The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman

I had been looking at this book for a long time before I got a chance to read it. I admit that the simplicity of the cover grabbed my attention, as well as the story description. The feel and pace of the story reminded me very much of the campaigns we had when playing Deadlands, the role-playing game. Gilman does an excellent job of bringing his world to life for the reader.

The Half-Made World is the story of an alternate American Wild West. Our protagonist is Liv Alverhuysen, a female psychologist who decides to respond to a job offer sent to her late husband to work in a hospital in the unmade west. The hospital serves both sides of a conflict for control of the West, the Guns and the Line. The hospital maintains its neutrality because it is protected by a spirit that will allow no violence to be done within its realm.

The Gun recruits dangerous men and women of ill-repute and character using fear to maintain control, while the Line overcomes towns and incorporates all into their fold and making them slaves. Both sides are seeking a General who fell in battle to one of the Line's noisemaker bombs. They both hope to gain the secret of a weapon that he holds in his head, one that could destroy their enemy or themselves. The Guns and the Engines of the Line are possessed by some strange demons. The Line moves towards the hospital, while the Gun sends John Creedmoor to infiltrate the facility.

Once all the main actors in the tale reach the hospital, the action steamrolls (forgive the pun) forward extremely rapidly. Characters must wrestle with internal conflicts as well as external ones. I look forward to the sequel when it comes out in November.

Goliath by Scott Westerfeld

This is the final volume of Scott Westerfeld's steampunk trilogy. I've been eagerly awaiting this book, and went to the Mall of America to get it signed. Sadly, the line was very small to meet Mr. Westerfeld. My daughter and I were first in line, which was good. I say it was sad because the giant book-signing line was for a book from a Playboy bunny airing her dirty laundry. It upsets me that an idiot that is famous for taking off her clothes and having a rocky marriage to a basketball player draws more people than a story like Goliath and a talent like Scott Westerfeld.

In case you missed the other books in the series, or my reviews of them, let me sum it all up for you. The story is set in an alternate version of World War I. In this universe, the Archduke Ferdinand has a son that is orphaned by his assassination. His son, Alek, goes into hiding after the death of his parents and hopes to gain his father's place in the royal family one day. Austria-Hungary is part of the Clanker powers (they've developed advanced machinery that mostly runs on steam power). While he is in hiding an English air ship crashes nearby, and he assists in their rescue. England and Austria-Hungary are on opposite sides of the war and a deep philosophical difference. England is a Darwinist nation, this means that they have developed their technology through altering animals genetic code to make them useful in a variety of ways. The airship is actually an altered whale and strongly resembles a zeppelin.

Our main protagonist is Dylan, a.k.a. Deryn, Sharp. She is a midshipman on the Leviathan and is pretending to be a boy in order to service in the military. She is quick, strong, and smart. Dylan and Alek form an unlikely friendship, and Dylan falls for Alek. In the latest volume, Dylan's secret is revealed to some, and almost given away completely. We also see a few true to life historical figures such as Nicolas Tesla, Pancho Villa, and William Hearst.

One of the things that I really enjoy about this series besides the characters and story is the wonderful art drawn by Keith Thompson. Unfortunately, my favorite creature design, the weaponized manta ray ship, was not available online. There was no way, I was going to break the spine of my signed edition by putting in on the scanner. But each picture in the book is as detailed and as beautiful on the one on the right. I really wish more adult books would get back to illustrated novels, it really adds a little something. It's sad that it has mostly become a dead art in the West.

I can't say that the story offers any surprises for experienced readers, but it is enjoyable and well told. The creatures and locations are brought to vivid life by Westerfeld's deft and eloquent descriptions, and complimented beautifully by Thompson's finely detailed illustrations.

A Surprising Author Visit

Awesome store, go there!

I was lucky enough to find out about one of my favorite YA authors coming to town through what many would consider a surprising place. It wasn't publicized on any of the author tour lists, not on the publisher's website, or any other well known site. This author, like many, maintain their own website, but trying to keep up with all the authors' sites can be overwhelming, if not impossible (depending on your range of tastes and number of favorites). I only found out about this tour because Scott Westerfeld (@ScottWesterfeld)  is on Twitter and was discussing his upcoming tour for Behemoth. Twitter's purpose isn't the same as other social networks like Facebook. Facebook is excellent for staying in contact with friends and family, while Twitter is more aimed toward accessing large amounts of information in small doses and growing your professional network.

Signing away

During the course of his tour, Mr. Westerfeld isn't visiting large book store or chains, but small local bookstores. I had never heard of the Blue Willow Bookshop before, but fell in love with it while I was there. The staff is very friendly, very knowledgeable about books, and obvious bibliophiles. They had two school groups there for this author signing, and have all the visiting authors sign their wall. The students were the first to get their books signed. Mr. Westerfeld's book signing was only one of several author visits scheduled last week. Rick Riordan was scheduled for the following day. I wish I lived closer, or had a similar store on my side of town. They do special orders, and even offered to ship me a copy of Behemoth since they had run out before I arrived.

Sadly, we missed Mr. Westerfeld talking about his book and what inspired him to become a writer. Between a doctor's appointment that was delayed a couple of times and Houston traffic, we arrived late. He was very gracious while signing his books. He was also very friendly, and patient with the kids (even the ones that hadn't read any of his books yet, like mine). I am starting Behemoth later today, the girl started reading the Uglies that evening. She is loving the book, can't stop reading it even in class (wags finger at daughter in motherly disapproval). My daughter and I have now met two authors, not counting my husband that is, I plan to meet more. It is very interesting to meet the person that penned the words of a book you have read. They often do not look like you imagined them, or even like their publicity photos. You also see a different side to their personality than you see in their writing.

Enjoy whatever book has your attention currently, if you aren't, grab a new one. There are a shocking number of them available.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

I really enjoyed the first three books of the Uglies series by Mr. Westerfeld, so I was very excited to read another of his works. Though I really enjoyed the other books, I was a bit unsure about this one. Steampunk has a very different pace than other forms of science fiction and I wasn't sure if his writing style would translate well into the new genre. I have to admit, I picked this book up partly because he wrote it and partly because the book is so beautifully designed. I've converted to mostly reading e-books (I love the convenience and the savings.), but if publishers would create more bound books of this quality, I'd buy both versions instead of just one. The dust jacket, the map on the end covers, and the illustrations are brilliantly executed.

The story starts off with the assassination of Arch-Duke Ferdinand of Austria in 1914, who is survived by his 15 year old son Alek.This diverges from the history that we all know. Austria and it's allies are the Central Powers, Clankers, people that rely on mechanical technology. In fact, Alek is awoke in the middle of the night by his father's loyal retainers. He thinks they are going on a night training exercise since his mother is out of town and does not approve, when in reality his parents are already dead. Alek is on the run from his own countrymen as well as his country's enemies.

Deryn Sharp is a young girl pretending to be a boy, Dylan, in order to enter the British Air Service. Britain is a part of the Entente Powers, aka the Darwinists. The Darwinists genetically engineer creatures to serve as messengers, weapons, and transportation.

The Clankers and Darwinists are strongly at odds politically, and scientifically. The Clankers consider the genetically mutation animals to be abominations against nature and God. While the Darwinists consider the Clanker's machines clumsy and wasteful.

Both Deryn and Alek are dealing with the loss of a parent, or both parents. They are adjusting to their new place in the world, and learning new skills. The action is fast paced from the very beginning, I don't think I ran into a single slow spot in the whole story. Westerfeld's descriptions of the creatures and machines are vivid. There is good character development, especially considering that it is the first volume of a trilogy. My only frustration was the sudden ending. I was not expecting the story to end so abruptly, the cliffhanger ending was deliberate. I really wanted the tale to continue, luckily the second volume is due out next month.

If you enjoy steampunk, or if you enjoyed the Uglies series, I'm sure you would enjoy this book.

Boneskaker Review

I had tried reading several books, but couldn't find one I was in the mood for. With all my work and studying, my mind needs some distracting but is having a hard time focusing. I'm a fan of zombie novels and steampunk, so Boneshaker by Cherie Priest seemed a logical choice.

This novel is set during the Civil War in California, in this timeline the Civil War has gone on much longer than the history that we know. The main character is Blair Wilkes, a single mother, and the widow of a scientist that caused a horrible disaster. He created a machine to drill for gold, when testing it out he dug too deeply into the earth and released a terrible gas that causes things to rot and sickens people, killing them or turning them into "rotters".

The other central character is her son, Zeke. They are both outcasts because they are related to Leviticus Blue, the scientist responsible. Blair has not told her son about his father, and he becomes curious. Added to the shame of being related to the man that release the gas, many people believe that Zeke's grandfather, Blair's father, took a bribe from prisoners he held to release them before the gas hit the prison they were in. Mr. Wilkes releasing the prisoners added to their outcast status with the "respectable people", but earned them protection and respect among those that work in the underbelly of the city. He knows the only place he can find answers about his father, and grandfather, is in the walled off section of the city, so he enters this very dangerous place. Blair feels compelled to go after him.

The book starts a bit slow for me, but once they enter the walled city the pace really picks up. There are several moments when Blair and the other characters are being chased by zombies that are quite intense. The villain is a ego-maniacal, mad scientist which is always a fun addition. It was enjoyable, but it will never be one of my favorites. Though it was not marketed as a young adult book, it felt like one. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it would be a well written YA book. If you are looking for an easy, but enjoyable zombie/steampunk book give this a try.

The Scar Review

This review is long over due, sorry for the delay. My masters class on school law has taken up most of my time.

Though I hate to use the term, because of the often negative connotations, The Scar is a spin-off of Perdido Street Station. Reviewed here. Reading the original story isn't necessary to understand or enjoy this story; however, I highly recommend it.

Mieville opens not with the main character, but with a beautifully described scene depicting an underwater hunter and his trained hunting squid. This scene gives the audience a sneak peek as to what horrors of the deep await our cast of characters. His use of language, as usual, is magnificient.

Our central character is Bellis Coldwine. She is fleeing to a newly founded colony to avoid an unknown entanglement with the New Crobuzon government, with the intention of returning home once it is safe. Bellis lies about her ability to speak the language of a sea-faring people in order to get passage to the colony. Bellis is a complex character, but I admit there were times I found it hard to like her.

In addition to taking colonists to the new colony, the ship is transporting Remade prisoners. Remades are people that have been punished for crimes they committed by being altered physically, usually by having horrible mechanical parts added to their body or replacing a body part. In the course of the ship's travels to the colony they are abducted by a floating pirate city, Armada. It is run by the Lovers. Once you are a part of Armada, you are not allowed to leave. This results in much inner turmoil for Bellis.

There are many more interesting characters in the book, and you do find out how it links back to Perdido Street Station. The story is complex and well-written. There are dramatic sea battles and tender moments. I recommend this if you love language, pirate tales, fantasy stories, or steampunk. Enjoy.

A Review I Couldn't Resist

I wasn't going to write a review for Perdido Street Station by China Mieville, because of how busy life has been due to the start of the school year, and reading the next book for our book talk group. In the end, I couldn't resist.

This book is wonderful. It falls into the science fiction genre, under the sub-genre of steampunk. For those not familiar with the term, steampunk is mostly defined by a feel of the Victorian era and a mix of advanced technology with backwards technology or advanced technology run by steam power.

Set in New Crobuzon, this book is about a fringe scientist, Isaac Dan De Grimubulin, who is approached by a client, Yag, to restore his ability of flight after he has his wings removed as punishment for a "choice crime". We also get a view into his relationship with Lin, a kheperi. Lin is a sculpture artist, who acquires a mysterious client of her own. The story develops slowly and evolves into a complex web of events.

The most overwhelming (in a good way) aspect of this book is the masterful use of language employed by Mieville. His vocabulary is extremely rich and varied, even reading it for the second time I had to occasionally reach for a dictionary. The language lends an incredible texture to the tale. New Crobuzon is described in a way that makes you feel as if you could go there and touch the walls of Lin's apartment or the University buildings. It has the feel of an old English town, including horse-drawn (and other creature)taxis. Mieville uses words as a painters use hues and colors on a canvas, giving the reader layers and subtle details. You can tell by reading his works that he has a love of words. Even if science fiction isn't your usual genre, give this book a read, the sophistication of the writing makes it literature without question. If you are a writer, you will envy his vocabulary and weaving of words.