Heart of Iron by Ekaterina Sedia [Book Review]

Aug 112011

I like Sasha though

Steampunk is my kind of fun and that was the reason I bought Heart of Iron in the first place. Ekaterina Sedia and Prime Books are both new to me so I had no clear mind to what to expect.

The cover was beautiful and so was the beginning. The setting is mainly Imperial Russia in an alternative world where the Decembrist uprising was successful. The young Sasha Trubetskaya goes to St Petersburg for her debutant ball then her aunt gets her more or less drafted to the university as one of its first female students after a quarrel with the Emperor. Sasha is adorable as she struggles with prejudices in the academic world. She gets involved with foreign students and come to the attention of the secret police.

All this is entertaining to read and I enjoyed every bit of it but this is also where it starts to go sideways. Sasha’s decisions have no foundation that makes sense to me as a reader she just is. Another thing is that whatever happens there is no tension. For example she gets into a really violent situation where she is rescued in the nick of time by one of the love interests and the only thing that happens is that you read that she didn’t go out for a while. Get me to feel her fear.

I enjoyed the read but it was light with no real sense of adventure. The rest of the story is a sequence of steampunk tropes as Sasha sets out to stop a war with China masquerading as a young Hussar traveling on the trans-Siberian railroad.

Ekaterina Sedia puts realism, women rights, steampunk, love, history and a bit of a superhero into the mix but she overuse the Deus ex machine a bit too much for my liking. The gadgetry is all there though and the world she portraits is attractive from a steampunk perspective but it lacks meat.

I like Sasha though.

Book Information

Heart of Iron by Ekaterina Sedia (Prime 2011) – Amazon US | UK

In a Russia where the Decembrists’ rebellion was successful and the Trans-Siberian railroad was completed before 1854, Sasha Trubetskaya wants nothing more than to have a decent debut ball in St. Petersburg. But her aunt’s feud with the emperor lands Sasha at university, where she becomes one of its first female students – an experiment, she suspects, designed more to prove female unsuitability for such pursuits than offer them education. The pressure intensifies when Sasha’s only friends – Chinese students – start disappearing, and she begins to realize that her new British companion, Jack, has bigger secrets than she can imagine! Sasha and Jack find themselves trying to stop a war brewing between the three empires. The only place they can turn to for help is the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace, newly founded by the Taiping rebels. Pursued by the terrifying Dame Florence Nightingale of the British Secret Service, Sasha and Jack escape across Siberia via train to China. Sasha discovers that Jack is not quite the person she thought he was…but then again, neither is she.

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Sea of Ghosts (The Gravedigger Chronicles 1) by Alan Campbell [Book Review]

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Apr 182011

Dark-humored steam-fantasy science fiction

This is my first Alan Campbell novel ever but it will not be the last. Sea of Ghosts have a great first scene involving a book shop, a little lost girl, magicians, a dragon and the Gravediggers themselves. It is quite entertaining hearing them discuss how get the ceiling to fall on the magician especially since it probably would crumble a significant portion of the city. It makes you understand why the Emperor wants to be rid of them. Now the Emperor is a greedy heartless tyrant but that is beside the point.

The main protagonist Colonel Thomas Granger goes into hiding as a jailer to avoid the emperors clutches but unlucky for him his sense of compassion and loyalty will soon unravel his true identity.

The world is slowly sinking into the sea due to seabottles spread by the Unmer magicians before their defeat by the Empire. They used to enslave dragons with their magic but one of their own freed them and they could not resist the telepathic Haurstaf mercenaries the Empire bought to fight them. Now the Haurstaf are paid to keep the Unmer imprisoned while the world continues to sink. If that was not enough the sea bottles pour out a substance known as Brine that turns human skin into shark skin and prolonged exposure turns you into sea people with no recollection of your previous life. It is an interesting mixture of fantasy and science that Alan cooked up here that tie into the entropy and the end of the universe theories.

It is also a good narration and at least one character you can relate to. Tomas is jaded and cynical when the story begins but he learns that behind his rough exterior beats a caring heart. He also has a dark kind of humor I like. Unfortunately the other characters are sketchier. The banter is okay to good.

The story is fast paced after a slow beginning and starts in a steampunk sword & sorcery land but evolve to a mixture of high fantasy and science fiction. I am a bit of two minds about the plot, it allures to me as a vivid reader of science fiction but I think many fantasy fans might have a problem with it but that’s just my opinion.

I found the firsts Gravedigger novel to be an amusing adventure and a great start of Alan Campell’s new series. The blend of steampunk, high fantasy and science fiction works great for me but I would have liked a bit more about the characters. With that said I recommend it.

Book Information

Sea of Ghosts (The Gravedigger Chronicles book 1) by Alan Campbell – Tor UK 2011 – Bought from Amazon UK | US

When the last of the Gravediggers, an elite imperial infiltration unit, are disbanded and hunted down by the emperor they once served, munitions expert Colonel Thomas Granger takes refuge in the unlikeliest of places. He becomes a jailer in Ethugra – a prison city of poison-flooded streets and gaols in which a million enemies of the empire are held captive. But when Granger takes possession of two new prisoners, he realises that he can’t escape his past so readily. Ianthe is a young girl with an extraordinary psychic talent. A gift that makes her unique in a world held to ransom by the powerful Haurstaf – the sisterhood of telepaths who are all that stand between the Empire and the threat of the Unmer, the powerful civilization of entropic sorcerers and dragon-mounted warriors. In this war-torn land, she promises to make Granger an extremely wealthy man, if he can only keep her safe from harm. This is what Granger is best at. But when other factions learn about Ianthe’s unique ability, even Granger’s skills of warfare are tested to their limits. While, Ianthe struggles to control the powers that are growing in ways no-one thought were possible. Another threat is surfacing: out there, beyond the bitter seas, an old and familiar enemy is rising – one who, if not stopped, will drown the world and all of humanity with it..

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Camera Obscura (The Bookman 2) by Lavie Tidhar [Book Review]

Books 2 Responses »

Apr 112011

Gatling wielding Amazon & an Alien mystery

I was really impressed after reading The Bookman so this was a book with a lot to live up to. This is in the same world but the setting is Paris some three years later. The French here had a revolution but it was the Quiet Revolution made by machines. The events in the Bookman are mentioned in passing but this is more of a standalone story in the same universe although there are arcs that I think will tie in from both books in the next one.

It is starts with the mysterious murder of an Asian man who used to be pregnant with an alien object that was cut out of his dead body. Lady ‘Cleo’ de Winter is on the case for the Quiet Council. She is a kick-ass lady with a big colt revolver and an attitude.

The Quiet Council doesn’t tell its operatives much so Mylady has to uncover a lot of background by herself before she start to understand what is going on. It is a bit uncaring from their side but they are machines so what do you expect. The whole hunt for the object brings back memories to the Saturday adventure shows of my youth just with added steampunk gadgets, machine people, the royal lizards and alien mysteries. It is a lot grittier though.

I like the story even if it is a bit over the top but it never really reach the feeling of the first book. To be honest I found the characters although they are quirky and interesting a bit shallow. Cleo is not the most emphatic heroine but that is understandable with her background and upbringing but it made it hard for me to really connect with her. It wasn’t until the last part in the book that I really started to root for her. Maybe I just miss the banter that makes me tick.

I like the world building better. The whole secret societies, ancient China, conspiracies add a spice I enjoyed. Another great taste is the French setup with the cops bowing to the Quiet Council, the underground city and the different quirky bars, shops and clubs we get to know. The alien mysteries that started with the Lizards continue with this book and add another dimension to it in its thrilling and satisfying ending.

Camera Obscura is a good read, packed with gritty action and quirky characters. It has a strong female protagonist in Lady de Winter and to be honest I can’t wait to read the next one. I want to know what comes next.

Book Information

Camera Obscura (The Bookman 2) by Lavie Tidhar (Angry Robot 2011) – Review copy – Amazon US | UK

CAN’T FIND A RATIONAL EXPLANATION TO A MYSTERY? CALL IN THE QUIET COUNCIL!

The mysterious and glamorous Milady De Winter is one of their most valuable agents. A despicable murder inside a locked and bolted room on the Rue Morgue in Paris is just the start. This whirlwind adventure will take Milady to the highest and lowest parts of that great city, and beyond – and cause her to question the very nature of reality itself.

A breathtaking alternate Victorian history adventure, set in the same world as The Bookman.

File under: Steampunk [ Alternate History | Reptilian Royalty | Murder Most Foul | The World's Fair ]

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Steam Queen by Jack Hessey [Book Review]

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Jan 242011

I hope you like trains

Imagine Europe fragmented into independent city states crisscrossed by railway lines and channeling the Wild Wild West, the country side infested with railway pirates and groups of train based mercenaries hire out to the highest bidder. Technological advances have gone differently in this universe with steam powered trains becoming dominant and the automobile never invented at the same time they have hand carried radios. The author shows so great enthusiasm for locomotives and trains that I suspect a connection there.

Erica is a formidable if somewhat deranged female protagonist and I mean that in a positive way. She starts the book at psychopathic level but ends up growing in understanding and empathy as she comes to grip with the damage done to her. Her father leaves her with the Steam Queen mercenaries as she has become too disruptive and violent to stay in the village she grew up in. She has many quirky facets to her personality but the most fundamental ones are hate of dirt and that she feels a need to punish any infringement on her person including touching with enough violence, including killing or maiming so that it will never happened again. This makes fitting in with the mercenaries somewhat problematic.

The plot is really about Erica learning the world and herself but you can read it as an adventure story since there is a hunt for a railroad bandit, a ‘religious war’ between Diesel and Steam, a super weapon, a love interest of sorts, treachery, orphans, imprisonment and escapes before it is over.

It is a quite short book of 281 pages with double spacing making it around 150 pages with normal spacing which is shorter than I like. At first I felt a bit disgruntled with the shortness but I realized it was okay as I went through the review.

The shortness might be the reason the story feels a bit simplistic and the characters a bit sketchy. It could also be an attempt at writing in style of the 19^th century but I would have liked more fleshed out characters. Erica is likeable if quirky but she never quite steps out of the pages.

The Steam Queen is a promising debut and I think I will keep my eyes on Jack Hessey in the future. It is a fast read and channels 19^th century style of writing in a romp of steam powered war machines in the Wild Wild West of Europe.

Information

Title: Steam Queen
Author: Jack Hessey
Genre: Steampunk
E-book: 871 kB
Publisher: LazyDay Publishing 2010
Copy: Review copy

Order from: Amazon US | UK

Europe is a dangerous, virtually lawless place. Armed bandits prowl the railway lines in their armed Steam Locomotive looking for easy marks, and heavily armed mercenary engines travel from town to town looking for work in a world where every day is a struggle for its civilians.

Erica, an emotionally disturbed girl from England finds herself joining one of these mercenary teams. What follows is a trek across Europe to where two mighty cities, each representing a different way of life, stand on the verge of a war which will shape the way Europe develops.

On one side are the Steam using traditionalists of St Vith, led by the charismatic and cunning General Roosje Cuvelier. On the other, stands the mighty Winterscheid Diesel Empire under the iron fist of the merciless Kaiser Sigmund Eisenburg.

Two vicious armies, treachery from her own allies and the world’s deadliest super-weapon are just a few of the dangers that Erica must face in her journey.

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The Sunless Countries (Virga 4) by Karl Schroeder (Tor 2009) [Book Review]

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Dec 062010

This is the latest adventure in the fantastic Virga universe. You have to take your hat off to a writer that pulls off a believable hard scifi steampunk in a post singularity world. I am an explorer when I read, I like to learn new things about the world and in the Sunless Countries we learn more than ever before.

Maybe Karl Schroeder planed this as trilogy from the beginning as I read somewhere but it works very well as a series. He is clearly not finished with the universe but I have no Idea if the next book is going to be a Virga book though. The whole series has been enjoyable but it is hard not to like a world of airships, pirates, air bikes, artificial suns and warring pocket nations all protected from the outside world’s artificial nature by the radiation from the central sun Candesce.

In the Sun of Suns (2006) Admiral Fanning and his wife shut down the sun so he could use radar a night. In Queen of Candesce (2007) his wife find her way back and in Pirate Sun (2008) the Admiral finds his way home and the story might have ended there if something else hadn’t slipped in when Virga’s defenses where down and now it is gobbling up city after city. There are people living out in the sunless countries, whole cities even. This story is about a formidable young woman Leal Hieronyma Maspeth a scientist in a city that is about to turn its back on the scientific method. She dreams about love and is an explorer of Virga’s past. Her knowledge and the books she tries to protect might be the only chance they have.

The characters are a delight as in the previous books but the scope is so much bigger. The book is rather self contained but there are still mysteries I would like to have explained in another installment. This is probably the first in a new Virga Trilogy (sheer speculation from my side) with a little bigger scope.

The Sunless Countries was as hard to put down as the other books in the Virga series. The tempo is slightly less than before but the revelations was worth it. I liked it a lot. This is a series you shouldn’t miss.

Information

Title: The Sunless Countries
Series: Virga book 4
Author: Karl Schroeder
Genre: Retro futuristic steampunk
Hardcover: 335 pages
Publisher: Tor (2010)

In an ocean of weightless air where sunlight has never been seen, only the running lights of the city of Sere glitter in the dark. One woman, Leal Hieronyma Maspeth, history tutor and dreamer, lives and dreams of love among the gaslit streets and cafés. And somewhere in the abyss of wind and twisted cloud through which Sere eternally falls, a great voice has begun speaking.

As its cold words reach even to the city walls—and as outlying towns and travelers’ ships start to mysteriously disappear—only Leal has the courage to try to understand the message thundering from the distance. Even the city’s most famous and exotic visitor, the sun lighter and hero named Hayden Griffin, refuses to turn aside from his commission to build a new sun for a foreign nation. He will not become the hero that Leal knows the city needs; so in the end, it is up to her to listen, and ultimately reply, to the worldwasp.

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