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The Burning Sky (Halcyon #1)

by Joseph Robert Lewis (Goodreads Author)

3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 · rating details · 121 ratings · 49 reviews

Alternate Cover Edition for ASIN B004MDLL9K

Taziri Ohana is an elite airship pilot, though the long hours away from home have taken a toll on her family and she longs for a simpler life. When the Northern Air Corps is wiped out in a catastrophic fire, only Taziri survives to help the marshals pursue the suspects across the skies of Marrakesh. Their investigation reveals a v...more

Kindle Edition, 331 pages

Published February 5th 2011 by Joseph Robert Lewis (first published February 4th 2011)

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Feb 10, 2012 Avry15 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

originally appeared on:Bookshelf Confessions

*I won a free copy of this e-book in a LibraryThing Member Giveaway*

i was first intrigued by the cover of this book, and now that i've read it,.the cover really stands for the contents of the book..it's as awesome as how it appeared to be..

Joseph Robert Lewis brought his readers to a familiar but different world in The Burning Sky(Halcyon #1: A Steampunk Thriller)..i really felt lucky to be one of the few who win this.

the author mixes intrigued, action...more

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Mar 14, 2013 SciFi Kindle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Author Joseph Robert Lewis shares his love of "the amazing history of human civilization" by inviting readers into one exotic steampunk locale after another, across Northern Africa, in this fast-paced adventure. The setting alone sets The Burning Sky (Halcyon #1: A Steampunk Thriller) apart from most of the Steampunk genre, rooted as it is in the neo-victorian UK or US. Quite apart from the splendid abundance of airships, mechanically augmented villains, and steam-powered industry, Burning Sky h...more Author Joseph Robert Lewis shares his love of "the amazing history of human civilization" by inviting readers into one exotic steampunk locale after another, across Northern Africa, in this fast-paced adventure. The setting alone sets The Burning Sky (Halcyon #1: A Steampunk Thriller) apart from most of the Steampunk genre, rooted as it is in the neo-victorian UK or US. Quite apart from the splendid abundance of airships, mechanically augmented villains, and steam-powered industry, Burning Sky held my attention by forcing me to imagine how history and civilizations would have unfolded in a world where "Europe never emerged from the last Ice Age and only the southern regions are habitable. North Africa is cool, wet, and fertile. Ancient nations such as the Persian Empire have persisted, though others, such as the Romans, never rose to power."

The action kicks off right away in this novel, with fiery explosions at the airship hangars and the city of Tingis's train station. Two of the protagonists, Major Syfax Zidane of the royal marshals and Lt. Taziri Ohana, airship engineer, are suddenly off chasing a stolen airship seeking answers. Who would destroy the main modes of transportation out of the city? Is the missing Ambassador involved? Can anyone dislike Crosby, Stills, and Nash so much as to bomb the Marrakesh Express?

While the chase unfolds, a second storyline introduces readers to Princess Qhora of the Incan Empire and her lover and guardian Don Lorenzo, the Espani swordsman. Disrupted in their quest to deliver exotic New World pets (Great Cats that are long extinct from our own world) from her cousin the Prince-Emperor across the ocean to the Queen of Marrakesh, they're forced to seek other means of transport to their destination. Before long, we learn how their mission entangles with the same shadowy villains behind the Tingis violence in a conspiratorial plot to replace the Queen with an aristocrat who is unafraid to apply Steampunk technology for her deadly ends.

Other noteworthy character include the bionically Taser-equipped Ambassador Chaou and the stiletto assassin Shifrah, one Bad Samaritan. I couldn't find much to complain about in this novel, although I did find myself wrenched out of the story a few times by dialog that sounded too contemporary to my ear: "Oh shut up you big babies. You're all fine. They're juts little cuts. No one's dying, no one's lost any eyes. And no one's head is sliced open. Just settle down" is one example that came to mind. I also would like to have seen a stronger emphasis on the clockwork, mechanical, brass-goggled gizmology that one comes to expect from the genre, but that could simply be my sci-fi tastes imposing. For those of my leaning, there was some vaguely satisfying imagery in Doctor Medina's abattoir laboratory, however.

On the other hand, these small failings are more than made up for by the welcome threading of important themes not always addressed in Steampunk, a genre not generally known for it's confrontation of contemporary issues. Change and Progress aren't always universally beneficial things, and Lewis is determined to remind us of the human cost. Steam-powered prosthetic limbs are all well and good, but when the reason for their high demand is industrial accidents brought on by rapid modernization... one pauses at the ethical dilemma. Marrakesh's matriarchal society also called attention to our own too-often unequal treatment of the genders. There is another noteworthy line spoken by a character from the glacier-frozen and economically underdeveloped Europan nation of Hellas (AKA: approximately Greece on our own real-world globe). Speaking to characters from the more prosperous and "First-World" nations of Africa, he complains: "Europa isn't a country, you know. It's a vast continent, filled with many different nations and peoples, languages, and religions!" These reversals of fortune seen in Burning Sky subtly remind us that ours isn't the only perspective on matters.

I'm looking forward to reading books 2 and 3 of The Halcyon Trilogy, and think that readers hungry for a taste of some exotic flavor to their Steampunk will agree.(less)

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Apr 03, 2012 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed reading the Burning Sky by Joseph Robert Lewis. The characters are very realistic. The plot is very suspenseful and adventuresome. It was hard to put the book down. The story begins with an explosion of an airship and the plot revolves around the interactions of the mechanic (who is also a pilot), Taziri, from the airship Halcyon who is the only pilot left alive at the scene to assist Major Syfax Zidane from the royal marshals in Security Section Two to discover who was behind the act...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Brett rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: advance-reader-copies, fantasy, have-read, owned

The Burning Sky by Joseph Robert Lewis is the first novel in the Halcyon Trilogy. And what a fantastic beginning it is! Lewis gives us a well woven story with brilliant characters and non-stop adventure. I found the story so well written and entertaining that I flew through it and was surprised when I came to the end...and dismayed as I want the next novel immediately!

The story is described as a historical fantasy, but I would describe it more as an alternative steampunk history with the steampu...more

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Nov 23, 2011 Al rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle, read-2011

Unlike many steampunk novels, "The Burning Sky" isn’t set in Victorian era Britain, but on an alternate version of the Earth, based on the premise that Europe didn’t emerge from the Ice Age and is mostly uninhabitable. Lewis gives a brief author’s note explaining this and setting expectations. Wikipedia calls steampunk novels with this type setting fantasy or fantasy-world steampunk.

My favorite things about "The Burning Sky" were the plot, which is a thriller, and understanding the alternative w...more

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Oct 23, 2011 Quentin Stewart rated it 5 of 5 stars

A fascinating story and a look at what mankind's capabilities might be if we could fully utilize our brain power. Richards does an excellent job of developing his characters and balancing action with a little down time so that the story can be developed. There are plenty of twists and turns in the book to keep one guessing as to what is going to happen next and should the hero trust anyone. Is the female character good or evil? Is there truly a terrorist plot planned if the right conditions are...more

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Oct 24, 2011 Charlotte English rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: steampunk

So. Mystery and intrigue, colourful characters, sinister science, marvellous machines and unlikely heroes. Um, and a lot of fire, shootings and death. Interesting mix.

The story is nicely complex, with a lot going on across the four-day period of the plot. It requires some concentration to keep all the plot threads and characters straight, though it's worth the effort. The one thing that let the book down a little was the number of POV changes with, frequently, very short chapters. It began to f...more

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Jul 12, 2011 Kitty Bullard rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

JOSEPH ROBERT LEWIS' "HALCYON 1 & 2" (REVIEW)

Joseph Robert Lewis has taken the best part of living in a Steampunk age and written two extraordinary novels full of excitement and imagination. Taziri Ohana is one of the best airship pilots around, struggling with home life and her job. When almost the entire fleet of ships as well as their crew is wiped out by an attack, it is up to her to find the ones responsible, discover the conspiracy at a higher level and save the day.

The second book con...more

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Jul 12, 2011 Aimeekay rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is a great start to what looks to be an amazing trilogy. It is a story of 4 days of conspiracy in the land of Marrakesh. These 4 days are told from the perspective of 6 different characters. Taziri-the electrical engineer from the Halcyon; Syfax-a major in the section 2 marshalls; Qhora-the exiled princess from across the sea; Lorenzo-famed swordsman;
Kella-an Arafez cop working for Lady Sade; Lady Sade-Governer of Arafez.
Steampunk altered history with a twist; what if Europe never eme...more
This book is a great start to what looks to be an amazing trilogy. It is a story of 4 days of conspiracy in the land of Marrakesh. These 4 days are told from the perspective of 6 different characters. Taziri-the electrical engineer from the Halcyon; Syfax-a major in the section 2 marshalls; Qhora-the exiled princess from across the sea; Lorenzo-famed swordsman;
Kella-an Arafez cop working for Lady Sade; Lady Sade-Governer of Arafez.
Steampunk altered history with a twist; what if Europe never emerged from the ice age? "The people and places are different. The climate and wildlife are different. Even death is different."*
The land of Marrakesh is changing. Change brought on by an industrial revolution as well as a social one. But the industrial part isn't all it's cracked up to be; pollution, deadly accidents. Neither is the social one; men without their veils, unhappy ex-nobles. Some of these ex-nobles have decided to use these, and other events, to their advantage to try to bring back the old ways.
I liked this book. And even though it could stand alone as it's own novel, I'm looking forward to see where the next books in the trilogy go. Lewis's style was easy to read and enjoyably straight forward through out. Also I liked how he presented the technology. Some authors get lost in explaining how everything works and forget they are writing a story not an instruction manual. His explanations were detailed without being over the top and confusing to anyone without an engineering degree. Lewis was also able to weave all the perspectives of his characters together without it being confusing or losing track of the story itself. I also enjoyed the characters themselves. Lewis's characters are well rounded and intriguing. I wanted to see where the story was going to take them.
Even if you are not familiar with steampunk, I would still recommend this book. Whether you are looking for something to take with you on summer vacation, or just looking for something good to read.
*quote from A note about The Other Earth series, found in beginning of book.(less)

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Apr 28, 2011 Zac Wood rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 100-book-challenge-2011

This was given to me as a free ebook on the condition that I would post a review. I will have one up in the next few days...

This book was very good, though not quite as enjoyable as Heirs of Mars. "Steampunk" is a sub-sub-culture, and kinda hard to define. This book was touted as a steampunk story, and I guess it qualifies. It is alternate history where electricity seems to be strange and new but an industrial revolution is/has happened. The alternate history (Thriving Incan culture meets the Sp...more

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Apr 05, 2011 Rhonda rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really liked this book. The characters were varied and well developed. the action kept going from one point to another. I also found out that I am more of traditional than I thought with roles of women versus men. The opening shows a piolet Taziri playing with her daughter and husband wanted to go back to working full time. Taziri said maybe later. Women were the ones in power for the most part. their was bombing, terrosts conspiracy against the queen. Marshalls trailing the ambassodar who was...more

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Feb 29, 2012 Liz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review, which in no way determined the outcome of my review.

I liked "The Burning Sky." If you enjoy action books, I'd recommend this one. I think that someone who wasn't an avid fantasy reader could still easily enjoy this book. There were a lot of characters and it did take me quite a few chapters to sort them all out as each character gets his or her own point-of-view chapter. Because of this, there are many many chapters, all of which are only...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Shyleen Studley rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone who enjoys a bit of steam punk or sci-fi

Recommended to Shyleen by: librarything

Shelves: library-thing

Very good read. I received this in a member giveaway and I am so glad I did. I loved the airships, the electronics. I loved that it was set in our world so some things were familiar yet it was so different. At first there seemed to be too many characters, but it was quickly resolved and I learned to love all of them. It's so easy to get attached, the characters were all so developed and complicated. They all gave you information, but it was jumbled with their own thoughts, emotions, and problems...more

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Nov 17, 2012 Timmain rated it 3 of 5 stars

A pleasant read full of imagery and characters from a world based loosely on our own. I got lost a bit in the beginning trying to keep up with the many different story lines and characters, each seemingly doing their own thing... but was entranced with Taziri and her flying ship as she was a shining star in the protagonist department. Towards the middle of the read, the stories start to overlay each other and eventually merge into a solid plot line. I enjoyed the intriguing machinery and ideas o...more

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Jun 02, 2011 Nathaniel Matychuk rated it 4 of 5 stars

So far so good, well written and edited. I get lost a bit in the very detailed world that Lewis has created and occasionally the characters do not feel like they breath, but they are very diverse and detailed.

I have high expectations and high hopes, significantly higher quality than the other indie and self pubbed works I have found on Amazon.

I will probably give it four stars when I am done if the book keeps on its current level of quality all the way through, I might buck it up one if it blows...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Allan Douglas rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Burning Sky was my very first encounter with a truly Steampunk novel. I read it more out of curiosity about the genre than anything. I’m glad I did, and I’m glad I chose this one as a starting point.

The Burning Sky, by Joseph Robert Lewis is the first book in the Halcyon Trilogy. I found it to be the embodiment of the old writing adage that says: to create suspense, place your protagonists in a very bad situation, then make it worse. The story starts out with a horrific act of terrorism swee...more The Burning Sky was my very first encounter with a truly Steampunk novel. I read it more out of curiosity about the genre than anything. I’m glad I did, and I’m glad I chose this one as a starting point.

The Burning Sky, by Joseph Robert Lewis is the first book in the Halcyon Trilogy. I found it to be the embodiment of the old writing adage that says: to create suspense, place your protagonists in a very bad situation, then make it worse. The story starts out with a horrific act of terrorism sweeping up an uninvolved mechanic on an air ship and carrying her along throughout the story. For most of the story, her plight and those of the characters that get rolled into the mix, get steadily worse. Resolution is saved for the very end.

The story is a masterful weave of multiple storylines, all winding around the main plot, although we don’t learn what that is for quite some time. However, Mr. Lewis does not allow us to founder in confusion; each character’s contribution is quite interesting all on its own and the intrigue builds as they begin to coalesce and we start to make the connections.

Lewis is very good at characterization. His characters leap off the page to run and jump through the imagination, the dialogue is tight, fast, real and peppered with witticism. Each is unique, each character is powerful, each is completely believable. His scenes too are well done; each is rich and detailed without being burdensome.

The only aspect that gave me pause was the need to suspend my knowledge/belief systems long enough to accept that certain things were possible. Normally I read hard Sci-Fi and hold the authors to demonstrable scientific theory, I rarely enjoy fantasy. Although Steampunk skirts the fantasy genre, I found this story to be very enjoyable; only one aspect rung loudly as not possible, and explaining that would serve as a spoiler. However even that one thing did nothing to kill the story; I just needed to adjust my thinking a bit. The rest of the ride easily made up for that one speed bump.
I just finished Burning Sky and am already anticipating enjoying the second book in the series: The Broken Sword. The sample included at the end of Burning Sky promises that I won’t be disappointed. (less)

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Allan Douglas The Burning Sky was my very first encounter with a truly Steampunk novel. I read it more out of curiosity about the genre than anything. I’m glad I di...more The Burning Sky was my very first encounter with a truly Steampunk novel. I read it more out of curiosity about the genre than anything. I’m glad I did, and I’m glad I chose this one as a starting point.

The Burning Sky, by Joseph Robert Lewis is the first book in the Halcyon Trilogy. I found it to be the embodiment of the old writing adage that says: to create suspense, place your protagonists in a very bad situation, then make it worse. The story starts out with a horrific act of terrorism sweeping up an uninvolved mechanic on an air ship and carrying her along throughout the story. For most of the story, her plight and those of the characters that get rolled into the mix, get steadily worse. Resolution is saved for the very end.

The story is a masterful weave of multiple storylines, all winding around the main plot, although we don’t learn what that is for quite some time. However, Mr. Lewis does not allow us to founder in confusion; each character’s contribution is quite interesting all on its own and the intrigue builds as they begin to coalesce and we start to make the connections.

Lewis is very good at characterization. His characters leap off the page to run and jump through the imagination, the dialogue is tight, fast, real and peppered with witticism. Each is unique, each character is powerful, each is completely believable. His scenes too are well done; each is rich and detailed without being burdensome.

The only aspect that gave me pause was the need to suspend my knowledge/belief systems long enough to accept that certain things were possible. Normally I read hard Sci-Fi and hold the authors to demonstrable scientific theory, I rarely enjoy fantasy. Although Steampunk skirts the fantasy genre, I found this story to be very enjoyable; only one aspect rung loudly as not possible, and explaining that would serve as a spoiler. However even that one thing did nothing to kill the story; I just needed to adjust my thinking a bit. The rest of the ride easily made up for that one speed bump.
I just finished Burning Sky and am already anticipating enjoying the second book in the series: The Broken Sword. The sample included at the end of Burning Sky promises that I won’t be disappointed.(less)
Nov 06, 2011 12:02pm

deleted user Love Steampunk. My first was Boneshaker. Very good and fun. Now, you made me add this one. Thanks.:)
Nov 06, 2011 12:04pm

Oct 12, 2012 Lorena rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-favorites, books-read-in-2012, ebook, fantasy, steampunk

Really enjoyed this indie steampunky fantasy. Similarly to Kate Elliot's Spiritwalker series (which I am totally *loving*) and S.M. Stirling's The Peshawar Lancers, Europe gets very, very cold. The action here is in Africa, and the book is very enjoyable - Incan princesses, steam-powered flying machines, and a plucky engineer - who writes articles in scientific journals! - and more. An interesting element which so far seems to be continued in book 2 (it's a trilogy) is that the band of adventure...more

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Nov 23, 2011 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: steampunk, thriller, series, alternate-history, arc, african-lit, indie, fantasy

In an alternate vision of history, the Ice Age has lingered in Europe, slowing down Europeans’ rate of civilization and allowing Ifrica (Africa) to take the lead. Add to this a disease in the New World that strikes down the invaders instead of vice versa, and suddenly global politics are entirely different. In this world, steam power has risen as the power of choice, and women are more likely to be the breadwinners. Taziri is an airship co-pilot whose airfield is attacked in an act of terrorism....more

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Mar 22, 2012 I, Curmudgeon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: action-adventure, added-after-a-good-review, historical-fiction, kindle-book, steampunk

3.5 Stars

Steampunk! Aiee! Vivala Steampunk!

The Burning Sky, book one of the Halcyon trilogy, was my first foray into steampunk outside of classics like Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs. The story started fast with lots of explosions...always a plus when you have explosions... The action slowed a bit, but the mystery took over and what started like an action/adventure turned into a mystery/espionage novel with a Noir-ish detective hot on the trail of a domestic terrorist!...oh, yea, there was...more

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May 13, 2013 PaulineMRoss rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: genre-fantasy, price-free, self-pub, 3-star

Fantasy Review Barn

So there I was, struggling to get invested in a book with a fairly lack-lustre main character, a difficult alternate history setting and an opening stuffed with explosions and other dramas that I really don’t care about. And then along comes Qhora the Incan princess, with her pet sabre-toothed cat, and suddenly things are interesting. A sabre-toothed pet? Yes, count me in.

This has one of the most unusual settings I’ve encountered - a world where the ice age never ended, Europe...more Fantasy Review Barn

So there I was, struggling to get invested in a book with a fairly lack-lustre main character, a difficult alternate history setting and an opening stuffed with explosions and other dramas that I really don’t care about. And then along comes Qhora the Incan princess, with her pet sabre-toothed cat, and suddenly things are interesting. A sabre-toothed pet? Yes, count me in.

This has one of the most unusual settings I’ve encountered - a world where the ice age never ended, Europe is still in the grip of snow and glaciers and civilisation is clustered around a narrow strip of usable land. There are some locations with recognisable names - Marrakesh, Hellas, Italia, Persia, the Atlanteen Ocean - there’s an Incan empire across the sea, and there are some interesting beasties (the afore-mentioned sabre-toothed cat, plus a large bird used for riding). There’s a motley array of countries, all of them with their own belief systems, technologies and customs, trying to get along (or not). And there’s a nice steampunk feel - steam powered trains and airships, plus guns and electricity. It’s all very carefully thought out, and thank goodness, there are maps at the front and a vast, detailed glossary at the back.

There are half a dozen point of view characters, some with only an occasional chapter or two, which reveal all the various aspects of the complicated plot. Yes, this is one of those tales with a huge amount going on in several different places, and there’s a multitude of conspiracies and machinations to try to untangle. The problem is that most of these characters are not terribly interesting. Taziri, the airship engineer with the husband and baby at home, veers from feisty initiative to near-apathy. Syfax the soldier is a standard-issue macho type, solving all problems by bluster and fists. Qhora, the Incan with her Spanish lover and pet beasties, is more interesting, but even so she doesn’t exactly set the pages alight. There are hordes of sidekicks, as well, equally unenthralling. Frankly there are too few lulls between the action for any of these people to come alive, since they spend most of their time reacting to the mayhem all around them. There are some moments of introspection, which nicely illuminate the author’s strange and fascinating world despite feeling a little contrived (do people actually stop and discuss their beliefs while waiting for the bad guys to show up?), but otherwise it’s all explosions and fights and chases and narrow escapes.

I don’t read a lot of steampunk, so I’m not an expert, but I rather liked the imaginative way the technology is integrated into the plot. It’s not merely a backdrop for the action, and it’s more than a quick fix when our heroes (and heroines) get into trouble. I also liked that, without fuss or fanfare, Marrakesh society is matriarchal, although it’s disappointing that so many of the female characters are either villains or else very passive, being pushed around by others. Taziri, in particular, who ought to be an assertive female lead, spends way too much time drooping around and whining about her husband and baby. Still, it’s nice to find a fantasy society that’s a little outside the usual pseudo-medieval or Victorian box. The politics are a bit simplistic, but that’s a very common (and minor) flaw.

This is an intriguing piece of work, with an original and well-thought-out setting, but the constantly churning high-action plot doesn’t make up for the lack of deep characterisation. I confess that I got bored with the repetitive chasing about the countryside interspersed with yet more gun/knife fights, and skimmed a bit towards the end. I would have liked a little more sabre-toothed cat and giant bird, and a lot less fighting. Recommended for fans of high-octane steampunk, but for me it fell a little flat. I’m in a generous mood, so let’s say three stars.(less)

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Dec 12, 2011 Nikki rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: joseph-robert-lewis

I want to start off completely honestly and say that I never thought I'd finish reading this book. It's not a terrible long book, but I am a reader who likes to get lost in the world of the story and this is one hell of a world. The "steampunk" fad always seemed interesting to me, but it wasn't even until I finished the book that I thought about whether or not this term applies. The thought of inflatable airships and a world where lights out is at sundown simply took my breath away.

This story be...more

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May 10, 2011 Kimberly rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebook, fantasy, lt-giveaway, steampunk

I thoroughly enjoyed Burning Sky. Lewis wrote a really action packed book, full of many different characters whose paths all intersect. They are all motivated by different beliefs, some are pastoralists, what we would call terrorists, some are law enforcers, and some innocent bystanders like the main character, the airship engineer who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The alternate history was cool. Lewis clearly knows history and was able to manipulate it to produce the world he wanted...more

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Jan 28, 2011 Steve Wales rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks, fiction-other, goodreads-author, 2011, steampunk

I've liked the idea of 'steampunk' historical fantasy settings for a while but not really got around to reading anything from that sort of genre but this, with its steam-powered airships, certainly counts and I really enjoyed it.

Set against the imaginative backdrop of a world where the northern hemisphere never really emerged from the last ice age, Taziri Ohana flies her airship in the skies above Marrakesh. After a huge explosion destroys the airfield, she is the only pilot left. She and marsha...more

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Aug 03, 2011 Vicki Forcina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Overall I truly enjoyed reading this book. The steampunk genre is not something that I am familiar with, and it came across as something fresh and new. Also, I thought the historical fantasy portion of the novel was fantastic. It would have been great to see a map of all the locations the characters were traveling, but the amount of knowledge of the past was very consistent and through. My only issue with this novel is that it was difficult for me to jump into it and took me a long time to read....more

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Apr 10, 2011 Andrea rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, e-read, fantasy, steampunk

The Burning Skytakes place on a world that has many similarities to Earth as we know it. There are Europans not Europeans, Espani not Spain. So the world portrayed is familiar and at the same time different. The first thing that differs is the roles that men and women play. The height of technology is airships, telegraphs, and steam trains. The story starts out with an act of terrorism, the airship field is attacked. The heroine of this story, an electrician and pilot of an airship are commandee...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Krizia Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: joseph-robet-lewis

It was an okay book. It has nothing memorable to it. The plot was okay, definitely has good possibilities. However, the pacing was a bit slow for me and the characters are a bit super human. The major is like Superman. Other characters like the police and the Samaritan assassin got killer bruises and wounds but still managed to stay alive and no need for recovery time. Maybe if the author fixes some inconsistencies this can be a 5-star book.

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May 10, 2012 Wendy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I didn't exactly enjoy this story but I didn't not enjoy it. I'm not sure what it was about it. There wasn't anything wrong with it, the writing was fine, the pacing was fine (though the book was a little long). Every chapter was written from a different character's point of view, and perhaps there were too many PsOV and it took too long for it all to come together. I liked some of the characters well enough, but I didn't feel like I knew many of them very well.

Also, a good 11% at the end is a p...more

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Apr 21, 2012 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, personal-collection

I picked up this book because steampunk and Gail Carriger were mentioned in a review. Well, The Burning Sky has absolutely nothing to do with Gail Carriger. I found the book very hard to get into and didn't feel much sympathy for the characters. Actually, I didn't really care what happened to them.

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Aug 15, 2011 Releanna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011

Steampunk isn't my most favorite genre. This is a great book, very detailed, also the characters are rather refined, but I couldn't attach to any of them, they stayed very distant and unpersonal for me.
I liked the book enough to read it completely but I don't think that I'll go for the second book in the series.

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Feb 09, 2012 Andrea rated it 5 of 5 stars

A really fun and interesting book, that caught my attention from the beginning, delighted me with a myriad of nice and lovable characters and a complex, captivating plot. :) Absolutely recommended!

Read my full review: http://hiyokonojinsei.dreamwidth.org/...

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Fantasy

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Science Fiction > Alternate History

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Adventure

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Historical Fiction

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Speculative Fiction

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About Joseph Robert Lewis

Joseph Robert Lewis enjoys creating worlds in which history, mythology, and fantasy collide in unpredictable ways. He also likes writing about heroines that his daughters can respect and admire. Joe was born in Annapolis and went to the University of Maryland to study ancient novels, morality plays, and Viking poetry. He lives in Maryland with his wife and children.

www.josephrobertlewis.com

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The Burning Sky (Halcyon #1)

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