Boneshaker

Swashbuckling middle-aged mom of a teen boy battles zombies in steampunk Seattle. What's not to love? Satisfying ending in that the battle with the Big Bad isn't easy but also isn't the book's main attraction and doesn't get dragged out.

I liked boneshaker. The pacing is good. The charachters are good.

Tbh the book could have done without the "zombification".

Tolerable. I'm not really into Steampunk, but this book doesn't dwell so much on weird technology. Also not a huge fan of zombie stories, but again, those aren't really the main focus.

Very surprised I didn't enjoy this. I though Ezekiel was quite possibly the most irritating character I have read in a really long time. I get that he is a teenager, but some of the things he said were just so blatantly stupid it felt like the author was very awkwardly trying to get the reader to understand something (I'm sure there's a word or two to describe what I mean, but whatever). I find this odd, because I read "Maplecroft" by this author and adored it. So this was definitely not my favorite.

I still think I'll try to read the others in the series, because I find steampunk fascinating. And I've heard the second book is really good.

This book was way more fun than I expected it to be. But I love the idea of a walled, secret steampunk Seattle full of zombies. I had some trouble keeping the supporting characters straight, and for a book with a lot of moments that are supposed to be tense and scary I never really felt pulled into the narrative. Nonetheless, I had low expectations, and it was a good rainy weekend afternoon read.

This will be a fairly short review as I have to admit I didn't finish the book. Heck, I didn't even make it halfway through it, sadly enough.

It tells the story of a woman and her son, as he tries to find out more about his father, inventor of the Bone-Shaking Drill Engine, in an alternative 1880s, which feature steam engines and dirigibles. Then engine went crazy, released some sort of gas that turned much of Seattle into a city of the undead.

16 years after these events, the boy decides (why? We're not sure) to head into the city to see their old house. The mother finds out and heads in to save him. Through a series of already hard to believe events, she can't use the same way in, so she gets to fly in.

Both characters made me think of the author - they are all in search for something. The boy for his old house, the woman for her son and the author for a story. I made it nearly halfway through and still not much had happened. Some exposition on the current state of things, but otherwise, the boy was wandering around and the mother wandering around somewhere else. I gave it a few tries and wanted to give it one more push, but life is too short and my To Read list is up around 800 books, so it was time to move on.

Read this for Sword and Laser. I liked Briar, she kicks ass and takes names because she has to, because she's been dealing with shit for a long time.

But steampunk leaves me underwhelmed, and I'm not a fan of zombies. So there's that. The story was good, the characters were excellent, the genre isn't one I'd pick up outside of a book club. But if steampunk and zombies are your thing, you'd probably like this one.

I find myself with very mixed feelings about Boneshaker. It has received some positive reviews and there are elements of it that I like a lot. But something is missing.

I find I'm getting a little tired of the Steampunk obsession and also of zombies, but their use in this book is actually quite effective. This is really quite a small story in terms of scale, but it is anchored by a believable and strong female character who is not the traditional steampunk heroine. For this reason alone I wanted to like it more.

But there are problems. The prologue is unnecessary stage setting. One of the characters is just a little too much like Darth Vader and the central mystery is undercut by the fact it either has to be someone we're repeatedly told it isn't or someone we've never heard of. Either option is underwhelming.

There are also a few too man convenient events connecting characters that really have no reason to be connected other than the author wanted it that way. And and ending which... isn't.

And as strong as the main protagonist is and as much as I liked her... I didn't like her son who was the other viewpoint character. There's a lot of world built up here that goes to waste. I feel like this could have been so much more.

What is certain is this: On the afternoon of January 2, 1863, something appalling burst out from the basement and tore a trail of havoc from the house on Denny Hill to the central business district, and then back home again. Few witnesses agree, and fewer still were granted a glimpse of the Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine. Its course took it under the earth and down the hills, gouging up the land beneath the luxurious homes of wealthy mariners and shipping magnates, under the muddy flats where sat the sprawling sawmill, and down along the corridors, cellars, and storage rooms of general stores, ladies’ notions shops, apothecaries, and yes … the banks.

Priest, Cherie (2010-04-01). Boneshaker (pp. 17-18). Macmillan. Kindle Edition.

Boneshaker is one of those novels that you just can't put down. From the opening premise through to the last paragraph I felt like I was right there with the characters as they moved through the city. And what great characters they were too! From the main characters of Briar and her son Zeke through to crew of the airships, everyone had personality and I felt like the author really put effort into developing each of them.

Like others, I found Briar's "secret" pretty obvious. Usually that would put me off a novel, but in this case there was enough detail and depth in the novel for it not to matter so much. And sure, there were a few little things that you could pick on but you'd find small problems in almost any novel.

On the whole it was a great and pleasurable read. I can't wait to read the next novel in the series!

�Steampunk. The first 20 or so pages are painfully depressed, but if you keep going you will get to the action-packed part.

Steampunk and Zombies in Civil War era Seattle. What's not to like?