Murder on the Transatlantic Express

Moving on to other famous detectives from fiction, this one seems to take a page from Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot.

The Transatlantic Conspiracy, G.D Falksen

Soho Teen, New York, USA, 2016

The story follows Rosalind Wallace, a young woman living in aristocratic London, who is suddenly called home to the United States, where her engineer father has completed his masterpiece: An underwater railway from America to Germany. He demands she ride the train to reassure the public that it is safe, and despite not being too happy that her return is a publicity stunt, it is eased by the presence of her brother, Charles, and her friend Cecily.

However, things take a turn for the worst when Charles vanishes, and Cecily is gruesomely murdered, leaving Rosalind as the prime suspect. She begins to investigate in order to prove her innocence, and soon discovers the train's true mission and some discrepancies in the servants' behaviours.

The book itself appears to be inspired by Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express (1934), and reminds me of the videogame Bioshock (2007), which features an underwater city. The tale itself is riveting, featuring a strong female lead who chafes at the typical expectations of women in the early 1900's. Falksen himself is a seasoned writer for the Steampunk genre, and the ending also leaves the possibility of a sequel very likely, so it will leave readers chomping at the bit for more.

Professional Reviews:

Booklist (May 1, 2016; vol. 112, no. 17)
Publisher's Weekly (March 14, 2016; vol. 263, issue 11)
Kirkus Reviews (April 15, 2016)

Author's Website

Well, speaking of trains, I've one to catch very soon, so I must be off. I leave you with a sample of the audiobook, which I hope will entice you enough to give Falksen's book a read.

Regards,

E.

The Lazarus Machine

Another borrowing from the Holmesian universe Conan Doyle created. I'm sure by now most of you will have picked up on my bias towards works influenced by the Great Detective himself, but when it's done well, it's definitely worth taking a peek.

The Lazarus Machine, Paul Crilley

(Pyr, an imprint of Prometheus Books, New York, USA; 2012)

Now if you're looking for something spooky, this is worth a look. The first in the Tweed & Nightingale Adventures introduces us to Sebastian Tweed and Octavia Nightingale- one looking for answers behind the disappearance of his father, the other a nobleman's daughter who has spent the year her mother has been missing making connections in her search for answers, with the resurrected Professor James Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes at the centre of it all, along with a plot to topple the British Empire and start a world war. 

Admittedly the book does contain a lot of gadget talk and technobabble, but if this isn't your cup of tea, there is always the low-born lovebirds who are friends of Sebastian and his father who aid the pair, and the thrilling break-in at the Ministry that ends not quite as the protagonists suspect, or the Frankenstein-like machines and automatons, powered by the souls of the dead that are being employed in this plot to incite a war in Europe (which we know today as World War I). There's something for everyone, with enough left in the end for the sequel to work with.

Professional Reviews:

School Library Journal (March 1, 2013; vol. 59, issue 3)

Kirkus Reviews (October 1, 2012)

Author's Goodreads page

The hour grows late, my dears. I apologise for the lack of films this time to entertain you (I literally could not find anything on YouTube), but I hope you will not miss me too terribly, no?

Regards,

E.

Stoker and Holmes

It is often odd that I see the timelines colliding this way, but when they do, they create some interesting stories. Reality is such an odd thing.

The Clockwork Scarab, Colleen Gleason

(New York: Chronicle Books 2013)

The first of the Stoker & Holmes series introduces us to Evaline Stoker, the teenage sister of Bram Stoker, and Mina Holmes, Sherlock Holmes' niece, as the two combine sleuthing skills and hand-to-hand combat prowess to solve a string of murders involving society girls all turning up dead, with Egyptian mythology at the heart of it all.

The girls' personalities are both very complex- one using cold logic and aloofness to mask her insecurities, and the other brash and brave, but still vulnerable- and it leads to some interesting interactions between the two as Mina does the brainwork and Evaline handles the physical aspect of their investigations, which is made more interesting by an "accidental" time traveler named Dylan, Evaline's attraction towards a mysterious and possibly criminal lad named Pix, and Mina's worrying crush on Inspector Grayling. Throw in the cameo appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Bram Stoker being delightfully snarky towards the other (as good friends do), and you have yourself a fun little concoction of intrigue, ancient mythology, romance and mystery that will keep you turning pages.

Professional Reviews: 

School Library Journal (September 1, 2013; vol. 59, issue 9)

Publisher's Weekly (July 29, 2013; vol. 260, issue 30)

Kirkus Reviews (July 15, 2013)

Author's Website

Now there's been a bit of a vampire problem in town and I must meet someone to speak about what's to be done about them. Enjoy this book trailer while I'm gone, lovelies.

Regards,

E.

The Inventor's Secret

Often times I wonder how things would be if history went a little differently- for instance, like in this little novel I came upon in which the British won the Revolutionary War.

The Inventor's Secret, Andrea Cremer

(Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., New York, USA, 2014)

It is 1816 and the British have won the Revolutionary War, and they are not making it easy on the Americans who have lost, but they have persisted with their revolution. Living in the woods, 16-year-old Charlotte and her brother Ash come upon an amnesiac young man, which leads her to an adventure to the glittering metropolis of  New York City.

This first instalment in the series of the same name, The Inventor's Secret follows our heroine's adventure to New York City when a young man with amnesia arrives in the refugee camp that surviving children of American revolutionaries call home, prompting her to travel to the metropolis, giving her the chance to dress in silk finery and nurture a love triangle.

While the story does provide an interesting take on what would have happened had things gone differently during the Revolutionary War, some would argue that the technology is too advanced for about forty years after the Declaration of Independence (to which I say, "Poppycock! That's the point of Steampunk!"), and others bemoaning the inevitable love triangle that is not to everyone's taste, it promises a riveting read, with the anticipation of picking up the sequel as soon as manageable.

Professional Reviews: 

Booklist (February 15, 2014; vol 110, number 12)
Publisher's Weekly (January 20, 2014; vol 261, issue 03)
Kirkus (January 15, 2014)

Author's Website

I've a few important letters to get to, so I'll have to cut this short. I hope you'll enjoy this rapid review from a librarian of the Greenwood Public Library in Indiana, USA, and give this book a place on your shelves.

Regards,

E.

The World's Greatest Detective gone Steampunk!

Greetings! I'd thought I'd share a favourite with you all- something for those who love a good mystery, starring Sherlock Holmes.

Steampunk Holmes: Legacy of the Nautilus, P.C Martin
(MX Publishing, ltd., United Kingdom, 2012)

In this retelling of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Bruce-Partington Plans, the famous consulting detective Sherlock Holmes is called in by his sister Mycroft when the plans for the Nautilus, the submarine of Captain Nemo (of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island) are stolen. As anyone who has studied the entire Conan-Doyle corpus, you can immediately pick out the changes in this incarnation of Holmes- he rides a motorcycle, and a weapons-trained sister takes the place of his canonical, less inclined to physical action elder brother Mycroft, but of course Watson is a constant, telling the story from his perspective as always, albeit with a bionic arm equipped with weapons.

Perhaps this is where the book does fall a little short. There are parts where the author has tried a little too hard to inject the Steampunk genre into the story itself, and often switches into chase scenes and shootouts, and so perhaps those so devoted to the canon might find it a bit distasteful. It honestly depends on personal opinion- I find it more an accquired taste, really- and it wasn't well received by most readers, with reviews from Amazon calling it 'rushed' and one even saying that the author had only done enough to not be seen as a plagiarist since she copied most of the original short story. The illustrations take up most of the e-book, so I would recommend getting the digital version on a tablet. I'm mostly indifferent, it's a good read for a rainy day. I'll let you all decide.

Must be off now, I'll leave you with this video demo of the interactive app that was released for the book. The Alchemist's Guild is meeting again soon and I'm being expected there.

Regards, 

E.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time- Literally!

Warmest greetings, friend! I had the most extraordinary conversation with an odd man with a bow tie. Odd man, really, but I suppose time travelers are like that as a general rule. Speaking of which...

Timebound, Rysa Walker
(Skyscape, New York 2013)

First in the Chronos Files series, Timebound is the story of sixteen year old Kate, who discovers her genetic ability to time travel after her grandmother gives her a medallion that is the only thing stopping her from disappearing from existence entirely when a shift in time causes her parents to suddenly vanish, as well as all knowledge of her life from the minds of all who knew her, save for a boy named Trey. Now yours truly doesn't approve of messing with timelines, but how Walker explains it in her books allows for changes and alterations to a timeline, which results in multiple timelines, but changes in the past can result in people being erased from existence, their memories being changed. This introduces moral dilemmas as the protagonists try to get the "right" timeline that has what they want. There is a rather steamy scene that I won't mention- let's just say this series is for older teenagers, for any parents out there.

The protagonist is hailed by the Publisher's Weekly as "The Katniss Everdeen of time travel", and considering the action-packed adventures Kate goes through, I certainly do not blame them!! Definitely one for the list if you're looking for a good read.

Professional reviews: 

PW Annex reviews (October 14, 2013; 9781477848159)

School Library Journal (March 01, 2014; 9781480558571)

I really would like to go on more about this book, loves, but that nice man in the bow tie is back and he's invited me to tea. I would tell you the details later, but a lady never tells.

Happy reading!

Regards,

E.

Upon the topic of Automata...

Greetings! I was able to send you this short transmission while the head of the Airship Guild stepped out to see to a dirigible that's just come in, he won't mind and I can wait.

Remember how we spoke about Hugo? How he finds an Automaton?

Fascinating thing, Automata. In Japanese, they call it Karakuri. They are perhaps some of the most elaborate puppets ever created. Things like Singing-Bird Boxes, or those little figures you see ringing bells in clocks, or cuckoos in cuckoo clocks.  They've been around since DaVinci, if you'll believe it, and are the precursor to modern-day robots.

I figured I'd show you some great videos about automatons, and give you some links to read about them on other sites: (x) (x) (x)

"The Writer"

 

 

"Cleopatra"

 

 

"The Archer"

 

I think I hear my good friend returning, so I must cut this short. Ta-ta for now, loves!

 

Regards,

 

E.