Review – Molly’s Soap Parlor

Title: Molly’s Soap Parlor

Author: Stacey James

Genre: Steampunk

Publisher: Stacey James

Publish Date: March 18, 2012

Available at: Amazon

From Amazon:

Steam and soap powder rule in 1895 Whiskey Falls!

Spunky twenty one year old tinkering laundress, Molly Watkins, can clean more than just sap and coal stains out of overalls; she can clean house with anyone that sets an unwelcomed foot on her new establishment- Molly’s Soap Parlor. That would include scoundrels, thugs, and pirates.

But Molly has no time for twittering- not even with a handsome wilderness scout named Arrow. His elusive ways annoy her, yet together they create a chemistry that Molly cannot account for.

Meanwhile, Molly’s latest contraptions land her in a world of hurt. Gadgets, torpedoes and a modified Henry rifle quickly become a feisty laundress’ best friend in Whiskey Falls in the winter time.

Having narrowly escaped the foothills of North Dakota without her dog sled team, Molly made her way east to Whiskey Falls in order to enter her new contraption, a cycle fly rod, in an annual ice fishing derby. The rod is only one of Molly’s latest inventions. But not everyone is rooting for the independent Molly Watkins…

It turns out there is more than just soap brewing in Molly’s peculiar steam-powered laundry contraption.

Review:

For an 83 page novella, this story packs a lot of punch.  A lot happens in a short amount of time. It’s fun and fast-paced. The characters are lively and colorful. The contraptions are intriguing and are an integral part of the story.

The romance is sweet and heart-warming if somewhat predictable. Arrow was also a bit predictable and formulaic. Molly’s responses were just as predictable. I still enjoyed them though.

I thought it was strange for Molly to respond to Arrow with a “no worries”. There were other spots of dialogue I had a hard time getting a feel for.

I thought it was rather corny that her soap powder was so sought after. If you put aside that fact, it was an entertaining read. While I’m not quite certain this quite fits in the Steampunk genre as it takes place in the Wild West and this certainly is no literary gem, I”ll still look for the next in the series.

Review – The Whitechapel Gambit

Title: The Whitechapel Gambit

Author: Marcin Wrona

Genre: Steampunk

Publisher: Marcin Wrona

Publish date: April 24, 2012

Available at: Amazon 

From Amazon:

When the Haversham sun grinds to a halt before dawn, Daniel (or David) Squeak expects that he and his fellow sunwell workers are in for an awful day. What he doesn’t expect is that a furious foreman will be the very least of his problems. One gear turns another, and Squeak finds himself injured, sacked from the only work he’s ever known, and afraid for his very life.

The mysterious Sir Nicholas offers Squeak a way out of his predicament, but this knight is no saint. As Sir Nicholas slides around the pawns and bishops of a decades-old plot, it’s Squeak who finds himself in motion: from sunwell to manor, from soot-stained Haversham to wealthy Rawlish, and even to the deadly jungles of the surface.

Workhouse lads are resourceful. Everybody knows that. But the bloody alleys of Haversham are not nearly as dangerous as the glittering avenues of King’s Court.

Review:

I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.

This Steampunk adventure was true to its genre. It didn’t just have token automatons inserted into the plot as background. They were an integral part of the story. That’s one of the things I found so delightful about this story.

Another thing I found so wonderful about this story was the alternating viewpoints of young Squeak to older Sir Daniel, who are one and the same. You can see his growth and progression from a workhouse lad to a young man of quality. Through it all he remains loyal to those he loves and to those he holds in esteem.

The whole cast of characters were colorful and full of life. From his childhood friend, Bing to Sir Nicholas, his mentor. They were all vividly portrayed. Even the Robins, who served as police in their society, were a blast of fresh air.

The action in the story was non-stop. It was one tumble down a winding path down another. That was a definite page-turner to say the least.

Another page-turner was the way the society and the world in which they lived in worked. I would say the world building wasn’t as polished as it could have been but you definitely got the feeling of a grimy, soot-stained underworld teeming with life.

I would have liked there to have been more attention paid to the upper surface tribes, but I still got  a sense of who they were and what they were about. I still got enough of an understanding so that I wasn’t totally left unsatisfied.

When I was done with the book, I was left a bit bereft at the thought that this might just be a stand-alone. I would have loved to continue on with the adventures of Squeak and his companions!

Review – The 19 Dragons

Title: The 19 Dragons

Author: S.M. Reine

Genre: Steampunk

Publisher: S.M. Reine

Publish Date: July, 7 2011

Available at: Amazon

From Amazon:

DEAD GODS. WAR. AND THE END OF THE WORLD.

There are nineteen provinces in the Land held aloft by nineteen pillars. Above the earth there is sky, and nobody knows what goes below except the Nineteen Dragons.

That is all you need to know, but that is not all there is to be known.

The Device has been stolen and the godlike Dragons have been rendered mortal. Someone is murdering them one by one, and each death brings the world closer to its end. Unless the the Device is somehow restored to its deceased owner, the Dragons are doomed to destruction– and the human world will go with them.

Review:  (There are spoilers in this review.)

This is a strangely compelling story with its unusual formatting and odd cast of characters. There isn’t any one protagonist that truly seems to have stuck out until the end when Number Two saves the day along with her cousin dragon Number Five who is also  Number 19. Yes, that point is rather confusing.

Yet somehow it all works in favor of the novella. There are odd twists and turns at every corner of this story. It keeps the pace up and kept me engaged. There were dirigibles or air balloons and air gun ships. There were other automaton that weren’t well-described and I felt like they could have been to give the story more of a Steampunk flavor.

Otherwise I was very pleased with the way the story went. It flowed around the 19 dragons and their colorful tales. Each of them were unique and flavorful with their own unique characteristics. I don’t consider that an easy task when you consider there were 19 of them. Some of them passed more quickly then others. Some were given more attention then others. All were interesting in their own way.

I enjoyed the fantastical elements Reine included with her dragons. She kept them majestic and noble. Only deigning to don human vessels out of absolute necessity.

For such a short story I thought it was well done. The romance was more then a little rushed, but it was in keeping with the odd tenor of the whole tempo of the book. I have no real complaints about that.

All in all an enjoyable read.

Review – Timeless

Timeless 

by Gail Carriger

Alexia Tarabotti, Lady Maccon, has settled into domestic bliss. Of course, being Alexia, such bliss involves integrating werewolves into London High society, living in a vampire’s second best closet, and coping with a precocious toddler who is prone to turning supernatural willy-nilly. Even Ivy Tunstell’s acting troupe’s latest play, disastrous to say the least, cannot put a damper on Alexia’s enjoyment of her new London lifestyle.

Until, that is, she receives a summons from Alexandria that cannot be ignored. With husband, child, and Tunstells in tow, Alexia boards a steamer to cross the Mediterranean. But Egypt may hold more mysteries than even the indomitable Lady Maccon can handle. What does the vampire Queen of the Alexandria Hive really want from her? Why is the God-Breaker Plague suddenly expanding? And how has Ivy Tunstell suddenly become the most popular actress in all the British Empire?

I was sad to learn that this is the last book of the series, but if ever was there a series to go out with a bang then this one was it! There are surprises in store in the end! I won’t go into them for fear of spoiling the story, but I had a really fun time.

Prudence, Alexia’s child, was adorable and I’m not generally a fan of little people. She was precocious without being bratty. She also had intriguing powers and idiosyncrasies.  It was quite enjoyable just to read about her. I think that Carriger is doing a series about Prudence sometime in the future and that should be fun.

Alexia was her indubitable self, strutting out her irrefutable logic in the face of each crisis at every turn. Even if it was done before I didn’t get tired of reading about it.

Biffy was further developed in this story and how I loved that he was. He was always one of my favorite characters. I won’t go into those developments. I think it’s best I leave those surprises to those who will read the book unsaid.

This was a great read. It had me wondering what on earth was going on and where the story was going. It kept me reading until the late hours of the night, anxious to know what would happen next. It had me laughing. It had my heart in my throat. All in all, a really wonderful book.

Gears of Wonderland

Gears of Wonderland

by Jason G. Anderson

(also available in paperback and on NOOK)

James Riggs falls in a rabbit hole and emerges into a Wonderland years after Alice’s time. Many changes have occurred, one of which is the introduction of Victorian steam machinery.

Another change is the Knave of Hearts is the ruler of Wonderland. Under his cruel regime we find Kara, the Mad Hatter’s daughter and a leading member of the rebellion.

Kara and James find themselves on a journey to find out what the significance is of a tattoo on James’ arm has and what it means to the people of Wonderland.  The adventures they find themselves in is a wild romp and the fun you’ll have with them won’t disappoint.

The interplay between Kara and James is rather predictable, but sweet nonetheless. James is a character that I related to and grew to admire. He wasn’t a swashbuckling hero, but he did show bravery in his own modern way.

The melding of Victorian Steampunk and Wonderland was novel and well done. The way Anderson fast-forwarded Wonderland several years in the future was a great way to take a new approach to an old-time classic.

This was a fast-paced, easy to read book. If you’re looking for a fun story, this is it.

4 of 5 stars.

The Pearl Savage and Savage Blood

The Pearl Savage

Savage Series

by Tamara Rose Blodgett

(also available in paperback)

The Pearl Savage has two cultures. The sphere-dwellers and the clan-dwellers.

A cataclysm separated the two cultures. This restricted the sphere-dwellers in a force field that would shield them from what they believed would be toxic air for 140 years.  The clan-dwellers survived the cataclysm and live outside the spheres in the Outside.

The sphere-world is very steampunk in essence. From the force field that encases their world in a sphere to their machinery, everything runs on steam.  Their culture is very Victorian as well.

Clara is the Princess of the Ohio Sphere. Her mother Queen Ada is a drunken despot bent on marrying her to the sadistic Prince Frederic.

Within the clan-dwellers, there is a group called the Band. They are the protectors of the tribe. They kidnap Clara in the hopes of gaining diplomacy with the sphere-dwellers and ultimately rescue her from the Prince.

We find Clara and other female characters needing to be rescued from dire situations time and time again. I found this exasperating to say the least.

Nonetheless, I found the plot and the concept of the book novel enough to keep me engrossed within the digital pages. Blodgett’s style of writing is easy to keep pace with. Her characters, which may make me want to smack them at times, are still sympathetic and likable. For these reasons I couldn’t put the book down.

4 of 5 stars.

The Savage Blood

Savage Series

by Tamara Rose Blodgett

(also available in paperback)

In the second book of the Savage Series, Clara travels alongside Matthew and Bracus to Cape Cod.

Again, we find the females of the group needing to be rescued time and time again. Again, I grew weary of this theme but I found myself entranced by the overall plot of the series and the book so I read on.

I also grew tired of the number of romantic interests that waxed and waned in Clara’s horizon. I felt it was overdone and contrived.

Yet, I like the easy style of writing Blodgett has. It was easy to pass the time and before I knew it I had finished the book.

She also introduced new elements to the plot that intrigued me. I won’t say what they are as they’d be spoilers. I think spoilers are anathema.

Be warned, the book ends on a terrible cliffhanger, but it does have me looking forward to the next installment. That makes this book a success, despite it’s pitfalls.

4 of 5 stars