Entry tags:
Book List 2010
#6. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
It might be said that I was going to read this book the minute that I heard that both Wil Wheaton and Warren Ellis liked it. That would be true, but only because I know their tastes overlap mine (except for the pictures of body modification that Ellis likes throwing up on LiveJournal; those frighten me terribly). In truth, I probably would have found this sooner or later without their recommendations, but why turn down a free book recommendation when somebody's just throwing them up on their blog?
Boneshaker is set in 1880, outside of the walled ruin of Seattle. In 1863, an inventor, seeking patronage by people mining the Klondike, invented the Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine ... which promptly went out of control, tore through the earth below downtown Seattle, and released a strange gas now known as the Blight. Incredibly poisonous, the Blight not only kills, but it animates many of the dead. With no way to stop the accumulation, the people of Seattle built up a wall around the damaged areas, keeping the heavier-than-air gas contained, at least for a time.
The wife of the now-dead inventor, Briar Wilkes, is forced to return to the city that she and so many other fled when her son, Ezekiel, goes into the ruins to find out the truth behind his father. Briar must confront her history and deal with the aftermath of her husband's Infernal Device, facing the dangers of the city to rescue Zeke.
Boneshaker is a great book. The story runs fast and furious, and it hits on a number of proper Steampunk images: air pirates, mad scientists, anachrotech, and street life. This is not the glossy, corseted and goggled Steampunk of the fashion movement, this is proper Steampunk, which much like Cyberpunk, deals with the messy, petty, and violent lives of the people in the stories. The zombies are just an added pleasure that serve as the same sort of catalyst as they do in one of George Romero's works, motivating and propelling the characters through the plot.
If you like alt-historical fiction, or Steampunk, or zombies, or any and all of the above, I recommend this one. And if you don't think I'm a worthy source, then remember that Warren Ellis liked it, and he's the Internet Jesus.
It might be said that I was going to read this book the minute that I heard that both Wil Wheaton and Warren Ellis liked it. That would be true, but only because I know their tastes overlap mine (except for the pictures of body modification that Ellis likes throwing up on LiveJournal; those frighten me terribly). In truth, I probably would have found this sooner or later without their recommendations, but why turn down a free book recommendation when somebody's just throwing them up on their blog?
Boneshaker is set in 1880, outside of the walled ruin of Seattle. In 1863, an inventor, seeking patronage by people mining the Klondike, invented the Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine ... which promptly went out of control, tore through the earth below downtown Seattle, and released a strange gas now known as the Blight. Incredibly poisonous, the Blight not only kills, but it animates many of the dead. With no way to stop the accumulation, the people of Seattle built up a wall around the damaged areas, keeping the heavier-than-air gas contained, at least for a time.
The wife of the now-dead inventor, Briar Wilkes, is forced to return to the city that she and so many other fled when her son, Ezekiel, goes into the ruins to find out the truth behind his father. Briar must confront her history and deal with the aftermath of her husband's Infernal Device, facing the dangers of the city to rescue Zeke.
Boneshaker is a great book. The story runs fast and furious, and it hits on a number of proper Steampunk images: air pirates, mad scientists, anachrotech, and street life. This is not the glossy, corseted and goggled Steampunk of the fashion movement, this is proper Steampunk, which much like Cyberpunk, deals with the messy, petty, and violent lives of the people in the stories. The zombies are just an added pleasure that serve as the same sort of catalyst as they do in one of George Romero's works, motivating and propelling the characters through the plot.
If you like alt-historical fiction, or Steampunk, or zombies, or any and all of the above, I recommend this one. And if you don't think I'm a worthy source, then remember that Warren Ellis liked it, and he's the Internet Jesus.