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A review by e_curran
Gossamer Wing by Delphine Dryden
4.0
Disclaimer: I was given a free ARC through Goodreads First Reads.
Gossamer Wing was an enjoyable book, full of espionage, wit, and romance. (Note: romance in this case means explicit sex scenes, so if that's not your style you may want to skip.) The main characters are fairly fleshed-out; the world-building is intriguing; the dialogue and descriptive passages are both engaging.
Charlotte, the heroine, is the most interesting of the characters. Her husband, a spy for England in France, was killed prior to the beginning of this novel (it's on the back cover--not a spoiler). I don't recall ever coming across a novel of this genre where the female lead is a widow--the male lead being a widower, sure, fairly common. It adds an interesting layer to Charlotte, and to her motivations & relationship with Dexter. Additionally, the impetus of the story is Charlotte's ability to pilot a small dirigible--the titular Gossamer Wing--something only she can successfully do as a lighter-weight person.
The universe Gossamer Wing takes place in is fascinating: standard steampunk vaguely Victorian/Edwardian feel to the society, but the United States are not an individual country. Instead, North America is a dominion of England (possibly the United Kingdom) still, and Charlotte & Dexter are both titled. England & France were, until recently, at war (shocker!), and the main characters are involved in espionage for the Crown. I look forward to reading further about the world Dryden has created--we only know that Europe is referred to as "Europa" and that France is still pretty much the same, but nothing of the other countries. Is there still Germany & Italy? Did the Ottoman Empire take over the rest of the continent? What about other former European colonies in the "New World"?
There were a few complaints I had with this novel. Charlotte is a very petite blonde, and Dexter is described as a "bear" with "paws" and surprising dexterity/carefulness for his size...cue the yawns. While Charlotte's size actually does bear on the story (see above), it's still pretty standard fare for romance novels, and I wish Dryden had taken a different route. The other primary issue was the characterizations of Dubois & Martin--they came across as fairly flat, and their motivations were what they seemed, no interesting twists or hidden agendas.
Overall, I liked Gossamer Wing and look forward to reading not only more in this series, but also other work Dryden has done.
I recommend this to fans of steampunk, especially authors such as Meljean Brook & Gail Carriger; romance and adventure; and comedy of manners.
Gossamer Wing was an enjoyable book, full of espionage, wit, and romance. (Note: romance in this case means explicit sex scenes, so if that's not your style you may want to skip.) The main characters are fairly fleshed-out; the world-building is intriguing; the dialogue and descriptive passages are both engaging.
Charlotte, the heroine, is the most interesting of the characters. Her husband, a spy for England in France, was killed prior to the beginning of this novel (it's on the back cover--not a spoiler). I don't recall ever coming across a novel of this genre where the female lead is a widow--the male lead being a widower, sure, fairly common. It adds an interesting layer to Charlotte, and to her motivations & relationship with Dexter. Additionally, the impetus of the story is Charlotte's ability to pilot a small dirigible--the titular Gossamer Wing--something only she can successfully do as a lighter-weight person.
The universe Gossamer Wing takes place in is fascinating: standard steampunk vaguely Victorian/Edwardian feel to the society, but the United States are not an individual country. Instead, North America is a dominion of England (possibly the United Kingdom) still, and Charlotte & Dexter are both titled. England & France were, until recently, at war (shocker!), and the main characters are involved in espionage for the Crown. I look forward to reading further about the world Dryden has created--we only know that Europe is referred to as "Europa" and that France is still pretty much the same, but nothing of the other countries. Is there still Germany & Italy? Did the Ottoman Empire take over the rest of the continent? What about other former European colonies in the "New World"?
There were a few complaints I had with this novel. Charlotte is a very petite blonde, and Dexter is described as a "bear" with "paws" and surprising dexterity/carefulness for his size...cue the yawns. While Charlotte's size actually does bear on the story (see above), it's still pretty standard fare for romance novels, and I wish Dryden had taken a different route. The other primary issue was the characterizations of Dubois & Martin--they came across as fairly flat, and their motivations were what they seemed, no interesting twists or hidden agendas.
Overall, I liked Gossamer Wing and look forward to reading not only more in this series, but also other work Dryden has done.
I recommend this to fans of steampunk, especially authors such as Meljean Brook & Gail Carriger; romance and adventure; and comedy of manners.