MINI-REVIEWS: Jane-Emily, Mechanique, Hounded

 Posted by Anastasia on September 5, 2011  7 Responses »
Sep 052011
 
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As always, click on a book’s cover to go to its Amazon page.

83. Jane-Emily by Patricia Clapp
Publication: Harper Paperbacks (August 7, 2007), originally published 1969, Paperback, ~130pp / ISBN 0061245011
Genre: Children’s Horror

Read: July 26, 2011
Source: Bought

Review

Things that scare me: evil children, ghosts, haunted houses, evil child ghosts haunting houses, evil child ghosts haunting houses and trying to kill people. Jane-Emily has all that and more! It’s a short book, but I got so freaked out during the course of reading it that I was sure a ghost was hovering right behind me waiting to pounce.

For all that it’s a ghost story, it’s more psychological horror than anything else. If you like that sort of thing then you’d no doubt enjoy Jane-Emily. I think it’d make a great book for RIP VI, too!

Rating


I nearly couldn’t sleep after reading this book. It’s great!

89. Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti by Genevieve Valentine
Publication: Prime Books (April 23, 2011), ebook, 320pp / ISBN 1607012537
Genre: Sci-fi

Read: July 30, 2011
Source: Gift

Review

This was a surprise gift from someone. Thank you, someone! I’ve been wanting to read this book for a while, as I’m familiar with the author’s blog (which I love) and I adore stories set in a circus environment. Mechanique was great because not only did it have a circus, but it’s got steampunk/futuristic/apocalyptic elements as well, all tied together with some rather lovely poetic writing.

I really enjoyed Mechanique. It’s kind of a weird book, but it’s weird in a way I can appreciate. It’s kind of spooky, it’s kind of quirky and cool, and it’s also kind of tragic in a way. It’s not really a fast-paced, exciting plot, but it’s enthralling nevertheless and I think partly that’s because of the setting and the characters. Anyway, if you like circus stories with tragic characters and a bit of a steampunk/dystopia thing going on, you’d like Mechanique.

Rating


Well who wouldn’t enjoy a steampunk circus dystopian tragedy?

91. Hounded by Kevin Hearne
Publication: Del Rey (May 3, 2011), ebook, 320pp / ISBN 0345522478
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Read: July 31, 2011
Source: Bought

Review

I’ve been hearing really good things about Hounded for a while now, and so I finally decided to just go ahead and get it so I so find out if those good things are true. (I think it was on sale a while ago? Anyway–) Those good things are totally true, and I think Hounded is basically my new Dresden Files.

I guess I just have a soft spot for stories about snarky, heroic geeks and their supernatural friends. I also appreciate a bit of action, a bit of drama, some mystery and some romance (sort of). I also liked the emphasis on Celtic mythology, as that’s a bit different from what other urban fantasy books are doing. Unlike the Dresden Files series, there’s no noir-ness to Hounded, and I think there’s less emphasis on the mystery in favor of the characters (which could be either a good or a bad thing, depending on your story preference). It is, however, still a lot of fun, and I’m for sure going to continue reading the series.

Rating


Now that I’ve reviewed this I can finally read the second book. Huzzah!

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 4.5/5, 4/5, Action, Age Group, Beach Reads, Children's, Dystopia, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, New (Birds), Note, Rating, Reviews, Sci-Fi, Steampunk, Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves

REVIEW: Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris

 Posted by Anastasia on August 5, 2011  2 Responses »
Aug 052011
 
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72. Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris
Publication: Harper Voyager (April 26, 2011), Paperback, 416pp / ISBN 0062049763
Genre: Mystery, Action/Adventure, Sci-fi (Steampunk), Romance (sort of)

Read: July 4-14, 2011
Source: Publisher (thank you!)

Summary from Amazon:

Evil is most assuredly afoot—and Britain’s fate rests in the hands of an alluring renegade . . . and a librarian.

These are dark days indeed in Victoria’s England. Londoners are vanishing, then reappearing, washing up as corpses on the banks of the Thames, drained of blood and bone. Yet the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences—the Crown’s clandestine organization whose bailiwick is the strange and unsettling—will not allow its agents to investigate. Fearless and exceedingly lovely Eliza D. Braun, however, with her bulletproof corset and a disturbing fondness for dynamite, refuses to let the matter rest . . . and she’s prepared to drag her timorous new partner, Wellington Books, along with her into the perilous fray.

For a malevolent brotherhood is operating in the deepening London shadows, intent upon the enslavement of all Britons. And Books and Braun—he with his encyclopedic brain and she with her remarkable devices—must get to the twisted roots of a most nefarious plot . . . or see England fall to the Phoenix!

Review

Finding a good steampunk book is a mite trickier than you would think. Myself, I prefer an emphasis on the people and the world they live on than on the tech– though I still think the tech is a big part of it. If you’ve got a book set in a steampunk world, then not only does the steampunk tech have to interesting, it has to be integral. Otherwise what’s the point? The really good steampunk books, the ones I enjoy the most, have a good balance between the people and their tech, and I think Phoenix Rising has that balance. Continue reading »

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 3.5/5, Action, Adventure, Alternative History/Earth, Beach Reads, Fiction, Mystery/Detective, New (Birds), Note, Rating, Reviews, Sci-Fi, Steampunk

REVIEW: The Bloomswell Diaries by Louis L. Buitendag

 Posted by Anastasia on March 25, 2011  7 Responses »
Mar 252011
 
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24. The Bloomswell Diaries by Louis L. Buitendag
Publication: Kane/Miller Book Publishers (March 2011), Hardcover, 258pp / ISBN 1935279823
Genre: MG Action/Adventure (with a bit of steampunk)

Rating: Borrow it
Read: February 26-27, 2011

Source: Publisher

Summary from Amazon:

Benjamin Bloomswell is pleased to be staying with his uncle in America while his parents are off on another business trip. But when a series of newspaper articles, telephone calls and mysterious disappearances result in his being sent to – and having to escape from – a sinister orphanage and the criminals who run it, he knows he’s got to find a way back to England. He has to get to his sister’s boarding school before anyone else does. And somehow, he has to find his parents, who are also in trouble. But how?

Review

This is such a cute book. It reminds me a lot of the Pseudonymous Bosch books, A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Mysterious Benedict Society series– by which I mean it’s got great kid protagonists, secret-mysterious things going on, action and adventure, and fun illustrations.

I will say that I do think it fell prey to the “shove as much possible in the first book to make it easier on the subsequent books” syndrome. It started off great! Ben’s brought to New York to live with his mysterious uncle while his parents go off to do something equally mysterious, and Ben has to adjust to living with an uncle he doesn’t really know about. Then things go to pot. His uncle is killed, his parents are dead, and apparently he has no other family who can take him so he has to go to an orphanage. Then he has to run for his life from some Serious Baddies and their Killer Robot (awesome!).

There’s a quick stop-off at an evil children’s orphanage, and here’s where the pacing started to falter. We spend so little time at the orphanage that it’s barely a blip in Ben’s life, and I don’t entirely see the point of even going there except for Ben to make a new friend (who never shows up again in this book). His new friend also just so happens to know how to escape the orphanage with minimal trouble and is happy to show Ben how to do it (what?). This whole sequence moved very quickly, so quickly I was left wondering why it was even in the book at all. I’m assuming either the orphanage or his new friend will have a bigger part in the next book, but really all it did in this one was temporarily frighten Ben and show off how nasty the baddies are.

Then, a chapter or two later, Ben escapes the orphanage and the pacing gets much better. He stows away on a ship bound for England, and just so happens to run into some circus people who not only know his parents but are also ex-spies or something. They start teaching Ben the stuff he needs to know to survive the Baddies and their Killer Robot and it’s a pretty cool part of the plot, actually.

After the ship Ben goes to live with the rest of the circus people, who agree to take him in and, later, help him rescue his sister, who’s stuck in a girls’ boarding school in Switzerland.

I really like Ben’s sister. She’s WONDERFUL and, to be honest, I wish she was the protagonist of the book instead of Ben. Ben’s an okay character; he’s gotsome pizzazz and he’ll no doubt turn out to be an excellent spy or secret agent. But he’s also kind of bland, and his sister was so much cooler. She and her boarding school friends have this whole system worked out to get around the Evil Nuns running their school, and they have escape routes and secret societies and it’s just awesome. I may have a slight prejudice against Ben because of my deep love for boarding schools and the girls who go to them, but I won’t apologize! Ahem.

Anyway, I enjoyed The Bloomswell Diaries, although I wish it had slowed down a bit instead of rushing from one plot point to another. Not that I wanted it to be SO slow that it was another Mysterious Benedict Society, just that I wish some more time had been spent on, like, everything. Especially the worldbuilding, because I’m not entirely sure what’s going on with the robots and whatnot. Is it actually steampunk? Is it set in the future or the past? How did the robots come to be? What’s the purpose of them besides just being cool? Are there other steampunk-y things in existence?

The Bloomswell Diaries is a good first book to a fun new kids series, and I think if you like any of the other book series I listed above you’ll like this one. Just be prepared for some bumps along the way.

And

Get your own copy @ Amazon or BookDepository.com and support Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog!

Other reviews: Charlotte’s Library

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 Action, Adventure, Age Group, Borrow it, Fiction, MG, Note, Old, Rating, Reviews, Steampunk

Review: Dreadnought by Cherie Priest

 Posted by Anastasia on October 12, 2010  6 Responses »
Oct 122010
 
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195. Dreadnought by Cherie Priest
Publication: Tor Books (September 28, 2010), Paperback, 400pp / ISBN 0765325780
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Adventure, Steampunk
Rating: Buy it!
Read: October 1-8, 2010
Source: Bought
Summary from Amazon:

Nurse Mercy Lynch is elbows deep in bloody laundry at a war hospital in Richmond, Virginia, when Clara Barton comes bearing bad news: Mercy’s husband has died in a POW camp. On top of that, a telegram from the west coast declares that her estranged father is gravely injured, and he wishes to see her. Mercy sets out toward the Mississippi River. Once there, she’ll catch a train over the Rockies and—if the telegram can be believed—be greeted in Washington Territory by the sheriff, who will take her to see her father in Seattle.

Reaching the Mississippi is a harrowing adventure by dirigible and rail through war-torn border states. When Mercy finally arrives in St. Louis, the only Tacoma-bound train is pulled by a terrifying Union-operated steam engine called the Dreadnought. Reluctantly, Mercy buys a ticket and climbs aboard.

What ought to be a quiet trip turns deadly when the train is beset by bushwhackers, then vigorously attacked by a band of Rebel soldiers. The train is moving away from battle lines into the vast, unincorporated west, so Mercy can’t imagine why they’re so interested. Perhaps the mysterious cargo secreted in the second and last train cars has something to do with it?

Mercy is just a frustrated nurse who wants to see her father before he dies. But she’ll have to survive both Union intrigue and Confederate opposition if she wants to make it off the Dreadnought alive.

Previously: Boneshaker

Review

As much as I liked Boneshaker, I like Dreadnought EVEN MORE, and so writing this review will be difficult as I’m determined to not lapse into fangirlish squeals– which is why it’ll be short. Basically: Dreadnought is really, REALLY good.

What’s good about it? Lemme list it for ya: zombies! trains! airships! mecha! big action sequences! a strong, independent female lead! (with guns!) a dashingly gruff Texan ranger! soldiers and spies and mad scientists! excellent writing! LOTS OF FUN!!

If that paragraph up there doesn’t convince you to freakin’ buy this book (and Boneshaker) already, I don’t know what will. Maybe this: Dreadnought was the most fun I had with a book since the last time I read a Diana Wynne Jones books. It’s definitely going on my “top books read in 2010″ list, and I’m going to recommend it to everyone I know.

Some people have expressed annoyance with the fact that Mercy supposedly doesn’t show emotions. I take exception to that, because a) she DOES show emotions, she just doesn’t let them drip out all over the place every other page, and b) she’s a freakin’ war nurse. Isn’t it a good thing that she’s not overly emotional and having breakdowns everywhere? The ability to be stoic when the situation calls for it is something I’d want in my war nurse, seriously.

Oh, and there’s also no romance, which I appreciated because it would have been completely unnecessary. And you know how unnecessary romance irritates me! (Although I do look forward to a possible romance subplot later on with Mercy! I love Mercy. Mercy is one of my favorite characters. Yes.)

Oh, and the only thing I didn’t like was the reveal of the who the spy was, because it didn’t make sense to me and I kept thinking it was a red herring– but wasn’t, apparently. Sort of a downer, that subplot.

Also the ending was a bit fast, but I’m assuming that part of the story will continue in another book and so I didn’t mind it so much. ANYWAY. Still a wonderful book, and buy it buy it buy it! (Please? And while you’re at it buy Pirate Talk or Mermalade as well. Also any Diana Wynne Jones book, and then we will be best friends!)

What book has made you squeal like a hyperactive three-year-old lately?

And

Get your own copy @ Amazon (Kindle) or Powell’s and support Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog!

Other reviews: The Mad Hatter’s Bookshelf & Book Review | Fantasy Book Critic | Society of Burned Lives | Open Buddha | Team Grondul

The universe that Dreadnought is set in has an awesome official website with lots of goodies.

Read the first chapter of Dreadnought online here!

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 Adventure, Alternative History/Earth, Buy it, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Horror, Reviews, Sci-Fi, Steampunk, Zombies

Review: Changeless by Gail Carriger

 Posted by Anastasia on May 18, 2010  No Responses »
May 182010
 
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111. Changeless by Gail Carriger
Publication: Orbit (April 1, 2010), Paperback, 384pp / ISBN 0316074144
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Mystery, Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating:
Read: May 1-3, 2010
Source: Borrowed
Summary from Amazon:

Alexia Tarabotti, the Lady Woolsey, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears – leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria.

But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting civility. Even when her investigations take her to Scotland, the backwater of ugly waistcoats, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only the soulless can.

She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it.

Previously: Soulless

Review

I said in my review of Soulless that while I enjoyed the plot/characters/etc I couldn’t help but be annoyed by the plot holes (or maybe “plot gaps” is a better term). Changeless doesn’t really fill in any of the gaps, but it does expand on some of the world’s details (like the technology!) and it was overall a so much more fun book that I’d say even if you didn’t particularly like Soulless you WOULD like Changeless. Which is just a rather confusing way to me to say this: Changeless is even more amazing than Soulless was.

Everything just seems so much better done in Changeless. There are less plot gaps, there’s more Alexia being awesome, more information about the Parasol Protectorate world and the people living in it (which is what I wanted), there’s a wicked interesting mystery with ANCIENT EGYPTIAN things in it (love!), and I even think the writing itself is a little bit better! I seriously couldn’t put Changeless down once I started reading it, and by the time I got to the end I felt like I was talking in capslock, that’s how happy I was reading it. Also, more exclamation marks!!

I rated both Changeless and Soulless 4 birds, but actually I enjoyed Changeless more than Soulless. It felt more solid, characterization- and plot-wise, and the plot itself was more fun. With twists! But not silly twists that just come out of nowhere (although they did sort of lean on the other side where you COULD see them coming, but just a bit). And even though it ends on a cliffhanger– which I tend to dislike– it ended in a way that the main plot, with the mystery, was solved and all that’s left to hang was the sticky personal relationships bit. Which, I admit, made my heart go “ow.” My heart went “ow” so much I actually read the bonus chapter from the third book that was in the back, and I never do that.

So, yeah, I loved Changeless. Can’t wait to read the third book!

And

Get your own copy @ Amazon or IndieBound and support Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog!

Other reviews: Dear Author | Stella Matutina | Outlandish Dreaming

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 4/5, Adventure, Alternative History/Earth, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Paranormal, Reviews, Sci-Fi, Steampunk, Vampires, Werewolves

Review: The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade

 Posted by Anastasia on February 12, 2010  3 Responses »
Feb 122010
 
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27. The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade
Publication: Wendy Lamb Books (September 22, 2009), Hardback, 288pp / ISBN 038573784X
Genre: Sci-Fi, YA
Rating:
Read: February 8, 2010
Source: Library
Summary from Amazon:

The mysterious Mr. Socrates rescues Modo, a child in a traveling freak show. Modo is a hunchback with an amazing ability to transform his appearance, and Mr. Socrates raises him in isolation as an agent for the Permanent Association, a spy agency behind Brittania’s efforts to rule the empire. At 14, Modo is left on the streets of London to fend for himself. When he encounters Octavia Milkweed, another Association agent, the two uncover a plot by the Clockword Guild behind the murders of important men. Furthermore, a mad scientist is turning orphan children into automatons to further the goals of the Guild. Modo and Octavia journey deep into the tunnels under London and discover a terrifying plot against the British government. It’s up to them to save their country.

Review

I read this because of a positive review and even featured it as a bonus book for Unsung YA, but unfortunately I didn’t like it as much as I hoped.

The idea is very interesting: a steampunk re-imagining of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I think I was expecting something like THOND plus steampunk stuff. Basically the same plot, but with added nifty science-y things, right? Well, it’s not.

I admit that I probably should have read the book summary before starting it because I think that would have kept me from being disappointed with what it actually was: young Quasimodo with superpowers. That’s not nearly as interesting and exciting to me as Quasimodo with, I don’t know. A mechanical tail or something. Like Frankenstein’s monster except with machinery added on. I think I just wanted it to be more closely tied to THOND than it was.

But if you ignore THOND connection, The Hunchback Assignments isn’t a bad steampunk book. It’s actually pretty good! I really liked how the steampunk technology was new and creepy. Like mechanical arms, for instance. Have you ever thought of how they’d actually work? When I was reading Boneshaker, and I read about the character with a gun-arm, I never thought of how it’d actually work. But Mr Slade describes it– and it’s gross. No steampunk gun-arms for me, thanks. But I loved the detail Mr Slade put into it.

The characters were pretty good, too. I think they tended to be a little bit on the cliched, stereotyped side of things (plucky, fiesty girl lead? Check. Miserable, disillusioned loner who falls in love with the female lead? Check. Sexy villainess? Check. Bah.) but I liked reading about them and how they handled themselves in this world. I feel bad for Modo, of course, but I liked that he was a little messed up in the head. It made things more interesting. (And of course he’s disfigured.)

This is going to be a series, and so I hope the second book improves on some of the things I had problems with. Who knows, maybe the farther on we’ll get in the series the more it’ll follow the original THOND! But I don’t think I’ll be running out to get a copy of the sequel.

And

Find your own copy @ Amazon or IndieBound

Other reviews: The Written World | Once Upon a Bookshelf | Dreaming of Books | Readspace

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 Fiction, Genius Kids, Reviews, Sci-Fi, Steampunk, YA

Review: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

 Posted by Anastasia on October 23, 2009  No Responses »
Oct 232009
 
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LeviathanLeviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Publication: Simon Pulse (October 6, 2009), Hardcover, 448pp / ISBN 1416971734
Genre: Sci-Fi, Steampunk, YA
Rating:
Find @ Amazon or IndieBound
Challenges: Countdown 2010 (2009 #4)
Read: October 2009
Source: Library

I’ve been excited for Leviathan since about…July? I even wrote down the publication date on my calendar so I’d know to get it from the library.

So it was with a lot of anticipation and expectation for awesomeness that I started reading Leviathan, and I’m so happy that it was awesome because I don’t think I could rebound from a disappointment like expecting superb and getting subpar. But Leviathan is not subpar. It is superb, and now I’m wondering if I’m not putting more into it than it actually gave me. Because I was expecting awesome, and I got awesome, did I inadvertently influence my own reaction?

Possibly I’ve been in college too long. Those anthropology/sociology classes will really get you if you don’t watch out.
Continue reading »

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 5/5, Adventure, Alternative History/Earth, Fantasy, Fiction, Reviews, Steampunk, YA