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danjefboy's review
1.0
The author "jumped the shark" on this one. I enjoyed the first two books in the series, but I abandoned this one. It's great that the author knows his Victorian history, but I don't need him to prove it to me - I just want a good read.
topdragon's review
4.0
The third novel in the “Bookman Histories” trilogy is not content to merely wrap things up and provide explanations for everything that has come before. It does bring the major intertwined story plots to a close but leaves plenty of things for readers to think about.
This third book begins as a spy novel in many respects. Upon the murder of Mycroft Holmes, a retired shadow executive agent known as Smith is put on the case. But, just as with the first two books, what begins as a fairly straight forward plot soon devolves into myriads of interrelated subplots and boatloads of characters we’ve all run across before.
As mashups go, this trilogy has to compete for the “most characters” prize. Imagine an alternate earth steampunk world where British royalty is a race of alien lizards. Imagine populating it with characters including Harry Houdini, Mycroft Holmes (and his famous detective brother, the Beekeeper), Bram Stoker, Mina Harker, Lucy Westenra, Irene Adler, Miss Havisham, Oliver Twist, Fagin, Nicola Tesla, Charles Babbage, Viktor Frankenstein, Jekyll, Moreau, and the entire cast of celebrities from the Chicago World’s Fair, etc etc. And then imagine a complex plot filled with murderous intrigue, spy games, sleuthing action, and supernatural mysteries and you begin to get an idea of what you’re in for.
And of course, we have the mysterious entity known as The Bookman.
Overall, these books were interesting reads but mostly for the game of trying to recognize all of the characters thrown at you from literature or history. Some are obvious from the moment they are introduced but some are a bit more obscure and requires a broad knowledge of the Penny Dreadful time period.
This third book begins as a spy novel in many respects. Upon the murder of Mycroft Holmes, a retired shadow executive agent known as Smith is put on the case. But, just as with the first two books, what begins as a fairly straight forward plot soon devolves into myriads of interrelated subplots and boatloads of characters we’ve all run across before.
As mashups go, this trilogy has to compete for the “most characters” prize. Imagine an alternate earth steampunk world where British royalty is a race of alien lizards. Imagine populating it with characters including Harry Houdini, Mycroft Holmes (and his famous detective brother, the Beekeeper), Bram Stoker, Mina Harker, Lucy Westenra, Irene Adler, Miss Havisham, Oliver Twist, Fagin, Nicola Tesla, Charles Babbage, Viktor Frankenstein, Jekyll, Moreau, and the entire cast of celebrities from the Chicago World’s Fair, etc etc. And then imagine a complex plot filled with murderous intrigue, spy games, sleuthing action, and supernatural mysteries and you begin to get an idea of what you’re in for.
And of course, we have the mysterious entity known as The Bookman.
Overall, these books were interesting reads but mostly for the game of trying to recognize all of the characters thrown at you from literature or history. Some are obvious from the moment they are introduced but some are a bit more obscure and requires a broad knowledge of the Penny Dreadful time period.
jeansbooks's review against another edition
Started and realized it was book 3. Need to read 1 and 2 :(
applecarts's review against another edition
4.0
So many unanswered questions!! But I preferred this one over the 2nd one and the end to this trilogy was good enough for me. Particularly liked how everything came together throughout the three books through each new character. The mentions too. I wonder what actually became of that strange creature The Bookman at the end. Or Lucy...
danjefboy's review against another edition
1.0
The author "jumped the shark" on this one. I enjoyed the first two books in the series, but I abandoned this one. It's great that the author knows his Victorian history, but I don't need him to prove it to me - I just want a good read.
gnostalgia's review against another edition
5.0
This ain’t your granddaddy’s steampunk, if in an alternate time-line your granddaddy had steampunk. The marvelous and oddly disturbing mind of Lavie Tidhar has once again cranked out an awesome steampunk novel.
The pace is fast and the book is packed with action. I loved the interaction with the historical and fictional characters. As with Bookman and Camera Obscura, The Great Game is a standalone novel. Having said that, treat yourself to all three.
I highly recommend The Great Game to steampunk fans!
The pace is fast and the book is packed with action. I loved the interaction with the historical and fictional characters. As with Bookman and Camera Obscura, The Great Game is a standalone novel. Having said that, treat yourself to all three.
I highly recommend The Great Game to steampunk fans!
woodge's review against another edition
3.0
This is the final book in one of the odder trilogies I've read. One of the ways this trilogy is unusual is that it's very nearly a fresh set of characters in each book -- there are only a few cross-over characters. The setting is an alternate Victorian England where the royalty has been replaced by alien race of lizards. Some characters argue that it's been for the better, other characters argue that they shouldn't be governed by an alien race. The Great Game has three major protagonists, and, like in the previous books, you may recognize some of the names. They are: Smith (an erstwhile retired operative called in to investigate the death of Mycroft Holmes), Lucy Westenra (headstrong operative working for Mycroft), and Harry Houdini (recruited by Mycroft). Part of the fun of these books is catching all the literary references within. Ideas and character names are freely borrowed from such sources as Doyle, Stoker, Dickens, Hugo, etc. The story careens from one scene to the next -- which keeps the pages turning swiftly -- but, like in the first book (The Bookman), I was often confused by what exactly the characters were doing. And, like the characters, often wondered exactly what was going on. That was annoying. Regardless, I enjoyed this trilogy but I must say that I liked the middle book, Camera Obscura, the best.
grimread's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure how to review this book because I'm not sure where this story was going. I get this is supposed to be an espionage theme but it's a Great Game that everybody seems to know they are playing a part and maybe only a few characters really see the big picture of it but it certainly doesn't answer any questions. Mainly what what the actual point of the game? Did this game even end? And if so, who was the real winner?
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