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The Adventures of Ichabod Temperance #9
A Journey of Temperance
I say, this fantastic craft you have built has transported us to a new world, Mr. Temperance, eh hem?" "Yes, Ma'am, Miss Plumtartt, Ma'am! Gosh, we find ourselves among many mythological beasts of outrageous legend. It would take three of me to make just one of the dwarves that live around here." "Yes, quite, and I find that there is no shortage of troll, gremlin, or magical creature to assail us in our destined quest." "You sure are right about that, Ma'am. In fact, I think we have gotten embroiled in a sweeping, high fantasy saga of epic proportions!
296 pages, Paperback
Published March 27, 2016
12 people want to read
About the author
Ichabod Temperance
10 books119 followersIchabod Temperance is a silly little fellow living in historic Irondale, Alabama, USA, with his lovely muse, Miss Persephone Plumtartt, and their furry pack family.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 21, 2016
When I first heard of this series and Googled it, I couldn’t help but being pulled in by the colourful covers with Victorian and mythical elements on them. Then, when I read it was steampunk fantasy with a good dash of humour, I was sold. After finally getting to reading this book, I noticed that the entire story was written in dialogue, exactly like the synopsis up here…
You’re probably thinking…”What the flying horse cadaver?!” right now (or something alike). That was exactly what I thought (or something alike). Always having finished every book apart from Finnegans Wake so far, I feared this was going to be a loooong ride.
However, to my utter and pleasant surprise, it wasn’t!
A Journey of Temperance is actually book #9 in The Adventures of Ichabod Temperance series. I’m not one for starting halfway into a series. It never works. So if an author comes to me with book #9, it means I would have to read the previous eight to get up to speed with the story. Needless to say, I have not read the previous eight books in this series. The author assured me this book was functioning just fine as a stand-alone novel, and for once, I decided to take the plunge. The author was right.
So back to the dialogues! My initial reluctance wore off after about one chapter. Another chapter later, I hardly even noticed it anymore. The surroundings and actions are described throughout the dialogues and it bloody works?! All I could think once I got into it was that this was very cleverly done. Each character has a couple of specific words which greatly help to define who’s talking when. Then there are the personalities and accents; I was hardly ever wrong in understanding which character was speaking.
The main characters are Mr Ichabod Temperance, a brilliant engineer from Alabama with poor social skills, yet who’s always helpful and polite. Especially when it comes to the secret-but-not-so-secret love of his life, Miss Persephone Plumtartt. Persephone is the daughter of the late super scientist Professor Plumtartt. She has inherited a good portion of her father’s scientific skills and insights. Together, Ichabod and Persephone make a great team when it involves coming up with solutions and inventions. Or fighting evil creatures.
Of course, reading about the characters from their literary day one is always the best way to get to know them to the fullest. However, as I’ve already kind of mentioned up here, you really don’t need to read any of the previous books to dive into this one. I got acquainted with the characters and their relationships pretty darn fast.
The story itself is loosely based on LOTR, but also subtly takes the piss out of it (in a most respectful way). Miss Plumtartt, Mr Temperance and Mr J.P. Morganstern (a despicable businessman who hired Ichabod to create a means of faster travels for him) go on a journey in a steam-powered drill machine which accidentally goes off course and ends up in Middle O’Earthhe. Which is literally the centre of the earth, where apparently, there’s another smaller version of a planet; its own sun included. Evil lurks in the form of an ancient high elf who’s after an even more ancient artefact to take control of Middle O’Earthhe and introduce another Age of Darkness there.
The three companions encounter dwarfs, dragons, trolls, oreorcs (who must be quite appetising), wizards, fairies, and many other mythical creatures.
The journey also comes with a lot of goofy humour:
– painfully bad puns which had me laughing out loud
– hilarious interactions and observations
“Truth be told, Lord von Stratusbourne, I have never cared much for these Gothic Elves. I find their omnipresent black finger nail polish off-putting. Let us go and remove the mascara from their pale faces by cleansing fire.“
– characters who aren’t shying away from a good dose of self-mockery
– an elf named Legolamb
Besides the puns, there are also numerous references that will sound like music to the ears of the average geek. Examples are D&D, LOTR, Disney, the work of M.C. Escher, and the urban myth of The Brown Noise*.
All in all, if you’re in for something different, something goofy within the Fantasy genre, you might enjoy this as much as I did. I’m being honest when I say it’s definitely not for everyone. A tip to spice up your reading experience: let some unsuspecting person read it to you. Oh, and insist on them doing ‘voices’. A ferocious dwarf warrior has never sounded so feminine coming from the mouth of my husband.
I’m giving this four brownies because it was a lighthearted read and exactly what I needed last week.
A big thank you to Ichabod Temperance for generously providing me with a copy of his book in exchange for an honest opinion!
* If you were wondering what the urban myth of The Brown Noise is, I challenge you to put your speakers on max.and listen to this YouTube video (not safe for work unless you have come prepared yourself and want to try it on your coworkers).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc2Db...
You’re probably thinking…”What the flying horse cadaver?!” right now (or something alike). That was exactly what I thought (or something alike). Always having finished every book apart from Finnegans Wake so far, I feared this was going to be a loooong ride.
However, to my utter and pleasant surprise, it wasn’t!
A Journey of Temperance is actually book #9 in The Adventures of Ichabod Temperance series. I’m not one for starting halfway into a series. It never works. So if an author comes to me with book #9, it means I would have to read the previous eight to get up to speed with the story. Needless to say, I have not read the previous eight books in this series. The author assured me this book was functioning just fine as a stand-alone novel, and for once, I decided to take the plunge. The author was right.
So back to the dialogues! My initial reluctance wore off after about one chapter. Another chapter later, I hardly even noticed it anymore. The surroundings and actions are described throughout the dialogues and it bloody works?! All I could think once I got into it was that this was very cleverly done. Each character has a couple of specific words which greatly help to define who’s talking when. Then there are the personalities and accents; I was hardly ever wrong in understanding which character was speaking.
The main characters are Mr Ichabod Temperance, a brilliant engineer from Alabama with poor social skills, yet who’s always helpful and polite. Especially when it comes to the secret-but-not-so-secret love of his life, Miss Persephone Plumtartt. Persephone is the daughter of the late super scientist Professor Plumtartt. She has inherited a good portion of her father’s scientific skills and insights. Together, Ichabod and Persephone make a great team when it involves coming up with solutions and inventions. Or fighting evil creatures.
Of course, reading about the characters from their literary day one is always the best way to get to know them to the fullest. However, as I’ve already kind of mentioned up here, you really don’t need to read any of the previous books to dive into this one. I got acquainted with the characters and their relationships pretty darn fast.
The story itself is loosely based on LOTR, but also subtly takes the piss out of it (in a most respectful way). Miss Plumtartt, Mr Temperance and Mr J.P. Morganstern (a despicable businessman who hired Ichabod to create a means of faster travels for him) go on a journey in a steam-powered drill machine which accidentally goes off course and ends up in Middle O’Earthhe. Which is literally the centre of the earth, where apparently, there’s another smaller version of a planet; its own sun included. Evil lurks in the form of an ancient high elf who’s after an even more ancient artefact to take control of Middle O’Earthhe and introduce another Age of Darkness there.
The three companions encounter dwarfs, dragons, trolls, oreorcs (who must be quite appetising), wizards, fairies, and many other mythical creatures.
The journey also comes with a lot of goofy humour:
– painfully bad puns which had me laughing out loud
– hilarious interactions and observations
“Truth be told, Lord von Stratusbourne, I have never cared much for these Gothic Elves. I find their omnipresent black finger nail polish off-putting. Let us go and remove the mascara from their pale faces by cleansing fire.“
– characters who aren’t shying away from a good dose of self-mockery
– an elf named Legolamb
Besides the puns, there are also numerous references that will sound like music to the ears of the average geek. Examples are D&D, LOTR, Disney, the work of M.C. Escher, and the urban myth of The Brown Noise*.
All in all, if you’re in for something different, something goofy within the Fantasy genre, you might enjoy this as much as I did. I’m being honest when I say it’s definitely not for everyone. A tip to spice up your reading experience: let some unsuspecting person read it to you. Oh, and insist on them doing ‘voices’. A ferocious dwarf warrior has never sounded so feminine coming from the mouth of my husband.
I’m giving this four brownies because it was a lighthearted read and exactly what I needed last week.
A big thank you to Ichabod Temperance for generously providing me with a copy of his book in exchange for an honest opinion!
* If you were wondering what the urban myth of The Brown Noise is, I challenge you to put your speakers on max.and listen to this YouTube video (not safe for work unless you have come prepared yourself and want to try it on your coworkers).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc2Db...
April 24, 2016
Epic battles, a Dark Lord against Ichabod and his allies in the battle for the Middle O’ the Earth. Is it the dawning of the Age of Darkness?
There are times when I wonder how Ichabod Temperance would survive without Miss Persephone Plumtartt and this time is no exception as they travel in Icky’s marvelous machine to the Middle O’ the Earth. Meet Elves and trolls, women Centaurs, dragons who are past their prime or a little waterlogged as Ichabod and Persephone become embroiled in a prophesied battle between the dark and light. Travel through Fairyland, witness our heroes as they become dinner for three quirky females. How will they get out of the pot without jumping into the fire?
Author Ichabod Temperance has taken his quirky little hero on another adventure of mayhem, madness and monster-sized insects! A Journey of Temperance is one more adventure for young Icky, a brilliant inventor since the day the comet passed Earth. What do you do when a dragon can no longer breathe fire? Leave it to Ichabod to come up with the answer!
Get ready for brilliant one-liners, plays on words, alliteration and one more fascinating adventure for Ichabod and Persephone, as the original Red Baron takes to the skies as the aerial force for the good guys, one-horned black stallions pound the earth for the bad guys and once again, Ichabod is stuck in the middle of trouble on a huge scale. Fun fantasy, epic adventure, quirky characters and Icky in a dress????
Series: The Adventures of Ichabod Temperance - Book 9
Publisher: GoldenBear Creative Works (March 28, 2016)
Publication Date: March 28, 2016
Genre: Steampunk Fantasy
Print Length: 250 pages
Available from: Amazon
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com
There are times when I wonder how Ichabod Temperance would survive without Miss Persephone Plumtartt and this time is no exception as they travel in Icky’s marvelous machine to the Middle O’ the Earth. Meet Elves and trolls, women Centaurs, dragons who are past their prime or a little waterlogged as Ichabod and Persephone become embroiled in a prophesied battle between the dark and light. Travel through Fairyland, witness our heroes as they become dinner for three quirky females. How will they get out of the pot without jumping into the fire?
Author Ichabod Temperance has taken his quirky little hero on another adventure of mayhem, madness and monster-sized insects! A Journey of Temperance is one more adventure for young Icky, a brilliant inventor since the day the comet passed Earth. What do you do when a dragon can no longer breathe fire? Leave it to Ichabod to come up with the answer!
Get ready for brilliant one-liners, plays on words, alliteration and one more fascinating adventure for Ichabod and Persephone, as the original Red Baron takes to the skies as the aerial force for the good guys, one-horned black stallions pound the earth for the bad guys and once again, Ichabod is stuck in the middle of trouble on a huge scale. Fun fantasy, epic adventure, quirky characters and Icky in a dress????
Series: The Adventures of Ichabod Temperance - Book 9
Publisher: GoldenBear Creative Works (March 28, 2016)
Publication Date: March 28, 2016
Genre: Steampunk Fantasy
Print Length: 250 pages
Available from: Amazon
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com
May 22, 2016
I like to start series reviews with the claim that this book can be read as a standalone. But this one really shouldn't be. In fact, although I received Book 9 as a review copy, after reading the first few pages I went back and bought Book 1. Not only is the backstory important, but the "Ichabod Temperance" writing style is unique and requires adjustments.
In looking back over my notes, the very first thing I wrote for Book 1 is:
"Please, Dear Calliope, Muse of Epic Poetry and Literature, don't let them talk this way through the entire book..."
Only here's the thing. Those Muses are getting a bit long in the tooth, and I think that Calliope called a newcomer, Terry Pratchett, in as pinch-hitter.
So...here's the first thing you have to get used to in order to read and enjoy this series. It's not so much a case of show vs tell. Observations—every last damn one of them—are in the often-stilted form of thoughts or dialog. Instead of saying, "The king stood before them dressed in..." a character will announce, "You are the King dressed in X and Y". This gives them an archaic feel that takes some getting used to.
But if you make it past the blatant info dump lightly masquerading as dialog, you're in for a treat. We hear how the Revelatory Comet passed through the atmosphere in 1869. But unlike Halley's comet that captured the attention of the world in 1835, this one actually changed many people. Its wake left some with extraordinary abilities, some magical and some in the form of gadget and engineering skills.
One of those people is Ichabod Temperance, who is transformed from a simple Alabama farm boy to a gadget wizard. He's heading for England to deliver his invention—the Green Beauties goggles—to super scientist, Professor Plumtartt, whose premier contribution to the post-comet world is the creation of a virtually infinite energy source. Plumtartt's Sol Furnace is the solution to the "steam just can't produce enough energy" intrinsic problem of Victorian steampunk worlds. But before Ichabod arrives, the professor is killed and his daughter, Persephone, is altered by an experiment gone terribly wrong, releasing a demonic evil on the world.
Arriving in London, Ichabod uses his goggles to save Persephone, and together they embark on a journey that will take them around the world in order to save it. That journey continues in one form or another through the rest of the series. And along the way, much as with Terry Pratchett in his epic Discworld series, there is simply no pun too low, no social reference too topical, and no literary one off limits. Consider:
[Quote:] Golly it's hard to say goodbye to our friends on the Minnow. If Captain Hale could, I bet he and his crew would be willing to see us through our coming adventures. I can still see him, back there on the deck of his ship. Impulsively, Captain Hale and I call to one another.
"Skipper!"
"Little buddy!" [End quote]
Yup, you got it, Gilligan.
In creating Ichabod and Persephone's steampunk world, the author must have had a shopping list with every conceivable genre trope. I think he crossed off each of them. Goggles, bowler, corsets, lethal parasol? Check. Airships, automatons, astonishing weapons with peculiar acronyms? Of course. Kraken, Leviathan, cephalopods of every imaginable variety? Absolutely! Gadget Genius and Aristocratic Lady of Adventure? Meet Ichabod Temperance and Persephone Plumtartt.
The latest volume, A Journey of Temperance, invokes the ghosts of literary genres ranging from Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, to the Brothers Grimm, Tolkien, and even Clement Moore. Ichabod has created a machine designed to tunnel through the earth to create a shortcut for the financial giant, Mr. J. P. Morganstern (Baron of Industry). But thanks to Morganstern's cost-cutting on construction, the machine goes wrong, plunging them into an internal world of magic. Here there be dragons, literally.
Each section is narrated in turn by gee-shucks Ichabod, the quixotic Alabama farmboy, and primly proper Miss Persephone Plumtartt, the Victorian British aristocrat. Their differing voices are critically important, especially because almost all details continue to be delivered via their internal monologues and external dialog exchanges.
The pace is always the same, a rocketing scramble from one adventure to another, rescuing each other using a combination of Ichabod's inventions and Persephone's pluck. The characters don't so much develop as they exercise their abilities in new ways with each situation. Of course, given it's Book Nine in the series and—although they professed mutual love in Book 1—they still aren't on a first-name basis, there is definitely nothing here that couldn't be read by anyone from children to adult. This couple could well be in the Home for Retired Steampunkers without ever taking their relationship to second, let alone third base.
The books are, as I said, an acquired taste. But once I got into them, I laughed at the jokes, groaned at the puns, got into spotting the genres they robbed, and thoroughly enjoyed the adventures. I'd give this series four stars. If you're looking for an entertaining read with plenty of inside jokes, a distinctive voice, and shameless sense of fun, I would recommend the Ichabod Temperance series.
**I received this book for free from the publisher or author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**
In looking back over my notes, the very first thing I wrote for Book 1 is:
"Please, Dear Calliope, Muse of Epic Poetry and Literature, don't let them talk this way through the entire book..."
Only here's the thing. Those Muses are getting a bit long in the tooth, and I think that Calliope called a newcomer, Terry Pratchett, in as pinch-hitter.
So...here's the first thing you have to get used to in order to read and enjoy this series. It's not so much a case of show vs tell. Observations—every last damn one of them—are in the often-stilted form of thoughts or dialog. Instead of saying, "The king stood before them dressed in..." a character will announce, "You are the King dressed in X and Y". This gives them an archaic feel that takes some getting used to.
But if you make it past the blatant info dump lightly masquerading as dialog, you're in for a treat. We hear how the Revelatory Comet passed through the atmosphere in 1869. But unlike Halley's comet that captured the attention of the world in 1835, this one actually changed many people. Its wake left some with extraordinary abilities, some magical and some in the form of gadget and engineering skills.
One of those people is Ichabod Temperance, who is transformed from a simple Alabama farm boy to a gadget wizard. He's heading for England to deliver his invention—the Green Beauties goggles—to super scientist, Professor Plumtartt, whose premier contribution to the post-comet world is the creation of a virtually infinite energy source. Plumtartt's Sol Furnace is the solution to the "steam just can't produce enough energy" intrinsic problem of Victorian steampunk worlds. But before Ichabod arrives, the professor is killed and his daughter, Persephone, is altered by an experiment gone terribly wrong, releasing a demonic evil on the world.
Arriving in London, Ichabod uses his goggles to save Persephone, and together they embark on a journey that will take them around the world in order to save it. That journey continues in one form or another through the rest of the series. And along the way, much as with Terry Pratchett in his epic Discworld series, there is simply no pun too low, no social reference too topical, and no literary one off limits. Consider:
[Quote:] Golly it's hard to say goodbye to our friends on the Minnow. If Captain Hale could, I bet he and his crew would be willing to see us through our coming adventures. I can still see him, back there on the deck of his ship. Impulsively, Captain Hale and I call to one another.
"Skipper!"
"Little buddy!" [End quote]
Yup, you got it, Gilligan.
In creating Ichabod and Persephone's steampunk world, the author must have had a shopping list with every conceivable genre trope. I think he crossed off each of them. Goggles, bowler, corsets, lethal parasol? Check. Airships, automatons, astonishing weapons with peculiar acronyms? Of course. Kraken, Leviathan, cephalopods of every imaginable variety? Absolutely! Gadget Genius and Aristocratic Lady of Adventure? Meet Ichabod Temperance and Persephone Plumtartt.
The latest volume, A Journey of Temperance, invokes the ghosts of literary genres ranging from Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, to the Brothers Grimm, Tolkien, and even Clement Moore. Ichabod has created a machine designed to tunnel through the earth to create a shortcut for the financial giant, Mr. J. P. Morganstern (Baron of Industry). But thanks to Morganstern's cost-cutting on construction, the machine goes wrong, plunging them into an internal world of magic. Here there be dragons, literally.
Each section is narrated in turn by gee-shucks Ichabod, the quixotic Alabama farmboy, and primly proper Miss Persephone Plumtartt, the Victorian British aristocrat. Their differing voices are critically important, especially because almost all details continue to be delivered via their internal monologues and external dialog exchanges.
The pace is always the same, a rocketing scramble from one adventure to another, rescuing each other using a combination of Ichabod's inventions and Persephone's pluck. The characters don't so much develop as they exercise their abilities in new ways with each situation. Of course, given it's Book Nine in the series and—although they professed mutual love in Book 1—they still aren't on a first-name basis, there is definitely nothing here that couldn't be read by anyone from children to adult. This couple could well be in the Home for Retired Steampunkers without ever taking their relationship to second, let alone third base.
The books are, as I said, an acquired taste. But once I got into them, I laughed at the jokes, groaned at the puns, got into spotting the genres they robbed, and thoroughly enjoyed the adventures. I'd give this series four stars. If you're looking for an entertaining read with plenty of inside jokes, a distinctive voice, and shameless sense of fun, I would recommend the Ichabod Temperance series.
**I received this book for free from the publisher or author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**
September 12, 2016
*This book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review*
This is book 9 in the series but it can be read as a standalone. Ichabod Temperance and his friends Persephone Plumpartt and JP Morganstern are on a special ship designed by Ichabod, going from Miami, Florida to Havana, Cuba. However, due to an unexpected incident the ship veers off course and starts tunneling into the center of the earth. Once they stop they realize they are in a different parallel world called “Middle o’ Earthhe” where trolls, dwarfs, fairies, wizards, centaurs and even dragons live.
While trying to figure out a way to get home, they become friends with some dwarfs and a wizard who help them on their journey. Before they can move on to certain areas though, there are tasks that they have to perform so they not only can continue, but also so they will not get hurt or even eaten by some of the creatures there. However, sometimes even the friendliest creature can have wicked intentions for the newcomers.
The story is told as about 98% dialogue, which I didn’t realize it was going to be at first, even after reading the synopsis, but I quickly got the feel of it and could read it easily and enjoyed it. It also made for a very interesting way to tell the story. The humor in it was very well done too. Its humor and story reminded me a lot of the time of “The Skulduggery Pleasant” series and “Lord of the Rings.” The first half of the story was a little slow for me but the second half picked up and was a lot more enjoyable. However I would recommend checking out a sample first to see if you like that style of writing, because if you don’t then this may not be too enjoyable for you.
***Review has been done in conjunction with Nerd Girl Official. For more information regarding our reviews please visit our Fansite: www.facebook.com/NerdGirl.ng***
This is book 9 in the series but it can be read as a standalone. Ichabod Temperance and his friends Persephone Plumpartt and JP Morganstern are on a special ship designed by Ichabod, going from Miami, Florida to Havana, Cuba. However, due to an unexpected incident the ship veers off course and starts tunneling into the center of the earth. Once they stop they realize they are in a different parallel world called “Middle o’ Earthhe” where trolls, dwarfs, fairies, wizards, centaurs and even dragons live.
While trying to figure out a way to get home, they become friends with some dwarfs and a wizard who help them on their journey. Before they can move on to certain areas though, there are tasks that they have to perform so they not only can continue, but also so they will not get hurt or even eaten by some of the creatures there. However, sometimes even the friendliest creature can have wicked intentions for the newcomers.
The story is told as about 98% dialogue, which I didn’t realize it was going to be at first, even after reading the synopsis, but I quickly got the feel of it and could read it easily and enjoyed it. It also made for a very interesting way to tell the story. The humor in it was very well done too. Its humor and story reminded me a lot of the time of “The Skulduggery Pleasant” series and “Lord of the Rings.” The first half of the story was a little slow for me but the second half picked up and was a lot more enjoyable. However I would recommend checking out a sample first to see if you like that style of writing, because if you don’t then this may not be too enjoyable for you.
***Review has been done in conjunction with Nerd Girl Official. For more information regarding our reviews please visit our Fansite: www.facebook.com/NerdGirl.ng***
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