Book Review: The Girl in the Clockwork Collar (Steampunk Chronicles #2) by Kady Cross

In New York City, 1897, life has never been more thrilling - or dangerous.

Sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne and her "straynge band of mysfits" have journeyed from London to America to rescue their friend Jasper, hauled off by bounty hunters. But Jasper is in the clutches of a devious former friend demanding a trade-the dangerous device Jasper stole from him...for the life of the girl Jasper loves.

One false move from Jasper and the strange clockwork collar around Mei's neck tightens. And tightens.

This is the second in the Steampunk Chronicle series by Kady Cross.   This series is some of the best steampunk that I have ever read.  It's got the clever machinery, some magic, great heroes, very evil villains - and a little romance!

Finley, the heroine, is more secure in herself than she was in the first novel, The Girl in the Steel Corset.  She seems less afraid to get out there and kick some evil-doer's butt, yet she is still learning how to work her "talent."  She is a character that is very easy to like and root for throughout the story. And of course, the book would be nothing without her gang, who are right there to help out... or make fun of her, whichever is more appropriate at the time.

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar is a fun romp through New York City at the turn of the 19th century.  If you like steampunk, you'll definitely want to read this, but start with the first book.  If you've never read any steampunk, start out with this series!

Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

 

I give this book 4 Bookworms. 

Book Review: The Bewitching Tale of Stormy Gale (Stormy Gale #2) by Christine Bell

London, 1841

There I was, retired from time pirating, enjoying a full if somewhat conventional life as a wife and mother. Then a chance encounter with a stranger drew me back into a world I'd thought I'd left, quite literally, in the past. From his odd behavior and even odder answers to my questions, I knew Phineas Grubb was up to something. I should have trusted my instincts—before he pulled out a time-travel mechanism and dragged my brother, Bacon, back with him...

Salem, 1698

The infamous Witch Trials may have ended a few years earlier, but the people of Salem are still pretty touchy about outsiders that appear in town as if by magic. Thanks to Grubb, my brother's been accused of witchcraft and thrown in jail. Now it's up to me and my husband, Dev, to save Bacon's bacon before the hysteria starts up again, and the course of history is altered forever...

This is the second book in the Stormy Gale series, the first being The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale which I reviewed last year. I find that this is one of the rare occasions that I enjoyed the first book in the series better than the second. 

The Bewitching Tale of Stormy Gale still has the same wonderfully witty tones that the first book did.  I enjoyed seeing how the relationship between Stormy and Dev, her husband, has developed.

Then they ended up in 1698, in Salem.  The time travel to the past put a large damper on the steampunk aspect of the story, as obviously there was little to no machinery in that age.  I thought it could be interesting seeing Stormy, Dev, and Bacon interacting with the major players in the Witch Trials, but there was little of that.

In all, it was really great reading about Stormy and her family again.  They're great characters and fun spending time with.  I just wish the plot had been stronger.

Thank you to NetGalley and Carina Press for allowing me to read the book in exchange for my honest opinion.

 

I give this book 3 Bookworms. 

Book Review: A Clockwork Christmas - Anthology

Changed forever after tragedy, a woman must draw strength from her husband's love. A man learns that love isn't always what you expect. A thief steals the heart of a vengeful professor. And an American inventor finds love Down Under. Enjoy Victorian Christmas with a clockwork twist in these four steampunk novellas.

Anthology includes:

Crime Wave in a Corset by Stacy Gail
This Winter Heart by PG Forte
Wanted: One Scoundrel by Jenny Schwartz
Far From Broken by JK Coi

I know it's past Christmas, but I prefer to think I'm early for Christmas 2012!

I was really excited to get this collection of Steampunk stories to read for Christmas.  I just discovered the genre last year and was looking for any good stories I could find. I found this on Netgalley and was given a copy for review from the publisher. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed in this collection.

First off, there was little to no Christmas anywhere.  One of the stories just mentioned it as the heroine was ill and slept through it.  If a book is going to be called a Christmas Anthology, then Christmas needs to be the main theme throughout.  It wasn't.  Bah Humbug!

Then there's the fact that these stories totally put the "steam" in Steampunk!  Every story had fairly explicit sex scenes in them.   I'm not a prude, but I prefer my literature without the sex.  I like the romance that just hints at it and lets me imagine the rest.  Nothing in the synopsis led me to believe there would be such steamy scenes.  I worried about any teens who might grab the book because of the steampunk genre.  

The stories themselves weren't captivating, so with the two strikes against them already, I just didn't really enjoy this anthology.

I give this book 2 Christmas Penguins!

• File Size: 691 KB
• Print Length: 353 pages
• Publisher: Carina Press (December 5, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005Z1C47Q

Book Review: Brass and Bone by Cynthia Gael

Being Simon Thorne, friend and collaborator to Lady Abigail Moran, isn't easy. Yes, being a daring thief does have its charms. But I still haven't convinced Abigail that she loves me, and thievery, for all the romantical writers say of it, is not the way to wealth. Especially if Abigail insists we continuously repair the airship with our ill-gotten gains. So when an old friend summons us to his estate and offers us a daring job with a hefty paycheck, we're happy to accept. The mission: use our airship to transport secret cargo halfway across the globe. Oh, and we mustn't forget to take along the witch and her sinister keeper. A witch more beguiling than expected and her keeper—or is that companion?—with secrets darker than one could imagine.
Alas. Perhaps I have finally bitten off more than I can chew...

 I had high hopes for Brass and Bone, as I've developed a new love for Steampunk.  However, my hopes were not realized, unfortunately.  The story was just ok.  I found myself getting a little bored with it, even though it's only 102 pages long.


The author, Cynthia Gael, obviously has a very imaginative mind.  The ideas were good, but I think the storytelling fell short a bit.  My biggest issue with the book was the rapid switching between first person narratives.  It made the story choppy instead of flowing well.  Making that mental switch in my mind lost the thread of the story for me. 

Also, for me, the ending was not an ending.  Nothing happened, nothing was resolved.   Brass and Bone is meant to be the first of a three book series, but I think every book in a series needs to have a definitive ending.  Hopefully, the next two will.

*Disclaimer:  I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley.  I was not required to write a positive review.

I give this book 3 Bookworms.

Format:  Ebook
File Size:  276 kb
Pages:  102
Publisher:  Carina Press (October 10, 2011)
ASIN:  B005JSJS42

Book Review: The Broken Sword by Joseph Robert Lewis



 For fans of swashbuckling adventures such as The Princess Bride and The Three Musketeers:
When they tried to conquer the New World, the Espani lost everything: soldiers, ships, wealth, and even their faith. But Don Lorenzo Quesada believes an ancient holy relic will restore his country to prosperity and honor, unless the military finds it first. Accompanied by his best fencing students, his Incan wife, and her sabre-toothed cat, Lorenzo races across his wintry homeland through a gauntlet of blood-thirsty assassins, undead demons, and giant beasts to recover the sacred skyfire stone.
But when the stone is stolen and a massive Espani warship sets sail for Marrakesh, Lorenzo must stop a war that could destroy all the nations of the Middle Sea, even if it costs him both the holy stone and his life.
Readers return to The Other Earth in this stunning vision of an alternate world where fantastical machines sail the seas and the skies, enormous prehistoric beasts still roam the earth, and the restless dead walk among the living.

This is Book 2 in the Halcyon Trilogy, I did not read Book 1.  I did feel a little like I was missing things when reading this book.  There were references to things that obviously happened in the first book and I didn't always understand what was going on.

Fantasy is my favorite genre, but I had a hard time getting into this novel.  There was so much of the same thing going on, travelling here, getting into a fight.  Travelling there, getting into a fight.  It was usually the same person they were fighting.  A lot of the characters were flat and uninteresting.  Lorenzo and his wife didn't start feeling real and engaging to me until almost the end.

I loved the huge bird for riding and the pet tiger, I wish they had been used more.  I enjoyed the bits of humor that came through here and there throughout the story, if only it had been used more as well.

I see from other reviews that some people did really enjoy this book, so if you enjoy fantasy and steampunk, give this one a look.

 I give this book 2 Bookworms.

 

Format:  Ebook

File Size 518 kb

Pages:  255

Publisher:  Joseph Robert Lewis (May 3, 2011)

ASIN:  B005Z81SCC





Book Review: The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge

 

In the city of Lovecraft, the Proctors rule and a great Engine turns below the streets, grinding any resistance to their order to dust. The necrovirus is blamed for Lovecraft's epidemic of madness, for the strange and eldritch creatures that roam the streets after dark, and for everything that the city leaders deem Heretical—born of the belief in magic and witchcraft. And for Aoife Grayson, her time is growing shorter by the day.

Aoife Grayson's family is unique, in the worst way—every one of them, including her mother and her elder brother Conrad, has gone mad on their 16th birthday. And now, a ward of the state, and one of the only female students at the School of Engines, she is trying to pretend that her fate can be different.

This was my second venture into Steampunk and I'm still enjoying it.  I truly admired Aoife's spirit and spunk, even without having a clue as to how to pronounce her name!  She keeps fighting even knowing she carries a gene that could cause her to go mad when she turns sixteen. 

She escapes from her boarding school with her best friend Cal and new friend Dean who helps them find their way to her father's house.  She has to find and help her brother.  There are a lot of twists and turns in the story as Aoife learns more about magic and her connection to it.

It's a fun story that's easy to follow.  Good for young adults and anyone who enjoys steampunk and fantasy!

I give this book 3 Bookworms.

Reading Level:  Young Adult

Pages:  512

Publisher:  Delacorte Books for Young Readers (February 22, 2011)

ISBN-10:  0385738293

ISBN-13:  978-0385738293

Book Review: The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale by Christine Bell

The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale is about a brother and sister, orphans in 1810, who were taken in by a time traveler from the year 2010.  Stormy's brother Bacon was conned out of his Time Travel Mechanism by the Loony Duke of Leister and she goes back to 1836 to retrieve it. 

This was a short story and I wish it had been longer.  Ms. Bell managed to flesh out the characters quite well in the limited time she had.  The first person narrative allowed for some great sarcastic observations by Stormy, which kept the tone light and fun.  The plot was simple so the characters could shine through. 

This was my first book from the steampunk genre and I truly enjoyed it.  Generally, I don't care for short stories, but I make an exception with this one.  However, there's a richness of ideas that could be used from this premise to write one or more full length novels, which I do wish Christine Bell would do!

*Disclaimer:  I received this book from Netgalley for free.  I was not required to give a positive review.

I give this book 4 Bookworms.

Format:  Ebook
File Size:  234 KB
Publisher:  Carina Press (April 25, 2011)
ASIN:  B004ROD40G