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pers's review
5.0
Disclaimer: I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Wow! And wow again! And then wow some more!
I was already madly in love with Elizabeth (also known as Edwin) Barnabus, the gender fluid circus-born orphan and intelligence gatherer of Duncan's first trilogy: The Fall of the Gaslit Empire. But now I'm even more madly in love. Elizabeth's best friend, Julia Swain, is flying to America to join her new husband, and her airship is shot down somewhere over the Atlantic - which ought to be impossible because the International Patent Office, chief law-maker and controller of the Gaslit Empire, has outlawed the sort of weapons that would make it possible to shoot down an airship flying at that altitude.
Elizabeth can't accept the loss of her friend as a certain thing, so she persuades her lover, John Farthing of the Patent Office, to bring her the reports relating to the loss of Julia's airship, then she goes to the Patent Office itself to volunteer herself as an investigator - surprisingly, they allow her to go, and she boards an Atlantic whaling ship in the guise of her 'brother' Edwin (her male persona, adopted when a woman wouldn't be able to act) - she is eventually able to establish just what happened to Julia's airship, and a number of others, plus a lost ship - which leads her to the matriarchal nation known as 'Freedom Island' (which is, in fact, a conglomeration of ships that have been lashed together to create the Island).
Undergoing various 'tests' posed by the 'Queen of All Crows', Mother Rebecca, Elizabeth is eventually reunited with Julia, and there follow a series of escapades and excursions across the wide Sargasso Sea, before the pair, along with Elizabeth's young friend, Tinker, a former circus boy himself, eventually make landfall in America.
The pace of this novel is rapid and energetic, and Elizabeth's journeyings introduce us to a whole raft (pun TOTALLY intended! Heh!) of new characters, while keeping us in company with Julia and Tinker. The depiction of the Sargassans - the women of Freedom Island - isn't simplistic nor overwrought, indeed, it's sympathetic and depicts a wide variety of women who live and breathe on the page.
This was a fantastic opener for Duncan's new series, and I'm only slightly annoyed that I don't already have the next book on hand!
Wow! And wow again! And then wow some more!
I was already madly in love with Elizabeth (also known as Edwin) Barnabus, the gender fluid circus-born orphan and intelligence gatherer of Duncan's first trilogy: The Fall of the Gaslit Empire. But now I'm even more madly in love. Elizabeth's best friend, Julia Swain, is flying to America to join her new husband, and her airship is shot down somewhere over the Atlantic - which ought to be impossible because the International Patent Office, chief law-maker and controller of the Gaslit Empire, has outlawed the sort of weapons that would make it possible to shoot down an airship flying at that altitude.
Elizabeth can't accept the loss of her friend as a certain thing, so she persuades her lover, John Farthing of the Patent Office, to bring her the reports relating to the loss of Julia's airship, then she goes to the Patent Office itself to volunteer herself as an investigator - surprisingly, they allow her to go, and she boards an Atlantic whaling ship in the guise of her 'brother' Edwin (her male persona, adopted when a woman wouldn't be able to act) - she is eventually able to establish just what happened to Julia's airship, and a number of others, plus a lost ship - which leads her to the matriarchal nation known as 'Freedom Island' (which is, in fact, a conglomeration of ships that have been lashed together to create the Island).
Undergoing various 'tests' posed by the 'Queen of All Crows', Mother Rebecca, Elizabeth is eventually reunited with Julia, and there follow a series of escapades and excursions across the wide Sargasso Sea, before the pair, along with Elizabeth's young friend, Tinker, a former circus boy himself, eventually make landfall in America.
The pace of this novel is rapid and energetic, and Elizabeth's journeyings introduce us to a whole raft (pun TOTALLY intended! Heh!) of new characters, while keeping us in company with Julia and Tinker. The depiction of the Sargassans - the women of Freedom Island - isn't simplistic nor overwrought, indeed, it's sympathetic and depicts a wide variety of women who live and breathe on the page.
This was a fantastic opener for Duncan's new series, and I'm only slightly annoyed that I don't already have the next book on hand!
natyjaeger's review
4.0
I literally gave squeak when I was accepted for this book! I love steampunk and I had read the series that precedes this one (The Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire, review to come!) and loved it so much! This author doesn't get enough love in my opinion!
This is the story of Elizabeth Barnabus, a detective, who detests the Patent Office for the role they played in the ruin of her family. In this novel, she must however learn to work with them when airplanes and ships start disappearing under a new menace that is unseen. Her friend Julia was in one of those airplanes - and now Elizabeth will do whatever it takes to find out if she is dead and what happened to her airplane. And for that, she must become a spy.
I love Elizabeth and Julia and their friendship is so nice to read! I devoured this novel in a few days and really loved it. Rod Duncan's writing style is very pleasant to read, descriptive but not overly much, and his characters are very unique! I won't go into the plot a lot not to spoil it, but it was very creative and I liked this novel even more than I liked the previous series. I'd say it's better to read The Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire to get the context of Elizabeth's life and her relationship with Julia, with John Farthing, with the Patent Office, but I think it also works by itself.
This story takes place mostly in ships, which I thought was very interesting! The technologies used were intriguing but not described in an overwhelmingly way, so that if you're not a big sci-fi fan, I think you'd still enjoy it! There's adventure, pirates, lots of women, great characters and a smart main character. What else do I need to say? I recommend this novel highly!
This is the story of Elizabeth Barnabus, a detective, who detests the Patent Office for the role they played in the ruin of her family. In this novel, she must however learn to work with them when airplanes and ships start disappearing under a new menace that is unseen. Her friend Julia was in one of those airplanes - and now Elizabeth will do whatever it takes to find out if she is dead and what happened to her airplane. And for that, she must become a spy.
I love Elizabeth and Julia and their friendship is so nice to read! I devoured this novel in a few days and really loved it. Rod Duncan's writing style is very pleasant to read, descriptive but not overly much, and his characters are very unique! I won't go into the plot a lot not to spoil it, but it was very creative and I liked this novel even more than I liked the previous series. I'd say it's better to read The Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire to get the context of Elizabeth's life and her relationship with Julia, with John Farthing, with the Patent Office, but I think it also works by itself.
This story takes place mostly in ships, which I thought was very interesting! The technologies used were intriguing but not described in an overwhelmingly way, so that if you're not a big sci-fi fan, I think you'd still enjoy it! There's adventure, pirates, lots of women, great characters and a smart main character. What else do I need to say? I recommend this novel highly!
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