In this steampunk romance/fantasy novel, Arden Grey is an undercover agent in an organization of spies and protectors of England in Queen Victoria's London. Like her father before her, she has a particular brilliance for invention which she employees to the advantage of her country. She consults with Scotland Yard on murders, having devised a contraption that allows her to see the last moments of a victim's life through their eyes. She drinks like a sailor and doesn't mind putting a swear word to good use on occasion. She's a pretty nifty gal. Unfortunately, her long lost husband seems to be trying to kill her.
Personally, I have a love/hate relationship with Steampunk as a genre. I love the imaginative technology, the romance of the Victorian era and the whimsy of little, tiny top hats. Who can say no to wee top hats? But sometimes it strikes a sour note with me. It's a thin line. On occasion the whimsy floats to high and becomes vapidity. All too often, the devices described are just a little too ridiculous or have names that even half of the characters in the story cannot remember or pronounce. There is such a device in this novel, but the author only presses the name upon the reader once or twice. I cannot even recall the name now.... Optical... rep.... nope. Can't remember. Anyway. There are a couple of fashions described that seem (to me) a bit too outlandish to be believable, but they are balanced by the sheer awesomeness of Lords and Ladies having tattoos beneath their jackets and laces. Outlandish, mayhap. But I just don't care. All in all, it was mostly love this go round.
Five of six toes.
Also, check out this fabulous, unrelated Heart of Brass T-Shirt design.
Fated, first in a new series by Alyson Noel, was pretty fun. I will admit that the author's previous series (The Immortals) kind of lost me at the end, prompting me to pick up the last book and (WARNING! BLASPHEMY AHEAD!!!) flip to the end. Yeah. No one tell Kelli. She'll never let me live it down. But I enjoyed the beginning of the series so... here we were with a shiny, fresh start. I gave it a go, and I'm not disappointed.
Noel takes genre favorite themes and makes them her own. With the Immortals she gave readers a break from vampires, choosing alchemy as her life prolonging method of choice. The Soul Seekers books revolve around magic workers, but not the witches you'll find elsewhere (For Wendy, I say, "... witches, they were persecuted/Wicca good and love the earth/And women power and I'll be over here"). Soul Seekers are shamans of Native American and Latino heritage. The first book moves fast, but centers around the main character learning the nature of dreams and visions she's been plagued with for years. It will be interesting to see what the extent of her powers are in subsequent books. Also? Freaking excellent cover art.
Four of six toes.
