Stunning Steampunk You could almost play Steampunk bingo wih this book its got everthing; airships, pirates, zombies, mad scientists and even madder machines, underground warrens, beer of dubious quality and many different types of goggles. An adventure story of city within a city, walled to stop the putrid, zombie creating gas after Leviticus Blues Incredible Bone-Shaking Machine drilled a murderous hole through the city. It wasn't quite what I expected, a story of family, of seeking lost answers, of a mother tracking a wayward son but to be honest it was still brilliant. A page turner, swapping between the two protagonists, timeline uncertain to keep the tension. I loved Briar (a strong female character woohoo!) but every other character was great too. The world building is perfect, a broken Seattle lost in the midst of the American civil war, a literal criminal overlord and a fantatsic use of Steampunk and Victoriana tropes. The pacing is well done and if I had to be picky its got a slightly clunky exposition start and an obvious ending.. but one is forgivable and the other a perfect fit so who cares right? The actual book too deserves a mention, being in lovely sepia font with cute goggles to start each chapter. It's a nice touch. It really doesn't get much better than this. Highly recommend.

In this alternate history set in 19th century Seattle, Leviticus Blue created a massive machine called the Boneshaker, which dug below the city banks and released a cloud of gas that turned those who breathed it into "rotters." Fifteen years after the incident, Levi's wife Briar and her son, Ezekiel, deal with the censure of their neighbors for being related to Levi and to Maynard Wilkes, Briar's husband who infamously let inmates free to get them away from the gas. When Ezekiel sneaks into the now walled-off Seattle, filled with the poisonous gas and the rotters, determined to clear his grandfather's and father's names, an earthquake leaves him stranded on the inside. Briar is determined to find him and enters the city after him. After years of reading fantasy, I've gotten pretty good at suspending disbelief, which you really need to do to get into this steampunk/zombie story. If you can, it's a fun premise and I enjoyed the re-imagining of Seattle and American history. The world-building was well done and the writing moves along quickly. I wanted a little more to happen in terms of the story as some revelations were not all that surprising, but overall it was a fun ride and I'd be willing to read more by this author. 4 stars.

An alternate-history novel based in the late 1800's with destruction, adventure, dirigibles, sky pirates, a mad inventor, AND zombies? COUNT ME IN. A book just as fascinating as its cover. You guys, Boneshaker was so much more than I expected! Such a brilliantly imaginative tale with flair and grit. To start it all off, let me just talk about the appearance of the book. The cover is so lovely in person. A beautiful mix of art and design, all while giving a hint to what the story will hold within. And the pages - toned to a light sepia color with brown font, giving it that aged look and feel. The only thing it was missing was the musty smell that can only gather with time. (Though I settled for the new book smell!) From the start you can tell that every detail was doted upon in the process...much like the writing style. Which I absolutely fell in love with. Wonderfully descriptive and engaging; I could envision everything as if I was watching it unfold right before my eyes. Boneshaker begins with a journalistic piece from a one, Hale Quarter. A young journalist who sets the ground work and describes the events leading up to creation of the terrible Bone-Shaking Drilling Machine at the hand of Dr. Leviticus "Levi" Blue. A single man and machine responsible for a disaster that caused most of downtown Seattle to cave in on itself, while bringing disease and terror in the form of a toxic substance known as The Blight. While the early days of the Civil War were taking place, the Russians were looking for a way to drill trough the icy Klondike where a fortune of gold supposedly awaited any man who dared. After many had tried and failed, esteemed inventor Leviticus Blue won a contest offering him 100,000 rubles and six months to build a machine strong enough to penetrate the buried vein of gold. But being the smart man that he is, Levi finished well before the deadline. During an unannounced test run on the afternoon of January 2, 1863, the Earth shook under the vast central business district of the Seattle streets. The foundations of four major banks were ground to oblivion, taking with it hundreds of innocent bystanders. However, no one could predict the kind of destruction that would follow. The streets were in an upheaval sure, but what was worse was the mysterious gas leaking from the tunnels created by the monstrous machine. Slow and sickly, the odorless and colorless gas crept along inch by inch poisoning all those who were nearest. Temporary measurements were taken until a city wide evacuation was the only way to survive. One by one the plans to contain the gas failed. Thousands of people fell ill and thousands more after. Simple barriers were not enough to hold it until, approximately one year later, the entire downtown area of Seattle was surrounded by an incredible 200 foot high brick and stone wall. The story begins sixteen years later with Briar Wilkes (formerly Briar Blue) and her son Ezekiel "Zeke" Wilkes. The two live in the Outskirts just beyond the wall but not so far from it that they can forget it ever happened. Due to the endless plague the Blight reigns upon the city, the water has been poisoned and must be boiled and treated for 17 hours at the factory in Puget Sound where Briar works. Day after day she works to provide for her and her son, trying ever so hard to leave behind the tarnished legacy of her dead husband. But it's not so easy. Who can forget the man that changed all their lives? Zeke, having never met his father, is forced to rely on the horrid stories passed from one person to the next since his mother refuses to relay the truth or any information to satiate his growing curiosity. But one day, Zeke decides he's had enough. He determines to make his way inside The Wall, back to a home he never knew and clear his father of the terrible crimes that have plagued their family for 16 years. If only he can get his hands on the papers the Russians sent demanding Dr. Blue do an early test run, if they even existed, then it would all be over. Provisions in hand, Zeke sets off through the underground tunnels that run up through the downtown. But he never expected just how bad the Blight had infected the city...or its undead inhabitants. After hours spent fretting with worry and guilt, Briar does the only thing a mother could do - she sets off after him. After nearly beating information from Rector, a boy up to no good and a friend of her son, Briar sets off for the same exact tunnels Zeke allegedly took. But as she waits near the entrance, an earthquake shatters all means of hope and escape for her only son. Now that the option of going under is taken away, Briar is left with but one other choice: Over. Seeking the help from the air captains and sky pirates, Briar is led to Andan Cly, captain of the Naamah Darling, who just so happens to be in debt to the Wilkes family. Flying high and dropping into the city, Briar is led by survival instincts and using all means necessary to find her son. But what surprised her the most was not how much the city has been polluted, but the fact that there were people living there. The dead and undead alike. What kind of trouble lies beyond the wall? Can Briar do it alone? Will she be able to survive the the Blight and the creatures it created? Can she outlast the rotters, the undead who feast on flesh and feel no pain? More importantly, will she find her son alive? ...Those are questions you will have to answer yourself! :) Seriously, I cannot begin to describe how imaginative and ingenious this tale is. Once you start you won't want to stop until you reach the very end. And then you'll just want more. Boneshaker is totally unique in its vision of combining very real, albeit altered, history and science fiction. Trust me when I say that I am not really a big fan of zombies or anything related, but this story would not have been the same nor quite as exciting without them. Same goes for each and every character. Without them the story wouldn't have the same warmth and purpose as I felt while reading. Briar is a no nonsense type of woman with admirable qualities, surviving on what little she can afford and wanting what's best for her son. The people she meets only fuel her desire to continue on and provide a shining light in the darkness. Overall consensus: There's so much more I could tell you about the story but I'll just leave you with the words: Exciting, original, intense, unique, and satisfying. Being that this is my first outing with Cherie Priest, I can conclude that it will not be the last. If books like Boneshaker are what I have to look forward to in the steampunk genre, then count me in because I'm not going anywhere!

By all that is steampunk, I swear I loved this book. I'm not saying it's perfect, but I loved it just the same. Really, the only issue I had with it was that the end lacked the drama that one expected, given the set up, but it still made sense with the novel as a whole... and that's all I will say about that. As to the good stuff, Priest's 'Boneshaker' gives you airships, goggles, a half-abandoned walled city, zombies, boiler-driven machines, an antagonist reminiscent of Dr. Loveless -- and I mean that in a good way -- a heroine with sense in her head (refreshing) and a young man's coming-of-age-style adventure. What more could you possibly want? What more could you possibly fit in here? Priest is one of the best of the newer fantasy authors on the scene anyway, but every tight detail of this adventure further convinced me of her wicked coolness. The descriptions here are taut and satisfying -- the reader can practically feel the sluggish stickiness of the Blight gas, the annoying rub of mask straps, the gloom of the sun-starved city. The characters are, if you will forgive me, real characters, and each one is more badass or more endearing (as appropriate) than the last. The story moves along at a solid clip, neither rushed nor strained. The best part, though, is that when you break away from reading the novel, you find yourself glancing over your shoulder, opening windows, and otherwise feeling haunted. I didn't have to go to bed with a flashlight -- this was no mere creep-factor, but a genuine sense that this adventuresome book clings to you, as only the best reads can. I'm not sure what "rollicking" really means, but I think this is it. Read it.

I thought the idea of this book was great. The reality of the book? Not so much. The characters were wooden, boring, and showed very little connection to one another. The plot should have left me excited and spellbound, but instead left me bored and annoyed. Zombies + Steampunk should = FUN. But in this case, there was very little fun to be had.

That Boneshaker is a Hugo Award nominee testifies to its appeal to a significant fraction of science fiction fans. The appeal is certainly discernible: The book is packed with the mildly distorted history and technological anachronism that have made "steampunk" a popular subgenre. It doesn't, however, strike me as a novel that will be remembered and read ten years from now. The setting, characters and plot are bizarre enough to hold one's interest for a day, but they are not truly creative. Worse, the big revelation at the end of the heroine's dark secret is a revelation only because the author brazenly cheats the reader out of information that should have been available by about page 20.

I liked Boneshaker well enough, and found it a good read in general. I did want to like it more though, being a fan of alternate history and steampunk. The premise is interesting and the book is paced well, but I wasn't *quite* able to connect with the characters, get to know them, and care about their fates. Overall, I recommend it as a good bit of "brain candy" and a relaxing read. 3/5 rating

This YA novel is set in a dystopic steampunk world of 1863. The Civil War rages in the eastern US, and rumours of gold in the northwest have people streaming in from everywhere to stake their claim and dig for a piece of shiny ore. The book is set in Seattle, where a catastrophic drilling accident has released a poisonous gas throughout the inner city. After taking refuge in The Outskirts, the survivors build a huge wall around the city to contain the deadly, low-lying gas that continues to seep out of the ground. Called The Blight, the gas is so toxic that if it touches your skin you either die within minutes in agony, or turn into a “rotter”. To all intents and purposes these rotters are zombies that move at incredible speed and have tremendous strength and regenerative capacity. The novel picks up 16 years after the disaster. Told in a split narrative, it focuses on two protagonists. One is a 15-year old boy (Zeke), who wants to find out about his grandfather, an acknowledged hero when The Blight was released. The other is his mother (Briar), a 35-year-old woman who lives a disengaged, reclusive life. The two barely speak, worn down just from the struggle to live every day in the dirty, dark, Blighted world. The story begins when Zeke decides he will make a quick visit to The City to look for clues about his grandfather. Needless to say things do not go as planned. When Briar gets home and finds Zeke gone, she goes to find him and bring him home to safety. The book is rich in detail, describing the machines and ways in which a society tries to survive in an extraordinarily harsh and unforgiving environment. There are well-drawn secondary characters that prove to be more interesting and engaging than Zeke, who just comes across as a petulant teenager. Since the book rests in a large part on his narrative, this is a major flaw for me: I just did not care about what would happen to this kid. In fact, I had hopes that he might die, giving the mother character a larger dramatic arc. As it was, her depiction was flat and, despite being ostensibly a key driver of the plot, her perils were incidental to the true crises of the other characters. Moderately well-written, and a fast read, this is the first in The Clockwork Century series. The second book in the series (Clementine), though set in the same world, focuses on different characters and has a female protagonist. As a fan of steampunk, and strong female characters, this will be enough for me to pick up a copy.

Cool premise but the pacing dragged it down and after awhile I wasn't super into/ supportive of the characters.

Didn't enjoy it and I'm just done with steam punk. Not for me. I tried with The Anubis Gates but I couldn't finish that one either.

So, this steampunk zombie book was a rollicking adventure and I enjoyed every minute of it. I kinda went in to it blind. I knew that it was a popular steampunk book and since I was wanting to read more steampunk, I just bought it. Imagine my surprise when zombies showed up in the story! But that's OK because it was a great story. I liked the alternative history. I loved Briar Wilkes. I thought she was a very strong woman and I'd like to see more of her story and what happened to her after this book. I'll definitely be picking up the rest of the series.

Good steampunk story. Fun read. Got a little draggy in the middle. Worth reading nonetheless.

Boneshaker has a really cool world and some good characters. Unfortunately the story was only okay. It was interesting enough for me to finish the book, but not enough to consider the other books in the series.

4.5 stars. I *really* enjoyed this book and kept wanting to get back in the car so I could listen to more! **Listened to audio read by Kate Reading and Wil Wheaton.**
(I have already put the 2nd audio on hold at my library, put the 3rd on my wishlist, and bought the 4th and 5th bc my library didn't have those ;)) I guess about this, I'd say: a machine is built in the late 1800s in alternative Seattle and either malfunctions or is used with ill intent, either way resulting in the destruction of the city, the death of many, and potentially the release of toxic gas that causes the city to be quarantined. Fast forward 15'ish years to this book. I enjoyed the relationships, the characters, the city, the premise, and the steampunk'ness that, nevertheless, didn't feel too kitch'y. I particularly liked Lucy and Dr. Minnericht as side-characters, but felt that Briar and Zeke were strong main characters.
Yay for fun fiction!

This is a fun read. Set in a alternate 1800's time frame, Seattle has been ravaged by the Boneshaker, and the Blight. While it has some "steampunk" influences for the genre it was not overpowering as to distract from the believability of the story. A well written novel that was an enjoyable Steampunk zombie book.

A fun read (especially for steampunk and zombie lovers). The highest praise I can lavish is that Cherie Priest's detailed Seattle feels overhelmingly real and historically accurate. The typeface was set in sepia rather than black which added grit to the oily steampunk flavor of Priest's 1880. The only criticism I can lodge is that it felt a little too teenaged (simple) for me. Maybe I was expecting more from a Hugo nominee? In any case, a short 5 day break from 'The Living Dead' anthology (still can't get Dan Simmons's story out of my head) was what I needed. My slight disappointment may stem from the juxtaposition of this novel's main characters with their similarly flat counterparts from 'Sun of Suns' by Kurt Schroeder (which can happen when you read mulitiple novels in a close time span). Like Schroeder, I never once took Priest's main players seriously...and due to the colorful, well-imagined world I even wanted to. Too often they read like silly, overplayed archetypes: "HELLO, I AM EASILY ENCUMBERED ANGST-RIDDEN TEENAGER! SEE THROUGH MY FACADE AND KNOW I HAVE SELF-CONCEPT ISSUES!!!!" etc. etc. I don't think I will be picking up 'Dreadnought'...and that may be the most damning critique of all.

Steampunk zombies! Some kind of explosion/accident/nefarious deed happened that caused a toxic fog, called The Blight, to cover Seattle. The townsfolk build a wall around it, but when Briar's son disappears behind the wall, she has to go in and find him. I wasn't that drawn in by this one. The characters were okay but I didn't buy the backstory of the Blight, or even of Briar's dark past. If you're absolutely obsessed with steampunk, you'll probably appreciate the clockwork and airships and other tropes, but otherwise it's pretty forgettable. A note on the audio: I was not too impressed with the readers on this one. Wil Wheaton was okay, but I think I expected better of his voice acting, and Kate Reading's stilted monotone has caused me to abandon otherwise promising books before. Listening to her read this was a bit of a chore.

A generation after a terrible tragedy destroys a town, the descendants of the mad scientist who catalyzed the problem venture back into the town. One is desperate to prove his family's innocence; the other just wants to bring her son home. The world building is cool but I didn't care about either character and was impatient for plot to happen, so I gave up on it.

4.5 I really quite enjoyed this. I liked that it wasn't all action and blowing stuff up. I liked that there was a 35-year-old, tired out mother as a heroine. I like that the son wasn't a sniveling baby, but also wasn't overly confident. I liked that people were smart and could read between lines and such. I enjoyed the alternative world and the basic story-line. I also just plain enjoyed the writing style. I did think it got a little slow at times and dragged a little here and there. I also would have liked to have known the fate of the City-crew after Briar and Zeke left and there did seem to be a number of convenient coincidences. But all-in-all an enjoyable read.

Steampunk adventure set in a fictional Civil War era Seattle.

It took me a couple of tries to get this book started, but I sure was glad once I got going. A steampunk tale set in an alternate-history Seattle (with airships AND zombies!) Boneshaker turned out to be one of those books I couldn't wait to get back to...and during one of the busiest times in my schedule, too, so it was torture.

I have long resisted reading steampunk. Possibly because I'm not very mechanically-minded and all the cogs and steam made me nervous. Maybe because I have a fear of goggles and seeing the extra layers and straps in the costumes made me feel fat. Whatever the reasons, it was a good year between reading a 'start here' article sent from a friend and actually picking up some Cherie Priest. Set in the late 19th century, Boneshaker is about a device that turned most of burgeoning Seattle into a soupbowl of yellow gas called Blight. When the ground was churned and crumbled, the gases trapped underneath shot up to kill off animal and plant life, choke people to death and then zap them into zombiedom. The whole hot mess has been cut off from the rest of the area by an enormous stone wall. The Boneshaker's inventor, Leviticus Blue, disappeared the day his machine tore the town apart. His wife Briar and their son Zeke are pariahs scrounging out a living in the mudflats outside the wall. When Zeke finds a map of the downtown area, he heads off to get past the wall and find out what really happened with his father's invention - and if Leviticus is actually alive. Briar naturally freaks out and goes into the city after him to tell him the truth about his father and get him out alive. Though the lack of hygiene gave me the squirms, this one made onto my Just Read It Already list for 2010. Pirates? check. Zombies? check. Soap? ehh. If you haven't tried steampunk - or if you've just not read this author - I'm giving it two sooty thumbs up. Just 'no touch-y' with those goggles.

This book has been buried in the depths of my Amazon cart for many years. During a recent trip to the library it caught my eye, and I’m glad I decided to finally read it! Boneshaker is a steampunk novel with a handful of American history sprinkled in for good measure. I often find that many of the steampunk novels I read are set in England or perhaps a fictional country modeled after England. It was a nice change of pace to read something set in my country. Briar and Ezekiel are likeable characters and their backstory is a rich one – one I’d actually like to know more about. I was intrigued by the Bone-Shaking Drill Engine and it was featured less in the story than I imagined. That’s really my only issue with this book – there were plenty of other steampunk creations to read about, but I wanted to know more about that drill! The war is mentioned from time to time, but if you’re looking for a version of the Civil War with more steampunk elements in it, this is not the book for you. Personally, this didn’t bother me (though I do think that’s a cool premise and if you know of any books like that, let me know!) This book also took me longer to read than I’d guessed. I never felt bored or bogged down, but it was one of those books that I’d read for a few hours and think that I must be half done, only to find I’d made barely any progress. I don’t consider that a negative, just something to think about. I had a lot of fun reading Boneshaker and it was very easy for me to picture the world Priest created. I’ll definitely seek out more of her work!

DNF'ed it about half-way through. Had major issues with how characters behaved, and the world did not make sense :( Really wanted to like it, too.

Briar Wilkes is the widow of a mad man and great inventor, the late Dr. Blue. She and her teenage son, Ezekiel, must live with the everlasting shame of the horrible disaster Dr. Blue’s mining engine (Boneshaker) caused to downtown Seattle. Blight gas was released all those years ago, turning hundreds of people into the walking dead before that section of the city could be walled off. But now Ezekiel, on the cusp of manhood, goes in search of answers and Briar is hot on his heels. Set in the 1860s Pacific Northwest, this alternate steampunk history will keep you glued to the story. This was my first Cherie Priest book but will not be my last. The story opens by dropping us into Briar’s life and we pick up the history as we go along. Briar has secrets and lots of folks want to know if her husband, Dr. Blue, is truly dead, including her son. Hence, Ezekiel heads off on his own to find some answers. Of course, this means going into the walled off, deadly gas zone. The folks outside the wall have so many stories about those stuck on the inside, but Ezekiel and his mom are about find out the truth of the matter. And that is when it gets really interesting. The folks inside are rotting slowly. And there are those who have gone completely zombie. But for the most part, there is still a society of folks trying to scrape by living in underground Seattle. There’s all sorts of requirements to staying save, taking in as little gas as possible, so it’s complicated. It was fascinating to see how this society worked, and the response to Dr. Blue’s widow. Eventually, Briar has to make a tough trade with guy who runs the underground gas zone. Plus she then has to decide whether or not to tell her son the truth. It was so intense! Toss in some airships, a few crazy weapons, a few handicap folks with mechanical bits, and you have a great story. The Narration: Wil Wheaton and Kate Reading did a great job. Most of the story is told through Briar’s eyes, so we hear more of Reading. Wheaton was awesome as a confused, somewhat angry teenager. Both had distinct voices for both female and male characters.