (The Steampunk Chronicles #1)

By Kady Cross

Steampunk/Young Adult

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I wasn't expecting to like this book as much as I did, I am not a fan of Young Adult books. At all. They usually consist of teenage girls whinging about how they are different and don't fit in and blah blah blah, if I wanted to listen about that, I wold just speak to my little sister! But what creeps me out most about YA? The 200 year old vampire getting together with a 16 year old girl, it is like a dirty old man's wet dream! Annnnnnyway moving on to The Girl in the Steel Corset I did like it, it had none of the usual elements (as listed above!) that inspire me to throw the book across the room, jump up and down on it and then toast marshmallows over it.

If you have read The Strange Case of Finley Jayne then you will be familiar with Finley Jayne, and recognise Griffin King, Duke of Greythorn, the main characters in this book. Griffin taks Finley in when she is fleeing (quite literally) from another job and almost runs her over. She soon discovers that Griff leads a band of Misfits each with their own extraordinairy powers, Sam with his amazing strength and healling abilities, Emily a genuis with machines, Jasper the quickest man in the West, and then Grfiin himself who has power over the Aether. Is this a place where Finley can fit in, she also has strange and frightening powers and bad case of split personality disorder! But they have bigger threats to face when the discover that a mad man named The Machinist is plotting against the Queen and they may be the only people able to stop him.

I really liked the world the Kady Cross has created, steampunk is such a fascinating genre and can incorporate many strange and wonderful things, and this book was full of strange and wonderful things. Like the steel corset in the title, although it wasn't in it that often it was a great invention, a bullet proof corset, and of course it made a very eye catching title.

Although this book was mostly staged around Griff and Finley, what was great about this book was that the other characters in the grop weren't just ignored or just given token appearences, Sam, Emily and Jasper, were all given time and had their own insecurities and strengths; you got to know them well. I think the whole group had a great dynamic which I hope she improves on in the next book. There was also a little romance in this book, or atleast some potential romance, but in the form of not one but two emerging love triangles! Sam-Emily-Jasper and Griff-Finley-Jack Dandy, I am not a massive fan of love triangles so I am hoping that it won't be dragged out too long, although it probably will!

The only thing that I thought was weak was that The Machinist plot, I knew exactly who he was and what he was plannning early on in the book and couldn't understand why they didn't catch on as well. It was still fun to read along as there were soem good action scenes but it was frustrating when it was so damn obvious!

This was a good fun read, it was entertaining and I enjoyed the steampunk aspects of the book as well as the characters, I will definately be reading the next one when it comes out!

Favourite Quotes

...Griffin King could hurt her, as well, and he hadn't. Instead of using force or violence against her, he used patience and understanding. She had no defense against that.

~

For a moment she thought to remind him that showing off his naked skin to a young woman was highly improper, but then another part of her told her to keep her mouth shut and enjoy the view, so that was what she did.

Review: The Stange Case of Finley Jayne by Kady Cross

The Strange Case of Finley Jayne (The Steampunk Chronicles #0.5)

By Kady Cross

Steampunk & Young Adult

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I haven't read that many steampunk books but I have read a few, and this is definately my favourite one of the (rather small) pile. Steampunk isn't a widely known genre, so to help along here is the wikipedia, oh great holder of all knowledge's, definition:

"...steampunk involves an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century and often Victorian era Britain—that incorporates prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them; in other words, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc. This technology may include such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne or real technologies like the computer but developed earlier in an alternate history."

So basically it is corsets meets cogs, with has some surprisingly good fashion results! After finishing it I immdiatley went on the net and started looking for corsets, shitkickers and stripy stockings!

Anyways, I think I am going off on a slight tangent there! So lets talk about the book. It is about the 16 year old Finley Jayne, she isn't quite like other girls, it is like she has two people inside her, the good Finley and the bad Finley. The bad Finley has almost superhuman strength, senses and reflexes and often takes over when Finley is threatened or afraid, which unfortunately for her has led to her being sacked twice. But she has just had a very strange and too good to be true job offer, which she takes as she has little choice, and like all thinsg that are too good to be true...it is.

This was a great short story that paves the way for the next book The Girl in the Steel Corset, it introduces us to the steampun London that Kady Cross has created and to the main character of Finley Jayne. I really liked Finley, both halfs of her, she was smart and I imagine plenty of teenagers would identify with her and her struggle with her own body and mind.

The mystery was also good, gruesome and gothic exactly like something I imagine you would find in a Victorian gothic novel!

This was a great short read and has left me really wanting to get started on The Girl in the Steel Corset!