A Clockwork Heart, by Liesel Schwarz

Elle Chance, female airship pilot, is back with another steampunk adventure.  Recently married to Hugh Marsh, Elle finds it difficult to balance her life as a working woman, a wife, and of course as the Oracle.  A horde of clockwork zombies is taking over the city, and Elle finds herself, and her husband, right in the middle of the trouble.  A colorful cast of supporting characters tries to help Elle solve her problems and discover how to balance her identity.

This is the second novel in this steampunk fantasy series, and I have to admit I was a tiny bit disappointed.  The first book in the series sets the bar high, and something about this follow up fails to deliver a little for me.  I disliked the fact that Hugh, while a main topic of this book, as a character is hardly explored.  It is like we are told about him much more than we are shown him, and to me that kind of writing lacks impact.  I do, however, like the steampunk take on zombies; I found it really refreshing and innovative.  In general, this book takes steampunk and develops it into something different, which I love.

As with the first book in the series, the paranormal aspects of the book are frequent, and well developed.    The writing is vivid, and creates the perfect atmosphere.  I felt like I, too, was skulking the misty streets of Victorian London alongside Elle.  While the fairy is still present in this book, her presence is greatly reduced, and honestly we probably could do without it, but it does seem the precedence was set in the first book, so some follow up was necessary.

All in all, the book is good, just not as good as the initial book in the series.  Still good enough to keep me waiting for the next installment though.

I received a review copy courtesy of Amazon Vine in exchange for my honest review.

A Conspiracy of Alchemists, by Liesel Schwarz

Elle Chance is a strong woman, in a time when women are rarely seen as strong.  A female air captain in the Golden Age of steam powered cars and machinery, Elle has no concept of her own power within a world divided into Light and Shadow.  She becomes entangled in a dangerous caper thanks to some mysterious cargo she was hired to transport, and it turns out she plays a much bigger role in the world than she ever imagined.

I quite enjoyed the premise of this book.  It was sort of a steampunk paranormal romance mashup.  But not your typical steampunk, and not your typical paranormal.  The steampunk aspects were pretty subtle, as far as steampunk goes, and sprinkled throughout the book.  And the paranormal aspects, while much more prevalent, were different than any I have encountered in other books.  The world is divided into Light and Shadow, and the Shadow side is rife with warlocks, vampires, and fairies.  Yet, as with all things, some Shadow dwellers are good, and some are evil.  It was interesting to see this dichotomy within a dichotomy.  I felt like the story world was complex, and richly developed.

I liked Elle as a character, but never felt as if I got to know her as well as I would have liked.  I appreciated that she was a strong female protagonist, and while her story had an aspect of romance, it was not the weak willed do-anything-for-a-man type of romance that is so prevalent in paranormal romances.  Elle has real power and strength.  I also liked the voice of the fairy, which we see sprinkled throughout the book.  It took me a bit to realize it was the fairy's point of view in these passages, but once I did, I really felt it added a unique, whimsical air to the book.

All in all, I found the book interesting and engaging.  The story has a lot of fast moving action, so it held my attention well.  It will appeal to fans of steampunk, paranormal, and romance genres, as it sits in a sweet spot where all three meet.

I received a review copy courtesy of TLC Book Tours in exchange for my honest review.  See the rest of the tour here.

 

The Spellbinder, by John Booth

It's 1860 England, and magical ability is a matter of national defense.  A special military force is comprised of people with various levels of magical ability, but Britain's most prized possessions are the Class A Spellbinders, the most skilled soldier.  Which is why a teenage Laura is shocked to learn that she, in fact, is a Class A Spellbinder, and will be sent to a school in a top secret location, both for her own protection and to receive training.  She is accompanied by her new friend, Tom, a skillful Healer.  It becomes apparent upon their arrival at the school that all is not as it seems, and they are in grave danger.

Magic.  Steampunk.  British military.  Espionage.  Teenage hormones.  What a combination.  I loved every minute of it.  John Booth once again creates a vivid storyworld with his revision of the Victorian British Empire as it might have been with the help of magic.  I am beyond impressed with the rich, detailed backstory Booth weaves in order to set the story up, particularly because he does so in a way that does not detract from the plot.  This is the first book in a new series, and I am so excited to see where the author goes with this series.

I found the characters to be just as vivid, and felt, quite quickly, as if I actually knew them.  It was thrilling to me to see such strong female characters written by a male author.  I liked seeing the surprising twists that occurred with some of the characters throughout the book, and it made me excited for the possibilities in the later installments in the series.

There are obvious similarities between this book and the Harry Potter series (especially the later Potter books), but there is a lot of unique content to the book as well.  I think fans of steampunk and fantasy fiction will appreciate the series.  While some themes are mature and adult, it seems no cheekier than many other young adult books I have read, and would be appropriate for most teen readers.


I received a review copy courtesy of the author.

A Clockwork Christmas, by Jenny Schwartz, J.K. Coi, PG Forte, and Stacy Gail

A repentant thief who fall in love with her victim.  A man in love with a very different
kind of woman.  An Australian suffragette in need of a man, merely for political purposes allegedly.  A woman who suffers from a tragic event.  These are the themes of the short stories in this book, each set in an alternate reality with heavy steampunk overtones.

I have very mixed feelings on this book.  Some of the stories were great, and some were quite weak.  Some of the stories lived up to the Clockwork Christmas title, and some did not.  As a collection of short stories dealing with the futuristic steampunk genre, I think the book certainly delivers.  Each story has steampunk elements, some are subtle and some are bold, but each delivers.  Where the book falls flat, in my opinion, is as a collection of holiday inspired or themed stories.  I thought the first story in the book did the best job of blending the holiday and steampunk elements, but it went downhill from there.

As with all short stories, there was little time in the tales for detailed character development.  Two of the stories did a great job developing both character and plot, but again the others fell flat.  I greatly disliked the story set in a revisionist South, where the South won the Civil War; I felt that point added nothing to the story, and it just bothered me.

The book was also a lot more sexual than I anticipated; while this was intended to be steampunk romance, the additional holiday aspect somehow made me think the romance would be sweet.  But there was quite a large dose of steam in these steampunk stories, and I am not sure the blend of clockworks, mechanical steam based inventions, Christmas, and sex was quite up my ally.  However, I think fans of steampunk and romances, and especially steampunk romances, will probably greatly enjoy.

I received a review copy courtesy of the publisher through NetGalley.

What Ho, Automaton!, by Chris Dolley

Reggie is an avid fan of detective novels, such as Sherlock Holmes.  When he has the good fortune to cross paths with an automaton named Reeves, he adopts his as a personal assistant of sorts.  First we learn of the pairing's fortuitous meeting, then we learn what happens when Reggie and Reeves team up to investigate the disappearance of several society debutantes.

While I have never read any Wodehouse, I am familiar with the premise of his stories, as well as his iconic characters, so I was able to appreciate the homage that this book was intended to me.  It is a cocktail of Wodehouse and steampunk, with a Sherlock Holmes chaser, and it was intoxicatingly funny.  I found myself snickering and snorting as I read, thinking the entire time "this is pure awesome".

Still a rather new fan to the steampunk genre, I really enjoyed the subtle steampunk aspects to the story.  I particularly loved the Victorian revisionist setting, what with the Queen having mechanical limbs and all.  I found the Reggie and Reeves characters to be well developed, and I loved their interactions.  The first story is the pairing is just a short introduction to them as characters, and an explanation as to how the met.  The real meat and potatoes of the book is the second story, which I found to be hilarious. 

My husband is a big Wodehouse fan, so when I described the book to him, he fell in love with the concept; I think many Wodehouse fans will like the book.  Fans of the steampunk genre will also greatly appreciate, particularly if they have an appreciation for good British humor.  All in all, this book is full of win for me, and I would love to see the author write some follow up stories for Reggie and Reeves.

This book is from my personal library.

Scourge, by David H. Burton

Grim Doyle lives a somewhat unusual life.  First of all, he has two dads, and five siblings, only one of which is a biological sibling.  Their home is cluttered with steampunk inspired creations, and they are watched over by their annoying Aunt Patricia.  But things take a decidedly weirder turn when Grim discovers his family is not originally from Earth, but instead from a place called Verne.  Verne is a steampunk world fueled by absinthe, and full of malevolent paranormal creatures.  In order to keep the children safe, their dads send them to live at an orphanage, but even there they are not safe.

This book is one part J.K. Rowling, one part Lemony Snicket, one part H.G Wells/Jules Verne, and all parts awesome!  I truly never thought I would be a fan of steampunk literature, regardless of the targeted age group, but I honestly and truly am.  I love the steampunk world that Burton creates.  He spends a lot of time developing it, but I found it to be well worth it.  I felt it was similar to how readers encounter Hogwarts for the first time in the initial Harry Potter books.  As someone who does not read a lot of fantasy fiction, I often have difficulty imagining fantastical settings and creatures, so the more detail the better for me.

I loved the children's characters, particularly Grim and Rudy.  I am hoping as more books are added to this series we will learn more about the other children, particularly Sam.  And can I just say that I love that these kids have two dads, and it is not at all a big deal in the book?!  It is as normal and accepted as a family with a mother and a father, and I love that.  I think children need to see different types of families represented in literature, without it being the complete focus of the story.

This is a great middle grades chapter book, and particularly appealing to young male readers.  I love books that can engage boys without being about cars or sports, and that exhibit strong female characters, so all in all I found the book really appealing.  I think young readers will love it.

This book is part of my personal library.

Dearly, Departed, by Lia Habel

Welcome to life in New Victoria.  It is 2195, and the world is not at all what people imagined.  People have settled into new places, adopted neo-Victorian ideals, and are at war with the subversive Punks.  And if that was not bad enough, it turns out the government and military have been covering up the fact that zombies exist.  Nora is on school holiday when she confronts this reality face to undead face, and now is trying to figure out how some of the zombies can be good guys, and some can be bad guys.  And more importantly, can she possibly find herself falling for a zombie?

Futuristic dystopian teenage steampunk zombies in love.  Really?  You say it out loud and it sounds ridiculous.  And yet, I completely loved this book.  Who would have thought?  This is my first foray into anything remotely steampunk, and I am intrigued to say the least.  I love the world that Habel has created in this book, a poetic blend of the future and the past, in terms of ideals and philosophies.  One of my favorite scenes in the book talks about a computer than runs on steam energy.  It seems to me that the book may have started out almost satirical, and somehow took on a life of its own as a legitimate, engaging piece of fiction.

Let's talk about the vivid language and imagery in the book.  I saw this book play in my head like a movie.  I thought it was really clever, and I loved that I was completely transported to this neo-Victorian era.  And character development?  Wow, off the charts.  I can only imagine how hard it is to make zombies sexy, what with all the putrescence and brain chomping.  Yet that is exactly what Habel does.  She breathes new life into the idea of zombies, puts a creative spin on the monster creating a hierarchy of zombiism, and somehow makes the undead antihero of the book really sexy and romantic.  Hard to imagine, and one of the numerous reasons you need to read the book for yourself.

In the realm of monsters, I always fancied myself a vamp fan, with my fandom of weres being secondary, my fandom of zombies tertiary, and my fandom of mummies nonexistent.  But this book could movie zombies up to tie for my number one favorite monster, particularly if its sequel is equally fantastic.     

So, yeah, futuristic dystopian teenage steampunk zombies in love.  It totally worked.

I received a review copy courtesy of the Amazon Vine program.