Book Details
Author:
Robert Appleton
Robert Appleton
Genre:
Steampunk
Steampunk
Page Count:
108 on my reader
108 on my reader
Publishing Info:
January 31, 2011 by Carina Press
January 31, 2011 by Carina Press
Why I Read It:
review copy from Netgalley
review copy from Netgalley
Grade:
C- (not really my thing)
C- (not really my thing)
Cover Thoughts:
The cover is quite possibly the best thing about the book. I've always been drawn to steampunk covers, and that's probably why I keep trying steampunk, despite my bad luck with it.
The cover is quite possibly the best thing about the book. I've always been drawn to steampunk covers, and that's probably why I keep trying steampunk, despite my bad luck with it.
My Review
After her sister is mysteriously murdered, Julia accepts an offer from Lady Law to solve the case. Lady Law has successfully solved every case she takes on. No one knows how she does it, and therefore a lot of people are very suspicious of her.
This book was so short that I really couldn't get a feel for any of the characters, which makes it hard to care what happens to them. There was a bit of a romance between Julia and a constable named Al, but I wasn't really feeling that either.
The Mysterious Lady Law is a steampunk set in Victorian London. There were a whole lot of things that were described that I couldn't quite picture, which may be usual in the steampunk genre, but I think this story just needed to be fleshed out more.
A Sample of the Writing:
By five o'clock the gas lighter was already making his rounds, lighting the streetlamps with surgical precision. Steam-powered cranes billowed white clouds as they raised workmen to dismantle scaffolding from the new submarine factory. Tired shopkeepers dragged their advertisement stands inside, paid the window cleaners and errand boys, and then set about tidying their storefronts. Men with faces blackened by oil and coal lumbered home from the factories. As dusk descended, London wound down for the day.
By five o'clock the gas lighter was already making his rounds, lighting the streetlamps with surgical precision. Steam-powered cranes billowed white clouds as they raised workmen to dismantle scaffolding from the new submarine factory. Tired shopkeepers dragged their advertisement stands inside, paid the window cleaners and errand boys, and then set about tidying their storefronts. Men with faces blackened by oil and coal lumbered home from the factories. As dusk descended, London wound down for the day.
I think the fact that I didn't care for this book may be chalked up to the fact that steampunk isn't really a genre (or sub-genre) that I enjoy. I like the idea of it much more than the delivery, for the most part. Fans of steampunk may very well enjoy this one, but I do think it suffers quite a bit because of it's length. It's more of a novella, so if you're looking for a fleshed out story, this isn't it. Still, I think there's definitely an audience for this book, it's just not me.
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