Boneshaker

... As opposed to the far more common "dressed in Steam costume" novel. The complicated humanity, the cheeky satirical undertones, the well-imagined alternative reality and of course, Ms. Priest's incredible ability to create a graphic novel without the actual graphics. This series is very worth reading.

I ordered this book on a whim, after seeing it posted on John Scalzi's blog. After it arrived, I proceeded to read through the entire thing in one sitting. The pace is so fast, you almost miss details as you keep turning pages to find out what happens next. A really unusual mash-up of elements--zombies, post-apoc scenery, steampunk, robots, alternate history, sky pirates (SKY PIRATES?!?!!), everything comes together in a seamless adventure that has earned it a prominent place on my "read and re-read" bookshelf. One might be tempted to think that so many elements would get lost in a whirl of exposition or confusion, but each piece of this delightful puzzle comes together so naturally that you are hard pressed to imagine that it COULD exist any other way. Priest never offers litanies of explanation or background, instead letting her infectious characters experience the world around them in a totally natural way, catching the best elements of the setting like background elements in a perfectly framed photograph. Sure, the brass knobs, dials, bells, whistles and gears are all there--just incorporated so easily that the setting (while remaining fantastic) lives and breathes as the third main character of the story. In short, don't miss it! This is a fantastic read!

I haven't read every single thing Cherie Priest has published quite yet, but I love me some Eden Moore novels, and I have a healthy respect for Fathom. But those other books? They're just going to have to stand aside and make way for Boneshaker, because I mean, DAMN. It's got everything: alternate history! Steampunky mad science! 1880's Seattle! Airships! Air pirates! A plucky young lad and his fierce and fearsome mother! And, which is what really pushed it over the top for me, zombies! What's not to love? Boneshaker is set in an alternate timeline where the Civil War has dragged out for an extra fifteen years and where the Klondike Gold Rush came early, spurring an earlier settlement of the Pacific Northwest--and a Russian-sponsored contest to build a mining machine capable of digging into the frozen ice of the north for gold. Dr. Leviticus Blue and his Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine would have had the contest in the bag. But his machine went horribly awry, destroying much of downtown Seattle. And to add horrific insult to already dire injury, the Boneshaker dug deep into the earth and unleashed the Blight gas that turned its victims into shambling undead. Now it's sixteen years later. Those who escaped the devastation of Seattle have erected a two-hundred-foot wall around its remains to keep in not only the undead victims of the Blight, but the continuing rising of the gas itself. Blue's widow Briar Wilkes and her son Ezekiel are among those settled in the Outskirts around the wall, until Zeke gets it into his head to penetrate the city in search of evidence to clear his father's infamous name. He is trapped within by an earthquake, and Briar must go in to save him. I had a few quibbles with certain bits of pacing, but honestly? They're small enough quibbles that I just didn't care. Briar was too much fun as a heroine, cut from the same tough-mother cloth as Sarah Connor, only with a quieter, less desperate strength to her, and she was a lovely complement to the innocence and intrinsic bravery and goodness of her son. Many of the characters they meet within the Wall are equally memorable: Lucy the one-armed barmaid, whose single arm is mechanical; Jeremiah Swakhammer, clad in the best badassed armor a steampunk hero could ask for and armed with the best badassed zombie-stunning gun; and, of course, the mysterious Dr. Minnericht, who is said to be responsible for much of what holds what's left of Seattle together and who is deeply feared nonetheless. Moreoever, as a Seattle resident, I had great fun reading Priest's descriptions of this alternate downtown Seattle. I walk these streets on a daily basis, and what really sold me on the realism was the mentions of the sidewalk letter markers to tell you what street you're on. With that kind of detail, I kept catching myself looking out for "rotters" on my way home from work. More importantly, I burned through this book as fast as I possibly could and am quite anxious for a sequel! Five st

There are several really cool things about Cherie Priest's Boneshaker: the first is the eye-catching cover; the second, that it's steampunk; the third--only noticeable when you peek inside--is the brown- (née, sepia) colored font. Reading Boneshaker is like looking into an old Victorian photograph--the exact effect I'd want if I was writing a book to fit a genre influenced primarily by that era. This isn't the first book I've read with a font color other than black (an edition of Michael Ende's The Neverending Story that I own comes to mind), but it was surprising and fit well with the genre. Cherie Priest did a little (okay, a lot) of alteration to history for this book. The Civil War is instead the Great Rebellion and has been ongoing for the past 18 years. I'm not too familiar with Seattle's history, but she mentions in the Author's Note at the end that she took many liberties with that as well. If you can stand suspending your belief in historical accuracies and want to read a book that's all about "a grand and dangerous adventure" (p. 62) then Boneshaker shouldn't bother you at all. In fact, if you like zombies, you'll love Boneshaker; let me tell you why. The book opens with an excerpt from a book in progress written by Hale Quarter laying out the historical foundation of which we'll need to know in order to understand the repercussions of certain events. It's the 1860s and the Russians want to break up Alaskan ice to find gold, but haven't got the means to do it themselves. Lucky Leviticus Blue wins the contest that follows and in a short amount of time, creates Dr. Blue's Incredible Bone-shaking Drill Engine. Inspired by greed and power, the Russians pressure Blue to finish earlier than the deadline, but a test run for demonstration purposes goes awry and Blue's Drill Engine winds up tearing through the underground of several blocks including those of a district lined with banks. Money is stolen, people are injured and killed, but when it's all over Blue and his machine are nowhere to be found. Shortly after, healthy people otherwise unaffected by the Drill's menacing journey start to fall sick and die, but they don't stay dead for very long. When the novel opens onto the first chapter, we meet Briar Wilkes and her son Ezekiel--Zeke for short--living in what's now become the Outskirts. The drill's haphazard run opened up an underground vein that's been releasing dangerous fumes into the air for the past 16 years; the blocks ruined by this blight has been partitioned off from the rest of the city. A huge wall now separates it from unaffected grounds and it's in the Outskirts Briar has been raising her son. As we soon find out, there's a man named Hale Quarter nosing around for information regarding Briar's husband and father--Leviticus Blue and Maynard Wilkes, respectively. Everyone believes Blue responsible for the Great Blight; Briar and Zeke have had the past 16 years as punishment, reminders from an angry public that won't let Blue'

This book is dense with fun: there's zombies, airships, a strong female protagonist, a demonized mad scientist, a heroic lawman, family secrets, love, loyalty, excitement, adventure, and really wild things. On the surface of it, it's the story of a woman going into a wasteland to retrieve her wayward son, but the delights are in the details. Priest's writing is evocative; there are a couple sequences involving gas masks where I had to put it down because I was having flashbacks to boot camp. The story seduces you gently at first, then grabs you by the front of the shirt and drags you into the thick of things. The world is well thought out and the exposition discreet, it frames the characters nicely without being obtrusive. Two enthusiastic thumbs up.

Cherie Priest is one of those authors I've been hearing good things about for years. However, I've never tried her books previously as I'm not into horror or ghost related tales much, but when I heard she was doing a Steampunk book I immediately added it to my watch list. It did not disappoint at all. Boneshaker is full of Steampunk awesomeness. The setting is unbelievable detailed with its decrepitness yet infused with a ragamuffin lifestyle of people getting by in the most unexpected ways. You've got mad scientists, steampowered tech, ravenous zombies, air ships, and air pirates all in an eerie apocalyptic landscape. Yet this is a story with heart. Set in Seattle circa 19th century, but in an alternative history where the civil war is on going and the gold rush made it to Seattle a little earlier. Boneshaker refers to a machine that wrecked the downtown of Seattle about 15 years prior, which released a gas that turned people to zombies. The ruined portion of the city has been walled-up since and most people live in what is called "The Outskirts." Zeke is looking to redeem the Father and Grand Father he never knew for their involvement surrounding the events of the boneshaker so he travels into the walled-off city looking for proof. His mother predictably goes in after him, but what ensues is a rollicking look into a vivid world. The point of view switches between mother and son as they stumble through the city and meet allies and enemies. One thing that may bother some hardcore Steampunkers is this isn't much real Victorian-ness going on, but the other elements of Steampunk are here. Boneshaker has more of a greasy soot covered Wild West feel to it, but it does make it refreshing to leave England. The characters start off a bit standoffish, but grow quickly endearing. Briar is especially a tough nut to crack as she has built-up so many layers between her and her son Zeke, yet she is my favorite. Briar is a woman who made some very hard choices in life and hasn't had it easy because of those paths chosen. There are a lot of other intriguing characters as well in this blight soaked city. Superbly plotted and paced, if you are going to read one Steampunk book this year make it Boneshaker. I give Boneshaker 9 out of 10 Hats. Cherie has a second novel in the series titled Dreadnought coming in 2010 with Tor and a novella, Clementine, expected with Subterranean Press as well.