Book Review: Boneshaker

Boneshaker

By:  Cherie Priest

Publisher:  Tor

Publish Date:  2009

Format:  Paperback, 414 pages

Genre:  Fiction, Steampunk

Series:  Stand-alone novel

Recommendation:  YES!!!!  To anyone who loves reading some action in a historically amazing twist of a setting.

Book Synopsis:
In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest.  Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska's ice.  Thus was Dr. Blue's Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.

But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.

Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city.  Just beyond it lives Blue's widow, Briar Wilkes.  Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenage boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing.  Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.

His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees.  And only Briar can bring him ou alive.

First Sentence:
She saw him, and she stopped a few feet from the stairs.

My Review and Synopsis:
The story starts right out with a bit of history, written by Hale Qaurter, of what happened to the city of Seattle in 1863.  Hale then tries to talk with Briar Wilkes, who will NOT share any part of her story with anyone - not even her own son.  Briar not only lost her husband, but her father as well when the city was evacuated from the blight gas spreading.  Both of these men play important parts in history and in the current.  The blight gas is gas released from in the earth, thanks to the Boneshakers test run, which caused the living to turn into the undead.  This story takes place sixteen years after ward, when the East coast is in a civil war and Washington wasn't even a state yet.

I loved the writting style in this book, because the story was constantly moving and you where always learning.  There are many things for now and the history of the city learned in the book, and they were very easily noticed as seperate times.  The current story along with the history was almost like two stories for me in one book.  I loved the creativeness in the story line and idea.

I have to admit I am not a person who really wants to read of zombies.  I don't know what it is about the decaying gray skinned dead humans trying to eat live human skin, but I just find them to turn my stomach.  But the undead in this book are not the main characters or problems.  And yes I said problem with an "s".  There are a few troubles to get through as the book goes on.

I loved the characters from the start of the story.  They are struggling to get by, and as many parents may experience no matter what year it is - the growing space between parent and child as they go through the teen years to become independant adults they are yet not quite ready for.  The relationship between Briar and her son is a great tie in the book and accented very nicely with the story.



This book and review qualify for two of my Challenges.
1.)  February Mini-Challenge New Authors: The League @ Literary Escapism
2.)  Speculative Fiction Challenge @ Book Chick City

Balderdash (24)

is a weekly meme hosted by Ryan at Wordsmithonia.

This is very easy to do!

If you comment on blogs you can do this too.

Write down all the word verifictions you get while posting comments on other peoples blogs.

You then play Balderdash with them.

In case you don't know how to play:

You take the made up word and come up with an authentic sounding definition for it.

Do this for a week and then post your best or favorite ones every Thursday.

Here are mine for this week:

flyspi - a spy camera on a flying remote controled object.

warcapp - in the medieval days there was a special person in times of war who are hidden away with messages to be relayed to the king if the captain should meet an untimely death.

mistorse - when extreme fog is around you and you start seeing things in the mist ripples and maybe hear things in the moisture moving and evaporating.

heastede - the man that thinks he is the stud of a large area in clubs, in which he flants his colors - hair styled with products, clothes pressed, and skin glistening around the edges of his clothing.

verimp - an infected imp who now is on the run and infected with a disease that make the joking creature potentually dangerous with pranks that are harmful in that they start using sharp pointy objects in these jokes - causing injuries.

Now I have a special treat for you all.  We are all aware of how creative children can be, so I asked my 10 year old son to pick any word from the list I had and make up any definition he wanted.  I had to stop him as he was starting to really roll with the words.  So here are two he picked:

ovessem - crazy over excitement.

hymmard - the name of a dragon with scales made of ice and breathes ice instead of fire, it can go anywhere hot or cold, but will start to loss its scales in a warm place it has to go back to a cold place to regrow scales.

Its Tuesday... Where are you! (12) & Teaser (18)

This is hosted by

An Adventure in Reading

I am with Briar around the year 1878 in Seattle Washington.  We are in the walled city of about 2 square miles searching for her son.  He snuck into the city to find proof.  He is only fifteen and this city is no place for him, or us at that.  With the Blight (a gas) still leaking thickly out of the broken ground it is hard to see and breathe with this gas mask on.  We just barely escaped getting caught and eaten by the Blight zombies thanks to Jeremiah.  Boy did he show up at the right time!

Boneshaker

By Cherie Priest

Teaser Tuesday

is a weekly event.

Sponsored by MizB of Should be Reading.

Here's how it works:

Grab the book you are currently reading (anything at all)

Open the book to any random page.

Share 2 "teaser" sentences from anywhere on the page.

Please Make Sure They Are Not Spoilers!

(Don't Give Too Much Away)

Just enough to pique our interests.

List the book and author so other participants can get their hand on it if they choose to read it as well.

This week:

The memory distracted her with its immediacy.  The machine.  The destruction downstairs when she'd run there, terrified and searching frantically for her husband.  The smell of wet earth and mold; the raging hiss of steam pouring from cracks in the Boneshaker's body; the stink of burning oil and the wire-sharp taste of metal gears grinding themselves into smoke.

Boneshaker

By Cherie Priest

Monday's Beginnings (26)

Well, here we are again... another Monday!

How are you faring in reading your books?  Are you starting a new book for the week or finishing one up?

I had myself a mini read-a-thon over the weekend.  Friday night and Saturday morning until about lunch time all I did was read.  With that reading time I finished Demon Bound by Caitlin Kittredge.  The last night I started into my next read for the week, Boneshaker by Cherie Priest.  I am not far in the book yet, on page 92 out of 414.  I am hoping, no - planning to get it done this week.

I have been working on trying to put myself on a time table with blogging, blog reading, reading books, and writing.  So, I have found I am really behind in my blog reading.  I keep adding awesome blogs so I am having a hard time keeping up with everyone.  But I am enjoying all the great information I am reading and great people I've been chatting with.

I have added 3 books to my wanting list.  There were a few same books that where floating around and many I already have on the list to get.

I received 2 books in the mail this week.

I received this book as a winning from over at Alexia's Books and Such...

I am thinking my son and I can enjoy this book together.

The next book I received, I purchased.  The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.  It is a feature book over at Barnes and Nobles Forums for the month of March.  So, I am going to read this one in sections for discussing and speculating on where the book will go.  I love doing these discussions, I have loads of fun. :)  If you would like to join in on the forums click here to go to the main page and set yourself up and join us in Fantasy and Science Fiction.



So, how are you faring this Monday?  Does the week look like a great reading week?  I am hoping so for you and me!  Happy Reading!

Book Review: Demon Bound

Demon Bound

By:  Caitlin Kittredge

Publisher:  St. Martin's Paperbacks

Publish Date:  December 2009

Format:  Paperback (pocket size)

Genre:  Fiction, Urban Fantasy

Series:  2nd book in The Black London Series.  If you would like to read a brief review of Street Magic, the first book please click here.

Recommendation:  Yes, especially if you read the first book and loved the love/hate relationship with Jack and Pete and the great gritty magic - get it.

Book Synopsis:
Jack Winter's deadly past has come back to haunt him... and his only hope lies in the shadows of Black London, the supernatural underworld teeming with dark magic and fey glamour.

Thirteen years ago, Jack Winter lay dying in a graveyard.  Jack called upon a demon and traded his soul for his life... and now the demon is back to collect its due.  But Jack has finally found something to live for.  Her name is Pete Caldecott - and because of her, Jack's not going to Hell without a fight.

Pete doesn't know about Jack's bargain, but she does know that something bigger and far more dangerous than Jack's demon is growing in the Black.  Old gods are stirring and spirits are rising - and Jack doesn't stand a chance of stopping them without Pete's help...

First Sentence:
A crow sat on the dead branch of the dead tree that watched over two gravestones in the corner of Brompton Cemetery.

My Review and Summary:
There are a few things I enjoyed in the book.  The gritty magic which Kittredge takes to the next level in this book with necromancers, fey, and death knocking on the door, then we have the banter and love/hate relationship between Jack and Pete.  This couple is not for everyones taste (even the other characters in the books hate Jack), but I do love their sarcasm to cover some feelings and the brutal honesty toward each other on other feelings.  Pete seems to be the one more honest and Jack seems to avoid the truth or tell lies until he has no other option.

This book seems to focus a little more on Jack and his past come back to bite him.  When the book started Jack really came across to me as a royal ass.  And his royal treatment didn't seem to be aimed at one person but to everyone, even Pete whom he feels for and will protect her with his life.  I even started to think Jack was like that mean little boy is school that loves to torment and pick on that one girl he really liked.  As you see more into the depths of the characters through other emotions and situations you start to see there is more to them and see their growth.  Pete, herself, has a tough rough exterior to her as well.  She can dish out and take the punches, physically and verbally, with Jack and the best of them.

I was a little let down in I hoped this book would be geared more toward Pete learning to use her magic and growth, but it was set more for Jack.  Which is a great story!  I was just hoping for more Pete.  I did get the feel this book has some of the second story or middle books syndrome.  This book seemed to be the shifting book for the next story in plot and character setting.  I do think with the way this book ended I will get more of Pete in the third one along with more on the Black and their guardians they work for.



This book qualifies for 2 book challenges:
New Author Mini-Challenge: The League at Literary Escapism
&
Speculative Fiction Challenge at The Book Chick City

Balderdash (23)

is a weekly meme hosted by Ryan at Wordsmithonia.

This is very easy to do!

If you comment on blogs you can do this too.

Write down all the word verifictions you get while posting comments on other peoples blogs.

You then play Balderdash with them.

In case you don't know how to play:

You take the made up word and come up with an authentic sounding definition for it.

Do this for a week and then post your best or favorite ones every Thursday.

Here are mine for this week:

irchpo - an evil little insect, with ichor of a black burning hot oil for blood, in which has lived in the depths of Hell and have returned to the surface of the world when the new moon comes to pass.

twilects - a secreted group of people who worship the twilight hours of a day, studying and believing in the stars and planets.

fingly - the fidgetiness of fingers - either drumming, taping, or giggling change in your pocket.

droft - a term used in a joking way for being down, negative, or pessimistic.

Favorite Fictional Character (19)

Favorite Fictional Character

A weekly meme thanks to the creative mind of Ryan of Wordsmithonia.

I was trying to remember shows I use to watch when I was younger.  Well, I was also looking at newly released books and while looking at the book Unknown, by Rachel Caine, and was looking at the bike on the cover and this guy popped into my head.  There was just something with long hair, motorcycle, leather, and muscles I just loved about this guy.  gggrrrr.  Sorry about that.  Reno Raines of The Renegades.

The show ran from 1992 through 1997.  Reno was a cop who was framed for murder.  Reno goes on the run.  A professional Bounty Hunter, Bobby Sixkiller, is sent to find Reno.  But, instead of this bounty hunter finding Reno and bringing him in - Reno saves his life. 

Bobby and Reno become fast friends and gain each others trust.  It ends up Reno on the road working for Bobby as a bounty hunter.  Reno is tracking people down on his beautiful motorcycle, while all the long looking for the one person who could clear his own name with the law.

Reno was such a great good, bad guy turned bad, good.  LOL.  I don't know if that made any sense.  He always had the bad guy look and feel, but deep down he was the good guy looking to help anyone he could.  Reno came across some women that wanted to love him, but with all that went down when he was framed for murder his love was killed.  Reno tried to seperate himself from bringing someone innocent into the mess he was still in, not knowing if someone else would get hurt or worse... killed.

Here is the video of the opening to the show.

Renegade tv show

Movies & TV

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