I don’t like romance novels; they’re just not my thing. Unless the love story is mixed in with something else. In the case of Witchmark, that something else is a rather steam-punk/gas-lamp setting medical/political mystery. It’s Edwardian England sort of, and post some kind of nasty war effort that the protagonist Dr. Miles Singer had some role in. Because of his war experience he decided to work as a psychiatrist at a local hospital where he apparently specializes in treating veterans. The hospital is being […]
I don’t want to review this book, Part 2: The Remix
My appetite for Nisi Shawl’s Everfair has gone up and down since I first heard of it. It came highly recommended by multiple sources and ticked off so many intriguing boxes: a speculative, steampunk alternative history of an African nation by a woman of color. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. After I bought it earlier this spring, I noticed the Goodreads collective rating was on the low-ish side, and I’m not always as immune to popular opinion as I like to think I am. It […]
Humans could manage knots easily, and cats could do everything else.
The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher is the start to a new fantasy series. No other books in this series are out yet, but I’m sure there’s gonna be at least a couple more. This was super fun, but highly forgettable steampunk. I’ll probably pick up the next book when it comes out, but I don’t need it right away. It’s a pretty typical Butcher fantasy, I was very heavily reminded of his Codex Alera books, right down to the insect-ine enemy. The book is […]
With bonus magically enhanced crocodile
Silver and Stone is the second volume in a steampunk trilogy set in a fantasy version of Australia where certain metals can be ‘activated’ to take on magical properties – iron can confer strength, gold can attract, silver can heal, etc. I read the first volume (Heart of Brass) last year so it didn’t qualify for the Cannonball but it did give me the background for this story, which takes up pretty much where the last one left off. (This review will therefore have spoilers […]
Take a Whisk to a Gun Fight
I’m so angry at this book. Let me back up and start with all the amazing things this book has going for it. Let’s start with the description that first got my attention: black lesbian steampunk cozy mystery. For real, what’s not to love about that? How about that it’s set in an alternate history where there was no Civil War? Instead of the Civil War, there was a successful slave rebellion that led to the end of slavery in America? How about a late […]
You’d think shapeshifters and demons and an estranged couple reuniting in a Steampunk London would be more interesting than this
Throughout her marriage, Poppy Lane has been lying to her beloved husband. Until very recently, he believed her to be the owner of a bookstore, when in fact she wasn’t just a member of, but the head of, a secret paranormal organisation known as the Society for the Suppression of Supernaturals. Poppy’s entire life is working to ensure the existence of various supernatural beings remains unknown to mere mortals, and she had just been sworn into the Society on the day when she first met […]
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