The Falling Machine (The Society of Steam, #1)

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Falling Machine (The Society of Steam #1)

by Andrew P. Mayer (Goodreads Author)

3.4 of 5 stars 3.40 · rating details · 362 ratings · 83 reviews

This new steampunk series opens in 1880, when women aren't allowed to vote, much less dress up in a costume and fight crime. But twenty year-old socialite Sarah Stanton still dreams of becoming a hero. Her opportunity arrives in tragedy when the leader of the Society of Paragons, New York's greatest team of gentlemen adventurers, is murdered right before her eyes. To uncov...more

Paperback, 284 pages

Published May 24th 2011 by Pyr

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Perdido Street Station by China Miéville

Best Steampunk Books

227th out of 469 books — 2,466 voters

Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula by Elise Stokes

Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman

Cassidy Jones and Vulcan's Gift by Elise Stokes

Super Hero Books [Not Graphic Novels]

38th out of 122 books — 135 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 2,019)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Dec 16, 2011 Frankenstein rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: strong-female-protagonist

The bookstore I frequently visit is a Borders. Unfortunately as we all know, Borders is closing... Other people will say "Hey, you can always order online!" The thing is - I don't like getting books unless I can feel their pages and smell them!!!! It is a weird and very strange habit, but I have never bought a book online unless I already smelled/held a copy of it elsewhere. wow... I sound like a book molester....

NO SHAME!!!

description

Anyways, my book reading days might tremendously slow down if not come...more

like 7 likes · see review

Mar 20, 2011 edifanob rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-books, 2011-reads

I read an ARC and as the book will be published in May you have to wait for my full review until May.
But of course I would like to share with you my first impressions.

The Society of Steam is the next steampunk series I definitely will follow.

It seems there is a kind of trend to use New York instead of London as setting for steampunk novels. I just remember Gods of Manhattan by Al Ewing and Ghosts of Manhattan by George Mann.

These three novels have more in common than one thinks at first sight.

S...more

like 2 likes · see review

Dec 09, 2012 Johnny rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: steampunk

What if the Justice League of DC Comics was less about super-powers and more about physical prowess, mental deduction, and mad inventions (fairly much out of the pulp adventures of Doc Savage or movie serial villains like Bela Lugosi in The Phantom Creeps)? Then, what if this not-entirely super group of heroes were placed in the late 19th century U.S. when the use of steam was driving the transformation of industry and transformation? What if you took a page of George R. R. Martin’s Wild Cards s...more What if the Justice League of DC Comics was less about super-powers and more about physical prowess, mental deduction, and mad inventions (fairly much out of the pulp adventures of Doc Savage or movie serial villains like Bela Lugosi in The Phantom Creeps)? Then, what if this not-entirely super group of heroes were placed in the late 19th century U.S. when the use of steam was driving the transformation of industry and transformation? What if you took a page of George R. R. Martin’s Wild Cards series and transformed “The Turtle” into “The Iron Clad” or the late Neal Stephenson’s Rocketeer (now written by Mark Waid) and transformed him into “The Turbine” (although Turbine’s personality is nothing like Cliff’s in the former and ironically, more like the spoiled and self-centered Flash that Waid penned in the 1990s)?

Imagine Sherlock Holmes transported to the U.S. of this era, renamed “The Sleuth,” and having his sexual orientation clarified by establishing an open relationship with the organization’s founder, Dr. Darby, and having other characters use deprecatory language about him. Since one of the major protagonists within “The Paragons” is “The Industrialist,” it might even be far to compare him to “Iron Man” of another group, Marvel’s Avengers, except for the fact that another Paragon (Dr. Darby) is the real inventor and founder of the Paragons—Tony Stark, Doc Savage, and Reed Richards rolled into one.

Anyone who knows my personal taste would know that the bulk of this set-up should really capture my interest. Add to these potentially interesting characters (and the important qualifier is “potentially”) a fiery young woman, a daughter of privilege with suffragette sympathies and a courageous loyalty to those she cares about, and then, feature such fascinating venues for action as the unfinished Brooklyn Bridge and the disembodied arm of the Statue of Liberty as solicitations were made for the money needed to assemble Lady Liberty on what would become popularly known as “Liberty Island.” And to all of that, add a sentient “fortified steam”-powered android known as “The Automaton” that seems quite similar to Neil Gaiman’s Mr. Hero. How could The Falling Machine and the rest of the trilogy known as The Society of Steam possibly miss?

The truth is that, at least in my mind, it misses by having pacing more akin to a sleepy elephant than a caffeinated antelope. I don’t suppose readers would like either end of that hypothetical continuum, but it should be helpful in communicating the plodding pace of the story. That is, the pace plods in all but two scenes—the first and the last. But neither one really makes sense. In the first scene, the violence is instigated in order to deliver a message, the kind of maniacal, twisted, egotistical message you would expect from the “Uber-villain” of a pulp novel. Yet, wouldn’t the egotistical “bad guy” want to rub his rival’s nose in the defeat? Wouldn’t he want to savor the feeling of helplessness? Although Andrew Mayer needs the death of this major protagonist and threat to his “greatest work” as a plot device, he doesn’t do enough with it to make it worthwhile (in my inexpert opinion) and, actually, rather wastes interesting opportunities to exploit dissension in The Paragons more effective than the posthumous ones the novel adopts. But I suppose Mayer wanted to establish the fact that he was willing to kill of his protagonists right from the beginning. In that sense, I guess he wanted his world to look as dangerous and threatening as the world of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Yet, even when Martin kills off interesting characters with futile, eccentric, and meaningless deaths, he uses those deaths to craft a more menacing world. With Mayer, it simply feels “gimmicky.” Deaths in Martin’s work impact me viscerally and even as a reader, I feel “diminished” or “relieved” by the demise of certain characters. Deaths in The Society of Steam seem either contrived or inevitable—not satisfying.

Further, in spite of the comparison with old movie serials (which I enjoy in spite of the overuse of cliffhangers), I resented the abrupt ending of The Falling Machine which was neither a cliffhanger nor a resolution. NOTHING was resolved, NOTHING was advanced, and NOTHING satisfied. I’m going to give the second volume a chance, but that is only because my local library has a copy and not because I would spend money on this. With the exception of Sarah, the female protagonist, the characters seem cardboard, stereotypical, and contrived. The Falling Machine could have been so much more if it hadn’t fallen on its face.
(less)

like · see review

Sep 12, 2012 Elf M. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Elf by: Jay Lake

Andrew Mayer's The Falling Machine is a strange and lovely book. It starts with a great idea: The Avengers, only steampunk, and now old and decrepit. The Paragons are a team of superheroes, and all of their equipment is driven by tiny energy sources only one man in the world knows how to make: Cells of Fortified Steam power The Submersible's suit, as well as Iron-Clads armor and The Industrialst's weapons. With one exception-- The Sleuth, who's a suave martial artist now in his mid-60s-- the Par...more Andrew Mayer's The Falling Machine is a strange and lovely book. It starts with a great idea: The Avengers, only steampunk, and now old and decrepit. The Paragons are a team of superheroes, and all of their equipment is driven by tiny energy sources only one man in the world knows how to make: Cells of Fortified Steam power The Submersible's suit, as well as Iron-Clads armor and The Industrialst's weapons. With one exception-- The Sleuth, who's a suave martial artist now in his mid-60s-- the Paragons depends upon various forms of Fortified Steam to operate specialized powered armor.

That one mad scientist is Dr. Darby, who is killed in chapter one by a villainous assailant. The Industrialist's daughter, Sarah, loved Darby as an uncle, and is determined to both free his greatest creation, a sentient robot known as The Automaton, and to figure out why he died. The Paragons are in disarray because, while they can operate the machine that makes Fortified Steam, they don't know if they can reproduce the secret it if and when it fails, and they know that someone else, The Eschaton, is after that very secret. And when things start to go very wrong, it looks like the Automaton may be a killer in their midst.

Only Sarah knows the truth.

The book ends on a cliffhanger, there is a Volume 2 out already, and I do intend to pick it up soon. It's brilliant in a special way, especially in its depictions of a 19th century New York with a very small handful of recently emerged super-powered crazies, both just and unjust. Mayer's writing style is revealed in a merging-plotlines way that I find off-putting. Chapters will end with characters suddenly showing up to save or complicate the day, followed by another chapter that explains how and why that character happened to be there.

Mayer does do a very good job of showing Sarah beating on the walls of the cage created by gender expectations in 19th century Americana, and how surprised Sarah is when she finds the walls are made of wet cardboard, and how uncomfortable she is walking through the hole she just punched through one, and for that he deserves a lot better attention.

A lot of the Steampunk milieu bows to the imperialist fetishism of 19th century eurofantasy steampunk by playing up London or Paris as a setting of choice, probably due to watching one too many Guy Ritchie films. The Falling Machine avoids that entirely, and is a welcome addition to the steampunk shelf if only for that reason alone.(less)

like · see review

Aug 09, 2012 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: superhero, science-fiction, historical-fiction, steampunk, reviewed

An interesting combination of the superhero and steampunk genres.

The viewpoint changes, but the main character tends to be Sarah Stanton, the daughter of a rich high placed society man, who also is one of the Paragons, the superhero's of the time. The book starts with Sarah and her half-brother, Nathanial, visiting the Brooklyn bridge with Dr. Darby and the Automaton also known as Tom. There is an immediate mixture of steampunk in the form of Tom the mechanical, steam powered man (fortified ste...more

like · see review

Jul 03, 2012 Nicholas Ahlhelm rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Paragons are a team of pulp heroes in the late 19th century. They are steampunk superheroes with powerful gadgets that make them more powerful than mere mortals.

They aren’t the stars of Society of Steam Book One: The Falling Machine by Andrew Mayer.

Instead the book focuses around two players in their circle. Sarah Stanton is the daughter of the Industrialist and confidant of the Professor (a.k.a. Sir Dennis Darby). Her costar is the Automaton, Tom for short, a powerful, robotic man and Darby...more

like 1 like · see review

Apr 23, 2012 Fellshot rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: steampunk-ish

When I picked up this book, I was expecting a cheese-tastic steampunk romp through New York. That was exactly what I got with The Falling Machine.

It centers around Sarah, daughter of the superhero known as the Tycoon. He happens to be the leader of a steam-age Justice League. The League has a bit of a corruption and a vision problem. Unfortunately, the only ones who see this problem are Sarah, the Automaton, the Sleuth and Professor Darby.

First of all, It does get bonus points for mentioning the...more

like · see review

Apr 17, 2012 Jean-marcel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Picked up this book basically at random while at work. I've always been interested in the steampunk motif but haven't really read many novels that I think qualify, and none that really struck me like Gibson and Sterling's The Difference Engine did many years ago.

This book is clearly the first in a series and if one expects any conflicts to be really resolved or explicated, one will certainly be disappointed. I found the setup to be reasonably interesting and the book laid the groundwork for the...more Picked up this book basically at random while at work. I've always been interested in the steampunk motif but haven't really read many novels that I think qualify, and none that really struck me like Gibson and Sterling's The Difference Engine did many years ago.

This book is clearly the first in a series and if one expects any conflicts to be really resolved or explicated, one will certainly be disappointed. I found the setup to be reasonably interesting and the book laid the groundwork for the coming "eschaton" in a way that I imagine would lure many readers. However, I believe the author, while possessing considerable skill in particular with the delivery of action sequences, will hone his writing craft to a greater sharpness after a few more books. Certain scenes here seem to drag on, and on, and I have to say that after over two-hundred pages very little seems to happen to truly advance the plot. Characters are killed off in a decisive manner, but it feels as though their deaths are only of real significance to the characters in the story as we haven't really gotten to know any of them or to feel any sense of resonance when they perish. The tone of the book is on the one hand serious and grave, yet every time the Paragons become the focus of the story the whole thing seems to descend a bit to the level of old comic book cliché. Is there really room in such a world for striding superheroes? I'm not certain, but I can tell you that I wasn't wholly convinced, and not only agreed with the assessment of some of the characters that the Paragons were a bunch of washed up, posturing old men, but thought that the author should just embrace this sentiment wholeheartedly himself as I didn't care for any of them or their stories. It was a little annoying to me that the traitor was revealed fairly early on and yet by the end of the book none of the living characters seem to have put the pieces together themselves, not even Tom the Automaton, who was pretty much given incontrovertible and direct evidence.

Despite my criticisms though, I found myself impressed particularly by the action scenes in the book, which were fast-paced and clearly described. I don't mean this in a derogatory way, but it doesn't really surprise me that the author is a video game designer, as the strengths of his writing seem most connected with the strengths of his occupation. I'd like to see more of the same care of craft going into story, dialogue and general narrative tension. Also, a better editing job next time; the book is riddled with typographical errors, which is a huge turn-off for me.

Also, nice reference to the Illuminatus! snuck into the last twenty pages or so!(less)

like 1 like · see review

Mar 15, 2012 Kim Ryser rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012booksread, steampunk

I really, really liked this book. I have to be honest and admit that I judged this book by it's cover, which is actually not that bad, but I read the hand-drawn illustration as amateurish and wasn't in a big hurry to read it. But I'm on something of a mission to read ALL steampunk books, so I went ahead. And I was so pleasantly surprised. At first I was enjoying this fun and exciting book about Victorian era superheroes called The Paragons, and the daughter of one of them who wanted to be involv...more

like 1 like · see review

Nov 18, 2011 Vanessa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, steampunk

Sarah Stanton is the only child of business magnate Alexander Stanton. She's a woman ahead of her time—her time being New York's 1880s, the Gilded Age of industry and technology, but otherwise behind on women's suffrage.

However, Sarah doesn't let her father or society's strictures slow her down. Sure she has to wear a bustle and corset, and her father wants to marry her off by the end of the season, but that doesn't stop her from trying to find Sir Dennis Darby's killer.

In the meantime, Darby's...more Sarah Stanton is the only child of business magnate Alexander Stanton. She's a woman ahead of her time—her time being New York's 1880s, the Gilded Age of industry and technology, but otherwise behind on women's suffrage.

However, Sarah doesn't let her father or society's strictures slow her down. Sure she has to wear a bustle and corset, and her father wants to marry her off by the end of the season, but that doesn't stop her from trying to find Sir Dennis Darby's killer.

In the meantime, Darby's magnum opus, an automaton named Tom, is also trying to find his creator's killer. Unfortunately as a machine he's considered persona non grata, and the Paragons—the vigilante heroes of New York who use steam and technology to serve and protect, among whom is Alexander Stanton himself—refuse to follow Darby's last request to make Tom their new leader. They even go so far as to confine the automaton and refuse to repair him. Sarah sympathizes.

THE FALLING MACHINE by newcomer Andrew P. Mayer covers a lot of ground. What really makes a hero? Is it the mask and costume? Is it supernatural abilities? Is it their sense of morality? Steampunk fans—especially the YA variety—will enjoy this recent addition to the sub-genre. Not only are there superheroes and robots, but the steampunk tech plays an integral part of the story, there's a mystery to uncover, societal issues, aging superheros, and a villain who truly believes that he's doing the right thing—even if it means murder and the breakdown of their way of life.

Mayer does a good job explaining the story's machines and inventions, and he includes some fascinating concepts. Even though these descriptions can slow the pace, it helps develop the atmosphere, and since the tech is important to the story, it's worth the time to pay attention. We only get a taste of his portrayal of Industrial Revolution-era New York, its high society as well as the common man. Despite this brief glimpse, I still got a good feel for the time and place, and I suspect there will be more as the series continues, as there simply wasn't time to go into depth here.

Mayer creates the story's superhero crossovers with enough stereotypes to make them familiar, but without being lazy—they still feel like real people. I enjoyed both the main characters, Tom and Sarah. Tom is more than a machine, as he attempts to carry out his maker's plans. Readers will learn a lot about Darby and the kind of man he was from the machines he made. Sarah is barely into womanhood and discovering the kind of woman she is and wants to be. Her relationship with her father feels a little forced, but it isn't hard to believe that Alexander Stanton behaves as a result of his era and class.

Unlike the wealth of steampunk coming out today, there's no magic or vampires or werewolves in THE FALLING MACHINE. I can't say I'm too sad about it. The result is that the focus is on the tech itself and its importance to the story, and not simply tech for its own sake with the supernatural stealing the show.

While the pace moves forward consistently, revelations come slowly, and the story isn't much further along by the time we reach the end of the book. Most of the novel is told from Tom and Sarah's PoV (with minor references from Alexander Stanton and the Sleuth Paragon Peter Wickham), so the storyline involves following clues and trying to come to a conclusion. Another issue with the pacing involves the villain not even appearing until the end of the novel. While THE FALLING MACHINE storyline itself is mostly self-contained, the ending leaves the conclusion too open, and readers will have to wait until the second book, HEARTS OF SMOKE AND STEAM, to hopefully find some answers to their inevitable questions.

Recommended Age: 14+
Language: A handful of moderate uses
Violence: Tom and Sarah's sleuthing does lead to danger; there's blood, but otherwise it's not gory
Sex: Vague references; one of the Paragons is referred to as a sodomite a few times(less)

like 1 like · see review

Aug 24, 2011 Andrew Adams rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

Several reviewers have already commented on THE FALLING MACHINE's slow pace, and I agree in particular with someone's statement that it reads too much like an intended comic book. That might sound strange considering the appeal for most readers will be the Victorian superhero scenario. I, too, was drawn in by that concept. That said, it was Justin Gerard's cover art that caught my attention, with the book itself falling short of its expectation. This may speak to the need for the visual side of...more

like 3 likes · see review

Mar 30, 2011 April Steenburgh rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: steampunk

Sarah Stanton is the daughter of the Industrialist, one of the founding members of the Society of Paragons- a group of gentlemen adventurers who police New York City. Having grown up surrounded by the exploits and inventions of the Paragons Sarah has the mind and motivation to be an adventurer herself, if it weren’t for her protective father. And the at times overwhelming obstacle of her gender. She is a strong, outgoing female without seeming out of place in her setting- an unconventional woman...more Sarah Stanton is the daughter of the Industrialist, one of the founding members of the Society of Paragons- a group of gentlemen adventurers who police New York City. Having grown up surrounded by the exploits and inventions of the Paragons Sarah has the mind and motivation to be an adventurer herself, if it weren’t for her protective father. And the at times overwhelming obstacle of her gender. She is a strong, outgoing female without seeming out of place in her setting- an unconventional woman having grown up in a very unconventional household. Her mother died when she was very young, leaving her to be raised by her wealthy father (who was busy between running his business empire and moonlighting as the Industrialist). While Sarah and her father are often in conflict with each other, there are moments throughout the book where we see how much they love each other, and it keeps the relationship from settling into the designation of being just another plot device.

From the opening, it becomes apparent that there is a traitor within the Paragons. As the deaths and disasters start to pile up, Sarah joins forces with the fascinating mechanical man known as the Automaton in an attempt expose the conspiracy. The Automaton, once a Paragon himself, charged with murder and betrayal and considered nothing more than a rogue weapon to be destroyed, will be stretched thin as he tries to defend those who are intent on destroying him, and get revenge for the death of his creator.

The Falling Machine is set in a Victorian New York City, and between the Paragons and the villains that oppose them, is peopled with characters reminiscent of the Gold Age of Comics. It is a fast, fun read. I was very fond of the old themed style of villains and heroes, and the Automaton (or Tom, as his friends call him) is a fabulous character. I was also very fond of the Sleuth, one of the Paragons and ally to both Tom and Sarah.

There are loose ends, and the book ends rather abruptly as it sets up for the second book in the series. I can understand why the book ended when it did, but there were enough questions still hanging in the air that I worry I will lose those threads by the time book two is released. That being said, I do look forward to reading more.(less)

like 5 likes · see review

Mar 30, 2011 Althea Ann rated it 2 of 5 stars

Well, this may be the first "steampunk superhero" story, but I have to admit I'm not a big fan of superheroes in general, and I found the story to be unexceptional (and unfinished - it's a cliffhanger with a sequel on the way).
I try not to complain about typos in ARCs (there are many), but the lack of commas before a character's name throughout the book seemed to be more than a typo (it was consistent), and was very distracting. (There's a difference between "You know, John" and "You know John."...more

like 2 likes · see review

Nov 26, 2012 Forrest rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: cbr4

Confession time. I accidentally left my Kindle at home over the Thanksgiving vacation and was forced to pick up some reading material in the airport. I wasn’t super excited about The Falling Machine, but it had a pretty cover. And I was in a hurry. Publishers, take note.

There is very little of substance to Falling Machine. It is a wannabe comic book that draws so heavily on its inspiration that there isn’t much left for the reader to discover. If you’re at all familiar with the steampunk genre,...more Confession time. I accidentally left my Kindle at home over the Thanksgiving vacation and was forced to pick up some reading material in the airport. I wasn’t super excited about The Falling Machine, but it had a pretty cover. And I was in a hurry. Publishers, take note.

There is very little of substance to Falling Machine. It is a wannabe comic book that draws so heavily on its inspiration that there isn’t much left for the reader to discover. If you’re at all familiar with the steampunk genre, or the plot of Watchmen, you’re already covered most of the territory. What fills in the gaps is bland but inoffensive writing. On the plus side, there’s not much in the way of technobabble, but the science is so flimsy it might as well be a fantasy.

Falling Machine features three protagonists in more or less equal parts: Sarah, daughter of the masked hero, The Industrialist, who is a little too precocious for her own good, The Sleuth, a cross between the Batman and The Question, and the Automaton called Tom. When Dennis Darby, founder and leader of the Society of Paragons, is killed and a critical piece of technology stolen, the three protagonists find themselves at the heart of a mystery. Conspired against from within and without, Sarah tries to balance her father’s desire for her safety and her growing involvement in the world of superheroes and villains. The Sleuth and the Automaton, both members of the Society, are confronted with the grim reality that there may be a traitor among the Paragons, and that traitor is trying very hard to put Tom permanently out of commission.

The plot ambles along at a sluggish pace to accommodate the planned trilogy. It also conspires to make everyone who isn’t one of the big three look like a total moron. Every side character has been saddled with somewhere between two and six major personality defects, most of which are temper and pathological stubbornness. It’s so bad that even Victorian Princess Barbie/Sarah starts to look good in comparison. The pacing and short length means that we only get to the first big confrontation with the Big Bad by the end of the book, something most comics manage in two or three issues.

Superhero stuff normally gets a pass when it comes to science, since the whole thing is supposed to be built on some sort of supernatural foundation anyway. Of course Superman can travel back in time by running around the world really fast. But, either as a symptom of the setting, or because it’s a novel, the science in The Falling Machine comes off as incredibly hokey.

The core element for all the super tech is a substance called Fortified Steam, a fairly well used concept when it comes to steampunk. In fact, Steamboy, one of the icons of the steampunk genre used something very similar. But Mayer’s Fortified Steam is also responsible for the inexplicable sentience of the Automaton, which doesn’t appear to be stored in any physical way. Tom is also capable of near magical self-modification on the fly, up to and including jamming a Gatling gun into his arm socket and getting a working gun-arm. Even more ridiculous is the conceptual opposite to this super steam, Fortified Smoke, which mutates flesh and has electrical properties, but is otherwise ordinary smoke.

Part of the appeal of steampunk is the use of Industrial Revolution technology to accomplish Modern Era feats. When you base all of the steampunk tech on a piece of superscience, some of the draw of the setting leaks out. The challenge of coming up with ways for cogs, springs and gears to take the place of circuit boards and transistors is one of the things I most look forward too in the genre. I would even go so far as to say that The Falling Machine doesn’t quite fit into the steampunk niche anymore.

About the best thing I could say about The Falling Machine is that it isn’t terrible. It desperately wants to be a comic book, though I’m skeptical about that solving all of the book’s problems. The concept itself isn’t bad, but Mayer has handled it badly enough to ruin any of the intrinsic value. And that’s a shame, because steampunk superheroes sound awesome.(less)

like · see review

Feb 06, 2012 Josh rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'll be honest. I didn't research this book before I bought it. I knew nothing of the author, or the plot, or any other significant details. I picked it up on a whim on my last visit to the bookstore. And somehow, it turned out to be one of the better novels I've read this year.

The story goes like this (spoiler free!): Sarah Stanton, daughter of one of the leaders of the Paragons, a group of heroes that protect New York City, witnesses the murder of one of the founders of the same group, and bec...more

like 1 like · see review

Jun 18, 2011 Anthony rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: pulp-adventure, sf-fantasy, steampunk

A friend described THE FALLING MACHINE to me as "part Sherlock Holmes, part Justice League of America, all Steampunk." I think he hit the nail on the head. I'm not a huge steampunk fan -- as a genre I have no problem with it, but I don't tend to be drawn to it -- but this premise intrigued me. And the author's appearance on the #sffwrtcht thread on Twitter a few weeks back helped cement my decision to read it.

It is both a fast read and a good read. I was immediately pulled into the world Mayer h...more A friend described THE FALLING MACHINE to me as "part Sherlock Holmes, part Justice League of America, all Steampunk." I think he hit the nail on the head. I'm not a huge steampunk fan -- as a genre I have no problem with it, but I don't tend to be drawn to it -- but this premise intrigued me. And the author's appearance on the #sffwrtcht thread on Twitter a few weeks back helped cement my decision to read it.

It is both a fast read and a good read. I was immediately pulled into the world Mayer has obviously lovingly created. The attention to the details of 1880s New York City pays off in a number of places, from the opening sequence on the still-incomplete Brooklyn Bridge to a visit to the infamous Five Points district. Mayer, sometimes in just a sentence of two, conveys both the shining hope and dirty underbelly of "the greatest city in the world" at that period in time, name-dropping real life personalities like Thomas Alva Edison and inserting his steam-powered super-heroes fairly seamlessly into the real history. He even manages to drop a comment or two about why the existence of steam-powered super-heroes hasn't appreciably changed history ... yet.

Sarah and Tom (The Automaton) are the most full-realized characters in the book, as it should be since they are the focus. Sarah is a great central heroine -- and even better, she's not perfect. She makes mistakes, gets herself into scrapes, and needs the help of friends to get out of some of them. In other words, she's a very real person dealing with out-of-the-ordinary situations... just what I like in my fiction.

I also have to give credit to Mayer for creating a pair of secondary characters I want to know far more about. It would have been easy to let the steam-powered members of The Paragons be mostly one-note riffs on whatever their individual theme happened to be, but he's given almost all of them some deeper characteristic (almost all ... the Submersible feels like a stereotype, and Nathan/Turbine does as well) to make them stand apart. The two secondary characters I really wanted to see developed (and this being the first book of a trilogy, with a rich history to be explored, there's plenty of time) were The Professor and The Sleuth. Their relationship is at first implied, and then outright commented on, derogatorily, by their peers. Gay-bashing was just as much a part of 1880s life as it is now, if not moreso, and while many of us would like to imagine our super-heroes would be more accepting than real people are the fact that Mayer includes some queer-baiting among the team's conversations feels more realistic to me, especially considering this book takes place during Oscar Wilde's lifetime. Still, I hope we'll get to see more of The Professor and The Sleuth's history in subsequent books.

If there's any downside to this book, it is that it explicitly IS the first book in a trilogy, and it makes no apologies or concessions. If you get to within 50 pages and you're wondering, "wow, how is Mayer going to wrap all of this up," don't be surprised that he doesn't. He wraps some of it up, but the book ends with a fat old cliffhanger that has me wishing book two was already on the stands.(less)

like 3 likes · see review

Mar 13, 2011 Liviu rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011_release_read, review_fbc, genre-sf, read_2011, t1_recommended_2011, series_dropped

This is a fun book in the spirit of George Mann's Ghosts of Manhattan, though lighter at least in tone if not in events which turn darker in the second half.

Superheroes and steampunk in a true age of steam and in New York rather than London at about the time the Brooklyn Bridge was being built - that would be ~1880 and see note below - since the novel starts with a superb action sequence on its construction site - the book moves fast and furious and it delivers what I expected of it quite well...more

like 2 likes · see review

Jan 31, 2013 Phillip rated it 2 of 5 stars

The conceit of this steam punk novel is founded on a league of costumed vigilantes, "The Paragons," who fight crime with incredible steam inventions. Of course the villains they fight have improvised their own steam-powered devises for their own nefarious uses. The brunt of those nefarious uses is to bring an end to The Paragons starting with the assassination of their leader. The thrust of the novel is whether the sundered Paragons are able to rally together. Andrew P. Mayer tells his story wit...more

like · see review

Jan 15, 2012 Tasha rated it 2 of 5 stars

I finished reading the uncorrected advance reading copy of this book. Very weird reading a book with no proof reading or editing for the first time. Choosing your own corrections to the text is more interesting.

The story is based around a girl in 1880 who is struggling against societies attitude towards women and the restrictive nature of their clothes. There is a steam-punk edge to book where a scientist has discovered how to harness the power of steam as a power source. The scientist started a...more

like · see review

Jan 28, 2013 Crystal rated it 5 of 5 stars

THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING! This book has everything awesome you could possibly want! It's NOT a love book, it has a FEMALE heroine, awesome steampunkness, an AUTOMAN, superheroness, techonological awesome sauce, rebellion, suspense, mystery, everything you could ever ask for!!!!!!!!! The list could go on and on. This was definetly my type of book. ( Thank you for giving this book to me to read, Ms. Mandy :) ) This book basically revolves around the character Sarah in 1880, who is endeavoring to find...more

like · see review

Nov 08, 2012 Chayse Sundt rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is my first historical steam punk novel that I have really picked up to read...probably ever. After reading the synopsis, falling in love with the cover, and reading the first couple chapters I instantly fell in love with the book and struggled to put it down.

I fell instantly in love with Sarah. For me she was a girl that didn't really give a care about anything that anyone said. If someone told her not to do something, she did anyway. In this book, you can see how women were treated and I...more

like · see review

Nov 07, 2011 Heather rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: unfinished

I really wanted to like this book. Steam punk seems to be such a trendy and fun genre, and I've historically been drawn to super hero premises. The action and description of technology was thorough and visceral and obviously written by a mechanically minded author, but the characters refused to be anything more than surface layer and gaudy pretense. Or at least by page 86, where I finally gave up on them. Maybe that means I'm not as big a super hero fan as I once was, for all the pomp and show t...more

like · see review

Oct 21, 2011 Creativity's Corner added it

Shelves: steampunk, wishlist, fantasy, adult-lit

This review was originally posted on my blog, Creativity's Corner

I don't remember which blogger posted the review that made me read this book, but whoever you are, thank you! This book blends steampunk seamlessly with a Batman style superhero tale. This is what I imagine Watchmen would be if it were set in the 1800's (though I've never actually finished Watchmen, so that may be inaccurate).

The thing I liked best was our spunky heroine Sarah. Despite my love of all things steampunk and Victoria...more

like · see review

Sep 17, 2011 Gregory Gay rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: steampunk, alternate-history, superhero, mystery, read-in-2011

Steampunk superheroes - how can you not love it?

The Falling Machine presents a fascinating look at The Paragons, the greatest superhero team of the Gilded Age. As the team is torn apart by betrayal and corruption, the daughter of one of their members decided to investigate the murder of her mentor (and former Paragon leader). She teams up with a mechanical man (and lead suspect), and begins to learn the secrets of the heroes that she has spent her life idealizing.

It's good stuff.

Unfortunately,...more

like 1 like · see review

Jul 07, 2012 Justine Macauley rated it 2 of 5 stars

Not as much about Sarah Stanton as the description suggests! The book was more about the male characters that surround her rather than Sarah herself, which was disappointing considering how much she considered herself a strong woman and how much the book wanted to be about her. I would have liked to know more about her struggle to be the daughter of a steampunk superhero, particularly in the very intriguing events that happened before the book is set. Lots of action, though, that was easily envi...more

like · see review

May 29, 2012 Jason rated it 2 of 5 stars

Superheroes and Steampunk! Just like chocolate and peanut butter, right? That is what I thought when I picked up this book. What I got was not a Resse's. The Falling Machine is the sad case of a book with nearly no likeable characters, and flat villians. The robot was the most interesting character, and he had no emotions! The super-group The Paragons sounded amazing on paper, but the way the story pans out, you never get to see them actually fighting like a superhero team would. Avengers this i...more

like · see review

Mar 24, 2011 Natalie rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-rt

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

like 1 like · see review

Oct 02, 2011 Bruce rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf-fantasy

4 stars= recommended! The biggest delight of this book for me was the surprising twists in characterization. This book was not a simplistic combination of steampunk scenery and super hero tropes-- instead we have an examination of flawed humans behind the superhero masks embedded in a conflict that shows us the roots of our current historical era with both its good and bad sides.

At the same time it's a good old fashioned adventure story :-)

I don't know what's going to happen next, and that's wh...more

like 1 like · see review

Aug 23, 2011 Jason Pettus rated it 4 of 5 stars

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

There are some who say that the science-fiction subgenre known as "steampunk" is all played out by now, and that there's nothing new to be added to the endless tales of high-tech-meets-Victoriana we've already seen in the last twenty years; and to all of these people, all I can say is, "Screw you, good sir...more

like 4 likes · see review

Jan 23, 2012 Barbara ★ rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi, female-lead, first-in-series, steampunk, set-in-usa-new-york, read-2012, series-r-us

A steampunk novel featuring superheroes - The Paragons (the good guys) and The Children of Eschaton (the bad guys) and the new invention of steam power. What started out as an interesting concept quickly fizzles when the leader of the Paragons was killed and the infighting and back-stabbing began as they chose a new leader. It rapidly descended into boring territory and became a rather tedious read. Until slightly more than half way through, then the action started and I couldn't put it down. Wi...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 67 68 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Ultimate ABC ...: The Falling Machine by Andrew Mayer	1	1	Mar 14, 2012 04:45am

combine
Other Editions (2)

Genres

Science Fiction > Steampunk

145 users

Science Fiction

21 users

Fantasy

15 users

Science Fiction > Alternate History

6 users

Comics > Superheroes

6 users

Adventure

4 users

Historical Fiction

4 users

Young Adult

3 users

Mystery

3 users

Science Fiction > Robots

3 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Andrew P. Mayer

Andrew Mayer was born on the tiny island of Manhattan, and is still fascinated by their strange customs and simple ways.

When he's not writing new stories he works as a videogame designer and digital entertainment consultant. Over the years he's been at work in the virtual mines he has created numerous concepts, characters, and worlds including the original Dogz and Catz digital pets.

These days he...more

More about Andrew P. Mayer...

Books by Andrew P. Mayer

Hearts of Smoke and Steam (The Society of Steam, #2)

Power Under Pressure (The Society of Steam, #3)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Falling Machine

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: The Falling Machine
avg rating	preview: The Falling Machine Goodreads rating: 3.40 (362 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9766156-the-falling-machine?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1310510364l/9766156.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9766156-the-falling-machine?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Falling Machine by Andrew P. Mayer[/url]

The Falling Machine (The Society of Steam #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website