Best Steampunk
Steampunk. My first introduction to this weird theme was with the movie Wild Wild West. the big spider etc in the western setting won me over. Steampunk can be used in various different time lines be it western, in the Victorian setting, even our current day or in the future. Steampunk is often accompanied by gears and sprockets flying around your ears but it can also be subtle element hidden within the story brief glimpses to enliven the surroundings of the story. Once Upon a Time in Hell is the second book in the Heaven's Gate Trilogy by Guy Adams. This is truly the weird west at it's top. Guy Adams nicely integrates Steampunk into his world by letting it be modes of transport and some nifty gadgets the characters have. This story is big and bold and I am looking forward to seeing where this story ends. Rod Duncan's The Bullet-Catchers Daughter is something of an Victorianesque inspired story following a young women Elizabeth Barnabus that leads an interesting double life. Here Rod Duncan further builds on the Steampunk element by adding the arcane and alchemy in the equation creating something more elusive. Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Dragon is the follow up of Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl from David Barnett. The world that David Barnett invisions is full of the classical Steampunk elements, zepplins etc and well as the titles of the books already showed a mechanical girl and a brass dragon! Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor is an example of using just a few elements to dress the world, because this isn't a story that revolves purely on steampunk but more of a coming of age of Maia. The world that Katherine Addison builds is very remarkable. Raising Steam the 40th discworld book brings steam to the discworld series. So basically the essence of this book is everything that is associated with steam, think of introducing locomotives and railroads. But as it is with introducing new things, there are always people who oppose...
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- Once Upon a Time in Hell by Guy Adams, Solaris
Once Upon a Time in Hell
and the Heaven's Gate Trilogy so far has been a true weird western
adventure that grabs you and pulls you in and keeps you there even long
after the story has finished, only then when you let it all sink in I
got this second WOW affect. In this relative short story Guy Adams
manages to dish out quite a few heavy punches in terms of developing a
strong storyline that is exciting, fresh and new but also creates a set
of interesting characters that don't stop to developing as the series
progresses. Guy Adams showcases his creative talent with combining many
different elements that all work for the better of the story. The ending
of the book was something I hadn't dared to imagine... it's bold...
it's brave but in the hands of someone like Guy Adams I think we will be
in grand finale in the third book of the Heaven's Gate trilogy. Can't
wait!! Read the full review here
- The Bullet-Catchers Daughter by Rod Duncan, Angry Robot
The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter is off to a solid start. Rod Duncan has created a wonderful setting in The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter
taking in account the big as well as the small things that are needed
to make a world go round. He has struck a perfect balance between both
highlighting the characters, from our main protagonist Elizabeth
Barnabus down to the secondary characters, and the world itself, using
bits and pieces of exciting history spinning it in his own way by
adding enough fantasy influences to make it one-of-a-kind. Angry Robot
recently has released another book, The Buried Life, that left me
with the same feeling. One where you would give everything to delve
into the sequel! It is with these kind of books that make sure the
fantasy genre is kept fresh. If you are looking for something new and
refreshing make sure you read The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter, it's is everything you want and much more! Read the full review here
- Gideon Smith and the Brass Dragon by David Barnett, Tor
With The Brass Dragon solidly David Barnett continues the success of The Mechanical Girl. Again
he has managed to create a truly unique setting with his world, this
time around not focusing on Great Britain but on an alternate version of
America that is ruled by several different nationalities, the
Americans, Spanish, British and Japanese. The characters, though a with a
bit less historical reference for me were again a treat to read about. I
do have to concur with a fellow review who said that The Brass Dragon was just a bit different in producing the same feeling as The Mechanical Girl,
I think this for me was owed to the fact that these parts of history
were further away for me. However this didn't take away just what a very
clever and more importantly cool story David Barnett has written once
again. Especially when Apep shows just what he is made off! In the end
of the book David Barnett does offer giant cliffhanger with a possible
lead into the third book. What are you waiting for? Get reading!Read the full review here
- The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison, Tor
With The Goblin Emperor,
Katherine Addison has created a very rich and unique story, I can
safely say that I haven't encounter such a story recently. A story
wherein the authors dares to go into a new direction by flipping some
tables upside down. The Goblin Emperor is a mix of both steampunk
themes and epic fantasy, Katherine Addison shows a lot of details from
both themes when setting up her story. I for one am always a big fan
when an author creates a dynamic world and Katherine Addison's is just
that. The story is never dull and the writing style that she uses
readily draws you into the world. Next to her engaging writing style
Katherine Addison has created a very strong protagonist, that never
stops developing a long the way. Maia is a character that a lot of
people will be able to relate, the combination of the whole setting,
having lost his parents and now being thrown in the depths of the
courtly intrigues and the writing style of Katherine Addison really
makes you feel sad for Maia as you get a front row seat for all the hard
times that he has to go through. All I can say is that you really have
to give The Goblin Emperor a try, I think you will be amazed. Read the full review here
- Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett, Double Day
I have heard a lot about the jokes and the puns that Terry Pratchett cleverly hides within his stories and in The Long War I ready quite a few, and luckily Raising Steam
also has quite a few of them. I still got the one with the martial
artist in the back of my mind, the one who is master of the deja fu!
brilliant. But like I said in the last paragraph there is much heavier
and perhaps darker tone taking shape starting at the halfway mark of the
book. It seems that certain factions haven't been accepted in the ranks
in Ankh-Morpork, the Goblins have perhaps an higher motive to help
bring steam to Ankh-Morpork. The earlier mentioned civil war on the rise
mainly stoked by the strongly conservative and fundamentalist dwarfs
isn't solely to keep steam from reaching their territory but also to
keep the Goblins from being seen as equals. And when the fighting does
take place between the warring factions it get downright and dirty with a
darker tone than I had imagined. This taken on the whole did make me
rethink a lot and made the story of Raising Steam resonate that much stronger for me. Though Raising Steam is for me the first book that I read in the Discworld series, I must say that I very much enjoyed reading this story and will look forward to any other story that Terry Pratchett will come up with in this series. I will also be on the look out for the earlier books of the series. Terry Pratchett sets himself apart with his writing on many fronts, he knows how to create interesting characters that stand out from the rest, but where he really makes a definite impression; is the creativeness of his ideas. His writing style and his play with words will really make you laugh out loud! I liked the footnotes at the bottom of the pages, though I normally hate these kind of things since they can misplace the rhythm of a book, they worked in full in Raising Steam. Bring on the next Discworld please!
Read the full review here
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