hrjones's review
4.0
his is a delightfully clever series of steampunk adventure/mystery stories featuring Captain Marta Ramos, a somewhat gender-queer bisexual tinkerer, swashbuckler, and outlaw leader. The flavor of the stories made me think oddly of a mash-up of Sherlock Holmes, Lord Peter Wimsey, with an overlay of Jules Verne, mostly in the sense of having a central solidly-anchored buddy relationship between the mercurial and brilliant Ramos and her stolid and long-suffering righthand man, Simms. Together they work their way through locked rooms, red herrings, and mysterious objects. The “delectable and devious Delilah Nimowitz” provides a romantic interest for Ramos in several of the stories in an enemies-to-flirtatious-rivals fashion. There isn’t anything resembling a romance arc, but there’s more than sufficient in-story evidence to make queer readers feel represented.
One of the things I loved about this series is how it played with genre tropes and rooted the steampunk elements solidly in an American setting--though one with unexpected twists. For example: you immediately see a reference to the Duke of Denver, that staple title of Regencies, and then are knocked off balance by realizing he’s the Duke of Denver, Colorado and suddenly all your expectations of the implied world-building shift sideways. The stories don’t waste time explaining these shifts but any reader familiar with genre fiction should be charmed by working out the setting on the fly. Another amusing feature (though one that required me to chuck my sense of disbelief off a cliff) was the use of railroads and trains in ways that felt more reminiscent of seagoing adventures than transport constrained by terrestrial linearity.
A great collection; highly recommended.
(I received a review copy of this book.)
One of the things I loved about this series is how it played with genre tropes and rooted the steampunk elements solidly in an American setting--though one with unexpected twists. For example: you immediately see a reference to the Duke of Denver, that staple title of Regencies, and then are knocked off balance by realizing he’s the Duke of Denver, Colorado and suddenly all your expectations of the implied world-building shift sideways. The stories don’t waste time explaining these shifts but any reader familiar with genre fiction should be charmed by working out the setting on the fly. Another amusing feature (though one that required me to chuck my sense of disbelief off a cliff) was the use of railroads and trains in ways that felt more reminiscent of seagoing adventures than transport constrained by terrestrial linearity.
A great collection; highly recommended.
(I received a review copy of this book.)
emhamill's review
5.0
I loved this collection of stories. Lots of airships and a red-coated pirate heroine whose buckles swash with the best of them. My favorite was The Case of Miss Clementine Nimowitz and Her Exceedingly Tiny Dog.
Captain Marta Ramos has her sidekick a la Dr. Watson in Simms, her long suffering lieutenant, and her own version of The Woman, a chameleon named Daliah. All in all, ripping good fun. Highly recommended.
Captain Marta Ramos has her sidekick a la Dr. Watson in Simms, her long suffering lieutenant, and her own version of The Woman, a chameleon named Daliah. All in all, ripping good fun. Highly recommended.
elysareadsitall's review
4.0
This collection of novellas (and one short story) is a lot of fun. Captain Ramos, our lady-pirate heroine in Victorian-era-ish steampunk America, is delightful. She's badass, funny, and a wee bit soft. She'll rob anyone, but she thinks outright murder is tacky. Her sidekick Simms is ever-faithful if slightly exasperated. They make a great partners in crime. Each of these stories is a mystery, and they are difficult to figure out. I didn't know the solution on page one of each story because they are well-crafted. I'm excited to see what Captain Ramos gets up to next.
emilyrpf's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
coolcurrybooks's review
4.0
Are you interested in a steampunk, gender-bent Sherlock Holms from the author of Hunger Makes the Wolf? Then this is the book for you!
All I knew going in was that this was by Alex Acks and that it was short stories. I’ve liked enough of their work to request the ARC based on their name alone. As it turns out, the stories in Murder on the Titania and Other Steam-Powered Adventures are all related, mysteries with the same character at their center: Captain Marta Ramos, the most feared pirate in the Duchy of Denver.
A lot of steampunk has this problem where it values aesthetic over story and characters. Thankfully, none of these stories fall into that trap. The focus is squarely on the characters and the mysteries their unraveling. Acks never lets narrative get distracted by dwelling on world building, even though there’s plenty of fascinating world building to be had. For one, there’s zombies! But they actually play an incredibly minor role. Mostly it just means that murderers have to be careful to take out the brain, or else their victims will rise from the dead and begin slaughtering everything in sight. You never actually see a full on zombie, or at least not anything more than a corpse’s fingers starting to twitch before its disposed of.
This collection contains four novellas and one short story. The first story is the novella Murder on the Titania, which is the only story not squarely centered around Captain Ramos. Instead, it focuses on Colonel Geoffrey Douglas, the Duke of Denver’s new head of security, as he takes a flight on the luxurious airship Titania, escorting some valuable jewelry back to Denver. He’s heard rumors of the famous pirate Captain Ramos being active in the area, so he’s on full alert, when suddenly there’s a dead body! There’s less than forty-eight hours before the ship dock in Denver for Colonel Geoffrey to find the truth.
The Curious Case of Clementine Nimowitz (and Her Exceedingly Tiny Dog) gives a closer look at Captain Ramos, her crew, and how they operate. It follows Captain Ramos and her right hand man, Simms, as they break in to rob a house and find an dead body, along with two different wills naming two different heirs. Is it a suicide or a murder?
“The Jade Tiger” is the shortest piece in the collection. I don’t want to say too much on it, but a woman asks Captain Ramos to perform a robbery for her. The Captain suspects it’s a trap, but she can never resist a good mystery. It’s the only story in the collection that doesn’t involve a murder mystery. It also has some interesting hints at Captain Ramos’s backstory. I want more!
In The Ugly Tin Orrery, Captain Ramos has an interesting encounter during a train robbery with a man trying to defend his luggage. She takes it anyway, but a few days later, the man turns up dead. Obviously, she has to investigate!
The final novella in the collection, The Flying Turk, returns to the setting of the Titania, as it’s set to go off on its first clockwork-steered flight. Do they really have a working difference engine, or is it the claims of a fraud? Captain Ramos loves engineering, so she drags Simms along with her to investigate.
I really enjoyed that these stories all used the same world and characters. The linked format lets me get to know the characters and grow attached to them, which is something I can have trouble doing with shorter pieces. All in all, this collection was a ton of fun, and I would be happy to read more mysteries following Captain Ramos!
I received an ARC in exchange for a free and honest review.
Review originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
All I knew going in was that this was by Alex Acks and that it was short stories. I’ve liked enough of their work to request the ARC based on their name alone. As it turns out, the stories in Murder on the Titania and Other Steam-Powered Adventures are all related, mysteries with the same character at their center: Captain Marta Ramos, the most feared pirate in the Duchy of Denver.
A lot of steampunk has this problem where it values aesthetic over story and characters. Thankfully, none of these stories fall into that trap. The focus is squarely on the characters and the mysteries their unraveling. Acks never lets narrative get distracted by dwelling on world building, even though there’s plenty of fascinating world building to be had. For one, there’s zombies! But they actually play an incredibly minor role. Mostly it just means that murderers have to be careful to take out the brain, or else their victims will rise from the dead and begin slaughtering everything in sight. You never actually see a full on zombie, or at least not anything more than a corpse’s fingers starting to twitch before its disposed of.
This collection contains four novellas and one short story. The first story is the novella Murder on the Titania, which is the only story not squarely centered around Captain Ramos. Instead, it focuses on Colonel Geoffrey Douglas, the Duke of Denver’s new head of security, as he takes a flight on the luxurious airship Titania, escorting some valuable jewelry back to Denver. He’s heard rumors of the famous pirate Captain Ramos being active in the area, so he’s on full alert, when suddenly there’s a dead body! There’s less than forty-eight hours before the ship dock in Denver for Colonel Geoffrey to find the truth.
The Curious Case of Clementine Nimowitz (and Her Exceedingly Tiny Dog) gives a closer look at Captain Ramos, her crew, and how they operate. It follows Captain Ramos and her right hand man, Simms, as they break in to rob a house and find an dead body, along with two different wills naming two different heirs. Is it a suicide or a murder?
“The Jade Tiger” is the shortest piece in the collection. I don’t want to say too much on it, but a woman asks Captain Ramos to perform a robbery for her. The Captain suspects it’s a trap, but she can never resist a good mystery. It’s the only story in the collection that doesn’t involve a murder mystery. It also has some interesting hints at Captain Ramos’s backstory. I want more!
In The Ugly Tin Orrery, Captain Ramos has an interesting encounter during a train robbery with a man trying to defend his luggage. She takes it anyway, but a few days later, the man turns up dead. Obviously, she has to investigate!
The final novella in the collection, The Flying Turk, returns to the setting of the Titania, as it’s set to go off on its first clockwork-steered flight. Do they really have a working difference engine, or is it the claims of a fraud? Captain Ramos loves engineering, so she drags Simms along with her to investigate.
I really enjoyed that these stories all used the same world and characters. The linked format lets me get to know the characters and grow attached to them, which is something I can have trouble doing with shorter pieces. All in all, this collection was a ton of fun, and I would be happy to read more mysteries following Captain Ramos!
I received an ARC in exchange for a free and honest review.
Review originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
ecath's review
5.0
I am completely biased about this collection, but that doesn't make it any less awesome. I was fortunate to discover these novellas during their first life, and am delighted to discover they're being collected, with new adventures. If you like stories that are just out to have a good time, this is the book for you. There is adventure and steam and humor and a very tiny dog, which...how can you go wrong? You can't.
tyrshand's review against another edition
4.0
I've become quite fond of the linked short stories style of tale. There's just something extra lovely in the flow and it definitely worked here. I found this to be a delightful novel, as it was the mannerly, quirky, clever type of steampunk -- with a pirate! The mystery element was always present, if not always strong, since this seemed to be more about the characters and setting than the plot. That works perfectly fine for me, as I'm definitely a character reader.
For those who've read the Alex Wells books, the author's tone is very different here. In a way it reminded me of late 80s, early 90s in how it felt and sounded, though certainly with updates for the modern day.
Anywho, I definitely recommend it as an enjoyable adventure!
For those who've read the Alex Wells books, the author's tone is very different here. In a way it reminded me of late 80s, early 90s in how it felt and sounded, though certainly with updates for the modern day.
Anywho, I definitely recommend it as an enjoyable adventure!
tigerb99's review
4.0
Excellent stories. Lots of steampunk technology, lots of implications at global apocalypse/pandemic that aren't "as you know Bob" explained, good mysteries. The Captain picks up the end of a thread and just can't help tugging on it to see where it goes! Looking forward to more steam powered swash buckling in this universe.
witmol's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
This was an enormous amount of fun to read. Think of all the best bits of adventure and mystery tales under a steampunk heist umbrella with a sprinkling of zombie threat in the mix. While each individual 'chapter' is an enclosed story and can be read separately, the order of the stories are well chosen and contribute to a better understanding of the whole. I especially like that the first story's main character is not the protagonist of the whole collection, giving an outsider's perspective of the Captain that the reader comes to appreciate as we get to know her.
synth's review
2.0
Well, I am disappointed
I quite liked the first story and was looking forward to the rest, but with each story my excitement died down a little. The picture being painted little by little of the Captain and her crew turned out less and less appealing to me, for reasons of cockiness and callousness and self-satisfaction and perfection on her part, and lack of any info about, and thus reader involvement in, her crew. Everyone and everything end up one-dimensional as the book tries hard to be a clever fun romp only to actually head toward being a condescending simplistic trudge.
I was also expecting actual gender exploration for some reason, which never materializes. Also, I expected sky pirates, not train robbers.
I quite liked the first story and was looking forward to the rest, but with each story my excitement died down a little. The picture being painted little by little of the Captain and her crew turned out less and less appealing to me, for reasons of cockiness and callousness and self-satisfaction and perfection on her part, and lack of any info about, and thus reader involvement in, her crew. Everyone and everything end up one-dimensional as the book tries hard to be a clever fun romp only to actually head toward being a condescending simplistic trudge.
I was also expecting actual gender exploration for some reason, which never materializes. Also, I expected sky pirates, not train robbers.