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The Procurement of Souls

Benjamin Hope (Goodreads Author)

3.79 · Rating details · 14 ratings · 9 reviews

Magnus Drinkwater is close. Close to harnessing enough power to fuel his modified pocket-watch and stop time. But the answer continues to lie out of reach and when his daughter discovers a young woman no longer in possession of her soul, it quickly becomes clear that his own frustrations are the least of his worries. Someone with altogether darker machinations is busy work ...more

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Published July 1st 2018 by Benjamin Hope

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Apr 01, 2019 TS Chan rated it liked it

Shelves: arc-review-copy

I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

A commendable debut, The Procurement of Souls is a dark and fantastical tale that will satisfy gothic fans.

Right from the very start, there was a disturbing scene of a man trapped and strapped down on a chair by a mad scientist, Dr Weimer, who duly inserted a long tube with a metal barb at its end down his victim’s mouth, throat and even further to extract something out of that poor man. And that something i I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

A commendable debut, The Procurement of Souls is a dark and fantastical tale that will satisfy gothic fans.

Right from the very start, there was a disturbing scene of a man trapped and strapped down on a chair by a mad scientist, Dr Weimer, who duly inserted a long tube with a metal barb at its end down his victim’s mouth, throat and even further to extract something out of that poor man. And that something is where the book got its title.

I love gothic settings. The Victorian-era, when combined with an alchemical magic system, becomes a deliciously dark and heady concoction which fascinates me tremendously. And this backdrop is my favourite component of the book. From dreary city slums to fog-filled docks, to a monastery and its catacombs, the scenes are ominously atmospheric and spine-chilling with the prospect of malevolent alchemy at work. The soullessness of Dr Weimer's victims which are now subject to his mind control added another layer of darkness into the story.

The characters are well-written in that their motivations and actions did not appear inconsistent. There is this intangible quality of engaging characterisation that I always find hard to pinpoint and explain why it works and why it doesn’t. While we have an adequate backstory to our main protagonists, Magnus Drinkwater and his daughter, that threaded through the plotline to make me sympathise with them, I simply couldn’t connect emotionally. Instead, I find that Novice Goode, a supporting character, to be the most compelling one of all. That could be due to the central theme of the story which pitches religion against science with Dr Weimer’s primary objective to be like a God from the procurement of souls. A dastardly deed which he took to the abbey to seek purer souls than the criminals he had been provided with by his sidekick, Marina. And as bad guys go, both Dr Weimer and Marina are unremittingly villainous. I could not find a single redeeming factor in them.

This is not to say that I didn’t feel saddened by some of the character deaths, but it was more from the context and circumstances of those deaths rather than any emotional investment in those individuals. And the act of procuring souls was downright horrifying to me. What it means is that instead of connecting with any individual character, I found emotional resonance with the overall narrative. The author did well in portraying the horrors of alchemical science taken too far, and the plight of the people who suffered and became victims of those who believed they have the right to wield such power.

The Procurement of Souls is a satisfyingly well-crafted tale that stands well on its own (there may be a sequel) and is worth checking out.

You can purchase a copy of the book from Amazon

You can also find this, and my other reviews at Novel Notions. ...more

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Jul 07, 2018 Claire rated it it was amazing

Recap: Magnus Drinkwater, eminent scientist, and his daughter Clementine get embroiled in a mystifying missing persons case which leads them to discover a nefarious plot by the deranged Dr Weimar to harness souls for power.

Review: I really enjoyed reading this. The bad guys made me want to boo and hiss every time they came onto the page, so incredibly unlikeable. An excellent blend of Victorian beliefs and author imagination helps to create interesting and believable technology that has horrifyi ...more

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Sep 17, 2019 Jennifer (bunnyreads) added it

Shelves: spfbo-5, dnf, 2019

SPFBO dnf

Magnus Drinkwater is fixated on his research to stop time. His daughter Clementine, is fixated on helping find the women that have gone missing. And Dr. Weimer just wants to control the world’s population by creating an army of underlings with his soul-stealing machine.

I started this once before and ended up dropping it and coming back to it again. It wasn’t catching with me the first go around and I wasn’t sure why because it seemed like it would be right up my alley. This was quite di SPFBO dnf

Magnus Drinkwater is fixated on his research to stop time. His daughter Clementine, is fixated on helping find the women that have gone missing. And Dr. Weimer just wants to control the world’s population by creating an army of underlings with his soul-stealing machine.

I started this once before and ended up dropping it and coming back to it again. It wasn’t catching with me the first go around and I wasn’t sure why because it seemed like it would be right up my alley. This was quite different and a clever idea with the connection from the gathered souls to the doctor and his being able to control them. I can’t say I’ve read anything else where the removal of the souls caused people to become the equivalent of Golems.
It’s steampunk, a setting that I thought went well with the mad scientist feel of the story. It’s pretty dark in places too – my gag reflex kicked in just imagining that opening scene with the soul stealing doo-hickey down that guys throat. Aagh! The author definitely has a way with the words and knows how to set a scene to its maximum squickiness!

Clementine could be petulant and head strong at times; she is a teen/young adult but that sulkiness and attitude made it hard to want to spend a lot of time with her.

I was the most curious about Marina than anyone else in the story. She has a bad temper and no niceness at all but there just something about her that was appealing.

Magnus is somewhere past grieving widow into obsessed with finding out the truth behind his wife’s death and if it has any connection to the current missing women. He seemed like he was one lightning strike away from mad scientist, and I actually even wondered for awhile if he and Weimer were the same person like Jekyll/Hyde, or if this might end up perhaps turning in to a future Drinkwater=Weimer, kind of a time loop on itself because of his obsession with his work.

Though I loved the soul-stealing golem premise, the rest- the characters and their search to uncover the truth behind the missing ladies etc. just wasn’t holding my attention. I find in crime stories, I am the most interested in the ones where I don’t know who the villain is. So I think this one came down to not enough interest in the characters, for me to see how they get from point A to point B in their investigation.

I may come back to this one at a later time but I had to make a decision to move on from it for SPFBO purposes.

I liked the addendum links in the body of the story. Very handy, I wish more ebooks took advantage of being able to use this feature. Though, I can see it might only work in special in-world cases like this one.

score for spfbo purposes 4/10
...more

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Oct 06, 2018 Lyn Clark rated it it was ok

First thing's first: I did receive a free copy of this book from the author. Not in exchange for a review but just because I won a raffle he was doing. Still requires the disclaimer though.

The Procurement of Souls is a difficult book for me to rate, because the questions of "Did I enjoy reading it" and "Is it a good book" have different answers.

The Good: Hope has an excellent grasp on the aesthetics of his setting. I'm not sure if it qualifies as steampunk or clockpunk or what, but it is quasi- ...more

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Oct 27, 2018 E.L. Lindley rated it liked it

The Procurement of Souls by Benjamin Hope is a steampunk novel set in Victorian England. It is essentially a battle between the positive and negative forces of science.

I have to confess this is a genre that I haven’t read before and consequently it took me a while to get into the rhythm of the story. Basically it suspends any notion of reality as an evil scientist is able to remove the souls of humans and then control them like puppets. There is no grey area in this story and the villains really The Procurement of Souls by Benjamin Hope is a steampunk novel set in Victorian England. It is essentially a battle between the positive and negative forces of science.

I have to confess this is a genre that I haven’t read before and consequently it took me a while to get into the rhythm of the story. Basically it suspends any notion of reality as an evil scientist is able to remove the souls of humans and then control them like puppets. There is no grey area in this story and the villains really are villains.

The said mad scientist is a bitter and twisted individual named Thomas Weimer. Perhaps of more interest to me is his assistant, Marina, a tough, powerful, cigarillo smoking woman, who can physically get the better of most men. The dynamic between her and Weimer has the potential to create lots of tension as she is treated like a lackey by him and clearly resents his power. However, I felt that Hope missed an opportunity to create a really interesting character in Marina and in the end she remains a mystery with no real insight into who she is.

Weimer and Marina are offset by the renowned scientist, Magnus Drinkwater and his seventeen year old daughter, Clementine. It is Clementine who first involves herself in the disappearance of vulnerable young women, eventually forcing her reluctant father to help investigate the situation. Magnus has invented a machine called the viroscope that can potentially stop time but he is reluctant to use it due to the mysterious death of his wife whilst experimenting with the machine. The death of his wife in fact casts a shadow over the whole novel and plays a role in bringing the plot together.

The plot is very busy and there are lots of characters as Weimer takes up residence in a monastery and the army is called upon to try and thwart him. I love character driven novels and so personally felt a little bit cheated that we never really have time to get to know the characters. Perhaps the most rounded one is Novice Goode, a member of the monastery who is struggling with his calling but again because the novel is so plot driven and didn’t feel that I fully knew him.

I really liked how Hope uses his novel to pit science against religion. Weimer is clearly playing God by removing people’s souls and using them for his own ends and this is referred to several times. By setting the bulk of the novel in a monastery, Hope highlights the dichotomy between blind faith and reason. Novice Goode and Clementine plainly represent the heart of the novel and both of them are young and idealistic with compassion for others. The fact that the two of them survive maybe suggests that Hope wants to show the triumph of humanity.

Hope is a good writer and despite the fanciful nature of the story, it makes complete sense within the realms of the plot. The description of Victorian London and the crime-ridden docks is very effective and creates a good backdrop to the story. My own personal disappointment is that characterisation is lost in favour of the plot but maybe this is the nature of steampunk fiction.

If you are a fan of steampunk then I have no doubt that this will be one for you to enjoy. It’s exciting and well written and keeps you guessing until the very end.
...more

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Feb 01, 2019 Liz Field rated it it was amazing

This is the first steam punk novel I've read so I wasn't sure how I would feel about it, but I really enjoyed it. The adventure starts right away and it's fast paced throughout. The good vs evil battle keeps the pages turning. Dr Weimer and his crew are classic nasty baddies which I love - sassy Marina is my favourite. You feel transported to the dark city back alleys of this world at times.
The author clearly has a great imagination and I look forward to more from him. I just heard there's an au ...more

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Mar 07, 2021 Alex rated it did not like it

I really struggled through this book. It was gifted by a friend who loves it and to be honest if it wasn't for her I would have put it down a long time ago. The ending was actually good, albeit overly long. I often found myself feeling like I was being patronised and rolling my eyes at the writing style.

There's not enough focus on any single character to be invested in any of them. For a more detailed review read Lyn Clark's thoughts; her review sums up my opinions pretty well ...more

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Sep 12, 2018 Dave Gimson rated it it was amazing

This book is great fun and a romping adventure which took me through winding city streets, salacious dockyard slums, creepy underground catacombs and corrupt government buildings. A band of characters had me laughing, booing and cheering throughout. It's a real page turner and fans of CJ Sansom, Abercrombie and Dahlquist will love it. ...more

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Jul 02, 2018 Stephen Warren rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I have to say I was rather blown away by this debut. A gripping story through which we are propelled at an exhilarating pace! I cannot wait to read more by him. I need some more time to digest the book (I've only just set it down!) and will update this review but for now... wow. Just wow. ...more

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Sci-Fi, fantasy a...: Victorian gothic-steampunk debut, The Procurement of Souls, for review	2	10	Aug 29, 2018 01:37PM

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About Benjamin Hope

Benjamin Hope

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Benjamin Hope is the author of fantasy novel, The Procurement of Souls. He blogs regularly on the writing process and offers up recommendations in 60 words for novels within speculative and gothic fiction. He also occasionally guest lectures at universities on public speaking. He lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and daughter. Find him at www.benjamin-hope.com or follow him on Twitter and Insta ...more