Josephine Early, New Orleans brothel owner and Union spy, has a mission. One that might just end the Civil War. She must deliver Ganymede, an astonishing prototype submarine, to the North. But the giant war machine is at the bottom of a lake, no one has successfully piloted it and she must sneak its huge bulk past enemy forces.
Luckily, she knows the right man for the job. She hasn’t seen former lover and air-pirate Andan Cly for years, but has a sweet job to tempt him back. He agrees to help, but his primary mission is to retrieve supplies for blighted Seattle, where noxious gas has forced residents underground and undead rotters menace the city.
Although legal, the Seattle run makes Cly uncomfortable. He no longer flies sap, disapproving of the drug’s ugly side-effects, and the job is funded with sap money. Josephine’s jaunt could be a great distraction. But will they end up in the history books, or at the bottom of the ocean.
Ganymede is already the third book in the Clockwork Century by Cherie Priest that has been published by Tor. Time does seem to fly when you have fun. I have had nothing but good words about the previous two books, Boneshaker and Dreadnought. The world that has been created is rich, become that much larger with each of the passing books (Ganymede included). Boneshaker introduced us to a magnificent alternate America in steampunk setting, in the midst of the Civil War. But that wasn’t just it. As an added bonus Cherie Priest really gave this alternate world her own twist by introducing an alternate version of the Civil War and on top of it an unexpected element, that of the zombies. It is great to see that they aren’t the by product of any virus or some such but they came in to [un]life by a freak accident in a setting through to the heart of the story, steampunk. Its on one hand a smart and funny series to read but it also carries a more serious note to it. It’s not just zombie killing, but Cherie Priest involves a lot of the surrounding world and the main protagonists of each book to create an interesting story line about the history of each character and the Civil War they are in.
But what have we been allowed to see so far of this alternate version of America in the Clockwork Century? For starters a lot of characters both the main protagonists of each book have been great to read about but even the secondary cast feels just as alive. Each protagonist has been a female so far (I’ll get to Ganymede in a second), but Cherie Priest really has a knack for creating a compelling cast for each book. Secondly the world of the Clockwork Century. Dreadnought showed a great promise in elevating the story that much further by showing what happened on the other side of America. And lastly the undertone of the undead, the zombies in this case. Boneshaker introduced us to these undead and how they came back... and it just feels like with each book, Ganymede included again, that things start to spiral out of control…
Just on a side note, with Ganymede being the third book in the series it might be that there are some spoilers about Boneshaker and Dreadnought, if so, my apologies but it might me necessary to make certain parts of Ganymede clear. And I hope they aren’t spoiler because this is a series you should have been reading already!
Now onto Ganymede, Dreadnought left the story on a great promise with Mercy being reunited with her father. Just like I mentioned in the Dreadnought review, I was looking for links between the books. And Ganymede again starts of quite with a different scene, now however I did feel a bit empty inside because I was hoping so much for the confrontation between Mercy and Jeremiah. But it didn’t quite follow through. Instead Ganymede introduces us to Josephine Early, a Union spy, working in Texian controlled territory and she only has one task, to guide the one machine, the Ganymede, into the hands of the Union for them to win the war. Josephine has been tasked with getting the Ganymede out, however she hasn’t got the clue on how to operate it. Therefore she tries to call in a favor by Andan Cly one of the characters that we got to know in the first book. He accepts this task, rather reluctantly, but sets out with another goal as well, to restock and help build up Seattle. It did directly fall to notice the past between Josephine and Cly. And it was quite funny to read about when Josephine tries to hint on how Cly is doing and finds out that he might have another women in Seattle. It’s not that much written down but in those few sentences I could really imagine Josephine right in front of me let down that her earlier flame is now taken. It just confirms that Cherie Priest knows how to let a words create vivid images, that say a thousand words more. Next to Josephine and Cly there quite a few others that you get to meet up, either new characters or past re-introductions. But the main focus is still between Josephine and Cly and of course getting the Ganymede out of there.
The most parts of Ganymede all take place in New Orleans, I have only heard of this in stories but when you think of New Orleans its swamps and gators and Mardi Gras, but lets forget the latter. So far we have seen Seattle in Boneshaker and a lot of other continents in Dreadnought. Similar to the high level of detail in the world so far, New Orleans in Ganymede isn’t an exception either. The descriptions of it in Ganymede are again vivid and put you right smack in the middle of it, between the gators and occasional zombi. Likewise the earlier books this it really the combination of everything in the book that makes this world so fruitful. The characters, the world, the storyline they all come together in the end to only uplifting each other.
As for the story itself, there was no direct follow-up of Dreadnought, instead there is a new introduction of a problem set in the Civil War. Thereby creating a new story introduction into this rich world that centers around the Union’s Ganymede, a submarine. However what does fall to notice is that each time you do get to see more and more characters paying a returning visit, which keep the stories of the other books that much more alive. Beside the part of the Ganymede, which is, when you see it finally in action pretty cool to read about, there is also the focus on the zombi problem that is no longer restricted in Seattle. We saw the consequences in Dreadnought, but they are further shown in Ganymede. Its quite interesting to read about how Cly tackles this problem once he returns to Seattle I think that there will be some drastic actions being taken. But also the reaction of the native people towards this unknown phenomenon of the zombis. I especially like the re-introduction of Horatio together with Josephine in the end. All in all Ganymede shows on one hand a a great story with a the strong protagonist Josephine and how she navigates as a spy through New Orleans to get the Ganymede out, together with Cly and on the other hand undead problems seem to be popping up out of nowhere.
A lot of the focus in the books has been on the Union only. With the Dreadnought being one of their warmachines and now with the Ganymede as well. I hope that we can see a revisit of these powerful machines further on in the series and hope as well to see some of the power that the Confederates have.
Now I do have to refrain myself from typing up a two or more page review. The Clockwork Century just keeps on amazing me. All the books so far can be read in a standalone fashion but reading them as a series starting with Boneshaker will be for the better. Each story so far has been different from on another but they all share the same setting: a rich world, addictive writing, solid characters and lets not forget the slow undercurrent of the zombies that seems to be getting stronger as you delve deeper and deeper into the series. Ganymede further anchors this series on a well deserved top spot in the steampunk genre.