this is a zippy, high-spirited breeze of a novel, aimed at the lucrative TROPE(1) audience - and with clear appeal for even younger folks. as far as characterization and narrative go, there is not much here that will suprise or challenge the reader...but the novel does have charm, lots of it. don't expect to get your mind blown, but it is certainly a pleasant way to spend a few hours. and there are many enjoyable elements in the now-almost-played-out use of TROPE(2): big clanky walking-machines, living dirigibles and various flying machines or machine-beasts, the setting itself, and the enjoyable TROPE(3) of europe during the first world war - now rife with imaginative historical tweaks and simmering distrust between the machine-lovin' Clankers and the evolutionary mix-masters, the Darwinists.

the TROPE(4) is rather standard - a plucky, mouthy, resilient young TROPE(5) who TROPE(6) to have the adventures of a boy. nonetheless, despite the familiarity of the gender-bending, she is thoroughly enjoyable. the TROPE(7) is also rather standard - a prickly and often high-handed little TROPE(8), but also a TROPE(9) one too. both TROPE(10) are TROPE(11) on several occasions. their TROPE(12) is nicely played out through TROPE(13) and the inevitable TROPE(14) wait to rear their predictable little heads until very near the end, as the young miss starts feeling some sparks during a fervent bit of grateful hugging. it is actually adorable, and all the better for its lack during most of the novel. and there are also two adult characters who are fun (but, again, rather standard) - an eccentric zookeeper/scientist/envoy/ TROPE(15) and her probable TROPE(16), a sardonic and loyal austrian 'wildcount'.

the narrative is propulsive yet episodic. there is no standard TROPE(17) for the hero or heroine, although i suppose Alek's TROPE(18) to the austrian crown may eventually qualify...but so far, there is really nothing for him to quest after, as he spends most of his time hiding and running. for the time-being, the reader is immersed in action that comes breathless and willy-nilly, with little pause for reflection or rumination. i would have appreciated some more quiet times where the reader gets to live and breathe the characters' lives and the world's strangeness, but clearly the novel is geared more towards younger, shorter attention spans.

i love the steampunk subgenre. on that level, the novel succeeds. i may just be a sucker for reading about TROPE(19), about TROPE(20) (although obviously this novel is not set during the victorian era), about TROPE(21), about TROPE(22) in general.

the novel includes a bunch of pleasing black-and-white illustrations. they are wonderful. almost TROPE(23)-ific! minus the TROPE(24), of course.

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KEY

1. Young Adult
2. steampunk
3. alterna-history
4. heroine
5. tomboy
6. disguises herself as a boy
7. hero
8. prince
9. sad and rather tragic
10. almost over-their-heads heroes
11. brave and quick-thinking and save the day
12. gradual coming-together
13. alternating pov chapters
14. romantic clichés
15. liberated lady
16. surprise love interest
17. Quest
18. legacy as the heir
19. futuristic yet strangely archaic technology
20. quasi-victorian explorations of sexual repression/gender imbalance
21. nifty new ways that evolution can be tweaked
22. anachronism
23. Edward Gorey
24. morbid child-killing