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The Mechanist

by Erik Robert Nelson (Goodreads Author)

3.5 of 5 stars 3.50 · rating details · 50 ratings · 17 reviews

Essie Gray just wanted to be a thief. And she was damned good at it.

Issington is a city under a century-long siege from the air. A curfew and blackout have driven many citizens underground for business and pleasure. Automatons originally designed for war patrol the dark streets of the city at night, now used as a means of keeping the uneasy domestic peace.

When a job goes h...more

Paperback, 342 pages

Published February 24th 2012 by Bansidhe Press (first published February 18th 2012)

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Nov 15, 2012 Matt Schiariti rated it 2 of 5 stars

The description of this book sounded intriguing so I picked it up on a whim. I'd never read this particular author before and I'm always looking to add new ones to my ever growing list so I pulled the trigger. It was reviewed pretty favorably, although sparingly, so I had a good feeling when I tore into it.

It didn't live up to expectations.

Essie is a thief, and according to the narrative she's a very good one. She takes a job for a questionable gang leader and it turns into a whole lot of troubl...more

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Feb 20, 2012 Maribeth rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Mechanist is one of those books where, once the last few words were read, I was so satisfied and pleased that I wanted to read it from the beginning again just to relive it and make sure I caught everything that went on. The world in which it takes place is very well put together - a war ridden country where people have had to adjust to living underground at night; where a single light left on can lead to entire city blocks turned to rubble by enemy bombs. And yet this is their norm - it has...more

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Apr 06, 2012 Mitch rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really, really liked this one, but also think this particular review should come with a ‘your mileage may vary’ warning. This book’s what I would consider description heavy – the first half of the first chapter has exactly one line of dialogue of like four words, though it gets better, and there’s a TON of science and engineering related stuff - background and details, more than enough I imagine to bore or scare off people who dislike steampunk.

On the other hand, I’m a sci-fi fan, and was rea...more I really, really liked this one, but also think this particular review should come with a ‘your mileage may vary’ warning. This book’s what I would consider description heavy – the first half of the first chapter has exactly one line of dialogue of like four words, though it gets better, and there’s a TON of science and engineering related stuff - background and details, more than enough I imagine to bore or scare off people who dislike steampunk.

On the other hand, I’m a sci-fi fan, and was really impressed by the dilapidated city feel of everything and the complex descriptions of inventions, machines, wires, metals, and the like. Although I do think Nelson went a little bit overboard and could’ve cut a few lines here and there, once I got into the groove of things I think I stopped noticing the descriptions dragging the book and really went along with this awesome image of a ruined wartime city that they created. Nelson obviously also did his homework, the mechanical inventions and the various characters discussing device construction and metallurgy were intriguing whenever they appeared and really believable.

Character and plot wise, this book is a little weaker but still really enjoyable. Essie’s of course this thief trying to survive in this ruined city by stealing stuff, and one of the things she steals gets her into trouble with the law. As the plot unfolds, I like how Essie is independent and really knows what she’s doing, and watching her trying to figure out what’s really going on and working her various contacts while the investigators try to close in on her was really fun. It takes awhile for the plot and all the facts to come together, though, and there’s a lot of that technical description in between, but I didn’t really mind, though I guess it could be considered kind of slow. There’s also an of-course-I-saw-that-coming game changing moment when the hunt turns to who hired Essie to steal that thing in the first place, and while it took me awhile to get to that point I really enjoyed how everything came together. Unfortunately, I didn’t really get the ending, though I’m fairly sure that’s just to set up a possible sequel. (Also, it’s strange that the airships only bombed the city at night by looking for light sources and never during the day when the pilots could see everything, but I chalked that up to unmentioned anti-aircraft guns that could also shoot them down during the day.)

So yeah, if you get a thrill out of watching characters trying to figure out how a steampunk version of a lie detector works, this book’s right up your alley. Otherwise, it’s still a good detective story with some twists to the plot but might want to skim now and then.(less)

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Apr 08, 2012 Althea Ann rated it 3 of 5 stars

I got this book through the First Reads Giveaway.

I think this book has the potential to be one of the better books I've read in the steampunk genre. However - it's not quite finished.
It starts rather awkwardly, to the point where, on the first page, I almost felt like, "oh no, what have I gotten myself into?" However, as it goes along, the writing gets a lot smoother, and as the characters develop and the plot develops, I found myself liking the book quite a lot.
However, due to the writing's une...more I got this book through the First Reads Giveaway.

I think this book has the potential to be one of the better books I've read in the steampunk genre. However - it's not quite finished.
It starts rather awkwardly, to the point where, on the first page, I almost felt like, "oh no, what have I gotten myself into?" However, as it goes along, the writing gets a lot smoother, and as the characters develop and the plot develops, I found myself liking the book quite a lot.
However, due to the writing's uneven quality, I strongly felt like this was a first draft - like the author got to the end of the story and said, "Woo-hoo! I'm done! Off to the printer with you, book!" From a copy-editor's perspective, I had four problems with the first paragraph. To me, that says that no one even read over the manuscript before it went to print. It's also going to turn off anyone at a publisher who's looking at this - which is a shame, because this is really A GOOD BOOK!

First paragraph:
"Essie Gray crouched beside a ruined rise of stone steps. Mortar crumbled from beneath the weather-cracked stones and dissolved into fine powder. Had the street lamps been lit - as they hadn't been in living memory - they'd have illuminated nothing but great glowing orbs of mist and fog in the night. Instead, the only light filtering down to the street through the overcast sky came from the waning gibbous moon above. That modest lizght glinted wanly off the slick cobbled streets."

OK, the main problem here is time.
#1. The mortar has probably been crumbling and gradually dissolving into powder for decades. Essie is "crouching" NOW. This creates an instant disconnect as to how the reader is supposed to be viewing the scene. How about keeping the whole thing current? Maybe have her descending the steps, and the dust crumbling out as her feet shift the loose stones?
#2. If the street lamps haven't been lit in "living memory," Essie's probably not THINKING about how they're not lit, or what she would see if they were. Skip what we're not seeing, and tell us just what we DO see. The moonlight can illuminate the broken globes of the streetlights.
#3. If it's that misty, foggy, and overcast, can we really tell that the moon is "waning gibbous"? That's awfully specific.
#4. Typo! "lizght" - OK - these happen! But in the first paragraph? Again, this says, "no one proofread this manuscript."

It also needs a general going-over, overall, just for small things. The number of sentence fragments interrupts the flow of the writing at points, and then there are nitpicky (but important) things like the differences between "leeching"/"leaching" and "taking the piss" vs. "pissing someone off." There's an overuse of the word "brutes," and places where a better word choice could really make things snap - for example, on page 13 a place is a haven for "crooks, criminals and thieves." Those are all synonyms. How about "a haven for pickpockets, bully-boys and flesh-mongers?"

I'm not usually (if ever) so specific in a review. I'm saying this because I really feel that if a professional editor revised this manuscript, there is absolutely no reason that it shouldn't be picked up by a major publisher. I don't think I've ever said that about a self-published novel before. It's better than some books that have already been published by the mainstream SF press this year.

The characters are engaging and colorful, and the mystery/adventure plot is well-crafted, suspenseful and action-filled. The setting is vague-but-evocative. (An alternate England after a WWI that turned out differently?) It's a well-realized and original world which really captures the underground, DIY, gritty aspect of steampunk - it follows from the cyberpunk aesthetic, exploring nightlife, marginalization and subcultures, unlike some newer 'steampunk' books that are just like, "well, let's make it vaguely old-timey, and then throw in an automaton." Nope. Essie is a worthy steampunk counterpoint to cyberpunk's bad-ass hackers - she's a mechanist hacker, always tinkering with parts, smart, talented, on the wrong side of the law in order to survive, kicking ass on her motorcycle and doing what needs to be done.

I'd recommend this to fans of Cherie Priest's 'Boneshaker.'(less)

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Jun 18, 2012 Jessica rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: No one

Recommended to Jessica by: Rhonda

I think the author had an interesting idea, but it was very poorly executed. The story didn't move (it took me a month to finish the book - it never takes me that long!), there was no character growth, and suddenly I had reached the end of the book but nothing had happened. I couldn't pinpoint a geographic area for the story, there were so many references that are at completely opposite ends of everything; I think the author wanted that to be a cool feature, but it was disorienting. There were g...more

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Apr 01, 2012 Lillian Hong rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. My real rating is 3.5. Here's why:

First off: spelling errors. Immediately on page 1 I catch a spelling mistake: "modest lizght." And (much) further in, there's another one- "they light". What? These are small errors, but seriously? Granted, I'm in a rather pissy mood, but my regard for the book dropped lower with each mistake. It's a pet peeve of mine, but no one's perfect, so I let it slide.
But then comes another problem. In the summary of the book, it says that Essie Gray is a "damned good" th...more My real rating is 3.5. Here's why:

First off: spelling errors. Immediately on page 1 I catch a spelling mistake: "modest lizght." And (much) further in, there's another one- "they light". What? These are small errors, but seriously? Granted, I'm in a rather pissy mood, but my regard for the book dropped lower with each mistake. It's a pet peeve of mine, but no one's perfect, so I let it slide.
But then comes another problem. In the summary of the book, it says that Essie Gray is a "damned good" thief. No, she's not. She's a good LOCKPICK, not a thief; thief just happens to be the only profession that goes with lockpicking, besides being a locksmith. She's not a good thief because for one thing, the book says that back when it was constables patrolling the streets and not mechanical wardens, she caught got quite a lot. Thiefs are suppose to be good at stealth, especially around humans. Strike one, Miss Gray. Another thing is that while the constables were investigating the scene of crime, they discovered quite a lot of evidence to figure out everything except her face and her name. And yet while she was robbing, she was just so sure of her abilities, and so convinced that the disturbed dust could be contributed to a "squatter." There's strike 2, because good thieves make sure to not leave a single piece of evidence behind. Strike 3 is for streaking down the street without anything to cover your identity in any way. I mean, sure you're in a hurry to escape the flames, but it kill you to at least wrap a piece of cloth around your head or something? That way, if people saw you, all they can say is that the saw a FIGURE on a spring bike speeding away, making it much harder to find you. Seriously, Essie, you are just about one of the dumbest thieves I ever met.
What the book should be saying is that Essie Gray is a damned good lockpick, because machines are her thing. She's a horrible thief because she's a goddamn mechanist. So the story is fine, don't change anything, just change the summary because you're not a good thief just because you're great at picking locks. That's like saying you're a great swimmer because you can hold your breath underwater for 30 minutes. It just doesn't work that way.
Now another thing: the emotions in this book...yeah, I just don't feel it. When Essie and Ash was fighting, I just couldn't feel their anger. I didn't feel Ash's pain at Essie's words. I just knew he was hurt and angry because the book told me so. The book freaking tells me everything. Oh, there's steel in her voice. Oh, his anger flaring. Blah, blah, blah, you're using too much words! Shorten it up, snap up the sentences. When you're mad, time goes by. Words are exchanged in a flurry of fury. There is no long monolouge of deep thought in between each retort. When people are mad, they don't think, they spit out the first thing on their minds. Then someone says something stinging and things start to slow down as their minds come back in control. That's when you can finally start telling me about how Ash was always Mr. Selfish, blah, blah, blah. Moving on.
Those expecting a complicated mystery in which the culprit of it all is revealed only until the very end: nope. The culprit is revealed near the the beginning, (you have GOT to be an idiot to miss it) and the rest of the story is pretty much just the clueless pawns trying to figure it and then put a stop to it. There's not much of a reason to keep reading, except to see what they'll do once they finally figure it out. (Characters: It was you all along?! DUN DUN DUUUN Reader: Yea, TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH. Now kill him!)

Okay, I'm done ranting about the bad side. Now let's look at the good side.
1) Essie has brain, oh thank god, she's independent but not one of those if-I-rely-on-someone-I'll-die hardcore chicks. Okay, she's a little bit of that, but you really can't blame her: life in the Tubes is hard and dangerous. Trust should be guarded and given out sparingly if one wants to live to see tomorrow, shitty as it is.
2) Mechanists, giving this book a bit of a steampunk feel. While the idea of making machines based on gut feelings may seem totally stupid to some, it made perfect sense to me. Sometimes you just know what to do, even if you don't know the fancy names for it.
3) Homosexuality, prostitues, and drugs everywhere! Whee! Welcome to the dark side of realistic ghettos! Population: not avaliable, because someone's probably getting murdered as we speak.
4)The line between daylighters and nightlifers, and no, I do NOT mean vampires. Shoo, you little emos, shoo! I was talking about what is basically the rich and the poor. The mansions and the ghettos. The stable and the unstable. And do not forget the ones that are in-between. There will always be something seperating the people from each other, making groups and creating tension. Whoop.
5) The magic of machinery. Just think steampunk. It's freaking awesome, that's all I got to say.
6) SI JONATHON IS...?! I did NOT see that coming! I was surprised, and then delighted as I went, Ooooh, that's why he taught her to identify metals. It was brilliant, but a bit unneccasry to me. Unless you plan to make a sequel, tie up all loose endings. It's like watching a movie, when everything's resolved, and all of a sudden if shoots a brief scene with the supposedly dead villian opening his eyes. It makes you go WHAT and drives you insane as you wonder WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT, SOMEONE TELL ME.

Hm, the pro list looks a lot shorter than the con list. But do not be fooled! The books IS good, I just like to rant, and I'm not really one for praises. It's a bit confusing (I've never liked politics very much, and the book consisted of 50-70% of it), but I managed. It was pretty good, and I seriously hope for a sequel. The book just doesn't feel finished; I'm not satisfied yet. There has to be a sequel, Mr. Nelson. I WANT a sequel.

I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.(less)

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Jun 25, 2012 J.P. rated it 2 of 5 stars

The old adage goes never judge a book by its cover. To that I add the same goes for its blurb.
When I read the blurb for this I knew the potential for a good read existed with a steampunk backdrop and mechanical wardens and hey there's a war going on you know.
The author is a pretty good writer per se, but when it comes to telling the tale there's lots of room for improvement. First of all, if you are going to write about the police know how they act. If they stake out a house and see the suspect...more

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Apr 14, 2012 Steven rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very ambitios story. Setting is sorta post apocalyptic steam punk. Took me about 70 pages to embrace the characters and world. But the author is clearly gifted and passionate about his characters. A la hunger games the hero is an incredibly resident young woman - tho a few years older than Catniss and instead of archery has lock picking and overall mechanical wizardry as her weapons.

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Jun 04, 2012 Julia rated it 5 of 5 stars

I found this book for free on amazon and figured I'd download it to my kindle because it would take up some time. I started it and didn't think I'd be into it, but then I hit about the 3rd chapter and loved it. I stayed up all night reading it! I normally don't like steam punk sort of scifi books, but this was great! I recommend this strongly to anyone reading this. Read this book.

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May 14, 2012 Julia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

What I liked: Essie. As the book progressed, I became more and more invested in her life. I wanted her to have a happy ending. I thought the atmosphere of the book was great. It was a fully realized, fully believable alternate world. It was also a pretty depressing world, with food shortages, never-ending wars, high crime, etc. In a world where it is hard to trust anyone, Essie found some true friends.

What I didn't like: there were some awkwardly constructed sentences, especially noticeable in t...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

this steampunk dystopian novel was a fun fast read. definitely ha a couple places where characters could have been filled out better, but overall was enjoyable.

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May 30, 2012 Christina rated it 2 of 5 stars

I tried my very hardest to like this book, but it was really taking a while to get through. I feel like this could have been a really great book. The synopsis sounded pretty good (I was excited that the setting is in a steampunk type world), but when you actually start reading The Mechanist, it comes across as a bit dull. Sadly, I don't think I will be finishing it. I am at 63% on my Kindle and am still pretty bored.

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Mar 29, 2012 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

When I first started reading this book, I honestly thought I was going to hate it. It was kind of slow starting off, but once I got halfway through the book, I couldn't put it down. And the twist at the end was a very pleasant surprise.

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Nov 07, 2012 MiriLou rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I got this as a freebie. For the most part I enjoyed this book, but it was kinda slow sometimes and it had a lot of cussing including the f-bomb which I felt was unnecessary. There are storyline flaws but the main character was likeable and the solving a mystery part was interesting.

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Mar 28, 2013 Rich rated it 4 of 5 stars

greatly enjoyed it but it left me wanting more. great world building and characters.

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Jun 04, 2012 Steve rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Steve by: Pixel of Ink

Shelves: ebook, fantasy, sci-fi, reviewed

Steampunk, not my usual genre.
Very good held my interest right from the beginning.

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Mar 12, 2012 Vanessa C. marked it as to-read

Shelves: potential

Definitely a book right down my alley. I'm intrigued.

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May 12, 2013 Heidi is currently reading it

May 03, 2013 Adriana marked it as purchased · review of another edition

Apr 14, 2013 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars

Apr 10, 2013 Jenn marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle

Apr 07, 2013 Jamerson rated it 3 of 5 stars

Apr 01, 2013 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-on-kindle, kindle-prime

Mar 29, 2013 Julia marked it as to-read

Mar 02, 2013 Shawn added it

Feb 11, 2013 Jordan marked it as to-read

Shelves: kindle-library

Jan 25, 2013 Janyne marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jan 07, 2013 Kagama-the Literaturevixen marked it as to-read

Dec 04, 2012 Steve Lindsey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Nov 03, 2012 Rita marked it as own-already-but-not-read · review of another edition

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