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thomasroche's review against another edition
3.0
This is really not a very good novel, but it's important historically because it's the precursor to the "boy inventor" movement, a movement that predates even its most famous character, Tom Swift. It's worth reading, really, only if you really like to know the historical context of such things. I found it amusing, and I'm very fond of it. But it's not an especially good book.
christytidwell's review against another edition
2.0
This is by no means a well-written or significant book--except in its historical significance. It is generally recognized as the first American science fiction dime novel and this fact is the only reason anyone ever reads it any more, I do believe.
It is an "Edisonade," a story of an inventor and his inventions, in this case Johnny Brainerd, a teenage dwarf who invents a steam man (basically a steam engine on legs instead of a railroad track or a river) and takes it out to the Western prairies with three men who are looking for gold. They find their gold and battle Indians before finally making it back home safe, sound, and wealthier than before. This is an adventure story before anything else, though. More attention is paid to the men's battles with the Indians (described in extremely racist terms, of course, given the time and place of the book's writing) than to the creation of the steam man and the technology involved therein.
It is an "Edisonade," a story of an inventor and his inventions, in this case Johnny Brainerd, a teenage dwarf who invents a steam man (basically a steam engine on legs instead of a railroad track or a river) and takes it out to the Western prairies with three men who are looking for gold. They find their gold and battle Indians before finally making it back home safe, sound, and wealthier than before. This is an adventure story before anything else, though. More attention is paid to the men's battles with the Indians (described in extremely racist terms, of course, given the time and place of the book's writing) than to the creation of the steam man and the technology involved therein.
avalinahsbooks's review against another edition
1.0
I know it was written in 1868, but it completely dehumanizes Native Americans, has awful nationalist stereotypes and weird ideas about disability. I also know that those were the widespread notions at the time, but perhaps we should just close the page and leave those notions in the aforementioned century. Yeah, the steam man is cool for its time - but the cool doesn't outweigh the very uncool problematic parts. I feel compromised and ashamed by merely having read it :/ awful.
I got this book on NetGalley in exchange for my honest review, and as you can see, receiving it for free has not affected my opinion.
I got this book on NetGalley in exchange for my honest review, and as you can see, receiving it for free has not affected my opinion.
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