These books are novelizations of the webcomic Girl Genius. I met the Foglios at Ohayocon some years ago. It was a steampunk theme that year, and I think they go to every steampunk thing ever to advertise. It worked. I bought the first novel and the omnibus, which incidentally covered the same arc.

Reading both does help in my opinion. You get the visuals from he comics, but the books give a lot more detail.

As to this book, it is a sequel, and reading the first I would recommend. The writing won't win any awards, but it's solid, and the tale is light enough that I don't get bogged down with my own feelings.

The webcomic at least, is free.