steampunk Archives - Page 3 of 4

Yzabel / November 29, 2014

Review: The Dark Victorian: Risen

The Dark Victorian: Risen by Elizabeth Watasin

My rating: [rating=1]

Summary:

“Way will open.”

She is Artifice.
A resurrected criminal and agent of HRH Prince Albert’s Secret Commission.
An artificial ghost.
A Quaker.

He is Jim Dastard.
The oldest surviving agent of the Secret Commission.
An animated skull.
A mentor to newly resurrected agents.

In a mechanical and supernatural London, agents of Prince Albert’s Secret Commission, their criminal pasts wiped from their memories, are resurrected to fight the eldritch evils that threaten England. Amidst this turmoil, Jim Dastard and his new partner Artifice must stop a re-animationist raising murderous dead children. As Art and Jim pursue their quarry, Art discovers clues about her past self, and through meeting various intriguing women—a journalist, a medium, a prostitute, and a mysterious woman in black—where her heart lies. Yet the question remains: What sort of criminal was she? A new beginning, a new identity, and new dangers await Art as she fights for the Secret Commission and for her second life.

Review:

(I got a copy courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

This novel is quite a short one—too short, in fact, for the scope it seemed to want to reach. Maybe it’s a case of “first book in a series syndrome”. Anyway, I found the premise interesting, but kept wishing it went deeper into some of its aspects, and developed things more than it did.

The plot felt somewhat muddled, rushing in parts, not really going anywhere in others. I’m still wondering what exactly it was about. A reanimator, sure, and a gallery of other characters that looked like they were introduced for later use mostly, because while they helped with things like clothing, they didn’t really do more. But I didn’t exactly feel a sense of urgency, and it was as if some hints and links between events were thrown in, in a disjointed way.

The banter between Art and Jim was likeable at times, definitely weird at others, taking space that might have been better used for more scenes, more plot development. Art’s way of speaking was also rather quirky, the whole Quaker business leaving me perplexed: I didn’t understand to which degree it was relevant. She seemed like an interesting character enough as it was, with a lot of potential, without the need to add such quirks. Maybe reading the sequel would allow me to appreciate them more… or maybe not. I honestly can’t tell.

I would also have liked to know more about this organisation resurrecting criminals while wiping their memories. Not “more” in terms of secrets (every such organisation needs secrets, to be revealed later), but as in “a larger view of its agents”. Who else was involved? How does the Secret Commission operate, since everybody appears to know about it and either respect or fear their badges? There’s some potential here as well, and I’m positive it would have deserved more spotlight in this first installment. Just a few more agents walking around, to make me feel like Jim, Art and Fall weren’t the only ones.

Art’s leaning towards other women was also dealt with a little too strangely to my liking, in that the way it was revealed, the way it unfurled, felt wonky and jarring. It’s probably a pacing problem more than anything else, because I had the same feeling with other scenes, as mentioned above. However, it was also good to see it accepted by other characters as something that just happens, something that “is”. Though Jim makes a few quips about it, it’s in a friendly way, the same kind of way he comments about other situations.

I’m not sure I’d pick the next book. It’s more a 1.5* for me, leaning towards a 2, because there are intriguing elements about which I’d like to learn more, so you never know… But not if it’s as disjointed as in this one.

Yzabel / November 17, 2014

Review: Stormdancer

Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary

One girl and a griffin against an empire.

Griffins are supposed to be extinct. So when Yukiko and her warrior father Masaru are sent to capture one for the Shõgun, they fear that their lives are over – everyone knows what happens to those who fail the Lord of the Shima Isles. But the mission proves less impossible and more deadly than anyone expects. Soon Yukiko finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in her country’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled griffin for company. Although she can hear his thoughts, and saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her. Yet trapped together in the forest, Yukiko and the beast soon discover a bond that neither of them expected.

Meanwhile, the country around them verges on collapse. A toxic fuel is choking the land, the machine-powered Lotus Guild is publicly burning those they deem Impure, and the Shõgun cares for nothing but his own dominion. Authority has always made Yukiko, but her world changes when she meets Kin, a young man with secrets, and the rebel Kagé cabal. She learns the horrifying extent of the Shõgun’s crimes, both against her country and her family.

Returning to the city, Yukiko is determined to make the Shõgun pay – but what can one girl and a flightless griffin do against the might of an empire?

Review:

More like 2.5 stars. Very, very mixed feelings here. I sort of enjoyed it, but…

I liked the second part better, in part because I’m not too fond of treks in the wilderness/mountains, and also because of the more complex political layers I could sense in it. Also, Yukiko had to grow up, from the sulking girl of the beginning to one who finally understood that things weren’t always what they seemed—and grow up she did.

More problematic was the balance when it came to the Japanese influence: I constantly felt it was either too much or too little. The first 100 pages or so contaid a lot of exposition/descriptions, clearly intended for people who don’t know that culture; however, as soon as you know just a little, it’s already too much. It’s worth for the language as well. My knowledge of Japanese is very limited (2 hours/week for, what, two semesters?), but it was enough for me to notice all the glaring mistakes and weird approach. For instance, “shima” means “island” (among other things—you can’t tell without the kanji), so “the Isles of Shima” is, uh, “the Isles of Island”, which is definitely weird. Another example: when characters, who’re supposed to speak “Japanese” (and we’re made to feel like they do, it’s too close in influence to pull the “it’s only inspired by it” card), end up translating expressions. There’s no way Buruu, linked to Yukiko’s mind, would need her to translate an expression like “arashi no ko”. So, for me, it was really troubling, and I’m positive such words could have been translated for the readers without having to resort to such devices.

My other problem with the novel came from some of the secondary characters, who weren’t given enough spotlight, or were given too much for plot-device reasons. First, Aisha, who looked so promising, looked like she could’ve done and been so much more, and then… nothing. Second, Hiro, whose part was important, but whose influence in the firs two thirds of the novel sprung just out of nowhere. I would wonder: “Why is Yukiko thinking of that guy with green eyes? She only talked to him for five seconds at the beginning of the book.” It was like insta-love fuelled by nothing.

On the other hand, there’s ground for a lot of interesting things in terms of world-building, and in how the blood lotus flower and the environmental problems play a part in Shima’s setting. I may pick the second book at some point after all, to see what becomes of this world.

Yzabel / September 6, 2014

Review: The Girl and the Clockwork Cat

The Girl and the Clockwork Cat by Nikki McCormack

My rating: [rating=1]

Summary:

Feisty teenage thief Maeko and her maybe-more-than-friend Chaff have scraped out an existence in Victorian London’s gritty streets, but after a near-disastrous heist leads her to a mysterious clockwork cat and two dead bodies, she’s thrust into a murder mystery that may cost her everything she holds dear.

Her only allies are Chaff, the cat, and Ash, the son of the only murder suspect, who offers her enough money to finally get off the streets if she’ll help him find the real killer.

What starts as a simple search ultimately reveals a conspiracy stretching across the entire city. And as Maeko and Chaff discover feelings for each other neither was prepared to admit, she’s forced to choose whether she’ll stay with him or finally escape the life of a street rat. But with danger closing in around them, the only way any of them will get out of this alive is if all of them work together.

Review:

(I got a copy through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

I had good expectations for this story (a street thief, victorian/steampunkish setting, part-mechanical cat), but in the end, it won’t leave me with a lasting impression, unfortunately.

The daughter of a prostitute and one of her unnamed customers, Maeko hit the streets after her mother got in debt, trying to help her pay it back as well as she could, but also resenting her. She made her way as a pickpocket and burglar, thanks to her nimble fingers and lithe body, and because she was street-savvy enough. That is, until the beginning of the novel, for at some point I thought she was not as clever as she was supposed to be. Some of her reactions seemed logical, but some of her other actions were too naive. (For instance, when she had to keep something from an enemy, she went back to a certain place, saw that said enemy had located it, too… yet she still went there to hide her package. The natural thing to do would have been to think “this place is compromised, he might not have believed what they told him, and come back later with more people.” At least that’s what “street rat thinking” should be for me.)

The setting itself is an alternate London divided between the Literati (the “modern society” and its police) and the pirates (those who openly don’t approve); the kids who fall between those are doomed to a life in an orphanage, reform house or work house, or to a life on the streets. Mostly we see this world through Maeko’s eyes, so of course everything couldn’t be developed, but it would’ve been better in my opinion if she had had just a little more interest in what happened around her, or if other characters had been there to give more information about that society. Some do… just not enough. This setting screams for more, having more to say about itself, without any room to do so.

The romance part was unneeded, a love triangle dumped out of nowhere on those poor characters. All it did was to make Maeko blush and blush and blush again and again. It quickly became old and tiring, and did not bring anything to the story. At least Maeko realised there was no time to think about boys in her predicament. On the downside, she had those thoughts fairly often, which created a tiresome cycle: “I think I like him. But I must not think about that now. But I think I like him. But I don’t have time to worry about this now.”

I wasn’t too impressed with the plot, which consisted mostly in two/three characters looking for people (the same people every time). Just like Maeko’s thoughts and blushing, it became repetitive after a while: locate people, see they’re already in someone else’s hands, realise they’re in no position to help them escape, retreat/get pursued by the police or detective, hide, rinse and repeat. I really wished the plot types would have been more varied.

The writing was all right, though a bit redundant and “telly” in places (especially when Maeko’s thought process was concerned).

The ending: if this is a standalone, then it deserved a better one, a proper one, that would wrap up everything, not just leave the reader to imagine “it probably happened like that”. If it wasn’t, it’s still a sort of cliffhanger, but one that doesn’t offer that many promises of revelations in a second book.

In the end, there were grounds for good things here, but those weren’t enough to make me enjoy the story.

Yzabel / May 13, 2014

Review: The Diamond Thief

The Diamond Thief by Sharon Gosling

My rating: [rating=1]

Summary:

By day Rémy Brunel is a daring circus acrobat, by night she is an equally talented jewel thief currently assigned to steal a famous diamond in Victorian London–but when the theft goes wrong she finds herself allied with a young policeman as they try to find the elusive gem.

Review:

(I got a copy through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

A fast read, and one of those books I wish I had liked more (Victorian London + circus + thief + mechanical inventions: what’s not to like in there, really?), but also one that didn’t convince me in the end, unfortunately.

Things I liked: the steampunk side, light enough to be understandable by basically everyone, younger readers included. It has a touch of Fushigi no Umi no Nadia (in that stones/jewels play an important part), though it doesn’t go further than that, and makes use of machinery whose concepts are easy to grasp, such as experimental night-vision goggles. Not the most creative I’ve ever seen, but a nice introduction nonetheless.

On the other hand, I found the backdrop fairly light, too—not a good thing. I never really got the feeling of a real circus, nor of Victorian mores. I think this could apply to several other aspects of the novel, in fact: it brushed against them, without ever diving deep enough for me to feel immersed. I could sense this most specifically with the characters. At first, I found them interesting, but they were never developed enough to hold my attention until the end, nor make me care about them. (And there definitely were interesting ideas in here, such as the unlikely trapeze artist/thief + young cop duo, the Professor with his inventions, the mysterious Lord…) Also, I didn’t like the romance at all. I couldn’t feel any chemistry within this couple, it seemed like a plot device to add some drama, and there were a few very melodramatic scenes that made me roll my eyes and want to slap those characters. Somehow, it moved too quickly, too superficially.

The plot itself seemed to rest on a lof of deus ex machina, predictable twists, and events inserted for convenience. I would’ve been more enthralled if Rémy and Thaddeus had had to really investigate, which in turn would have given them time to talk, get to know each other better; I guess this would have made the romance more palatable for me, as well as enhanced the strong points of their pairing, in terms of skills. Another thing I had a hard time with were a couple of plot points. First, the opal’s role. One of the characters says that it would allow Rémy to hear other people’s thoughts, yet I never got the purpose of that specific thread. Is there a second book in the writing? If there isn’t, then I don’t see the point. Same with the curse[the curse (hide spoiler)]: couldn’t Gustave tell Rémy about it way earlier than that, considering how involved she was, and how she was the one tasked with stealing the stone?

I suppose it could work as a very light read, or for really young readers (things never go further than a brief kiss in the romance department), but for me it didn’t.

Yzabel / March 14, 2014

Review: Emilie and the Sky World

Emilie and the Sky World by Martha Wells

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary:

A Girl’s Own Adventure in the spirit of Jules Verne.

When Emilie and Daniel arrive in Silk Harbor, Professor Abindon, an old colleague of the Marlendes, warns them that she’s observed something strange and potentially deadly in the sky, a disruption in an upper air aether current. But as the Marlendes investigate further, they realize it’s a ship from another aetheric plane. It may be just a friendly explorer, or something far more sinister, but they will have to take an airship into the dangerous air currents to find out.

Emilie joins the expedition and finds herself deep in personal entanglements, with an angry uncle, an interfering brother, and an estranged mother to worry about as well as a lost family of explorers, the strange landscapes of the upper air, and the deadly menace that inhabits the sky world.

Review:

(I got an ARC copy from NetGalley. At the time, the book wasn’t published yet, but it took me some time to get to it. Some things may have changed between the version I have, and the actual, final version.)

One thing I have to get out of the way: I didn’t read Emilie and the Hollow World, the first installment in this series. Although each story seems to be self-contained, it was obvious that some elements from book #1 permeated book #2, partly through brief recapping here and there; and so I may or may have not missed a few things.

This story follows a classical adventure format, its world and themes reminiscent of classical works as well (the—lovely—cover, among other things, made me think of the old Jules Vernes books I had when I was a child). Airships, explorers, scientists with a dash of magic to their craft, and young people wanting part of the big adventure: these can and will certainly appeal to a younger audience. Bonus points, also, for the aether-ship creature, who truly was alien (not humanoid, as in too many novels), and for including the communication/language barrier. I tend to be highly skeptical of “aliens” with whom communicating is awfully easy in every aspect.

On the other hand, I found the story easily predictable (the missing expedition mentioned in the first chapters of the book was kind of a giveaway), and I think even younger readers would have the same feeling. The chapters leading to getting into the aether currents were too slow to my liking; I guess I wanted the Big Adventure to start faster—that’s why I pick adventure stories. (As I mentioned, I didn’t read book #1, but I suppose someone who has would want things to start faster?)

But those are smaller qualms: after all, sometimes we just want predictable, and in such genres, it’s not that much of a problem per se. The real issue for me were the characters, whom I just didn’t connect with: they felt brushed over, shown on the surface only, when clearly something deeper was going on for some of them, and I would’ve liked to see more in that regard. Emilie struck me as too mean and petulant regarding her brother; granted, they seemed to share history, but they’re still young (Efrain must be, what, 10?), and it was weird, because they somehow felt like they shared twenty years of resentment. As a result, Emilie wasn’t particularly likeable—at least, not like the adventurous, smart and resourceful girl I imagined her to be when I started reading. Same with the Professor and Miss Marlende: the tension between them was never really explained (though I could feel very early who they were), and it would’ve been interesting to know how exactly things became that way.

In itself, it was a fairly nice story, but one I’ll probably forget fast.

Yzabel / February 20, 2014

Review: His Lordship Possessed

Disenchanted & Co., Part 2: His Lordship Possessed by Lynn Viehl

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary:

The second half of Disenchanted & Co.—the thrilling conclusion. In a steampunk version of America that lost the Revolutionary War, Charmian (Kit) Kittredge makes her living investigating magic crimes and exposing the frauds behind them. While Kit tries to avoid the nobs of high society, as the proprietor of Disenchanted & Co. she follows mysteries wherever they lead.

Lady Diana Walsh calls on Kit to investigate and dispel the curse she believes responsible for carving hateful words into her own flesh as she sleeps. While Kit doesn’t believe in magic herself, she can’t refuse to help a woman subjected nightly to such vicious assaults. As Kit investigates the Walsh family, she becomes convinced that the attacks on Diana are part of a larger, more ominous plot—one that may involve the lady’s obnoxious husband.

Sleuthing in the city of Rumsen is difficult enough, but soon Kit must also skirt the unwanted attentions of nefarious deathmage Lucien Dredmore and the unwelcome scrutiny of police Chief Inspector Thomas Doyle. Unwilling to surrender to either man’s passion for her, Kit struggles to remain independent as she draws closer to the heart of the mystery. Yet as she learns the truth behind her ladyship’s curse, Kit also uncovers a massive conspiracy that promises to ruin her life—and turn Rumsen into a supernatural battleground from which no one will escape alive.

Review:

(I got a copy of thie book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Click here for my review of Part 1.)

I still liked the world developed in this story. It fels solid and sturdy, with lots of building behind the scene, even though we’re not to see everything yet (which is normal); anyway, the important part for me is that I could feel it).

The characters remain likeable and interesting. There’s more to Lucien than what he allows himself to show: far from perfect, but not the dark villain kind either. Kit is still her savvy self, doing her best to get herself out of predicaments (and her best does work), learning from past “mistakes” (ah, good old drugged cups of tea), as well as refusing to give up in spite of the odds clearly being against her. Thomas, although a little too bland to my taste, tries to help, and genuinely cares for Kit. And I like Rina and her girls.

I couldn’t enjoy this book more, though, because of the way the story moved. At some point, I felt it started to unwind too fast, with too many new elements introduced all at once, especially in terms of the world’s mythology. As I mentioned, this world’s interesting, but some of its most secret parts would’ve been easier to stomach if they had been unveiled more gradually. Some links seemed to be missing: for instance, I didn’t really saw how Kit came to the conclusion that “the real culprit behind all this is X”.

And I’m really not satisfied with the ending. It paves the way for Disenchanted & Co. (as a business), but the way it unfolded was a device I don’t like, too close to a deus ex machina, that negated many of the hardships the characters went through. Sure, it saved the day, but at a heavy cost plot-wise, at least in my opinion. I’d have preferred things to take a darker direction, as painful as it would have been for the characters.

Yzabel / January 6, 2014

Review: A Study In Ashes

A Study in Ashes by Emma Jane Holloway

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary:

As part of her devil’s bargain with the industrial steam barons, Evelina Cooper is finally enrolled in the Ladies’ College of London. However, she’s attending as the Gold King’s pet magician, in handcuffs and forbidden contact with even her closest relation, the detective Sherlock Holmes.

Not even Niccolo, the dashing pirate captain, and his sentient airship can save her. But Evelina’s problems are only part of a larger war. The Baskerville Affair is finally coming to light, and the rebels are making their move to wrest power from the barons and restore it to Queen Victoria. Missing heirs and nightmare hounds are the order of the day—or at least that’s what Dr. Watson is telling the press.

But their plans are doomed unless Evelina escapes to unite her magic with the rebels’ machines—and even then her powers aren’t what they used to be. A sorcerer has awakened a dark hunger in Evelina’s soul, and only he can keep her from endangering them all. The only problem is… he’s dead.

Review:

(I got this book from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

A pretty interesting ending to the plots in this series (and probably the beginning to another arc), that ties up all elements together, and have they all meet on the final “battlefield” of London, if I may say so.

However, while I appreciated this novel, I thought it lost itself, compared to what was developed in the first volume. As a steampunk-themed story, it was enjoyable, but I felt as if its initial spark had died down somewhere along the way. The potential for mystery and investigation I expected from Evelina (as well as from Holmes’ presence) kind of took the back-burner. Evie was more passive, in a way, going through events more as a victim than as a strong person; granted, she’s been through quite a few hardships, and those had to take their toll, and yet, in spite of the understanding she gained from them, I thought she was somewhat… diminished. In a weird way (weird, because those were things I had enjoyed in A Study In Silks), this time the detective/mystery aspect was feeble and unneeded. Had it been a different setting, with Holmes left out, I might actually have found this story better, more able to stand on its own two feet.

I also can’t make up my mind about the Imogen subplot. It was like a side-story, related to the main plot through the characters, but not bearing any weight on the main events. I kept having the nagging feeling that at some point, the author hadn’t been sure what to do with Imogen anymore, except having her tag along, and gave her a new part for her and Poppy to have something to do. Only that part was mostly disconnected from the others.

On the other hand, I quite enjoyed Alice, who turned out to be the person I hoped the indeed was. I wished she would’ve had a more important role.

Consider it at 2.5 stars for now. Maybe I’ll knock it the extra half-star later on. Right now, I’m still bothered by the way some of its plots were tackled.

Yzabel / December 17, 2013

Review: Steampunk Omnibus

Steampunk Omnibus by Michael Coorlim

My rating: [rating=4]

Summary:

The Steampunk Omnibus is a collection of the best-selling titles from the Collected Bartleby and James Adventures and the Gentlewoman’s Chronicles anthologies of steampunk mystery and thriller fiction. These seven stories build a world of Edwardian adventure in a galvanic century.

Review:

(Book provided by the author through ARR #1688 in the Making Connections group, in exchange for an honest review.)

3.5 to 4 stars for this book. I definitely advise anyone wanting to discover Michael Coorlim’s alternate Victorian world to do so through this omnibus: separately, the stories might seem a little too short, but put together, they form a larger web, whose threads interconnect one narrative after the other. You can also tell that each story gets better than the other, reflecting the author’s work in that regard, and this is a process I always find interesting.

The first five stories focus on Alton Bartleby and James Wainwright, two consulting detectives who took a page from Sherlock Holmes and use their complementary talents and skills to solve the mysteries thrown in their way. The last three star Aldora Fiske, who lacks neither courage nor resources. All three face various threats with guts and smart minds, and their adventures are an equal mix of action and late Victorian/early Edwardian decorum. And if you’re careful enough, you might even read between the lines quite a few darker revelations.

While Alton is delightful in his manners, and James is quite the badass engineer, I especially liked Aldora’s parts, for the added conundrum of having to behave like a lady, when all she wants is to be herself—the reason behind her little arrangement with Alton, in order for her to preserve as much freedom as possible without alienating society. This, for me, accounted for what I thought at first like too fickle a mind regarding other male characters, but turned to be, in fact, quite logical, her engagement being more for show (although there’s no doubt Alton and Aldora are good friends no matter what).

The one thing I’d really hold against these stories were their length: some parts, in my opinion, would have fared better with a little more development (especially in the Alton & James stories, in fact). Those “missing details” might be addressed in other, individual stories that aren’t in this omnibus, though, in which case reading them could prove useful. As it stands, they were just the little thing that I kept on looking for, and couldn’t find. Overall, though, this omnibus was a really pleasant read.

Yzabel / September 26, 2013

Review: A Study in Darkness

A Study in Darkness by Emma Jane Holloway

My rating: [rating=4]

Summary:

When a bomb goes off at 221B Baker Street, Evelina Cooper is thrown into her Uncle Sherlock’s world of mystery and murder. But just when she thought it was safe to return to the ballroom, old, new, and even dead enemies are clamoring for a place on her dance card.

Before Evelina’s even unpacked her gowns for a country house party, an indiscretion puts her in the power of the ruthless Gold King, who recruits her as his spy. He knows her disreputable past and exiles her to the rank alleyways of Whitechapel with orders to unmask his foe.

As danger mounts, Evelina struggles between hiding her illegal magic and succumbing to the darker aspects of her power. One path keeps her secure; the other keeps her alive. For rebellion is brewing, a sorcerer wants her soul, and no one can protect her in the hunting ground of Jack the Ripper.

Review:

(I received an ARC e-copy of this book from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

This second installment in the “Baskerville Affair” series takes a darker turn for its protagonists, in a good way. The author keeps on developing an interesting society, dominated by manipulative steam barons who all seek to move their pawns and take new ones in the process. She also weaves unsolved elements from the first book into this one, allowing to make more sense of what happened then, and introduces a few more questions that pave the way for volume three… not to mention two cliffhangers at the end, regarding the fate of two characters.

Evelina is now faced with harsher choices, partly due to her own mistakes, the latter being as many opportunities to make her fall. However, she does her best to keep her head high, and do what she must do while trying to find a solution to her predicament. Some of her decisions may seem rash or stupid, but much less so when remembering she’s only 19, and pitched again people twice her age (at least), who have had much more experience in the great game of manipulation. There’s potential here for some huge comeback on her part, as well as for temptation of the darkest kind, and I sure want to know what she’s going to do in the last part of the series.

The romance aspect remains present, in a more interesting way than the somewhat feeble triangle from book one. Evelina seems to make a decision in that regard that suits her personality much more, although it’s a source of problems in and of itself. Here, too, lie more opportunities for the author to exploit later, and I hope this will be the case. I like what Nick has become: he’s going about his new life and decisions with gusto, and although he’s on the wrong side of the law, he’s probably one of the more decent people in all that, along with Imogen and, surprisingly, Alice Keating (who was given the short end of the straw, yet seems to be able to fall back on her feet in the future).

No ties with canon Sherlock Holmes cases this time; on the other hand, it’s the fall of 1888, and a lot of scenes are set in Whitechapel… This period, setting and characters imply another cameo, of course, and this time the murderer is in my opinion quite unexpected, although logical when considering the big picture.

I wasn’t too thrilled with the characterization of Holmes in this book, but he doesn’t appear that much, and he’s not the main focus of the story, so it didn’t bother me as much as if everything had revolved about him.

Yzabel / September 9, 2013

Review: A Study in Silks

A Study in Silks by Emma Jane Holloway

My rating: [rating=4]

Summary:

Evelina Cooper, the niece of the great Sherlock Holmes, is poised to enjoy her first Season in London’s high society. But there’s a murderer to deal with—not to mention missing automatons, a sorcerer, and a talking mouse.

In a Victorian era ruled by a council of ruthless steam barons, mechanical power is the real monarch, and sorcery the demon enemy of the empire. Nevertheless, the most coveted weapon is magic that can run machines—something Evelina has secretly mastered. But rather than making her fortune, her special talents could mean death or an eternity as a guest of Her Majesty’s secret laboratories. What’s a polite young lady to do but mind her manners and pray she’s never found out?

But then there’s that murder. As Sherlock’s niece, Evelina should be able to find the answers, but she has a lot to learn. And the first decision she has to make is whether to trust the handsome, clever rake who makes her breath come faster, or the dashing trick rider who would dare anything for her if she would only just ask.

Review:

(I got an ARC ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

For once, I’ll say I liked this story better than I expected to. I can be a terribly grouchy fan of good old Sherlock Holmes, and among the few other books I read in which he makes an appearance, only two really managed to grip me (one because the author managed to emulate Doyle’s style and narrative as much as possible, and the other for totally different reasons, with a very different Holmes, too). The reasons behind this reluctance of mine are usually of three kinds: character betrayal, easy Deux Ex Machina and badly disguised fanfiction, complete with self-inserts. I don’t think “A Study in Silks” fell into those pitfalls, or so little that it didn’t impede my reading pleasure.

Evelina is definitely the main character here, and stands her ground as a strong young woman, even though she commits mistakes and is clearly not on par (yet?) with her uncle in terms of investigating. But then, could anyone be, especially someone as young and yet to learn much more from life, especially in a society such as hers, and torn as she is between two worlds? Considering her circumstances, I thought she actually did quite a good job with the hands she was dealt. Besides, while I’m not always a big proponent of the romance aspect, I find it to be quite à propos in Victorian-like settings, women being expected to either marry or earn a living through a limited range of jobs only (governess, school teacher, maid…). In that regard, Evelina’s problems and on-the-side “errings” make sense.

Add magic (banished and rejected!) and lobbying, powerful steam barons who can disconnect people, both directly (cutting gas supplies) and indirectly (being without lighting means Society understanding you’re a reject), and you’ve got a complex world in which to navigate. Clearly it wasn’t described entirely here, far from it, but I got enough to form a proper vision of my own, and to wish to read the next installment in order to learn more about it.

The book shifts through several points of view, not only Evelina’s, which is a little unusual at first for a mystery novel: it cuts on potential culprits fairly quickly, since when we switch to their POV, we know they’re not guilty (and conversely). However, in the long run, the technique worked; the plot is complicated enough as it is, and using only Evie’s POV may have forced the author to resort to other tricks to have everything solved, which in turn may have seemed too convenient. As for Sherlock Holmes himself, although he wasn’t on the same level as the original character (can any be?), he was far from being the worst, too. I liked how he was tied to canon happenings (Bohemia, Irene Adler…), which allowed for him to have an influence on the story as a whole, without intervening too directly, yet without being shoved aside “just because” either. Though he helps to solve the mystery, he doesn’t do all the work—and there are things himself doesn’t know, and that his niece won’t tell him about, thus leaving her with the ace of magic under her sleeve.

While the main story gets wrapped up, the ending is an open one: not a “how frustrating!” cliffhanger, but with enough things left unsolved, and enough new elements, to allow, I think, for a second book with more than just a couple of leads to chase. As for the love triangle, at first I wasn’t convinced (they’re so common nowadays!). Nevertheless, both love interests have a darker side. Both end up in shady deeds. Neither is totally black or white, and Evelina isn’t blind to that, keeping her wits about her and not melting as soon as she sees them, although part of her sure wishes to. Things didn’t pan out as I expected them to, and this was a nice surprise, leaving open roads here as well.

If one thing, I think the book might have been a trifle too long, or perhaps dwellt a little too much on some aspects (marriage prospects, romance for more than one character…) to my liking. But, again, this fits within the Victorian-like setting—much more than it fits in many contemporary ones, to be honest.