lorialdenholuta's review
3.0
I love a good treasure romp - and I love steampunk - and I love high adventure in far off exotic lands. So naturally, I eagerly dove into this 'steamfunk' story.
It's a great premise. The characters are engageable, interestingly flawed, impressively courageous and genuinely interesting. The treasure hunt is of a sort I've never read about before, which gave it a fresh, exciting feel. I enjoyed the adventure from start to finish.
What's not to love? Certainly this story is fantastic, from start to finish. So again I ask, what's not to love? Unfortunately, I have to be honest. I owe this to the author and all potential readers. The editing is non-existent. Yes, I know an editor is listed in the front matter, but believe me when I say the editing never happened. There are literally hundreds of missing words. It's uncanny. Every page has a few. Plenty of punctuation is awry as well. But, mostly it comes down to the words. Lots of little words, and sometimes bigger significant words, simply aren't there. My reading flow was constantly screeching to a halt. After a while, I was able to limit my reaction to a small eyeroll because I was invested in the story, but really, I shouldn't have to be steeling myself against a raw, unfinished manuscript. I actually wonder if the wrong manuscript got uploaded at publishing time.
The story itself deserves five stars. Regretfully, I am giving it three as I consider the manuscript near-unreadable. I hope the author takes this in the spirit intended and remedies the situation.
It's a great premise. The characters are engageable, interestingly flawed, impressively courageous and genuinely interesting. The treasure hunt is of a sort I've never read about before, which gave it a fresh, exciting feel. I enjoyed the adventure from start to finish.
What's not to love? Certainly this story is fantastic, from start to finish. So again I ask, what's not to love? Unfortunately, I have to be honest. I owe this to the author and all potential readers. The editing is non-existent. Yes, I know an editor is listed in the front matter, but believe me when I say the editing never happened. There are literally hundreds of missing words. It's uncanny. Every page has a few. Plenty of punctuation is awry as well. But, mostly it comes down to the words. Lots of little words, and sometimes bigger significant words, simply aren't there. My reading flow was constantly screeching to a halt. After a while, I was able to limit my reaction to a small eyeroll because I was invested in the story, but really, I shouldn't have to be steeling myself against a raw, unfinished manuscript. I actually wonder if the wrong manuscript got uploaded at publishing time.
The story itself deserves five stars. Regretfully, I am giving it three as I consider the manuscript near-unreadable. I hope the author takes this in the spirit intended and remedies the situation.
andrewfontenelle's review
5.0
What can I say, Milton Davis continues to write some masterful tales of fantasy and adventure, which are full of fascinating characters.
When advanced ancient technology is unearthed in the fabled city of Timbuktu in Mali, the Prussians who lead a newly established Germany will stop at nothing to get their hands on it. Famara, a Malian agent and Zeke, a bounty hunter from the newly formed country of Freedonia team up to thwart their designs.
"From Here to Timbuktu" is set in the year 1870, but a very different world to the one we might be familiar with from history books! The North American continent hosts the Black states of Freedonia and New Haiti, both countries having gained their freedom from the slave autocracies run by the United States of America and France respectively. Airships and other incredible machines fill the skies. Steam powered engines provide the means by which citizens travel the cities and armoured devices of war are the order of the day on the battlefield.
This tale of speculative fiction (steamfunk) is, I believe, the first in a series and what a series it will be if all the stories are as good as this one.
When advanced ancient technology is unearthed in the fabled city of Timbuktu in Mali, the Prussians who lead a newly established Germany will stop at nothing to get their hands on it. Famara, a Malian agent and Zeke, a bounty hunter from the newly formed country of Freedonia team up to thwart their designs.
"From Here to Timbuktu" is set in the year 1870, but a very different world to the one we might be familiar with from history books! The North American continent hosts the Black states of Freedonia and New Haiti, both countries having gained their freedom from the slave autocracies run by the United States of America and France respectively. Airships and other incredible machines fill the skies. Steam powered engines provide the means by which citizens travel the cities and armoured devices of war are the order of the day on the battlefield.
This tale of speculative fiction (steamfunk) is, I believe, the first in a series and what a series it will be if all the stories are as good as this one.
depizan's review against another edition
3.0
This is an absolutely ridiculous book, and I mean that in the best way possible. If you're a fan of pulp adventure things - the Indiana Jones movies, Clive Cussler's books, old serials - this is the book for you. (There are exploding throwing knives in the first chapter!)
Set in an alternate history and filled with dirigibles and mechanical monsters and characters who are more than capable of kicking ass, its one of the more just plain fun things I've read recently.
(Only downside - whoever edited the e-book missed a few typographical mistakes here and there.)
Set in an alternate history and filled with dirigibles and mechanical monsters and characters who are more than capable of kicking ass, its one of the more just plain fun things I've read recently.
(Only downside - whoever edited the e-book missed a few typographical mistakes here and there.)
muga's review
2.0
If you like the James Bond movies you will definitely enjoy this one. This is a combination of fantasy steampunk and sword and soul. There was a lot going on but the chapters are short and its overall a short read.
The premise of this is original but it wasn't explored as much as I liked, the characters are not fleshed out enough to become interesting but I saw some potential. All in all very interesting.
The premise of this is original but it wasn't explored as much as I liked, the characters are not fleshed out enough to become interesting but I saw some potential. All in all very interesting.
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