Steampunk alchemy: what's not to like? For the most part, I enjoyed this story, until it became a story about destiny. The world is well imagined, wit...moreSteampunk alchemy: what's not to like? For the most part, I enjoyed this story, until it became a story about destiny. The world is well imagined, with fairy elements alongside interesting steam-powered machinery (the steam/magically-powered helicopter was pretty nice). It degenerated a little bit into cliche when we find that our heroine is the only one who can save the world, and of course, due to previous circumstances, she doesn't want that responsibility. There is the requisite love interest, which is actually handled well, and the recruitment by both good and evil. The MC is betrayed by the men in her life, sometimes in obvious ways. She does experience strange dreams, and these sequences are handled well. The romance is a little underwhelming, but certain gestures make it worthwhile (like the picnic). The secret society is at times overbearing and their ritual at the climax of the book veers into the ridiculous, but the story is fun, overall. The mixture of fairies and steam technology is a winning world-building mix, and even though the MC can be too stubborn for her own good sometimes, the characters have personality, so the dialogue is snappy. I'll keep an eye out for the next book in the series.(less)
Once again, Kady Cross scores with cover art. While said girl in the collar isn't necessarily worth having the book named after her, it's an interesti...more Once again, Kady Cross scores with cover art. While said girl in the collar isn't necessarily worth having the book named after her, it's an interesting hook and I loved the cover enough to give this series another shot. I read The Girl in the Steel Corset and wasn't terribly impressed, but with this book Cross has upped her game. The writing is better and the characters come to life more. This was still an easy book to put down for others, but once I buckled down the pages went by faster. I like the move to America, and once again the historical details are nicely presented. I thought that the plot moved along well in this one, though there are still lingering incidents from the first book that aren't really picked up on here. Hopefully Cross will examine more of the steampunk elements--like how is Sam doing after Emily rebuilt him? We get some hints but hardly see any of this thoughts other than jealousy--and more of Griff's involvement with the Aether. I really felt for Jasper when he realizes who betrayed him. The ending is somewhat abrupt, though things are wrapped up properly. It's not happily ever after, not yet, as there is clearly more to find out about this extraordinary group of people. This book reawakened my interest in the series, so if the third book comes my way I'll be happy to read it.(less)
THE LAST PAGE is a strangely compelling. There were many parts of it that made me cringe, and quite often I simply had no idea what was happening. But...moreTHE LAST PAGE is a strangely compelling. There were many parts of it that made me cringe, and quite often I simply had no idea what was happening. But the setting was interesting--a sort of steampunk medival--and the characters were (sometimes too) realistic. The narrative suffers a bit at the beginning as the reader is simply dropped into a world where it's assumed they'll figure out what's going on, but even for this veteran fantasy reader who has made up not a few of her own languages, this was tough. When you require your reader to look up footnotes just to figure out what the characters are saying? When strange diacritical marks make the phrases look like so much gibberish with no obvious relation to any known sentence structure? These things make the book very tough to read. I had to force myself to continue at a few points, because of the cringe-factor and the complete weirdness of the world. If you can make it through these, you'll be rewarded with quite a story, laced with betrayal and stretches where you'll probably feel like you're watching a train wreck: you want to turn away but you can't. There's a good story in there, but beware if you're not the sort to want the darker side of fantasy, because it is definitely on display in this novel.
Received as a digital ARC via Netgalley and the publisher.(less)
THREE PARTS DEAD is sort of a mix between steampunk, religion (though not Western religion) and legal thriller, and it manages to do each well. There...moreTHREE PARTS DEAD is sort of a mix between steampunk, religion (though not Western religion) and legal thriller, and it manages to do each well. There are gargoyles, magicians (call them Craftsmen), vampires, and gods, so this hits all the major fantasy buttons trending recently. Sometimes the mix of POVs is a little confusing and the world, while superbly built, is dropped on the reader without a lot of explanation. On one hand, yay, no info-dump! On the other hand, whoa, where's the info? Most things get explained eventually, though there is clearly more to this story. While THREE PARTS DEAD wraps up the story well, there is plenty of room for a sequel. The writing is good, if you can file away the parts that make you say, "What?" and wait for their resolution later. The ending sort of caught me by surprise, but the hints were in place. I think this book probably does well on a second read, when you can pick up things you missed the first time, since you were so busy trying to figure out what happened. I'm intrigued by the world, and the characters are strong and well-defined, so I'll be on the lookout for more from this author.
I received this as a digital ARC via Netgalley.(less)
I requested THE CONSTANTINE AFFLICTION from Netgalley because I just couldn't pass up the blurb. It sounded too absurd, but it was there for the readi...moreI requested THE CONSTANTINE AFFLICTION from Netgalley because I just couldn't pass up the blurb. It sounded too absurd, but it was there for the reading, so I gave it a chance, and I'm glad I did. Even though there's such a strange premise--a gender-swapping disease?--the novel didn't delve into the stupid or the perverse. The book instead asks the question "what happens when gender roles don't mean what they used to? Are they necessary at all?" and makes you think, an oddity in the steampunk genre. There's a bit of a hand-wavey explanation for the disease's cause, and there are aliens (!) introduced near the end, but on the whole the book is well-written and quite often funny. The setting feels real and shows the research the author did on the Victorian period, while the characters each have their own voice. While the overall story arc is completed, there is probably more to be told from this alternate world, and I'd be interested to see what this author comes up with.
I picked this book up because of its Nebula listing. I'm glad I did, I suppose, but Mechanique is definitely not your typical sci-fi/fantasy novel. At...moreI picked this book up because of its Nebula listing. I'm glad I did, I suppose, but Mechanique is definitely not your typical sci-fi/fantasy novel. At times it's really hard to read-the POV shifts constantly, though at least always at a break, so sometimes I found myself reading a paragraph or two before realizing it was being told by someone else-and the prose is almost too lyrical. The beginning is a little slow, and I had some trouble with the setting-it's stated that it's dystopian, but so many elements harken to the post-World War II period that it was a little wrenching when a futuristic or non-reality moment would occur. There are elements of steampunk here, or at least the mechinization of humans, and it's never quite clear how the effect is achieved, so you could take this as sci-fi handwaving or fantastic magic. Once the conflicts are established, the action starts to move along, and the ending left me a little breathless. The author is not one to shy away from graphic description, and some of the violence had me cringing, but it's written well, so it doesn't seem surprising or scary. Due to the writing style, I don't know if I would go out of my way to find something else by this author, but I applaud this effort. I can see why it was nominated for an award.
I received this as a digital ARC via Netgalley and the publisher.(less)
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