The Affinity Bridge (Newbury and Hobbes, #1)

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The Affinity Bridge (Newbury and Hobbes #1)

3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 · rating details · 2,546 ratings · 413 reviews

Welcome to the bizarre and dangerous world of Victorian London, a city teetering on the edge of revolution. Its people are ushering in a new era of technology, dazzled each day by new inventions. Airships soar in the skies over the city, whilst ground trains rumble through the streets and clockwork automatons are programmed to carry out menial tasks in the offices of lawye...more

Hardcover, 350 pages

Published 2008 by Snowbooks

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Sep 10, 2009 Miriam rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, science-fiction

While in some ways original, this novel combines a number of themes which seem oddly prevalent in recent publications: zombies (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, World War Z An Oral History of the Zombie War, Patient Zero A Joe Ledger Novel, Breathers A Zombie's Lament, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), automata (The Invention of Hugo Cabret, The Alchemy Of Stone), airships (The Wizard Hunters, Clementine, New Amsterdam,Airborn) in a vaguely steampunkish setting ( Larklight A Rousing Tale of Dauntl ...more

8 likes · like · see review

Apr 21, 2010 Dan Schwent rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: steampunk

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...more

14 likes · like · see review

Feb 06, 2011 Tim Chaplin rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

2 likes · like · see review

Aug 09, 2010 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, historical, 2000s

Set in an alternative Victorian London populated with mysterious scientists, brass automatons, airships and zombies, this book was very silly but also very entertaining.

At times it seems as though Mann has a few too many subplots on the go at once and that certain aspects are being ignored for too long. However, he handles them all skilfully and eventually they become so impressively interwoven and dependent upon one another that I was willing to forgive their seemingly disparate nature because...more

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Jun 27, 2010 Colleen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: steampunk, whodunit

This wasn't a bad little story. It moved along at a fair pace, it had some interesting characterizations - and I love anachronistic female characters - and the mystery wasn't entirely obvious, though it was hardly surprising, either.

I figured it out the first time Veronica visited her sister, and I was kind of annoyed that she didn't.

I was going to bump this up to a 3 1/2 stars, but then came the part with the impossibly unstoppable man.

Ok - here be some spoilers

**

So, our hero gets himself inju...more

5 likes · like · see review

Jan 06, 2009 edifanob rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-books, 2009-reads

"Welcome to the bizarre and dangerous world of Victorian London, a city teetering on the edge of revolution. Its people are ushering in a new era of technology, dazzled each day by new inventions. Airships soar in the skies over the city, whilst ground trains rumble through the streets and clockwork automatons are programmed to carry out menial tasks in the offices of lawyers, policemen and journalists. But beneath this shiny veneer of progress lurks a sinister side. For this is also a world whe...more

3 likes · like · see review

Oct 02, 2011 Bill Tillman rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: britian, biology, crime, culture, detective, fiction, fantasy, historical-fiction, murder, mystery, paranormal, steampunk

A totally delightful tale of Victorian England, with the Jules Verne twist of steampunk. I found the sub plots a pure delight adding scope to the tale. A must read for steampunk, fantasy, and Sherlock Holmes lovers.

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 21, 2010 Libby rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-contemporary-urban, mystery-classic-or-gothic, read-in-2010, vacation-reads, science-fiction

3.5 stars – another reviewer stated that this was a pretty simple, straightforward book and I agree. Nonetheless, it was very enjoyable and I recommend it for a fun, easy read.

It’s a Sherlock Holmes, Victorian setting adventure with a Steampunk aspect – the story is predictable and the characters are stock but it’s still very well done. The author knew his genre and worked within it in a creative way. This is one of the better examples of this type of work.

If you enjoy Sherlock Holmes (especial...more

4 likes · like · see review

Feb 12, 2012 Wanda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Wanda by: Bettie

Shelves: ebooks, steampunk, 2012, mount-tbr

An easy-to-read steampunk. You will be pleasantly surprised with this one as the characters are easy to like (if a bit flat and cookie-cutterish) and the situations easy to believe. I am confident Books 2 and 3 improve on the character's personalities a bit as the author increases his confidence with them. If you are interested, you can visit the author's blogspot (http://georgemann.wordpress.com/), where you will find free stories about Newbury for download.

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Feb 29, 2012 Crystal rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Quite the fun, fluffy mystery read. Seems there's a penchant to juxtapose zombies with steampunk, and I'd love to analyze that further. Cherie Priest comes to mind.

As a fluffy mystery, I knew half-way in what to expect for a climax, but I will give Mann literary props for infusing his scenes with fantastic action sequences. Tone was great thanks to London fog and creepy spinning-eyed automatons. Not sure I'll continue the series in the near future, but if I get a hankerin'... And I'm bored at th...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Dan S added it · review of another edition

A promising start to what could be a very enjoyable series. There's lots to enjoy: the steampunk aspects of the book are well realised, there are several enjoyable action scenes, and the main characters are likeable.

However, the writing is mixed. The vast majority of it is fine, if never exactly stupendous, but there are moments, particularly in exposition, where the dialogue is simply dreadful. Likeable though the characters are, there are moments when the respect and friendship of Newbery and...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Kim Ryser rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013booksread, steampunk

3.5 stars

(Review originally posted at steamingenious.blogspot.com)

So I have a confession to make. I'm getting a bit burnt out on steampunk books. I've read a LOT of them in the last six months, and I've gotten to a point where they all seem a bit same-y (with some notable exceptions, of course.) What hurts me even more is that I recently tried to read the first book in fairly well-known steampunk series and I disliked it so much I couldn't finish reading it. No, I'm not writing a review of it. B...more 3.5 stars

(Review originally posted at steamingenious.blogspot.com)

So I have a confession to make. I'm getting a bit burnt out on steampunk books. I've read a LOT of them in the last six months, and I've gotten to a point where they all seem a bit same-y (with some notable exceptions, of course.) What hurts me even more is that I recently tried to read the first book in fairly well-known steampunk series and I disliked it so much I couldn't finish reading it. No, I'm not writing a review of it. But it left something of a bad taste in my mouth through its horrible writing.

So I'll be the first to admit I didn't read The Affinity Bridge in the best state of mind. 'Please let it be better than that last one,' I said under my breath while starting it. And, thankfully, it was. The writing is quite good, clear and straightforward and Victorian enough to give a little flavor without bogging down its plot. The heroes of the book are Sir Maurice Newbury, anthropologist by day and secret agent of the queen by night (or ok, day as well..) and his assistant Miss Veronica Hobbes. Sir Maurice is a comfortable Victorian gentleman, a scholar of the occult, and something of action hero. Miss Hobbes is more of a mystery. She seems at first to be little more than a hired secretary, but she's very intelligent and daring and Sir Maurice includes her in all details of his investigations. Both characters are fleshed out in interesting ways over the course of the story, and there are indications of even more interesting developments in the future.

As for the plot, I'm less enthused about that. But I can't tell you if there's anything actually wrong with it, or if its a symptom of my current overdose of steampunk fiction. There's a series of mysterious murders by a spectral policeman, a mysterious airship crash, and clockwork automatons going berserk. Oh, and the almost contractually required zombies. I can't fault anything in these elements other than to say that I've seen very similar stories before. But the real fault of the plot lay in the fact that the vast majority of the books is spent in long action sequences. I've never found action sequences particularly interesting to read. Often they just come off as someone trying to describe what something would look like in a movie. Steampunk fiction loves action sequences, however. I felt the ones in this book were too long, too frequent, and too difficult to believe. Sir Maurice, a scholar and an anthropologist, spends most of his time performing action movie hero stunts: fighting on the tops of trains, dangling from airships, fighting off zombies, being attacked by automatons... Around the third lengthy sequence in 24 hours of him being physically abused by all this action, I stopped believing in it. I was also stuck wondering why he was always the only one who was involved in the action, even when he had his friend from the police force standing next to him. I was starting to wonder if his friends just stand back and shake their heads, "Oh there goes Maurice, running after a train again..."

So, ultimately, yes, I recommend this book. The characters are well done, and I'm interested in future books in the series.

As for me, I'm taking a break from steampunk fiction. Because there are only so many books about male/female detective teams having adventures involving airships, clockwork men, and spooky stuff that you can read...(less)

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Nov 23, 2012 Gav Reads rated it 4 of 5 stars

There are a few things going on with The Affinity Bridge. It’s a page-turner, a detective story, it features Queen Victoria, it has spies, and it’s steampunk to name but a few of them. It’s quite a pot that George Mann is throwing ideas into.

It could be a mess and a bad pastiche of steampunk-Colan-Doyle-style as it does draw heavily from the idea of gentlemen detectives and the troubles of the upper-classes. But Mann has made it work. I was totally absorbed into his creation.

Simply he’s put his...more There are a few things going on with The Affinity Bridge. It’s a page-turner, a detective story, it features Queen Victoria, it has spies, and it’s steampunk to name but a few of them. It’s quite a pot that George Mann is throwing ideas into.

It could be a mess and a bad pastiche of steampunk-Colan-Doyle-style as it does draw heavily from the idea of gentlemen detectives and the troubles of the upper-classes. But Mann has made it work. I was totally absorbed into his creation.

Simply he’s put his own stamp on everything. The streampunk is understated but integral. Foremost, this is a detective novel and Newbury and Hobbes have a mystery to solve. Actually two mysteries but the first, the death of peasants is overtaken by the crash of an airship, a case that is of far more important to the Crown.

Mann challenges the thinking of the time with Sir Maurice Newbury’s assistant, Miss Veronica Hobbes. Hobbes is in striking difference to his secretary Miss Coulthard, who is unable to function after the disappearance of her brother, which she suspects is at the hands of revenants who are stalking to the poorer areas of London. Hobbes on the other hand doesn’t think twice about hitching up her skirt and kicking the odd door from its hinges.

Mann grabs you by the scruff of the neck and throws you into his version of Victorian London, though I’m not taking any guesses at what year it is or how long Queen Victoria has been on the thrown and you’ll know why when you first meet her. He keeps the plot flying along. Newbury and Hobbes are fascinating in their own right but combined with the story Mann makes this a book that’s hard to put down and a world that’s hard to leave.

That isn’t to stay that it doesn’t have some weaknesses. There are a few action sequences, which are mostly well done but you get the feeling that Mann is enjoying himself too much in some places and that could they could have been cut down a little. I’m glad they are in there as they make for a nice change of tone from the politeness that Newbury usually exhibits.

There are a few words and phrases that jar every now and again and this is more to do with how well Mann captures the language of the time that when they get repeated you notice. But the banter and the dialogue is first rate.

Newbury is a gentlemen spy so his nemesis is a gentlemen of sorts. And the cat and mouse game that they play is teasing and fun. You can’t take this tale too seriously though the main characters have strong emotional connections and they have a believable fondness for each other. Mann has given The Affinity Bridge a strong central core and one that can grow and be explored in the next and subsequent books.

And there a few tip bits thrown into this one. Hints at what could happen in the future and what has happened in the past especially from the last scene. Now that was a surprise.

I’m greatly looking forward to seeing the next Newbury and Hobbes adventure, The Osiris Ritual, and I’m hoping that we’ll get to see more of Newbury’s interests in the Dark Arts and what secrets he’s able to tap into.

Highly Recommended(less)

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Oct 23, 2012 Evelyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

If anyone had told me I'd be reading--let alone enjoying-a science fiction thriller set in an alternative Victorian-era universe that featured plenty of mayhem as well as a pack of marauding zombies I wouldn't have believed it. There are 4 components that generally turn me off to a book, and this trilogy (yes,trilogy!!) contains 3 of the 4 (there's no horror, but given how much I enjoyed this series, I suspect I could even have been sucked in if there was horror).

In any case, I fully acknowledge...more

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Aug 30, 2012 Christine rated it 2 of 5 stars

This story had all the right ingredients, but something went wrong when it was all assembled together and tasted really bland.

So it has all the right plot elements and the characters and adventure and steampunk inventions are there, but the writing quality seemed kind of low. If I were told this was a story written by a middle schooler for a contest, then I'd say this is quite well done. But upon looking up the author, I had some other thoughts cross my mind about the prose...but since I'm not a...more

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Aug 01, 2012 D.w. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, reviewed

There were some admirable qualities in the Affinity Bridge. But it fell short of a five star review.
It is a mystery, set in a steampunk Victorian era. Late Victorian for Queen Victoria died in January of 1901 and this is later in the year.

There are Zombies, so right there, big strike against the book. IMHO there are too many incidents of Zombie fiction that has been unoriginal lately, though Mann does use it as a plot device.

That we have a Holmes like investigator is not a perfect claim. Holmes...more There were some admirable qualities in the Affinity Bridge. But it fell short of a five star review.
It is a mystery, set in a steampunk Victorian era. Late Victorian for Queen Victoria died in January of 1901 and this is later in the year.

There are Zombies, so right there, big strike against the book. IMHO there are too many incidents of Zombie fiction that has been unoriginal lately, though Mann does use it as a plot device.

That we have a Holmes like investigator is not a perfect claim. Holmes is better than Sir Maurice Newbury. Newbury has his quirks. He draws pentagrams on his floor. But I did not see any result or reason for him to have done so. That was where Mann man have missed the boat. He had a chance to make Sir Maurice bigger. He didn't.

He had some Steampunk gadgetry, and this gave us a world where we have Hansom Cabs becoming mechanical. But the day to day gadgetry did not really seem to exist. Only a few big things, like the train, the airship.

Then we had a long, really long fight sequence that you will have seen in movies as men jostle atop a train. Yet it was so long that a good tenth of the book seemed to be eaten away. For something that did not add to the drama and became implausible as well.

There is the heart of it. Sir Maurice was already wounded and having a terrible (and boringly long) fight on top of a train car that was driving about the streets of London (So how fast could it really go?) and he was able to win.

No, Mann had the makings of a mystery, but then he also let us down with no deductive reasoning at the crime scene. An airship crashes and the investigation is rather childish. Need to read Crichton's Airframe, there is a lot that goes on when a major disaster occurs.

In the end, the world needed more to be Steampunk (and if the Queen dies, she dies. Easy enough to change your date to 1900), it needed a better investigator, and when a man is wounded, he only has so much he can endure.

There just does not seem a need to find out any more in the world of Newbury and Hobbes.(less)

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Jun 19, 2012 Hannah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: steampunk, historical-mystery

3.5 stars.

This is a rather enjoyable first entry in the Newbury and Hobbes series, despite the uneven pacing and slightly flat characterization. As someone who is not only a huge fan of Victorian London settings and detective novels but also eager to venture further into the world of steampunk, The Affinity Bridge is the perfect sum of these parts.

I have a pet peeve with mystery novels that either have extremely boring "mysteries" or forget that there's supposed to be actual detecting, clues bei...more

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Jun 11, 2012 Tim Hicks rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, fantasy

Meh. This reads as if it was written to fulfill a contract obligation, or because "we need a steampunk novel".

Too many formulaic components - and this may be a problem with the genre rather than this particular author - and too many chunks of boilerplate text.

Every time characters of the opposite sex enter the room, it's tea time. Every time two men come together, it's time for some brandy, sometimes with a pipe. Yawn.

Implausible hero. Makes Batman look like a wimp. The more he got hurt/maime...more

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Jun 08, 2012 Lee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

The Affinity Bridge brainstorming session #19

Author enters and finds himself on one of two adjacent stages. The only furnishings on his stage are two chairs. In one of the chairs sits O'Bare, a large, hairy man. Author goes and sits on the free chair.
Author: Uh, hello.
O'Bare: Hello there! I'm O'Bare.
Author: That's a peculiar name.
O'Bare: Meh, it's needed for a pun at the end of this sketch.
Author: Oh, okay. Why are there two stages here?
O'Bare: Well that one over there is Stage Right.
Author: And...more

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May 22, 2012 Tony rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

This first entry in a steampunk mystery series introduces the dynamic (and sure to become romantic) duo of Sir Maurice Newbury and Miss Veronica Hobbes. The former is a well-traveled special agent of Queen Victoria (who is being kept alive by a sinister steampunky medical contraption) with a specialization in the occult, and a cover career as anthropologist at the British Museum. The latter is his fetching new assistant, who has very modern sensibilities about the capabilities of her gender, and...more

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Apr 16, 2012 Andy Fanton rated it 4 of 5 stars

Set in an alternative Victorian London where airships fill the sky, and steam-powered carriages rattle through the streets, The Affinity Bridge is a rollicking steampunk-flavoured romp that rattles along like a hansom cab being driven by a madman.

We follow Sir Maurice Newbury, Crown investigator (that is to say, an investigator employed by the Crown, not someone who has a particular interest in regal head wear) and his assistant Veronica Hobbes, as they investigate an airship crash in Hyde Park....more

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Feb 06, 2012 Lydia rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Quite possibly one of the most amazing, life-altering, mind-breaking so-bad-it-is-AWESOME books ever written.

Brief summary: It is London, 1901. Airships fill the sky above Battersea while a zombie (no, really) plague rages through the streets of Whitechapel and a mysterious glowing policeman breaks the necks of London's poor. When an airship from the celebrated Chapman and Villiers Air Transportation Services (Limited) nose-dives into the middle of Finsbury Park, Sir Maurice Newbury, Gentleman I...more Quite possibly one of the most amazing, life-altering, mind-breaking so-bad-it-is-AWESOME books ever written.

Brief summary: It is London, 1901. Airships fill the sky above Battersea while a zombie (no, really) plague rages through the streets of Whitechapel and a mysterious glowing policeman breaks the necks of London's poor. When an airship from the celebrated Chapman and Villiers Air Transportation Services (Limited) nose-dives into the middle of Finsbury Park, Sir Maurice Newbury, Gentleman Investigator (like, for real) and his intrepid assistant, the plucky Miss Veronica Hobbes (... like, for real) set out to solve the mystery.

I should probably preface this with a big, bold statement: *I really, really enjoyed this book*, no matter what you might think from the rest of this review. I read it in two sittings (on plane journeys to New York and San Antonio) without really noticing how quickly I was getting through it. It's well-written and well-paced, I will give it points for that, and for what it's worth I recommend that anyone looking for something quick and dirty to read pick this up immediately. It is TOTALLY worth it.

But now, my thoughts. Warning: SPOILERS.

Where to begin? What I will not give this book is points for originality. When I finished, I turned to my friend and said, "It's like somebody really, really enjoyed 'Doctor Who' and 'I am Legend' and thought, 'You know what? Wouldn't it be great if I meshed 'Doctor Who' and 'I am Legend' together?'" And I am sticking to that statement.

There are zombies. They are (guess what) turned zombified by contracting a virus. They also (guess what) can't be exposed directly to the sunlight (hence creepy Victorian London pea soup fog plot points). The hero is (guess what) immune to the virus. You get the point.

There are also cybermen. Sure, they're called automatons, but they are just cybermen with brass fittings instead of steel ones. The baddies employ the glowing policeman to harvest brains from Whitechapel where -- you guessed it -- there is a zombie plague, thus producing the book's finest feature: zombie cybermen.

So, yes, in my opinion, this book is lacking a certain amount of original inventiveness. I'd like to say the main character makes up for this, but no. He is just Lieutenant Colonel The Doctor Robert Neville, being all tall-dark-and-handsome in long coats and serving cyber-werewolf Victoria in Torchwood.

Oh yeah, there's totally Torchwood. You knew that was coming.(less)

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Dec 26, 2011 Blair rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really wish that you could give half ratings, because I would definitely give this book a 3.5 out of 5.

I started this book because I thought that a steampunk motif would be a pleasant change from all the hard science fiction I've been reading, lately. About halfway through the book, I realized that the appeal of steampunk, for me, is largely visual. Almost exclusively visual. When combined with the very Victorian gender sensibilities, and the fact that there seemed to be far too many things go...more

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Dec 07, 2011 Schweighsr rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: steampunk

Do all Steampunk fantasy books contain zombies? In this book they are called 'Revenants' and in the 'Clockwork Century' series they are called 'rotters', but they are both basically zombies.

The Affinity Bridge was exciting enough that I read it all in two sittings, I could barely put it down, but I gave it an average rating because of the shallowness of the plot and characters. In fact, although this was the first of the series, I was certain that there must be a book before this one, explainin...more

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Nov 29, 2011 Jenn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: steampunk

I picked up The Affinity Bridge and its sequel, The Osiris Ritual, on a bookcloseouts.ca sale a while back. I had no idea what to expect, having never read George Mann before, but the premise--a classic mystery with a steampunk twist--was just too delicious to resist.

In some ways, The Affinity Bridge took me back to my Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie days. (I used to devour their work on virtually a daily basis.) The tone is quite similar, particularly to the Sherlock Holmes stories,...more I picked up The Affinity Bridge and its sequel, The Osiris Ritual, on a bookcloseouts.ca sale a while back. I had no idea what to expect, having never read George Mann before, but the premise--a classic mystery with a steampunk twist--was just too delicious to resist.

In some ways, The Affinity Bridge took me back to my Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie days. (I used to devour their work on virtually a daily basis.) The tone is quite similar, particularly to the Sherlock Holmes stories, which is a definite plus in my mind. And the two main problems before Newbury and Veronica--the airship crash and the murders in Whitechapel--positively reek of classic mystery. Again, a good thing. What sets The Affinity Bridge apart from these classic tales is the fact that it's set in a steampunk Victorian London, where automatons are the new hip thing and airship travel is au courant as well. George Mann has done a wonderful job of marrying the two ideas and The Affinity Bridge is a delightful adventure for the readers (though not so much for poor Newbury, who gets rather battered).

Sir Maurice Newbury and Miss Veronica Hobbes are an excellent pair. They're both incredibly capable, smart people who are also forward-thinking, though Veronica is slower to embrace some of the technological advancement. In The Affinity Bridge, they've only recently started working together, so the reader gets to watch them learn each other, which is always delightful. Veronica seems a little taken with Newbury so it'll be interesting to see whether their relationship remains strictly professional in future books.

I was also fascinated by Veronica's sister, Amelia, who's been institutionalized because of her ability to see the future. When Amelia was first introduced, I was a little surprised since this was the first mention of these types of powers existing in this world but I'm curious to see what happens with Amelia in other stories (if she shows up at all). Of course, I don't know why I was so surprised by Amelia's gift since there are elements of the super/preternatural in The Affinity Bridge, primarily the presence of zombies, or revenants as they are called in the book. Don't worry, this isn't a spoiler -- the first chapter is all about a zombie attack in India!

I'm very happy that I have The Osiris Ritual sitting in my TBR pile as I thoroughly enjoyed The Affinity Bridge. It was a lot of fun to read, and I really liked getting to know Newbury and Hobbes. There are some fantastic little moments in the book, particularly towards the end, that have made me quite curious about where George Mann will take them next.

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Nov 06, 2011 Bianca rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Die Themse schlängelte sich in die Ferne davon, in der Nähe stießen die Fabriken und Industrieanlagen von Battersea Rauchfahnen in die Luft. Ein Stück entfernt hob sich die City of Westminster wie ein Edelstein aus der dichten Bebauung ab: stolze Bauten, öffentliche Parks, Museen und das Parlament. Majestätisch funkelte die Stadt, und darüber bildeten die Gewitterwolken ein dunkles, dräuendes Gewölbe."

"Affinity Bridge" von George Mann war eines der Bücher, auf die ich mich dieses Jahr am meiste...more

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Nov 01, 2011 Scott Foley rated it 4 of 5 stars

George Mann has written an original novel utilizing two dynamic characters while blending science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres in Victorian England. But, even as these elements add up to a highly entertaining work, it is not without faults.

The Affinity Bridge features Sir Maurice Newbury, an agent of Queen Victoria, and his newly hired assistant, Veronica Hobbes. They are a fun duo, both formidable in their own right, and soon after the beginning of the novel they are thrust into three se...more George Mann has written an original novel utilizing two dynamic characters while blending science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres in Victorian England. But, even as these elements add up to a highly entertaining work, it is not without faults.

The Affinity Bridge features Sir Maurice Newbury, an agent of Queen Victoria, and his newly hired assistant, Veronica Hobbes. They are a fun duo, both formidable in their own right, and soon after the beginning of the novel they are thrust into three seemingly separate investigations. London is besieged by a plague of revenants--zombies, a glowing policeman intent on killing, and a dirigible crash piloted by an automaton--a robot.

Newbury, while a capable investigator, also dabbles in the dark arts and has a few incorrigible habits that shall remain unmentioned. Hobbes has a clairvoyant sister in the asylum and a secret she dares not reveal to Newbury. Their relationship is wrought with sexual tension, mutual respect, and catchy dialogue. Neither is afraid of action, and both employ behavior considered unusual for the time period.

The story comes to a satisfying conclusion, though the rising action is far more engrossing than the climax or the resolution. Newbury and Hobbes, along with Mann's surrealistic, gritty London, are primed for another tale, one I would not hesitate to read. Mann's story is firmly entrenched in reality, but a reality where anything is possible.

I do have one complaint, however--adverbs. Mann indulges in adverbs so often that it becomes a distraction, one I couldn't ignore for most of the novel. It may sound petty, but most of them were unnecessary with as many as three per sentence in some cases.

With The Affinity Bridge, George Mann has created a city and cast of characters unrestricted by genre and exciting to follow. Though his use of adverbs is distracting, Mann writes quick-paced, well-plotted prose and takes care to fully resolve all subplots. If you are a fan of science fiction, secret agents, zombies, robots, unholy killers, and the Victorian Era, then I recommend The Affinity Bridge. (less)

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Jul 29, 2011 Andrew added it · review of another edition

I really liked this book. it took a couple of attempts to get into it, mainly because I was trying to read too many things at once, but I am so glad that I did.

The basic idea seems to be a mystery set in late Victorian England - but with science quite beyond what was available at the time. It is a Victorian London of airships, and steam powered coaches that drive alongside the more traditional horse drawn variety. So although it is a Science Fiction setting, the author has done an amazing job o...more

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Apr 10, 2011 Barbara rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-f

The first book featuring Sir Maurice Newbury and Miss Veronica Hobbs is a rather uneven entry in the steampunk ranks. We are in an alternate Victorian-era London; one that is full of mechanical marvels like automatons and steam-powered road trains. The skies are filled with air-ship traffic. And the night streets are full of fog and revenants and the 'glowing policeman'.
Someone or something is killing the poor in Whitechapel. The the deaths are popularly linked of the return of the 'glowing poli...more

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Apr 05, 2011 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

I believe this is my first time delving into a Steampunk book. Reading the excerpt, I was interested in trying out Steampunk and I also like detective books.

I'm pleased that my wife showed this book to me. It was a very fun read and I would love to see Mann continue the story of Newbury and Hobbes.

Content: For me, it was so nice to read an adult novel that didn't need to be sexualized and didn't need to use profanity...neither of which is in anyway necessary to write a good story.

This book follo...more

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Science Fiction > Steampunk

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About George Mann

George Mann is an author and editor, primarily in genre fiction. He was born in Darlington, County Durham in 1978.
A former editor of Outland, Mann is the author of The Human Abstract, and more recently The Affinity Bridge and The Osiris Ritual in his Newbury and Hobbes detective series, set in an alternate Britain, and Ghosts of Manhattan, set in the same universe some decades later.
He wrote the T...more

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Books by George Mann

The Osiris Ritual (Newbury and Hobbes, #2)

The Immorality Engine (Newbury and Hobbes, #3)

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3472342-the-affinity-bridge?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348421888l/3472342.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3472342-the-affinity-bridge?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Affinity Bridge by George Mann[/url]

The Affinity Bridge (Newbury and Hobbes #1)

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