From the Bookshelf of Goodreads Authors/Readers…

Nefertiti's Heart (Artifact Hunters, #1)

A.W. Exley

Discussion: Steampunk

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 13 topics — 45 comments total

Steampunk

Of Gears and Gaslight: A Time-Traveling Steampunk Adventure Novel
By Justin · 15 posts · 166 views

last updated Mar 15, 2024 04:09PM

Belle epoque that never was, reviews needed
By B.J. · 2 posts · 5 views

last updated Mar 25, 2023 09:49AM

showing 2 of 2 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Feb 27, 2015 Alexandra rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own-on-audible, own-as-singles-2, own-on-kindle, kindle-daily-deal, shes-got-spunk, read-in-2015, steampunk-ish, own-in-boxed-set, artifact-hunters-series

9/16/19 Free for Kindle.

description

...more

26 likes · Like · see review

Sep 29, 2017 Mike rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: seriously-needs-editing, bookbub

Note: vague spoiler in the fourth and fifth paragraphs.

I read six chapters of this (in the sample for the series boxed set) before deciding to buy. The main thing that decided me: the heroine, in flashback, recalling how she'd fashioned a shiv and shanked a villain with it as he was abusing her.

I've read a couple of books (both Regency romances) in which the heroine fashions a shiv and does not shank the villain with it, which I found bitterly disappointing, hence why that was a selling point. Note: vague spoiler in the fourth and fifth paragraphs.

I read six chapters of this (in the sample for the series boxed set) before deciding to buy. The main thing that decided me: the heroine, in flashback, recalling how she'd fashioned a shiv and shanked a villain with it as he was abusing her.

I've read a couple of books (both Regency romances) in which the heroine fashions a shiv and does not shank the villain with it, which I found bitterly disappointing, hence why that was a selling point. Rape as the heroine's background issue is badly overused, but it was treated seriously and given some weight. So I decided to overlook the fact that this author, like so many, doesn't know the coordinate comma rule, frequently fails to use the past perfect tense when it's needed, comma-splices the occasional pair of sentences, and makes lots of other common errors (a few misplaced apostrophes, dangling modifiers, dialog tags as new sentences, vocabulary errors, missing commas before terms of address - all the usual issues). I've long ago given up on expecting good editing in steampunk, and the heroine at least seemed genuinely strong, not just headstrong - a distinction a lot of steampunk authors are confused about.

Sure, there was no real attempt to make the language, or, for that matter, most of the characters' attitudes, authentically 19th-century British; it was all modern American. That may actually have saved us from a lot more vocabulary issues (not that there weren't some), because when modern American authors try to write 19th-century British English they mostly do it very badly. And as well as the deliberate anachronism of the steampunk setting (which was largely scenery for this book, playing no part in the actual plot), there were a lot of what I assume were unintentional anachronisms, and basic errors like referring to a knight as "Sir Surname" instead of "Sir Firstname" or "Sir Firstname Surname". But at least this protagonist didn't seem prone to make a stupid decision which would put her in the clutches of the villain so that she would have to be rescued by the men. Right?

Well, actually that's exactly what she did. Hence three stars, for not fulfilling the early promise. Plus, the number of errors, particularly the number of missing past perfect tenses and comma problems, was so very large (about 200 issues in total by my count) that even though I've bought a boxed set of four books, I don't think I can plough through any more. And I didn't find the bad-boy crime lord love interest all that engaging as a character, though I'm guessing that as a middle-aged straight man I'm not the primary intended audience here. Also, the murderer was pretty obvious.

Mainly, though, it was the lost opportunity to avoid the trope of heroine-is-stupid-and-needs-rescue that let it down. It's a pity; without that, and with a lot more editing, this could have been a new favourite. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 20, 2013 Jennifer marked it as to-read

Aug 25, 2015 Terri marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Dec 07, 2020 Rebecca added it · review of another edition

Group Home Bookshelf Discussions

Photos Videos

Send invite Members Polls