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A review by edebell
Pimp My Airship: A Naptown by Airship Novel by Maurice Broaddus
5.0
"It's time to change your nature." - (120 Degrees of) Knowledge Allah
I really enjoyed this book!
Maurice Broaddus captured the spirit of steampunk in a fascinating way through his take on steamfunk - taking the genre's juxtaposition of past, future, sensory overbigness, and the machine - with the common settings of darkness and color and rust and shine and drawing poignant and layered metaphors that are both deep and apparent at the same time.
In that same spirit, one of the protagonists, (120 Degrees of) Knowledge Allah is now one of my favorite characters. And there are so many single lines that are great; rarely do I stop and hold my finger over a line, just absorbing. And that happened over and over with this book. (Sometimes even with an audible mmmmmm.)
For readers of mine who are concerned with violence and horror and know that Apex is a horror publisher, there were some brief elements of graphic violence and steampunk horror, but nothing I couldn't handle. (The depictions of institutionalized oppression-related violence and mentions of specific incidents are generally more disturbing than the direct plot violence.) The storytelling can be abrupt in various ways, but that all felt in character with the genre and the world. This is a terrific book from a brilliant author and an impactful indie press. Worthy of your support as well as your enjoyment.
I really enjoyed Pimp my Airship, and recommend it to anyone who loves a unique story in general, or specifically a fresh take on steampunk, afrofuturism, or political speculative fiction. In addition to the story being fun and often funny in between being sad or enraging, it was also powerful: I finished the book eager to get out and do things. In fact, my mind is racing with things to say, but since you can go read the book and join in, yourself, I'll leave it there.
Thanks to the author and publisher for such a great adventure.
I really enjoyed this book!
Maurice Broaddus captured the spirit of steampunk in a fascinating way through his take on steamfunk - taking the genre's juxtaposition of past, future, sensory overbigness, and the machine - with the common settings of darkness and color and rust and shine and drawing poignant and layered metaphors that are both deep and apparent at the same time.
In that same spirit, one of the protagonists, (120 Degrees of) Knowledge Allah is now one of my favorite characters. And there are so many single lines that are great; rarely do I stop and hold my finger over a line, just absorbing. And that happened over and over with this book. (Sometimes even with an audible mmmmmm.)
For readers of mine who are concerned with violence and horror and know that Apex is a horror publisher, there were some brief elements of graphic violence and steampunk horror, but nothing I couldn't handle. (The depictions of institutionalized oppression-related violence and mentions of specific incidents are generally more disturbing than the direct plot violence.) The storytelling can be abrupt in various ways, but that all felt in character with the genre and the world. This is a terrific book from a brilliant author and an impactful indie press. Worthy of your support as well as your enjoyment.
I really enjoyed Pimp my Airship, and recommend it to anyone who loves a unique story in general, or specifically a fresh take on steampunk, afrofuturism, or political speculative fiction. In addition to the story being fun and often funny in between being sad or enraging, it was also powerful: I finished the book eager to get out and do things. In fact, my mind is racing with things to say, but since you can go read the book and join in, yourself, I'll leave it there.
Thanks to the author and publisher for such a great adventure.