theartolater's review
5.0
My limited experience with steampunk has been of the more gritty variety. Most of the steampunk I've read has been more the Cherie Priest variety, where the setting is more dark and things are Very Wrong and not so much fun. Thus, when I read a book like All Men of Genius or this, it feels different and fresh for me.
This was a fun one. On one hand, you have Alice, she of high society in London and great with a wrench. On the other, Gavin, a cabin boy flying over to Europe in a dirigible from Boston. When Gavin's ship is hijacked by pirates, Gavin escapes and eventually crosses paths with Alice, opening the door for a much wider situation.
The book pretty much had everything I was looking for: fun with machines, zombies, a government conspiracy, some sci-fi elements, and a fun, fast-paced plot that didn't telegraph too much and didn't seem out of place or too reliant on the setting. I couldn't tell you why I chose to pick this up, but I did and I'm glad.
Definitely recommended if steampunk is your cup of tea, and definitely recommended if you're looking to dip your toe into the steampunk waters. Really high quality, and with a sequel coming out very soon, I'm fairly anxious to see what comes next.
This was a fun one. On one hand, you have Alice, she of high society in London and great with a wrench. On the other, Gavin, a cabin boy flying over to Europe in a dirigible from Boston. When Gavin's ship is hijacked by pirates, Gavin escapes and eventually crosses paths with Alice, opening the door for a much wider situation.
The book pretty much had everything I was looking for: fun with machines, zombies, a government conspiracy, some sci-fi elements, and a fun, fast-paced plot that didn't telegraph too much and didn't seem out of place or too reliant on the setting. I couldn't tell you why I chose to pick this up, but I did and I'm glad.
Definitely recommended if steampunk is your cup of tea, and definitely recommended if you're looking to dip your toe into the steampunk waters. Really high quality, and with a sequel coming out very soon, I'm fairly anxious to see what comes next.
veronica87's review
2.0
started out okay but got progressively sillier. The romance angle lacked any heat or chemistry so that didn't help.
clgibbons's review
4.0
This was a lot of fun. I wish I could give it another half of a star because I liked it enough to start the next in the series. I had a difficult time visualizing a lot of the machinery. Whether that's my fault or the author's, I don't know.
needzmoarpaula's review
4.0
Loved it! I'm on a bit of a steampunk kick lately, and this was right up my alley. I loved the worldbuilding and the characters. My only quibble was the development of Alice and Gavin's relationship, and especially the revelation as to how that relationship came about in the first place - it all feels a little but too contrived, if entirely handwaveable for the purposes of plot. All in all, an entertaining read. Looking forward to reading the next one.
justabean_reads's review
4.0
I really liked the gender dynamics here. Gavin was basically a manic pixy dream boy (He only wants to fly, he's from an exotic country (the US), the colour of his hair is described more often than any other physical feature in the book, he sings and plays the fiddle astoundingly beautifully, he spends a good deal of time getting rescued, and more or less exists to convince the heroine to break convention and follow her dreams). Alice is a genius mechanic who fixes giant robots as a hobby. She also gets stuck with a traditional marriage plot, which was one the weaker areas of the book, but mostly it was about her fixing robots and rescuing Gavin. The two chessmaster characters moving the plot forward were both middle-aged women, and that's not even counting in Queen Victoria. It felt great to read a Victorian set novel that was so deliberately breaking out of period gender roles.
Speaking of, this book also had feelings about colonialism and empire. It wasn't preachy, but it looks like the series is going to run in that direction. While the mandatory queer character was pretty secondary, and didn't get a lot of characterisation, he was there. Always nice to see.
None of it felt lick a diversity checklist! The writing was light and often funny, and though I saw a few plot twists a mile off, the ending surprised me. Always nice to read. I will say that it's very, very much the first book in a series. It had self-contained story and character arcs, but I've got to say, if when I catch up to where the series is now, if they're still doing these cliffhanger endings, I shall feel cross.
Speaking of, this book also had feelings about colonialism and empire. It wasn't preachy, but it looks like the series is going to run in that direction. While the mandatory queer character was pretty secondary, and didn't get a lot of characterisation, he was there. Always nice to see.
None of it felt lick a diversity checklist! The writing was light and often funny, and though I saw a few plot twists a mile off, the ending surprised me. Always nice to read. I will say that it's very, very much the first book in a series. It had self-contained story and character arcs, but I've got to say, if when I catch up to where the series is now, if they're still doing these cliffhanger endings, I shall feel cross.
missmarketpaperback's review
3.0
I really enjoyed this. The hero, Gavin, was way hot. I liked Julie and the fact that she was mechanically-minded. I love the idea of the clockwork plague.
But how the hell is this not written by the same author as Soulless by Gail Carrigan?!? It's EXACTLY the same style. Same cover type. I had to check multiple times it wasn't the same author. Is there some connection here?!?
But how the hell is this not written by the same author as Soulless by Gail Carrigan?!? It's EXACTLY the same style. Same cover type. I had to check multiple times it wasn't the same author. Is there some connection here?!?
prationality's review
3.0
To be perfectly frank it took me a long time to get through this book. The concept had me highly motivated to read it as soon as it arrived in my hands, but the beginning slowly ate away at that excitement till I put it down after about four chapters and moved onto a new book. The writing is okay--I haven't read Harper before, but I have read quite a bit of steampunk over the last few years. Harper definitely combines the two worlds in a believable way, but spends so much time trying to immerse the reader in it that the info-dumping becomes really tedious really quickly.
It wouldn't be quite right to call this steampunk with traditional zombies either. The 'Clockwork Plague' victims that becomes zombies don't feast on the flesh of humans and except for the machinations of the villain don't attack humans either it would seem. They're just kind of there. The steampunk aspects are solid and inventive--plenty of cool and nifty gadgets running around (some of the Clockwork Plague victims become genius inventors until they burn themselves out and go crazy), but as I said earlier Harper spends a lot of time info-dumping to make the gadgets seem cool. More often than not we are told how cool the gadgets are and when presented with the reality in action, it's taken care of quickly and as dryly as possible.
The romance subplot was also dry. Alice is torn between wanting to do right by her family and her obligations as a daughter and wanting to do just about anything else in her life. As a consequence her romance with Gavin is put on the back burner. Not that Gavin is any better, he detests London and is only there because of his nominal interest in Alice (or so it seems). Their lack of clear communication on their wants is a real sticking point throughout the novel.
More than anything else however the novel drags on. The moments of excitement are ruined by over simplification or too much information or over much too quickly to gain much momentum. In the end this was just unsatisfying and not very enjoyable to top it off.
Review originally posted at Night Owl Reviews
It wouldn't be quite right to call this steampunk with traditional zombies either. The 'Clockwork Plague' victims that becomes zombies don't feast on the flesh of humans and except for the machinations of the villain don't attack humans either it would seem. They're just kind of there. The steampunk aspects are solid and inventive--plenty of cool and nifty gadgets running around (some of the Clockwork Plague victims become genius inventors until they burn themselves out and go crazy), but as I said earlier Harper spends a lot of time info-dumping to make the gadgets seem cool. More often than not we are told how cool the gadgets are and when presented with the reality in action, it's taken care of quickly and as dryly as possible.
The romance subplot was also dry. Alice is torn between wanting to do right by her family and her obligations as a daughter and wanting to do just about anything else in her life. As a consequence her romance with Gavin is put on the back burner. Not that Gavin is any better, he detests London and is only there because of his nominal interest in Alice (or so it seems). Their lack of clear communication on their wants is a real sticking point throughout the novel.
More than anything else however the novel drags on. The moments of excitement are ruined by over simplification or too much information or over much too quickly to gain much momentum. In the end this was just unsatisfying and not very enjoyable to top it off.
Review originally posted at Night Owl Reviews
hteph's review
1.0
I really wanted to like this, the writing is not bad, the characters are interesting ... But the worldbuilding! It is horrible, it is constructed as a comic for children; all gaudy effects and random episodes stringed loosely stringed together. To get something like this to work tou need to be a master like Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchet or Jasper Fforde.... This author is not... I gave up after half or so when my suspension of disbelive was shattered for the sevenupthon time...
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