Category: Book Reviews – Fiction

A Study in Emerald

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Creator: Neil Gaiman (author and narrator)

Media Type: Audiobook

Audience: Teen+

Summary: When the most perplexing crimes are committed in London, Scotland Yard calls in their best man: Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective. The only one of his trade, Mr. Holmes’s most enticing cases are chronicled by his long time friend, a retired army doctor. This case is perhaps the most enticing of all. A member of the royal house has been slain in a seedy room in one of London’s least fashionable neighborhoods. However, in this detail rich and elegant alternate history retelling of A Study in Scarlet the Royal House is not Windsor: it isn’t even human.

Bottom Line: In a seamless blend of Doyle, Lovecraft, and his own signature dialog style Mr. Gaiman has created 45 minutes of pure joy. While you do not have to be familiar with Lovecraftian lore to follow the narrative, fans of the mythos will greatly appreciate the thoughtful inclusion of the Old Ones into this classic tale you think you know.

Find It:

Own it on Audible

Rent it through your local library on OneDrive

Fun Facts:

Won the 2004 Hugo Award for Best Short Story

A PDF text copy is also available for free on Gaiman’s website, stylized as a Victorian newspaper complete with advertisements

Coming soon- a graphic novel adaption from Dark Horse comics, pre-order it here!

The story was also adapted into a board game. 

The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack

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Title: The strange affair of Spring Heeled Jack (Burton & Swinburne #1)

Author: Mark Hodder

Age/Audience: 15+

Genre/Style: Alternative history, time travel

Read If You Like the idea of a Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes cross-over.

The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack Audiobook
Book Cover

Summary:

Sir Francis Burton, famous explorer, is all set to participate in a heated public debate with his former partner. The debate is intended to not only settle the question of where the Nile River originates, but also repair Burton’s tattered reputation. Instead, Burton is thrust into the search for a man he thought was only a myth: Spring Heeled Jack. Acting as an agent of the king in an alt-history London filled with motorized carriages, genetically modified parakeets who act as messengers,  and on the brink of all out culture war between the Technologists (eugenicists) and the Libertines Burton runs into a plethora of Victorian characters including (but not limited to) Charles Darwin, Oscar Wilde, Florence Nightingale, and notorious boogeyman Spring Heeled Jack himself.

 

Bottom Line:

Personally, I rated this book a 2.5/5. The Audible narrator was spectacular and I loved the overall theme of the book. However, I am not a fan of time-travel. Placed right in the middle of the book is a semi-separate time-travel almost-short story explaining how SHJ came to be in Victorian London from the year 2202 which I felt really pulled too far from the Steampunk I came to the book for. I also felt the book could have used a better general editor. Meeting a few intentional historical personalities is fun, but meeting everyone and the kitchen sink becomes cumbersome.

 

Find It:

Goodreads Review

Powell’s City of Books 

I highly recommend checking out the audiobook on Audible

Steel & Sky

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Author: Ren Cummins
Series: Tales of the Dead Man

Age/Audience: Tweens

Genre/Style: Adventure

Read If You Like: Steampunk that reads like fantasy, Kenneth Oppel’s Airborn

Summary:

When an airship captain, a blind man, a girl child, and an adorable creature called Trill arrive at Firnis Eld to steal a corpse nothing seems amiss. The arrive in port via the airship Lamprey just in time of the big festival, the perfect distraction. They have tools, and they have a prophecy to guide them, they have a plan. That is until the find out that corpse isn’t dead. Perhaps things will go anything but according to plan.

The world in which Firnis Eld exists is full of steampunk universe, however that universe is not to my personal taste. While the technology is impressive, I found myself remembering all elements of the story except that technology. Each steampunk element or plot point always seems to be paired with (and often over shadowed by) a biological creation or cultural point that make a much bigger impact than the tech in the background. The cultural and biological pieces in Steel & Sky are creative and pleasantly complex, however that’s not what I look for when I read steampunk: I prefer science-fiction to science/fantasy.

 

Bottom Line:

While perhaps not my personal favorite item promoted on this website, it has inspired me to seek out Mr. Cummins’ other steampunk work, Chronicles of Aesirium, to see if those are written more to my taste. I do suggest this book for tween or HiLo teen readers who might find traditional steampunk in Victorian English too stuffy. It’s also a great suggestion to bring fantasy readers into the genre.

Links:

Read about it on Goodreads

Find it on Amazon

Also a huge THANK YOU to Mr. Cummins for gifting me a review copy of the book. I enjoyed it!

Have your own thoughts on the book? Share them in the comments bellow or via Twitter @Steamlib and @rencummins

Steampunk Coloring & Activity Book

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Rainy weekend plan
Rainy weekend plan

Title: Steampunk Coloring and Activity Book
Author: Phoebe Longhi

Age/Audience: All

Genre/Style: Activity and coloring books

Read If You Like: Coloring, word search, 10 minute activities

Summary:

Though aimed at youth this steam-themed paperback activity book appeals to anyone with a box of crayons at hand. Connect-the-dot images, word searches, and ‘complete the picture’ style pages are then paired with cooking recipes and riddles. This variety allows the thin volume to appeal to a wide audience, all with a combined steampunk/anime style.

Example page
Example coloring page

Bottom Line:

Great for a rainy day or travel activity for any age, artistic skill entirely optional.

Find It:

 

A Cat’s Steampunk Alphabet

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Author: G. D. Falksen and Evelyn Kriete
Series: –

Age/Audience: Mixed audience, children will enjoy the variety of cats and non-traditional alphabet rhymes, adults will enjoy the throw back to turn-of-the-century English culture.

Genre/Style: Alphabet book

Read If You Like: Louis Wain style cats, rhymes, Victorian British satire

 

Summary:

H is for hydraulic, I for iron, and J for jingo in this abecedary that has as much appeal for grown-ups as for young ones. Styled after Louis Wain’s illustrations the simple rhymes offer steampunk vocabulary (dirigible, gear, timepiece) paired with satire on Victorian culture (xenophobia, jingo, zenith). This short book offers a lot to all ages as a platform for discussion, an interpretation of illustration, and an introduction to all things steam.

 

Bottom Line: The perfect mix of cute and clever, a must read.

Read More:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13589913-a-cats-steampunk-alphabet

Nook Book: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-cats-steampunk-alphabet-gd-falksen/1110378155?ean=9781434448880

Steamduck Learns to Fly!

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Author: Emilie P Bush and Illustrated by William Kevin Petty
Series: Coal City Stories

Age/Audience: children, early readers

Genre/Style: Prose rhyming picture book with intermediate level sentences

Read If You Like: Existential crisis in children’s literature, ducks, overcoming obstacles

 

Summary:

Steamduck has always been happy floating around rivers and lakes, but when he sees a gaggle of geese fly over head he knows something is missing that makes it clear he isn’t a real duck. With the help of his tinker creator Otter, they begin investigating the best ways to get Steamduck up into the air. They try balloons and other ways, but nothing seems to get him off the ground. Finally, after several tries, the tinker has a surprise for Steamduck that shows him all rewards mean more when you truly earn them.

 

Bottom Line: Lovely simply colored illustrations paired with a heart-wrenchingly sweet story make this story a delight. However, it should be noted, the meter is very forced, but it does keep young and old readers focused.

 

Links: http://www.amazon.com/Steamduck-Learns-FLY-Steampunk-Picture/dp/0984902813

Steampunk Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

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Author: Mary Shelley, Illustrations by Zdenko Bašić and Manuel Sumberac
Series: –

Age/Audience: Late teens

Genre/Style: Classic horror

Read If You Like: Frankenstein, Victorian Monsters, Classics

Summary:

The story – Victor Frankenstein is an up and coming scientist from a Geneva aristocratic family. After the death of his mother from scarlet fever, he is inspired to finish his studies so he can return to Geneva and marry his childhood sweetheart Elizabeth and complete his family once again. While at school Victor becomes obsessed with natural philosophy, and the notion that he could do the unthinkable, give life back to the dead. After months of study and midnight experiments he finally manages to create his masterpiece. But genius isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and soon things are far beyond Frankenstein’s control. As the death toll grows, is there anything that can be done to stop The Monster?

The Adaptation – I had a hard time deciding how I felt about this particular edition of Frankenstein. Given the heft of the book, and the obvious intention for it to be a steampunk adaptation through the inclusion of new illustration, not modification of the text I expected a lot more. Shelley’s original story is presented in half filled pages paired with too small illustrations too far in between. The kicker, though, is the illustrations are barely steampunk. They are filled with gears and goggles, but nothing functional and nothing in detail. I had very high hopes and this simply didn’t meet them. The cover, however, is fantastic to look at. If only the insides were as intriguing.

 

Bottom Line:

Not worth the weight. If you want a fantastically steampunk illustrated Frankenstein look into Gris Grimly’s Frankenstein.

Read More:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19978286-steampunk

Find It:

http://www.worldcat.org/title/steampunk-mary-shelleys-frankenstein/oclc/864545382

Lady Mechanika

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Author: Joe Benitez
Series: Comic series, 3 volumes to date

Age/Audience: Teens and Adults equally

Genre/Style: Comic serial, mystery, supernatural

Read If You Like: Mechanics mixed with demonology, strong females, dark edgy comic styles

 

Summary:

The tabloids call her Lady Mechanika, but she doesn’t know what to call herself. Part female serial killer survivor, part mechanical-body-parts experiment Mechanika roams the streets of Victorian London hoping that solving unusual cases might give her insight to her previous life. When a mechanic-demon is found roaming the streets, Mechanika hopes he can answer her questions. But when weapons manufacturer Blackpool gets involved in the hunt, things get much more complicated, and Mechanika will have to do what she does best: kick some ass.

Bottom Line: An action filled comic with creative, pure Steampunk art hosted online with a great in-browser reader.

 

Read More: http://www.joebenitez.com/mechanika.htm

Find It: https://www.comixology.com/Lady-Mechanika-Vol-1/comics-series/4721 (PS Vol. 0 is FREE, the rest only $1.99 each)

Steampunk (2008 Anthology)

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Author: Ann & Jeff Vandermeer, Editors
Series: Followed by Steampunk II

Age/Audience: Adults

Genre/Style: Varies by story

Read If You Like: Short stories, a lot of variety, light-steampunk, or introductions to authors

 

Summary:

This collection of stories is, eclectic, to say the least. Styles range from Western Mysteries, excerpts from larger adventure stories, short sci-fi, and some non-fiction essays. However, it’s blessing is also it’s curse. While the stories range offers a lot to readers who are wholly unfamiliar with the genre, tried and true steampunk fans may be frustrated at the lack of flying machines, automatons, altered costuming, and general “can do” spirit steampunk is known for. With the exception of a few stories, most pieces in the collection are very steampunk light, meaning they have very few steam elements, or those elements aren’t spot lighted in the story over all.

Bottom Line: While the stories are interesting and well written, with the exception of Lansdale’s piece that reads as if it was written by a prepubescent boy, they aren’t focused enough for me to recommend this as a preferred steampunk collection.

 

Read More, including a full author list: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2246092.Steampunk

Find It:

http://www.worldcat.org/title/steampunk/oclc/182733030&referer=brief_results

Gris Grimly’s Frankenstein

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Author: Mary Shelley & Gris Grimly
Series: –

Age/Audience: Teens and Adults, 15+

Genre/Style: Graphic novel, horror

Read If You Like: Frankenstein, Victorian Monsters, supernatural with a little bit of horror, graphic novels

 

Summary:

The story – Victor Frankenstein is an up and coming scientist from a Geneva aristocratic family. After the death of his mother from scarlet fever, he is inspired to finish his studies so he can return to Geneva and marry his childhood sweetheart Elizabeth and complete his family once again. While at school Victor becomes obsessed with natural philosophy, and the notion that he could do the unthinkable, give life back to the dead. After months of study and midnight experiments he finally manages to create his masterpiece. But genius isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and soon things are far beyond Frankenstein’s control. As the death toll grows, is there anything that can be done to stop The Monster?

Gris Grimly’s Adaptation – This is one of the purest adaptations I have ever seen. Instead of altering Mary Shelley’s original text, Grimly streamlines it. By pairing Shelley’s scenes with his own Steampunk/Gothic cross over style makes the text accessible to a whole new audience. Readers aren’t confronted with huge blocks of early Victorian language, instead they see bright red script letters, comic-style block image dialog, and a touching rendition of the Creature’s story – a piece of the novel often excluded in adaptations. Five stars, highly recommended for Frankenstein lovers, comic lovers, Steampunk fans, or anyone who will appreciate Shelley’s classic text with streamlined approachability.

 

Bottom Line: Five stars, a beautiful book filled with the original text that made Frankenstein a cultural staple.

Read More:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17331402-gris-grimly-s-frankenstein

Find It:

http://www.worldcat.org/title/gris-grimlys-frankenstein-or-the-modern-prometheus/oclc/697974171&referer=brief_results