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Chroniker City #3
The Guild Conspiracy
In the face of impossible odds, can one girl stem the tides of war?
It has been six months since clockwork engineer Petra Wade destroyed an automaton designed for battle, narrowly escaping with her life. But her troubles are far from over. Her partner on the project, Emmerich Goss, has been sent away to France, and his father, Julian, is still determined that a war machine will be built. Forced to create a new device, Petra subtly sabotages the design in the hopes of delaying the war, but sabotage like this isn’t just risky: it's treason. And with a soldier, Braith, assigned to watch her every move, it may not be long before Julian finds out what she’s done.
Now she just has to survive long enough to find another way to stop the war before her sabotage is discovered and she's sentenced to hang for crimes against the empire. But Julian's plans go far deeper than she ever realized ... war is on the horizon, and it will take everything Petra has to stop it in this fast-paced, thrilling sequel to The Brass Giant.
It has been six months since clockwork engineer Petra Wade destroyed an automaton designed for battle, narrowly escaping with her life. But her troubles are far from over. Her partner on the project, Emmerich Goss, has been sent away to France, and his father, Julian, is still determined that a war machine will be built. Forced to create a new device, Petra subtly sabotages the design in the hopes of delaying the war, but sabotage like this isn’t just risky: it's treason. And with a soldier, Braith, assigned to watch her every move, it may not be long before Julian finds out what she’s done.
Now she just has to survive long enough to find another way to stop the war before her sabotage is discovered and she's sentenced to hang for crimes against the empire. But Julian's plans go far deeper than she ever realized ... war is on the horizon, and it will take everything Petra has to stop it in this fast-paced, thrilling sequel to The Brass Giant.
Kindle Edition
Published August 9, 2016
2 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Brooke Johnson
4 books57 followersHi, there! I'm Brooke Johnson, writer of science fiction and fantasy. I like to write just about everything under the SFF umbrella, including alternate histories, medieval fairytale retellings, epic space fantasies, and more.
In addition to being a writer, I'm also an avid gamer, home chef and baker, dabbling artist, and amateur meadmaker. I am a hopeless hobbyist who loves learning new things, and I'd be an excellent addition to any post-apocalyptic survival team.
I live in the Ozarks of beautiful Northwest Arkansas with my husband, kiddo, and five animal companions.
In addition to being a writer, I'm also an avid gamer, home chef and baker, dabbling artist, and amateur meadmaker. I am a hopeless hobbyist who loves learning new things, and I'd be an excellent addition to any post-apocalyptic survival team.
I live in the Ozarks of beautiful Northwest Arkansas with my husband, kiddo, and five animal companions.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 6, 2018
Sequels are really tricky, and on the whole this one sticks the landing. It had been a really long time since I'd read the first one, but it pulled off the difficult task of recapping enough to refresh my memory without becoming an extended "Previously on Chroniker City". The first half of the book pretty neatly balances the Srs Bsns of conspiracy and war with a lighter hearted, very fun battle bots subplot. Once that subplot fades out, things get a little more consistently bleak, which flirted with, but never quite crossed, the line into being a slog. (Like, I was bumped out enough to be aware of how heavy it had gotten without being bumped out so far that I found myself looking to take a break from reading.) It's a middle chapter, which is the part of the story structure where you throw rocks at your protagonists for a while, so that's all to be somewhat expected. And praise and hallelujah, it's a middle chapter that has a complete and coherent story arc of its own while still advancing the bigger plot. No half-a-book deductions here, no sir.
Part of what contributed to the sluggishness of the third quarter is that Petra, well, she makes a long series of very bad decisions. She's very talented and she's managed to survive in a world that's hostile to her, but she's still young and naive, and her intelligence means she spends a lot of time justifying her reckless and impulsive decisions as being the right, the only way. That could get a little frustrating since it's a close perspective, but it all comes back and bites her in the ass in a way that presents her as a person with flaws. You don't often see female characters get to be the earnest fuckup, so it was actually kind of refreshing.
On the whole, one of the more satisfying sequels I've read in a while. very much looking forward to the conclusion.
Part of what contributed to the sluggishness of the third quarter is that Petra, well, she makes a long series of very bad decisions. She's very talented and she's managed to survive in a world that's hostile to her, but she's still young and naive, and her intelligence means she spends a lot of time justifying her reckless and impulsive decisions as being the right, the only way. That could get a little frustrating since it's a close perspective, but it all comes back and bites her in the ass in a way that presents her as a person with flaws. You don't often see female characters get to be the earnest fuckup, so it was actually kind of refreshing.
On the whole, one of the more satisfying sequels I've read in a while. very much looking forward to the conclusion.
September 25, 2016
I hate getting books out of sequence. I'm a reviewer with the Harper Voyager Super Reader program, which means free books in return for honest reviews, no complaints from me...mostly, lol. But the out of sequence stuff just grates at my OCD. You miss out on back story, inside jokes, and much, much more. Yet when I received the literature on this little nugget I was curious enough to accept it and see what it held.
I was pleasantly surprised! Johnson tells a complete story that (hopefully) limits the amount of spoiling previous books while giving you enough background that everything makes sense. Her storytelling chops are solid, to the point that I'd like to see this on the Big Screen so I can revel at the mechs in all their glory. I'm not particularly a fan of steampunk, but this one is done right and has made me want to track down the previous installments so I can get the rest of the story.
Thank you Harper Voyager, keep'em coming!
I was pleasantly surprised! Johnson tells a complete story that (hopefully) limits the amount of spoiling previous books while giving you enough background that everything makes sense. Her storytelling chops are solid, to the point that I'd like to see this on the Big Screen so I can revel at the mechs in all their glory. I'm not particularly a fan of steampunk, but this one is done right and has made me want to track down the previous installments so I can get the rest of the story.
Thank you Harper Voyager, keep'em coming!
March 12, 2017
3 stars from Marion, read the full review at FANTASY LITERATURE
Disclaimer: just so you know, some of the books we review are received free from publishers
Published in 2016, The Guild Conspiracy, by Brooke Johnson, is the second book in the CHRONIKER CITY STORIES series. It begins about six months after the events of Book One, The Brass Giant. Petra Wade, a young woman fighting to be accepted as an equal in the Engineers Guild, continues her struggle while also waging an asymmetrical battle against Julian Goss, an engineer who has a terrifying view of a mechanistic future world and is willing to orchestrate a war to get it.
I liked The Guild Conspiracy much better than I liked The Brass Giant, mainly because any romance is in the background, and most of the story is focused on Julian’s horrifying scheme and Petra’s attempts to thwart him. Without the distractions of first love, Petra behaves more intelligently for the most part in this book. She remains in a position of little or no power throughout: she is a student at the Chroniker City University only on the sufferance of Goss; she is a woman and very few women have been admitted as engineers; she is seen to be of a lower class than most around her. Nearly everyone wants to exploit her engineering brilliance while dismissing her. Johnson opens the book with a dedication: “To all the girls who were told they couldn’t. To the girls who tried and failed. To the girls who keep fighting anyway,” and I think those girls, reading this book, will be engrossed in the story and proud of Petra....3 stars from Marion, read the full review at FANTASY LITERATURE
Disclaimer: just so you know, some of the books we review are received free from publishers
Published in 2016, The Guild Conspiracy, by Brooke Johnson, is the second book in the CHRONIKER CITY STORIES series. It begins about six months after the events of Book One, The Brass Giant. Petra Wade, a young woman fighting to be accepted as an equal in the Engineers Guild, continues her struggle while also waging an asymmetrical battle against Julian Goss, an engineer who has a terrifying view of a mechanistic future world and is willing to orchestrate a war to get it.
I liked The Guild Conspiracy much better than I liked The Brass Giant, mainly because any romance is in the background, and most of the story is focused on Julian’s horrifying scheme and Petra’s attempts to thwart him. Without the distractions of first love, Petra behaves more intelligently for the most part in this book. She remains in a position of little or no power throughout: she is a student at the Chroniker City University only on the sufferance of Goss; she is a woman and very few women have been admitted as engineers; she is seen to be of a lower class than most around her. Nearly everyone wants to exploit her engineering brilliance while dismissing her. Johnson opens the book with a dedication: “To all the girls who were told they couldn’t. To the girls who tried and failed. To the girls who keep fighting anyway,” and I think those girls, reading this book, will be engrossed in the story and proud of Petra....3 stars from Marion, read the full review at FANTASY LITERATURE
December 29, 2016
The rich detail of this steampunk novel adds authenticity to the continuing story of Petra Wade, a young girl who longs to join the Guild and become an engineer. Nonstop action makes this sequel very difficult to put down - I lost several nights sleep reading "just one more chapter." The author's scientific and engineering knowledge are amazing and shine through the text in every chapter. This is an awesome series!
August 29, 2018
It's always nice to see a writer's growth, and this one was certainly a growth novel. Loads better than the first, it left me guessing, where the first was utterly predictable. It's still just shy of perfect-- I felt that some scenes dragged unneccessarily long, and Petra felt a bit too perfect at times-- but as a whole it was very good and miles above the first.
If this rate of growth continues, Brooke Johnson will surely have become great indeed.
If this rate of growth continues, Brooke Johnson will surely have become great indeed.
April 27, 2018
I hadn't set this book as read, and since I've re-read it, here it is now.
A fantastic follow-up to The Brass Giant. It leaves you wanting more!
A fantastic follow-up to The Brass Giant. It leaves you wanting more!
October 31, 2016
The Guild Conspiracy by Brooke Johnson
Steampunk is always a curious genre. The Brass Giant was the beginning of a series called the Chroniker City. It was a romantic steampunk story and I liked it anyway. The Pygmalion quality of the story was not overdone although the well to do boy meets down trodden girl is somewhat overworked, in general. This volume, Petra is alone, Emmerich has been sent to France and Petra is fighting for recognition as an engineer and to prevent a war.
Petra Wade is fighting for a place in a male dominated world. Even with equal rights, statistically, even today the number of female engineers is far less than male engineers. In Chroniker City, Petra is fighting a severe uphill battle to become a mechanical engineer. Braith is a soldier set to guard Petra and keep her from "sabotaging" Julian's plans for war. Braith becomes Petra's confident instead of guard and the two work together to stop a war.
The steampunk part is aptly included by the quadruped war machine and the sailing ships that fly.
There is action, romance and a modicum of violence. There is also an underpinning theme of true equal rights.
I highly recommend the book.
Web Site: http://www.brooke-johnson.com/.
Steampunk is always a curious genre. The Brass Giant was the beginning of a series called the Chroniker City. It was a romantic steampunk story and I liked it anyway. The Pygmalion quality of the story was not overdone although the well to do boy meets down trodden girl is somewhat overworked, in general. This volume, Petra is alone, Emmerich has been sent to France and Petra is fighting for recognition as an engineer and to prevent a war.
Petra Wade is fighting for a place in a male dominated world. Even with equal rights, statistically, even today the number of female engineers is far less than male engineers. In Chroniker City, Petra is fighting a severe uphill battle to become a mechanical engineer. Braith is a soldier set to guard Petra and keep her from "sabotaging" Julian's plans for war. Braith becomes Petra's confident instead of guard and the two work together to stop a war.
The steampunk part is aptly included by the quadruped war machine and the sailing ships that fly.
There is action, romance and a modicum of violence. There is also an underpinning theme of true equal rights.
I highly recommend the book.
Web Site: http://www.brooke-johnson.com/.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews