Scan barcode
A review by rui_leite
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
4.0
A good setting, advanced but surprisingly plausible steam-based technology, a bunch of solid and interesting characters, and a decent plot...oh, yes, and a few zeppelin-pirates and zombies thrown in to add some flavour...this seems to be what you need in order to have a good Steampunk story. At least that was what Miss Cherie Priest used here and it worked.
Boneshaker is, in fact, a very well achieved story, independently of its genre.
But, from the very beginning, you could see that the author knew, quite well, what she was doing as she managed to dose every ingredient with care.
The first chapter sets you up nicely in the world, with a prologue taken from an alternate history book that reminded me of Verne at his best. You very much had a normal nineteen century Seattle with an added incredible drilling machine, the Boneshaker, that causes much chaos and mayhem on its inaugural drill, partially destroying the city and unleashing a strange gas, “the Blight”, that brings about, amongst other things, a mini-zombie-apocalypse. So, sixteen years later, the city centre is walled up in order to keep the rotters and the gas in, while everyone else lives (or survives) outside, in the outskirts.
And yes, Miss Priest manages to make you read all this and not think, for one second, it might be just a wee bit over the top, which only shows she did it well.
An important part in all of this mix is the retro-futuristic technology that’s present throughout the book, not only the titular Boneshaker, but a series of other devices and machines, powered by steam, electricity or gas. Once again I was glad to see Miss Priest did not make them feel glued on, throwing inventions just because they might look “cool”, but instead they appeared organically, revealed to the reader just when the plot called for them (and they indeed looked and sounded cool nevertheless). Really, the amount of detail and the care with which these were shown are two of the strongest points in this book.
And then we have the characters. Boneshaker had a pretty good set of them indeed. For a start, something that I enjoyed very much, was there was never any lack of strong females, as Briar (a caring, but never soppy mother), Lucy (my favourite, I have to say - a one armed, strong, imposing, bartender) and “The Princess” (a mysterious old lady that kicks rear ends) are more than enough to make this book worth reading. Zeke, Briar’s teenage son, is sometimes as silly and pig-headed as any teenager should be, but he never becomes annoying. (When dealing with teenage characters that is, indeed, something to be admired.) And finally we have a strong and convincing antagonist in Minnericht, the half-crazed inventor who remains off page most of the time, but always, makes his presence felt, and has a good mystery to back him up. When he does turn up, he does not disappoint.
The only thing that didn’t work so well in all of this, to me at least, was “Briar’s great big secret”, quite frankly it was rather easy to guess, but the way it plays out in the end makes it a very minor flaw and absolutely forgivable.
So, yes, after having read Boneshaker, I may say that I understand the steampunk genre a bit better and that I can see now, clearly, how it can be used in written form to a very good effect.
Well done that, Miss Priest!
(And also, I have to say, thank you Adeselna for letting me know and borrow this gem!)
Boneshaker is, in fact, a very well achieved story, independently of its genre.
But, from the very beginning, you could see that the author knew, quite well, what she was doing as she managed to dose every ingredient with care.
The first chapter sets you up nicely in the world, with a prologue taken from an alternate history book that reminded me of Verne at his best. You very much had a normal nineteen century Seattle with an added incredible drilling machine, the Boneshaker, that causes much chaos and mayhem on its inaugural drill, partially destroying the city and unleashing a strange gas, “the Blight”, that brings about, amongst other things, a mini-zombie-apocalypse. So, sixteen years later, the city centre is walled up in order to keep the rotters and the gas in, while everyone else lives (or survives) outside, in the outskirts.
And yes, Miss Priest manages to make you read all this and not think, for one second, it might be just a wee bit over the top, which only shows she did it well.
An important part in all of this mix is the retro-futuristic technology that’s present throughout the book, not only the titular Boneshaker, but a series of other devices and machines, powered by steam, electricity or gas. Once again I was glad to see Miss Priest did not make them feel glued on, throwing inventions just because they might look “cool”, but instead they appeared organically, revealed to the reader just when the plot called for them (and they indeed looked and sounded cool nevertheless). Really, the amount of detail and the care with which these were shown are two of the strongest points in this book.
And then we have the characters. Boneshaker had a pretty good set of them indeed. For a start, something that I enjoyed very much, was there was never any lack of strong females, as Briar (a caring, but never soppy mother), Lucy (my favourite, I have to say - a one armed, strong, imposing, bartender) and “The Princess” (a mysterious old lady that kicks rear ends) are more than enough to make this book worth reading. Zeke, Briar’s teenage son, is sometimes as silly and pig-headed as any teenager should be, but he never becomes annoying. (When dealing with teenage characters that is, indeed, something to be admired.) And finally we have a strong and convincing antagonist in Minnericht, the half-crazed inventor who remains off page most of the time, but always, makes his presence felt, and has a good mystery to back him up. When he does turn up, he does not disappoint.
The only thing that didn’t work so well in all of this, to me at least, was “Briar’s great big secret”, quite frankly it was rather easy to guess, but the way it plays out in the end makes it a very minor flaw and absolutely forgivable.
So, yes, after having read Boneshaker, I may say that I understand the steampunk genre a bit better and that I can see now, clearly, how it can be used in written form to a very good effect.
Well done that, Miss Priest!
(And also, I have to say, thank you Adeselna for letting me know and borrow this gem!)