Steeplejack (Steeplejack #1) by A.J. Hartley

May 14, 2016 Emily May rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, 2016, young-adult

"What are we going to do?" she asked, very slightly breathless.
"We're going to solve a murder," I said.

How funny it is that I was just complaining a couple days ago that authors never do anything different with the fantasy genre and then this little gem comes along. And gets wild, creative and very different.

The cover had me thinking this was probably steampunk, or some sci-fi subgenre at least, but Steeplejack is actually a complex, thoughtful fantasy, exploring racial politics in a postcol ...more

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Dec 19, 2016 Mogsy (MMOGC) rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, mystery, fantasy, steampunk, audiobook, review-copy

4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2016/12/25/...

A.J. Hartley sure knows how to open a book with style. A public national and historical treasure of Bar-Selehm called the Beacon is stolen, and our protagonist, seventeen-year-old Anglet Sutonga, finds one of her fellow steeplejacks murdered hours before she finds herself becoming the guardian of her sister’s newborn infant—all in the same night.

Ang knows she’s in way over her head. And to make matters worse, she soon lose 4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2016/12/25/...

A.J. Hartley sure knows how to open a book with style. A public national and historical treasure of Bar-Selehm called the Beacon is stolen, and our protagonist, seventeen-year-old Anglet Sutonga, finds one of her fellow steeplejacks murdered hours before she finds herself becoming the guardian of her sister’s newborn infant—all in the same night.

Ang knows she’s in way over her head. And to make matters worse, she soon loses her job and becomes a target for her former boss. Which is why when politician Josiah Willinghouse gets in touch with her and offers a business proposal, Ang is inclined to hear him out.

Turns out, what Willinghouse is looking for is something Ang would like to know for herself as well. As news of the stolen Beacon continues to dominate the headlines, everyone seems to have forgotten about Berrit, the steeplejack who was murdered, and who happened to have been Ang’s new apprentice she was supposed to train. Knowing that she owes it to the boy to find out what really happened, Ang agrees to help Willinghouse investigate the death, using her many skills and contacts to shake out the truth.

One of the greatest things about Steeplejack is the world-building, and we’re talking about the full package. The setting is Bar-Selehm, a fictional city inspired by the history of South Africa, peppered with a fantasy flavor including some steampunk elements. I could have stayed forever in this story’s world. The society is mostly made up of a white colonist population and an indigenous black population, while Ang’s people, the Lani, are a third cultural group who live on the margins. The Lani have their own long history and keep many of their traditional customs, one of them pertaining to the number of daughters in a family. It is said that a first one is a blessing, the second a trial, and third is a curse.

Ang, being a third daughter, has had to live with some of that stigma her whole life. That said, she has not allowed this to dampen her independent spirit or strength of character. Being seen as a “curse” has also influenced her perspective on many matters, especially when it comes to family. Her experiences are what led to her sympathies and compassion for her sister’s fourth daughter, who would have been discarded and doomed to a harsh life in an orphanage had Ang not stepped in to take care of her—though that fateful decision will later on result in many heart-wrenching and emotional moments. Our protagonist is also proud to be a steeplejack, the name given to the nimble young workers who brave the heights to repair the city’s many chimneys, towers, and spires. At seventeen, she’s already one of the older ones, and a female to boot. In a city that rife with racial tensions, Ang’s background also factors into her unique role of steeplejack-turned-private investigator once she agrees to take on Willinghouse’s assignment.

Which brings us to the book’s overarching plot. There are two big questions here: 1) who killed Berrit, and 2) who stole the Beacon? It will probably come to no surprise that these two threads are connected, though Hartley saves all the shockers and best bombshells for the wild, twisted journey to get down to the bottom of this mystery. I also loved how Ang’s investigation involved a cast of vibrnat supporting characters, especially with Josiah Willinghouse’s snobby yet outrageously entertaining younger sister Dahria stealing the show.

All told, Steeplejack is an entertaining and fast-paced action-oriented story with a compelling mystery, which made it very quick read overall. The world-building was what impressed me the most though, along with a cast of engaging characters. Anglet Sutonga is an admirable though flawed protagonist who will nonetheless win over the hearts of readers no matter where they fall on the Young Adult to Adult spectrum, and same goes for the story which can be enjoyed by wide audience. This isn’t your typical YA, and that why I had such a great time with it. I understand sequel is on the horizon already, and I will most certainly be reading Firebrand for more of Ang’s adventures in Bar-Selehm. ...more

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Jun 05, 2016 Lindsay rated it really liked it

Anglet is a third daughter from a family of the Lani people, poor immigrants who live in shanties at the edge of the industrial city of Bar-Selehm. A third daughter to the Lani is a curse, but Ang spends her life defying that label. She's a seventeen-year old steeplejack, older than they usually get, and a woman besides. When the boy who was supposed to be her new apprentice is found dead, she can't help but feel responsible because the boy has literally no-one else that cares about what happene Anglet is a third daughter from a family of the Lani people, poor immigrants who live in shanties at the edge of the industrial city of Bar-Selehm. A third daughter to the Lani is a curse, but Ang spends her life defying that label. She's a seventeen-year old steeplejack, older than they usually get, and a woman besides. When the boy who was supposed to be her new apprentice is found dead, she can't help but feel responsible because the boy has literally no-one else that cares about what happened to him. So she tries to find out, at first tentatively, but then she gets a job offer from a mysterious young politician to do a paid investigation.

This is against the backdrop of Bar-Selehm, a city that's very much a fantasy analogue of South Africa, with the Feldish, a white colonist population with most of the power and money, and the indigenous black people, the Mahweni, undergoing some extreme cultural shifts between city-living Mahweni and "unassimilated" tribesmen. The Lani are a third people, also dark-skinned, and a minority descended from indentured servants of the Feldish. Although the city is increasingly egalitarian, racial tensions abound. The racial tensions are critical to the book with the theft of an important artifact being the key to escalating problems, and it appears that the death of Ang's boy is linked to that theft.

The world-building here is excellent and an interesting alternative to actual South African history. Ang's character flows through all of this with the invincibility of youth, but at the same time she has a vulnerability because she worries that she really does have no place in the world and that she really is a curse on her friends and family. That latter issue gives her an incredible drive to protect them, both in terms of her immediate family and anyone she claims as her own. And that lends the latter parts of the book even more poignancy.

The mystery is also well done, or at least as well done as a non-mystery reader finds it. There are times where it's not entirely clear to me why Ang has chosen a line of investigation only to later find that line of investigation was critical. That feels a little like the character being led by the plot rather than the other way around. But that's a minor nitpick. Ang is brilliant, and that comes across well in the text, although her brilliance gets her into several situations of peril where perhaps she hadn't thought everything through. She is seventeen after all.

This seems like it's going to be an ongoing series, and I would be quite interested in following more, particularly with following the secondary characters like the newspaper girl, the tribal boy who might be Ang's love interest in latter books and also the politician's sister who made for a fun character in this one.

Highly recommended. ...more

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Jul 29, 2016 Robyn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016

This was a slow-starter for me, but once it got moving, it was wonderful. Set in a lightly fictionalised 19th-century/early 20th century South Africa, it features a wonderful heroine, and an engaging mystery.

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May 08, 2016 Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller rated it really liked it

[Dual Review - Both 4/5 stars]

Steeplejack and Firebrand [click here for a US & Canada GIVEAWAY of both titles] were two of the most unique books I’ve ever read – the type of stories that continue to resonate long after you finish them!

The books were successful on several accounts. The “whodunit” detective mystery was engaging, made all the more compelling by Anglet’s (the main character) personal stake in solving the crime. Her involvement felt more organic than not, and the passages dedicated t ...more

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Apr 15, 2017 Badseedgirl rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-in-2017

Read April 2017

Last week I was feeling pretty burned out by the YA the storylines were getting so stale and predictable, but then I read Steeplejack and some of my faith in the YA genre has been restored. Here is a YA novel I would be proud to say I read. The young female protagonist is a strong character in her own right. She makes mistakes, but does not lean on her male cohort, in fact this book has a astonishing lack of leading males. There are male characters but they tend to be secondary ch ...more

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Jun 02, 2016 Helen rated it really liked it

This was a pleasant surprise; I started it on impulse and it was nothing like any expectations that I may have had.

Ang is a steeplejack, she works for a shady gang repairing steeples, cleaning chimneys and other, more illegal, activities. Ang is unusual in that not only is she a girl but she's older than most of her 'colleagues', so far surviving the daily danger of working at such heights. The job is dangerous but as Ang says climbing up an extra fifty feet becomes irrelevant after a certain h ...more

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Aug 25, 2015 Sara rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, female-protagonists, young-adult, action-packed, world-building-love, mysteries, steampunk, eyeopeners, research-love, diverse-reads

4.5 out of 5

I have a friend who works for Tor / Forge Books, and she'd mentioned this book last year after it had sold to the publisher. As soon as she said "South African inspired steampunk YA," I was on board. Now, after reading STEEPLEJACK, my first thought is this: Why isn't this book getting more attention?!?! Because it deserves it!

THE GEMS...:
- THE WORLD-BUILDING. The city of Bar-Selehm and its surrounding rural areas are indeed inspired by South Africa, with a steampunk flavor to the cit ...more

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Jul 01, 2016 Drew rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, thriller, fantasy

“It really was that simple. You figured out what you needed to do to stay alive, and you did it.”

3 1/2 stars. This was a slow moving, well written mystery with a freaking fantastic protagonist. The fantasy world was richly developed, filled with "steeplejacks" or rooftop climbers who repaired chimneys and spires, different races of people, and a clever, intricate mystery.

Anglet is our awesome main character who is the best steeplejack in Bar-Selehm. The story opens with Ang going to meet her
“It really was that simple. You figured out what you needed to do to stay alive, and you did it.”

3 1/2 stars. This was a slow moving, well written mystery with a freaking fantastic protagonist. The fantasy world was richly developed, filled with "steeplejacks" or rooftop climbers who repaired chimneys and spires, different races of people, and a clever, intricate mystery.

Anglet is our awesome main character who is the best steeplejack in Bar-Selehm. The story opens with Ang going to meet her new apprentice, but she finds him dead instead. The authorities say he fell from the rooftops, but Ang doesn't believe it. Her curiosity gets her hired as a private detective to find a stolen historical icon, the Beacon.

Ang was quick and smart on her feet. It was impossible not to immediately fall in love with her. Juggling her job, trying to solve a mystery, and looking after her sister's new baby has put her in a tight spot.

Along with the intriguing mystery, racial tensions were explored. The Lani or "brown" race, which Ang was a part of, lived in the dirtier and poorer community, the Mahweni "black" race was discriminated against, and the Feldish "white" race was rich and powerful. It was a sad reflection of our world, but this truthful observation just added more depth to the story.

The ending was strong, the plot twist surprising, and I loved learning how everything came together. The mystery kept me guessing and baffled me, just as a good mystery should.

One thing I will add is I would have liked the pacing to be quicker. I understand the author needed time to develop the fantasy world and characters, but the story was a bit too much on the slow side for me.

Really though, how cool is it that the fantasy, dystopian, and thriller genres were all combined in one story? I just love it when authors blend multiple genres and Hartley did it so well it felt like this world could actually exist.

For fans of Jackaby, These Shallow Graves, The Diviners, and strong female narrators. ...more

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Oct 05, 2015 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it liked it

Shelves: arc, series-not-finishing

Before it showed up on my doorstep, Steeplejack was only mildly on my radar. I’d featured it in Cover Snark, and I thought the cover was gorgeous, but, other than that, I’d not given it much thought. Thankfully, Steeplejack did appear, because I would have taken a long time to get around to reading it otherwise, and it’s such an adventure.

One thing I’ve bemoaned, even with the advent of more and more diverse books in recent years is that diverse genre fiction still lags behind. Steeplejack has a Before it showed up on my doorstep, Steeplejack was only mildly on my radar. I’d featured it in Cover Snark, and I thought the cover was gorgeous, but, other than that, I’d not given it much thought. Thankfully, Steeplejack did appear, because I would have taken a long time to get around to reading it otherwise, and it’s such an adventure.

One thing I’ve bemoaned, even with the advent of more and more diverse books in recent years is that diverse genre fiction still lags behind. Steeplejack has a heavily diverse cast and takes place in a fantasy Africa. The plot deals heavily with racial tensions in a colonized land. On top of that, this is a fantasy novel where women totally dominate, though that’s not the nature of the society in general.

Anglet Sutonga, works as a steeplejack, long past the ages when most girls have quit and moved on to other employment. Anglet is one of the best steeplejacks in the city, skilled at her work and excellent at climbing. Her career comes to an abrupt screeching halt when her apprentice is murdered, her boss tries to rape her, and she stabs said boss.

The weakest part of Steeplejack, I think, is actually the premise whereby Anglet now gets hired on by a random (sorry, Willinghouse, ilu) government official to work as a private detective. No offense to my girl Ang because she’s a total boss bitch, but Willinghouse hiring her made very little sense to me. She has zero qualifications aside from having figured out one detail. She makes a lot of mistakes initially because she has no clue what she’s even doing. They also do not agree on any sort of clear terms about payment or anything, which is weird. That said, I didn’t mind rolling with the premise because it’s still so awesome.

The plot’s excellent fun, though predictable in places. The characters are all very promising and likable, though many could use a bit more fleshing out. There are a couple of potential romances blossoming, which obvs I am down for (Team Willinghouse). Basically, I think Steeplejack‘s a great start to the Alternative Detective series, and I can’t wait to see how Ang and the rest grow.

In case that wasn’t enough to sell you on it, Steeplejack has a baby and many moppets but I still really liked it. So yeah, it’s pretty damn good. ...more

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Oct 08, 2015 Shelley rated it really liked it

Shelves: received-for-review, 2016-release, netgalley-invitation, science-fiction, tor-teen

*Source* Publisher
*Genre* Young Adult, Steampunk, Fantasy
*Rating* 4.0

*Thoughts*

Steeplejack is the first installment in new to me author A.J. Hartley's Alternative Detective trilogy. 17-year old Anglet "Ang" Sutonga lives in a place called Bar-Selehm. One could say that the setting of the story is an alternative version of South Africa, especially with the most diverse cast that I can truly remember reading about. Ang is one of only a few individuals, and the only female, who works the high place ...more

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Sep 28, 2016 Kara Babcock rated it really liked it

Shelves: from-library, mystery, postcolonial, new-adult, fantasy

Oh my god give me more of these books right damn now.

I don’t normally do this, but can we just stop for a moment and look at this utterly gorgeous cover by Mike Heath? I was going to read Steeplejack from the description alone, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t the cover that caught my eye while I was browsing the New Books shelf. Everything about this cover is amazing. The entire shot is from an off-kilter perspective, neither horizontal nor vertical, forcing us to look at everything from a ...more

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May 06, 2016 Sara (A Gingerly Review) rated it it was ok

Shelves: physical-2016, 2016

Yet another book that started off rather strong and tried to do too much. Lost momentum after 40%, and then felt it would cover big topics in a page or two. Sigh. ~~Full review coming soon.~~

I started this book not knowing what I might possibly find between the pages. I did not know what to expect but I can tell you that I was completely underwhelmed. This book did not really do anything for me except make me frustrated.

This is the story of Anglet, a steeplejack in a very rough neighborhood in Lani Yet another book that started off rather strong and tried to do too much. Lost momentum after 40%, and then felt it would cover big topics in a page or two. Sigh. ~~Full review coming soon.~~

I started this book not knowing what I might possibly find between the pages. I did not know what to expect but I can tell you that I was completely underwhelmed. This book did not really do anything for me except make me frustrated.

This is the story of Anglet, a steeplejack in a very rough neighborhood in Lani, South Africa. While fixing a chimney one day, she notices that The Beacon is missing. Also, she realizes that young boys are being murdered and placed in abandoned buildings that have been set for destruction. She takes it upon herself to figure out the mystery of the missing Beacon and who is killing these small boys.

That is the story in a nutshell. What the reader also gets in this story is a lot in a very, very short amount of time. Not all of it good either. The topics the author tries to discuss are misogyny, assault, racial stereotyping, poverty, police brutality, strong political topics, and more. Seems like an awful lot to put into a short book but that doesn't stop Hartley from doing a bad job of it. I nearly stopped reading at this point. It was just too, too much. It felt like in a super short span the MC went through every single talking point that could possibly effect a poor teenage female protagonist of color working in a rough neighborhood in a job meant mainly for males. This suddenly did not feel like a YA book, it felt like a platform for the author to bring up major topics to a younger set of readers. YAWN.

I pressed on and still found myself not caring what happened to anyone and anything in this world because the main reason for the story – mystery and solving someone’s murder – was shadowed by major political issues. The plot was incredibly slow while the background was being explained, and throughout the rest of the book, actually. It seemed as if every character was only out to protect themselves and you could not trust a soul. Maybe that was the way the characters were written, but it made for painful reading. I did not care for any of the characters as they were flat and dull. They had no dimension to them whatsoever.

I did not enjoy this book and would not recommend it to anyone. I wish I had stopped when my guts told me to. Per the usual, I may be the black sheep with this book, as there was nothing redeeming about any part of this story. I picked this up because it is supposed to be a mystery novel, but it is listed as a fantasy. I never saw fantasy within this story. I’m not sure what it was supposed to be so that is why I gave it 1.5 stars. ...more

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Jul 25, 2016 Jane Stewart rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-adventure

I was not captivated or eager to keep reading, but it kept my interest.

I enjoyed reading about Ang a 17-year-old female who was an expert climber and strong. She climbed brick buildings using finger holes and toe holes. She climbed inside chimneys pushing with her feet and back. She traveled a lot over rooftops. She lived with a gang of youths who worked for a bad-guy. It was set in a fictional world with horse drawn carriages and guns. A rich guy hired Ang to investigate a robbery and murder of ...more

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Dec 31, 2015 Ksenia added it

Shelves: publicist-books

I found a new heroine for us to love!!! Ang is fierce, determined, loyal, curious, smart, and stubborn. This is great historical fantasy. The setting is an alternate South Africa, fraught with racial and political tensions, with an amazing diverse cast, and really rich characters. And an awesome mystery!!! Good mysteries are hard to find, at least for me, but this delivered in so many ways. In a way, it reminded me of The Alienist, because the mystery is so entrenched in people's lives and this ...more

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Sep 16, 2016 Ashley rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-i-love-quality-be-damned, holly-recommendation-shef, cromulently-reviewed-books

Perhaps the most original book I've read all summer. Do you like steampunk? Do you like originality? Then read this. This book is badass, super feminist (surprising for a book written by a dude) and just plain awesome. The setting is magnificent - it's like a Alt-Steampunk version of late 19th Century Colonial Sub-Saharan Africa (the mixture of the English/Dutch/Indian/African-inspired cultures is fantastic). Bottom line: this book awesome. I need more. I see it's the first of a series, meaning ...more

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Sep 29, 2015 Anya rated it it was amazing

Wow, so good! Action packed with startlingly poignant imagery snuck in when you least expect it. A kick butt heroine with brown skin from a historically disadvantaged population and a setting clearly reminiscent of South Africa with just a bit of fantastical combines with wonderful secondary characters and hard choices. I'm ecstatic that this book now exists and can't wait for the sequel. ...more

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Apr 15, 2016 Jessie (Ageless Pages Reviews) rated it really liked it

Shelves: alternate-realities, diversity-for-the-win, arc, ya-fiction, historical-fiction, 2016-reads, 2017-reads, sci-fi, netgalley-arc, reviews-2016

Some really really great things, and then some things that were... less so.

RTC.

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Jan 16, 2016 Roger Whitson rated it it was amazing

WARNING: This review contains mild spoilers. Also, full disclosure, Diana Pho graciously provided me with an advanced copy of the book.

The most compelling moments in A.J. Hartley’s steampunk novel Steeplejack occur when Anglet Sutonga recalls the deaths of people lost in the city’s forgotten corners. Characters are murdered with great frequency in the novel — their bodies stashed inside buildings targeted for demolition, suffocated inside labrynthine chimney stacks, or ripped to shreds by yellow WARNING: This review contains mild spoilers. Also, full disclosure, Diana Pho graciously provided me with an advanced copy of the book.

The most compelling moments in A.J. Hartley’s steampunk novel Steeplejack occur when Anglet Sutonga recalls the deaths of people lost in the city’s forgotten corners. Characters are murdered with great frequency in the novel — their bodies stashed inside buildings targeted for demolition, suffocated inside labrynthine chimney stacks, or ripped to shreds by yellow-finned sharks patrolling the many bays and waterways in the city. Ang muses when thinking about the sharks that “[t]o enter the water at Tanuga Point was to go through the great meat grinder of the world, and what emerged was as close to nothing as made no difference.” Anglet’s struggle to make those forgotten people matter, despite shadowy forces killing to forget them, forms the core of a gripping steampunk adventure set in a fantasy world mirroring the colonial history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century South Africa.

This struggle over memory and meaning also characterizes Steeplejack‘s broader dialogue with the steampunk genre. Steampunk celebrates alternate history: lives, worlds, and technologies that could have been had history turned out differently. As a scholar who studies the relationship between literature and the digital humanities, it is a powerful idea to apply to fields that traditionally see themselves as merely archiving and documenting the past. However many perspectives literary scholars might find in archives, we’re still burdened by a historical imagination that is often linear, and (to use a critique from Walter Benjamin that’s still appropriate) homogeneous and empty. Steampunk changes that. Different groups of people are not simply asking for representation in a past curated by scholars, they are actively rewriting the past. Yet, despite steampunk’s more robust temporal imagination, many authors and fans have simply reinscribed the same prejudices into their stories. For instance, William Gibson and Bruce Sterling’s The Difference Engine was brilliant in showing how John Keats might have become a kinotrope operator had the analytical engine actually been invented in the nineteenth century. Yet, we still encounter a story that features primarily white characters and does very little to think about race or gender. It’s not for nothing that China Mieville has famously associated steampunk with racism and neo-imperialism.

Steeplejack joins other recent novels that are starting to reverse this trend and rewrite the nineteenth century from multicultural and intersectional perspectives. These include Ken Liu’s The Grace of Kings, Joseph Bruchac’s Killer of Enemies, Elizabeth Bear’s Karen Memory, and several anthologies — Sarah Hans’s Steampunk World; Balogun Ojetade, Milton Davis, and Marcellus Shane’s Steamfunk; and Jaymee Goh and Joyce Chng’s The Sea is Ours: Tales of Steampunk Southeast Asia. As in Karen Memory, Hartley’s Steeplejack sees technology as secondary to the human stories being told in the novel. Ang scales towers with iron spikes, wooden dowels, and lump hammers. The entire first chapter is a tour-de-force description of the physicality involved in scaling a towering building using nothing but hand tools, your muscles, and your wits. At the same time, this physical vulnerability parallels the ways Ang is made vulnerable in the novel from a conspiracy of prejudice and money. Rich men use her to keep themselves away from danger. Poor men try to rape her. Rich women dress her as their servants. Politicians who should protect her from criminals, instead threaten and attempt to murder her. It is this world of murder, misogyny, racism, and greed that Ang is called upon to defend, despite itself, and this fact makes Steeplejack all the more thrilling.

Hartley’s novel is exemplary in not only giving us a compelling female protagonist of color, but also in showing us the mechanisms of power she disrupts simply by existing. When Ang is interrogated by one of the villains of the novel, for instance, she demonstrates just how different she is from the disingenuous neoliberal visions of equality many so-called anti-racists espouse to gain political power. The villain says: “You cannot simply take people’s land, property, freedom from them and then, a couple of hundred years later, when you have built up your industries and your schools and your armies, pronounce them equals. And even when you pretend it is true, you do not change the hearts of men, and a great deal of small horrors have to be ignored, hidden, if the myth of equality is to be sustained.” It’s a powerful speech. One that resonates with many of the themes of the novel. Yet, we learn that this character has indeed been the source of many of the small horrors he describes. He’s stolen from his people and been the reason many of them have died. And all of these crimes were committed in the name of a greater “common good.” Evil is made banal by becoming beurocratic in Hartley’s novel, and racism persists through all of the small concessions committed in the name of equality. By contrast, because she doesn’t have the same ambitions as the villain with his grand speeches, Ang is able to simply save one forgotten person at a time.

Hartley’s conjunction of the blatant industrial racism of the nineteenth century and the more subtle bureaucratic racism of the twentieth- and twenty-first illustrates just one of the ways Steeplejack provides new avenues for the steampunk genre. Steampunk has the potential to enable more people to participate in alternatives to the past we currently imagine. We need more stories like Steeplejack to show how relevant Victorian history is to everyone, not just the white cis- and heterosexual men who have traditionally been seen as the protagonists of history. ...more

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Aug 10, 2016 Paige rated it really liked it

Shelves: multiple-female-characters, young-adult, mystery-element, family-story, friendships, class-war, urban-fantasy, discussing-race, steam-punk, other-world

As a librarian, there is nothing I love more than a great library moment in a book, especially if the librarian might be the cause for some of that moment. Enter librarian, Miss Fischer. Although most readers probably don’t remember her less than 2-page role, I found it hilarious and worthy even to start this review off with. Main protagonist, Anglet, is in need of the public library to help solve her murder mystery, most importantly she would love to check-out the public land records. Librarian As a librarian, there is nothing I love more than a great library moment in a book, especially if the librarian might be the cause for some of that moment. Enter librarian, Miss Fischer. Although most readers probably don’t remember her less than 2-page role, I found it hilarious and worthy even to start this review off with. Main protagonist, Anglet, is in need of the public library to help solve her murder mystery, most importantly she would love to check-out the public land records. Librarian great line #1: “Fourth floor, cartography. What some of our less erudite visitors call ‘the map room.’” After Anglet thanks Miss Fischer for her help, the great Librarian line #2: “It is the nature of my job, Miss Sutonga, if not my personality.” Oh boy, some days I am sure all librarians feel a little like that, unless you are beyond an amazing super-librarian, of which, I am sure, there are many.

But on to the actual review of the majority “Steeplejack.” Anglet, as previously mentioned, is a private investigator searching the streets of Bar-Selehm for the person who killed her would be Steeplejack apprentice Berrit. As her investigation begins, Lani-born Anglet, finds out that Berrit’s death is at the heart of a much bigger political controversy than she could have even imagined. Will she be able to solve the mystery in time to prevent the next race-war in Bar-Selehm, or will those with power, money, and the right skin color win out over her truth.

After what I felt like was a slow start, this story quickly picked up and became most of what I hoped for in a Steampunk themed mystery story that takes place in another world, with slight echoes of the South African plains. Angel, or Ang, is a perfectly likable character who has grit and determination, as she takes on worlds that she never even imagined entering, trying to avenge the death of a poor steeplejack, who otherwise would have been forgotten in a world that cares more about the rich, than any poor boy who died in a gutter.

One of my favorite aspects of this young adult piece is the great female friendships that Ang forms out of necessity in her P.I. role. One with newspaper seller, street vendor, Sarah, who also happens to be sharp and have a photographic memory, able to recall all details from any newspaper she has ever read. The two girls, despite being from different race backgrounds, become companions and even friends supporting and trusting one another. Another great female relationship Ang creates is through class lines, with dressed-up, beautiful Dahria, who’s wealthy family is supporting the investigation that Ang is working on. Through this friendship Dahria reconnects with her inner strength, remembering what is important to her, and Ang learns about how to use class standings to your advantage as both women fight to protect one another as they work towards unveiling the truth. One great scene includes Dahria’s gift of a revolver to Ang. “You point and pull the trigger. Pull the hammer back after each shot, like this, and hold it tight. It will kick. There’s little more to it. That’s the great and terrible thing about guns. You don’t need a lot of skill with them to be lethal…Be careful.” Hartley's interesting choice for a moment of foreshadowing: will the gift of the gun, perhaps not provide the safety she was hoping for?

One other great side note in this book: NO love interest! for those of us who just wanted to read a book with good female characters who make friends who are both male and female, but don't actually end up with anyone really and there is no kissing etc., but just friends and people discovering themselves and how people can be important without being intense sex objects all the time made me so happy. I cannot remember the last time I read a YA book where romance was not the main or at least a sub-plot of the story line and it was so refreshing. Thank you A.J., thank you!
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Sep 27, 2016 Jessica Strider rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, ya, steampunk

Pros: brilliant world-building, fascinating protagonist, complex mystery

Cons:

Anglet Sutonga is a steeplejack. When she was younger she cleaned chimneys. At 17 she’s too big for that, so now she works the factory stacks. After a series of events, including the theft of a city landmark, she’s hired to investigate a series of crimes that the police are ignoring. Meanwhile race relations in the city of Bar-Selehm are breaking down between the white upper class, the black Mahweni (those assimilated Pros: brilliant world-building, fascinating protagonist, complex mystery

Cons:

Anglet Sutonga is a steeplejack. When she was younger she cleaned chimneys. At 17 she’s too big for that, so now she works the factory stacks. After a series of events, including the theft of a city landmark, she’s hired to investigate a series of crimes that the police are ignoring. Meanwhile race relations in the city of Bar-Selehm are breaking down between the white upper class, the black Mahweni (those assimilated to city life as well as the tribesmen living traditional lifestyles outside of it) and the brown Lani, brought to the city by the whites as indentured servants and still not much better off, making her job urgent. And as tensions rise in the city, war between their northwest neighbours, the Grappoli, seems increasingly likely.

Bar-Selehm is a unique setting based on 19th Century South Africa but with fantasy overtones. The book is very contained to the city and its immediate surroundings, only mentioning Grappoli but not the wider politics of the outside world. Which keeps the book focused on the city and its problems. I loved that Anglet was able to mix with people of different races in different ways - depending on their social status, and how status and race were shown to be holdovers from the past, despite the current ideology that everyone is equal. There’s a great quote later in the book which sums up a lot of modern racism - and blindness towards it:

“We say we are all equal in Bar-Selehm, but you know as well as I do that that is not even close to being true. You cannot simply take people’s land, property, freedom from them and then, a couple of hundred years later, when you have built up your industries and your schools and your armies, pronounce them equals. And even when you pretend it is true, you do not change the hearts of men, and a great deal of small horrors have to be ignored, hidden, if the myth of equality is to be sustained.”

When going to the Drowning, where most of the Lani live, Anglet encounters hippos, monkeys, an ibex, and other creatures. She also mentions a few things that are made up, like weancats, which make the world feel both real and other at the same time. Similarly, the mineral that Bar-Selehm was built up on, luxorite, is made up, but the trade concerns, her brother-in-law’s stubborn effort to pan more, and how society interacts with the mineral is explored in some depth.

The author brings in just enough minor details of taste, smell, sight, and touch to make the world feel 100% genuine without bogging down the narrative at all.

I loved Anglet as a character. She’s necessarily tough and has to make a series of difficult decisions that change her life. I loved that her choices had consequences, and that as the book went on she often questioned the decisions she’d made. In several situations there was no good outcome, just the best she could do for now.

I liked that she encountered a wide variety of people during her investigation. The paper girl was probably my favourite, but Anglet meets people from several levels of society and cleverly finds ways to interact with them.

The murder mystery was tightly twisted so that while I figured out two of the twists at the end, several others were complete revelations. Looking back on the book as a whole the clues were there, but you take such a roundabout way to the end that it’s hard figuring out everything that’s going on. I found the ending quite a shock and really felt for Anglet.

It’s the first in a trilogy, but can easily be read as a standalone as the mystery is entirely wrapped up at the end. This a great novel with all the things people in SFF circles have been asking for. I can’t believe it’s not being more widely read and talked about. ...more

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Jul 30, 2016 Natalie rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, read-in-2016

While I enjoyed this for the most part, I had a couple of problems with it.

1) the political situation was never really explained. It basically sounded like none of the different races liked each other. There was one race that was always blamed but I found it odd that there was no character of that race in the story. As a result, the conflict felt forced and unnatural.

2) characters appeared and disappeared. One moment, a character would be there helping Ang, and then that character would not be ...more

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Sep 30, 2017 Kelsey rated it liked it

I did enjoy this story and the mystery, but I kept thinking it felt like a wannabe Six of Crows without the charisma. ...more

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Jul 06, 2016 Tanner rated it really liked it

Very plot driven with a mystery base exterior.
A fine main lead character with a heart. The romance is very, very, limited. But, that was a good thing.

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Apr 15, 2016 Elijah rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, mystery

A.J. Hartley's new novel Steeplejack seems at first to be an issue book about race relations touting itself as a mystery. Within the first five chapters, the protagonist -- a Lani steeplejack named Anglet Sutonga -- faces misogyny, assault, racial stereotyping, poverty, and more from police, her community, her boss, and even her own family.

I almost put the book down.

It wasn't that these issues were difficult to read about or that the book portrayed them unrealistically; it was the fact that in s ...more

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Dec 23, 2016 Kara-karina rated it really liked it

I have to give major kudos to this book for the creativity. It's rich, full of steampunk elements and takes place on the African continent. The narrator adds to the atmosphere with the cadence of her voice, and I just loved Steeplejack on audio partly because of her!

The investigation itself is not the strongest part of the plot, and I wasn't convinced by Ang's mostly intuitive jumps to conclusions/ I don't think she made for a good detective, and she certainly shouldn't have been offered the jo ...more

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May 04, 2016 Crystal rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016

Wow I am quite impressed with Steeplejack! It wasn't at all what I was expecting and I really enjoyed the overall plot!

This story at it's core is very political and racial which surprised me. I wasn't expecting that at all and at times it felt a little forced honestly. I think the author was a little heavy handed with all the "white" and "black" descriptions. I would have still gotten the message if he had left those out. I get why it was all important, but it was a bit much and took away from t Wow I am quite impressed with Steeplejack! It wasn't at all what I was expecting and I really enjoyed the overall plot!

This story at it's core is very political and racial which surprised me. I wasn't expecting that at all and at times it felt a little forced honestly. I think the author was a little heavy handed with all the "white" and "black" descriptions. I would have still gotten the message if he had left those out. I get why it was all important, but it was a bit much and took away from the story at times.

That being said I think the story was really well done. There was so much evasiveness going on that I wasn't ever quite sure what was really going on. At one point there were three story lines going on at once and I was totally into each of them! It takes a skilled writer to be able to pull that off and A.J. Hartley did it brilliantly. He wove in a tight story centered around a stolen item, a land on the brink of war, a girl who only wants vengeance for who killed her apprentice, and family drama that will leave you glad you don't have their problems. I am very intrigued by the Drowning where Anglet is from and I would have loved more from that side of the tracks.

As for the characters I really liked Anglet. She was a strong character that even when she didn't know what she was doing improvised and managed to land on her feet. She needed help and I liked the crowd she turned to. They all had their own agenda's but on the street that seemed normal and inevitable. She chose her help wisely and I am glad she trusted who she did. She was fierce and just a great overall character. She stood up for her people and did what she had to do to get the job done.

I did have a few problems though. One being Willinghouse. I liked his character, but I felt he wasn't given enough page time. Ang is working for him, but she never really goes to him unless she is in trouble. Wouldn't he want to hear her progress?? I was left a bit frustrated that he wasn't a bigger player in the overall story.

My second issue is a small one, but it bugged me immensely! When Ang has the baby she just leaves it for long periods of time! This is a newborn and even if you've never had a baby you still know that newborns wake up all the time and every time she would leave this poor baby all I could think of was HURRY! The baby needs you!! This ruined the chapter for me each and every time this happened. I was so glad when she took steps to help the baby. I was so relieved I could finally focus on the story without having that whole thing over my head! I know she was young, but still not okay.

Other than those two things I really did enjoy this story. It was fresh and very unique and one that I hope will continue on with more adventures! I will say one more thing, I am really starting to love reading books written by men. As you know I am not into romance at the moment and well men tend to leave most of that out and this book was no exception. There are sparks with a few people, but no drama and I appreciated that so much. ...more

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Jan 23, 2017 Sarah Sanborn rated it really liked it

It's refreshing to read something different. This is not your typical YA fantasy/detective story. It is set in the city of Bar-Selhem, a city with an Industrial Revolution feel to it. Now that's nothing new, but the wonderful thing is it's set on an African like continent, full of elephants, hippos, hyenas, and jackals. There are three main peoples in the city, the rich, white, Feldish; the native Mahweni who have either assimilated into the city or live as unassimilated tribes on the savannah; It's refreshing to read something different. This is not your typical YA fantasy/detective story. It is set in the city of Bar-Selhem, a city with an Industrial Revolution feel to it. Now that's nothing new, but the wonderful thing is it's set on an African like continent, full of elephants, hippos, hyenas, and jackals. There are three main peoples in the city, the rich, white, Feldish; the native Mahweni who have either assimilated into the city or live as unassimilated tribes on the savannah; and the brown skinned Lanni who immigrated to the city and form the lowest level of society. So much great material to explore!

The main character is Anglet Sutonga, or Ang, a Lanni steeplejack of unusual skill, who climbs the towers and spires of the city to replace chimneys and make repairs to buildings. She's a wonderfully complex character, dealing with conflicts of family, culture, and race, all the while trying to solve the mysterious death of a steeplejack boy, named Berrit, who was supposed to be her apprentice. I found her a very sympathetic character. Though, brave and independent, she has a compassionate heart.
The story has a great cast of supporting characters, all three dimensional, and engaging, I can't wait to see more of them in the sequel.

The plot is a fairly straightforward detective story, but the complexity of the city keeps things interesting. It soon becomes apparent that the murder of Berrit, is connected with the mysterious theft of the Beacon, a historic icon that sits in a tower high above the streets. The city is brimming with racial strife and seems ready to rip itself apart if answers are not found. And Anglet is not only trying to solve a mystery, she is also trying find her place in a complex world she doesn't seem to fit into anymore.

I think my only complaints were a couple of transitions, where I had to backtrack to figure out where Ang had gone. And a struggle keeping the names straight, but I have that problem with a lot of mysteries and I was listening to it on audiobook. So I won't hold that against the book.

Great read! I definitely recommend it, especially if you're looking for something a little different. The book also manages to stay away from the usual YA cliches that make me roll my eyes and shake my head.

I can't wait for the sequel! ...more

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Aug 31, 2016 Teenreadsdotcom rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-to-add-to-your-guy-brary

STEEPLEJACK, the first book in a new young adult series by A.J. Hartley, is, in the simplest terms, a fantasy novel. Although fantasy is the genre it has been wedged into, I will tell you now that it is much bigger than that. STEEPLEJACK is a fantastic detective-noir story set in a steampunk South Africa. It has all the trappings of a great detective story, including a main character with only good intentions and a bad reputation, a dead innocent in the opening, a wide-spread web of conspiracy, STEEPLEJACK, the first book in a new young adult series by A.J. Hartley, is, in the simplest terms, a fantasy novel. Although fantasy is the genre it has been wedged into, I will tell you now that it is much bigger than that. STEEPLEJACK is a fantastic detective-noir story set in a steampunk South Africa. It has all the trappings of a great detective story, including a main character with only good intentions and a bad reputation, a dead innocent in the opening, a wide-spread web of conspiracy, fast-talking interrogations and shady dealings --- just to get any interested parties ready!

In STEEPLEJACK, readers are introduced to the tough and savvy Anglet Sutonga --- Ang for short. Ang is 17-years-old and cursed. According to cultural tradition, as the third child in her family, Ang is not only a curse, but potentially a plague on her family. Ang copes with this through borderline estrangement from her sisters, the oldest of which has completely disappeared from the family long before the narrative takes place. Ang works for a starvation wage as a steeplejack. A steeplejack’s job is to scale tall buildings and straddle the side of chimneys in order to repair weakening brick & mortar --- and Ang is the best there is.

STEEPLEJACK opens with Ang out on a typical job. Ang was expecting to work a chimneys with a new hire from one of the other outfits --- gangs --- in town, Berritt. The trouble is that Ang finishes her shift and sees no sign of this new kid until she comes back down to street level, where she finds him stabbed and left for dead. After Ang gets police to investigate, she is swept up into a web of deceit, greed and corruption that climbs all the way to the highest levels of government.

Hartley’s fantasy novel creates a remarkably engaging narrative in a remarkably dirty world. With a fictional world so grounded in reality --- there be no dragons here --- it is hard to remember that this doesn’t take place in our own universe. Even with a few elements of what I will describe as “simple” magic nothing ever feels out of place or lacking in common sense. There is this element in the novel introduced from the start called Luxorite. Luxorite is a glowing, rare and very limited precious stone that is essentially employed only to advance the plot. Its importance is stressed throughout so I never once questioned why it glows or why the light in it fades. As a reader it is just clear that it is important, and this goes for every element of the book. Every detail matters and therefore nothing feels out of place.

I never once had to suspend my disbelief or remind myself that this was fiction, which I am going to emphasize can happen even in the best fantasy. This felt more like historical fiction. I felt like the unthinkable tragedies of the real world could strike at any moment, but Anglet Sutonga was right there to stop it. This is the first book of a planned series, and I am brimming with excitement for the next one.

Reviewed by Matthew Burbridge ...more

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Aug 24, 2016 Britt rated it it was ok

Shelves: worldbuilding, diversity, fantasy, reader-s-advisory, mystery

Anglet is a steeplejack, a person who climbs on buildings for a variety of work related reasons (chimney work, retrieval, the building of things, etc.). One day, at the end of a shift, she discovers a dead body on the ground. As being a steeplejack is quite dangerous, she isn't completely alarmed at first, until she realizes that the person did not die of natural causes - he had been stabbed in the back. After that, she takes it upon herself to solve the murder mystery as well as a few other mys Anglet is a steeplejack, a person who climbs on buildings for a variety of work related reasons (chimney work, retrieval, the building of things, etc.). One day, at the end of a shift, she discovers a dead body on the ground. As being a steeplejack is quite dangerous, she isn't completely alarmed at first, until she realizes that the person did not die of natural causes - he had been stabbed in the back. After that, she takes it upon herself to solve the murder mystery as well as a few other mysteries that crop up along the way.

I feel like I should've liked this book more than I did. The beginning is extremely slow, but only due to the author having to do some serious world-building, which is something I often like. The world itself was pretty cool. It's a newly colonized version of South Africa, which made for a unique setting. Actually, the racism/discrimination bits were so well done as to be hard to read. The main character is likable. She's that lovely combination of fierce and vulnerable that is common in YA, but rarely successfully pulled off. Hartley pulls it off. He knows what he's about - this book was extremely well written.

So why didn't I like it? I'm kind of asking myself the same question here, but my overall feeling was definitely just "meh". I think that, for me, the book lacked any real tension or emotional impact. I liked Ang, but I never really cared that much about her, or anyone else in the story. I definitely didn't care about Berrit, the murder victim. Actually much is made about how NO ONE cares about Berrit and his life was one that wasn't going to be worth living anyway, so...who cares who murdered him, really? Aside from the Morlak (her rapey boss) and Kalla (her...adopted daughter) scenes the book went from action scene to action scene with no real emotional impact, and without feeling like it was fast paced. Somehow, in the midst of all of the action, the book felt like a really slow read.

With a more compelling mystery and better developed characters, this book could've been very likable. Still, I think many will like it, and I'm definitely not opposed to picking up the sequel. 2 stars - it was ok.

...more

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Goodreads Librari...: Series name correction	2	12	Mar 01, 2018 02:35PM
Fantasy Buddy Reads: SteepleJack [Nov 17, 2017]	48	29	Nov 25, 2017 06:55AM
Ideas for Book Club books	2	5	Jan 10, 2017 02:27PM

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