I had seen Cherie Priest's Boneshaker before, and had read good things about it, but I didn't pick up the book until it was selected for the io9 book club. Jon Foster's cover art is eye-catching, striking, and stylistically different from what one is accustomed to seeing on the bookshelf these days, but it is highly appropriate for the story and fits it perfectly. I believe that Boneshaker is the first steampunk novel that I've read unless you want to count Perdido Street Station, which I don't personally. I do like the steampunk aesthetic, so that was one reason I was looking forward to reading Boneshaker. Plus, you know, zombies and sky pirates. I've seen Boneshaker on numerous recommended reading lists and it received quite a few award nominations as well, including for, among others, the 2009 Nebula award and the 2010 Hugo award, and was the winner of the 2010 Locus award. On January 2, 1863, havoc was unleashed upon Seattle; the Boneshaker, an experimental drilling engine sponsored by the Russian government, tore through the city, literally collapsing the financial district and releasing a dangerous gas from below the earth's surface. The Blight sickens and kills its victims who rise again as rotters, continuing to spread the disease. Briar Wilkes, widow of Leviticus Blue, the man blamed for the catastrophe, and daughter of Maynard Wilkes, considered by some to be a saint and by most to be a traitor, finds herself and her son Zeke shunned by the community. Sixteen years after the Boneshaker incident, Zeke disappears into the ruined city, determined to discover the truth behind the matter and to prove the innocence of a father he knows nothing about. It is up to Briar to follow him in and ensure that he survives to make it out alive. The first thing I noticed when opening Boneshaker was that the text was in a lovely sepia brown ink tone. I was worried that this would make the book difficult to read, but fortunately my fear was unfounded and I had no trouble at all. The prose itself is very readable and I found it to be quite enjoyable as chapters switched between following Briar and Zeke. The style is almost chatty and conversational and certainly informal for most of the book. Characters' speech in particular had a relaxed feel to it. In fact, the more proper and articulate a person's use of language, the more sinister they came across as being. I really enjoyed and appreciated this technique although it wasn't always very subtle. Generally, I liked all of the characters and that many of the secondary characters had pretty decent background stories, too; I would be interested in learning more about them, though. Although there are plenty of grim and gritty elements in Boneshaker, overall it is a fun romp and a great adventure story. Nothing was too terribly surprising; plot-wise everything was pretty straightforward without many twists. Even what I suspect was supposed to be the big reveal wasn't entirely unexpected. There isn't too much thinking involved on the reader's part, making Boneshaker a fast read despite a slow beginning and an epilogue that feels tacked on. I want to call the book cinematic in its presentation--I could easily envision what was happening. Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing a film version of the story; there certainly were plenty of moments of badassery (often on Briar's part) and entertaining action sequences. One thing that I think worked particularly well, and what I particularly enjoyed, was the explanation behind the rotters--the Blight. Extraordinarily important to both the setting the the plot, Priest pulls it off marvelously. Experiments in Reading
Review by PhoenixTerran (LibraryThing), June 15, 2010 Cherie Priest has earned much acclaim for her novel Boneshaker and I am not sure why. It's not an offensively bad book, the premise is very interesting and the setting could have catapulted the narrative into action adventure greatness. But it lacks punch. It never gives you that extra gear that pulls you in and makes you turn the page. I have seen the problem arise in many books, writing like a reader. The reader doesn't want the protagonist to be hurt, feel pain, or find themselves in a predicament of uncertain resolution. It's the writer who has to push the story into those uncomfortable areas and let the reader suffer with the characters. Boneshaker promises peril and sacrifice but Priest pulls her punches. I never honestly believed that Briar would not find her son, or that they'd even be placed in serious jeopardy for any reason. The protagonists are saved from discomfort at every turn. They are never placed in a situation where they'd have to reach beyond their limits to cope with the horror of their surroundings. This despite the fact that the surroundings are teeming with horrors. The setting, while original and interesting, leaves us to wonder why anyone would live in such a place. There was no plausible motive given for anyone to remain in such an inhospitable environment. Despite the conflict deriving much of its power from the hell on earth backdrop, the most emotion that could be rended from its inhabitants was some griping about having to wear gas masks. I'm not totally familiar with this conventions of steampunk but the dialog seemed flat to my ears. Politeness and platitudes appeared to be the order of the period and aside from the the antagonists sidekick (I can't even remember his name he appears so infrequently), all the characters sounded almost exactly the same. With a little better setup for the inhabitants of the doomed city, and a little less skittishness on the part of the author in trying to save her characters from harm, this book could have been great. Instead it's a tepid pile of near-misses. I would be interested in revisiting this world in the up-coming sequels, but only if Priest can kick it up a notch.
Review by tnt-tek (LibraryThing), June 10, 2010 A friend recommended Boneshaker to me as a result of a specific request I'd made: I wanted to read some books that were outside my usual genres but still fell into themes I enjoy, and it couldn't have too much violence, drugs, or alcohol (because of the triggering nature of such things for me). I also hoped for something that wasn't rife with misogyny or racism or religious bigotry, because I wanted to enjoy the books, not get angry at them. As a recommendation in response to my requests, Boneshaker is very good. There is violence, particularly against zombies, but it isn't particularly graphic or disgusting. The suspense (I guess it's a little bit of a horror story?) was just enough to keep the story moving without being too much. While there is some racism, particularly against the Chinese immigrants in the walled off part of Seattle, it isn't really promoted as a positive thing, and more of a "this is the way things were in the 19th century". I found the book to be solidly enjoyable, after a rough start. It's not my favorite ever or anything (far from it), but after the difficult beginning, when things started to get moving, I found myself looking forward to reading it. The ending was very satisfying. But as for the beginning - it was a rough start, after the prologue. There were a lot of unexplained details that made me feel as though the characters were interacting in a void, and I couldn't picture them at all. It was fifty or sixty pages before we were told the age of Briar's son, and then it was only because of a statement of how long it had been since the wall to keep the Blight contained was completed. Other details like this bothered me throughout the book, because they weren't explained for some time, almost like it was obvious (and maybe it was and I was missing the clues), and then the answers were given offhandedly much later. Some things in the book were never explained, though I'm not sure if it bothers me or not. For example, there's never an explanation of what, exactly, the Blight is, or how it was that the rotters were able to invade the underground without letting the Blight in (later, it is explained that someone directed them down, but were the doors held open or something?). The characters and setting were well drawn and vivid (at least, after the rough patch in the beginning), making the book feel rich and well done. The plot and mystery elements are simple, but I didn't feel that they needed to be more than they were. Overall, it's just a solidly enjoyable book, and thus my feelings that I don't know that the unexplained parts really needed to be answered, though it bugs me a little that they weren't. Probably the best part of the book is how pretty it is. I have the paperback trade version, and it has a lovely cream-colored paper with a nice thickness to it, with a coppery-brown colored print. When I first opened and flipped through the pages, I was struck by the feeling of "sepia" it gave - rather fitting for a steampunk novel, no? The typeface was rather nice, too, especially in the top margins next to the page numbers. It was rather pleasant to read, as well as pretty.
Review by keristars (LibraryThing), May 30, 2010 Back in the 1860s with the prospect of Gold in Northern California firmly established, rumors of an untapped source of more gold in the Klondike region lured people even farther into the Pacific Northwest. However, the frozen ground made reaching the hidden gold almost a pipe dream until the Russians held a contest to see who could come up with a way to reach the gold. Leviticus Blue was just such a person, an inventor of fantastic machines, and his idea for a huge, earth-boring drill known as the Boneshaker caught the Russians' attention. They contracted him to create the Boneshaker, but during one of its early test beneath Seattle, something went wrong, the machine burrowed beneath the buildings, sinking them, creating tunnels that weakened the ground's integrity, and unleashing a pocket of natural gas, known as the Blight, that killed whoever came in contact with it. Sometimes, it even brought them back from the dead, faster and hungrier than anyone thought possible. The government erected a wall around Seattle to contain both the gas and the undead Rotters, and blame was laid on Leviticus' doorstep. 15 years later, Blue's widow Briar Wilkes remains the sole scapegoat for the townsfolk to persecute. She takes it in stride, doing whatever she can to make some kind of living for her and her son Zeke. To protect him, she doesn't talk much about his father, but rumors that Leviticus actually saved lives before the Blight could consume everything, trigger a desire inside Zeke that pushes him to find a way beneath the Wall in search of anything to exonerate his father. When Briar discovers her son missing, she knows of only one place he would go and sets off to find him. From the tunnels of underground Seattle and with the help of an odd assortment of folks still living behind the Wall, she fights her way through Rotters and a mysterious overlord named Dr. Minnericht -- who seems to have a knack for building fantastic machines -- to save her son. I never questioned any of it -- the lure of gold, a huge drill run amok, underground tunnels, a community of refugees living beneath Seattle, the Blight gas and the government's reaction, an array of Jules Vernian gadgets. There's always a risk involved when re-inventing bits of history to fit a fictional premise, but Cherie Priest did a fine job of immediately setting up the back story of what happened to Seattle so that it became believable. And using the nation's fascination with gold, especially around that time, was the perfect catalyst. Also, the descriptions of Seattle itself were amazing: the poorly lit underground maze of tunnels and pockets of fresh air matched the conditions above ground, where crumbling streets and buildings were almost indistinguishable in the thick brownish-yellow gas and a wrong turn could lead you into a pack of ravenous Rotters. I liked the characters, from the strong-willed and protective Briar Wilkes and her rebellious and questioning son Zeke to Lucy the barkeep at Maynard's (one of the underground hangouts) with a mechanical arm and the mysterious Dr. Minnericht. I was never quite sure about who Minnericht was, and Priest kept me guessing until the very end. My only gripe had to do with something very, very minor -- the birds. Much is made about them at the beginning of Briar's adventure, about how they seem to be watching and the question of how they survive living in the Blight. I expected something to happen with them, such as them not being real but creations of Dr. Minnericht or them actually having succumbed to the Blight and attempting to swoop down on Briar while she was above ground. The story never mentions them after those first few instances. But what it comes down to is the story, and Priest's tale of a mother trying to protect her son, doing whatever it takes without a second thought, really keeps the tale going. "Boneshaker"'s a true roller-coaster ride, an adventure story filled with zombies, air pirates, an underground city, and fantastic machines. We need more books like this! Highly recommended!!
Review by ocgreg34 (LibraryThing), May 23, 2010 Boneshaker combines two fantastic things - steampunk and zombies, called 'rotters'. Perhaps more importantly, it also includes really fantastic world building, and the steampunk underground of the overrun Seattle that Priest creates is just wonderful. There are a lot of stories that could be told here. Unfortunately, plot and character don't quite hold up to atmosphere. Neither is particularly bad, but neither was particularly noteworthy, either. The basic premise involves some interesting backstory for a mother (Briar) and son (Zeke), and when Zeke disappears over the wall into Blight-infected Seattle, Briar goes in after him. Throughout the story we meet a number of colorful characters and get a really interesting sense of how the walled-off city operates and the man who runs it. The characters themselves are decently drawn, but the relationships between them felt lacking to me - it was hard to ever feel a real connection between anyone, even Briar and Zeke, where it was most important. The chase through the city, one after the other, let us see a lot and explore a lot, but never really connected as an interesting or important thing to be doing. I never really cared all that much about whether Briar found Zeke, because I never really cared that much about him - or believed that she did. Still, I've rated the book pretty highly, because the atmosphere carries it a lot for me, and despite my complaints about plot, it's one of those books where I almost didn't realize the issue until I was in the last 30 or so pages. So the book is a pretty firm success by that measure - it read well in the reading, and it's only in the after that I feel a little unsatisfied.
Review by Aerrin99 (LibraryThing), May 14, 2010 Zombies; why did it have to be zombies? Seeing as I like 19th-century on crack storylines I've been looking forward to reading this novel for awhile, but the actual item left me rather disappointed. Apart from the steampunk/alternate history elements, what you really have here is an example of a survival/horror thriller that would probably make a good game scenario. That said, the story of Briar Wilkes Blue and her son really didn't capture my imagination, though the climax of the book makes up for a lot, and I'll admit that I'm hoping for better things from the next novel in the series. Also not helping matters is the sepia tone in which the book is printed, as this gets very annoying after awhile.
Review by Shrike58 (LibraryThing), April 13, 2010 The last line of the author's note: "I realize this story is a bit of a twisted stretch, but honestly--isn't that what steampunk is for?" With that caveat, this is a great book. To give her credit, the stretching is in the entire setting; the logic of the story within the setting holds together fairly well with only a couple of coincidental nudges. I don't really care for zombies, probably because they don't make logical, only visceral, sense, and I could complain a bit about the technological disparities. However, I liked this book anyway, and if you're a fan of zombies and/or brass fittings, you'll probably love it.
Review by randalrh (LibraryThing), March 10, 2010 I've been bit by the SteamPunk bug and am drawn in hook, line, and sinker. Boneshaker takes place in Seattle in the late 1800's. During this time word has spread that there is gold buried beneath the tundra in Alaska. So begins the mad rush for countries to design a machine that will cut through the frozen tundra so that the gold can be excavated. Enter inventor, Leviticus Blue, he has been fronted the money by the Russian government to design and build their excavation machine. The result of Blue's hard work is the Boneshaker, an encapsulated ride-on machine with a large drill bit design that will cut through the earth’s toughest terrain. Prior to accepting the machine, the Russians ask Dr. Blue to conduct a test run. The test run yields disastrous results, causing major earth quakes and worst of all releases a deadly gas "Blight" that will kill anyone who breathes it in. And for those very unfortunate souls will reanimate them into "rotters" (or zombies). Fast forward 16 years later, and you will follow the exploits of Dr. Blue's widow, Briar Wilkes as she tries to get on with life after the accident and to raise and protect her 16 year old son Zeke. Seattle has changed dramatically over those 16 years, as the government has erected a huge wall around the main portion city in order to keep the Blight from spreading over the entire city. Now living in the Outskirts, Briar must face daily torment at work, as nobody will let her live down what her husband did to them. Zeke wants to understand what happened with his father and since his mother isn’t very forthcoming with information, he decides to find out on his own. This leads him to venture to the other side of the wall in search of answers. Briar soon finds out about Zeke’s escapade and ventures over the wall in search of her son. The other side of the wall is no place for a teenage boy, in fact it is no place where anyone should be.
Review by Ti99er (LibraryThing), March 9, 2010 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.
Review by MelHay (LibraryThing), February 28, 2010 In Boneshaker, the former city of Seattle has been walled off because of a deadly blight gas that now fills the city. The blight gas came after a huge drill called the Boneshaker went horribly out of control and destroyed downtown Seattle. Briar Wilkes dealt with all of this firsthand as it was her husband Leviticus Blue that created the Boneshaker and caused all of the destruction. Briar lives with her son outside of the city's walls but deals with the stigma of being Blue's widow every day. Until her son, Zeke, decides to go into the city looking for proof that will clear his father's name. I'm going to start this review off by saying that I just loved this book. So be warned that their may be gushing. Boneshaker was such an original read and like nothing that I've read before. There are zombies (from the blight gas), air pirates, plus just the gas itself. The gas almost took on its own character as it is such an important factor in the story. When Briar goes into the walls of the city looking for her son, she has to deal with all of these things on a constant basis. For instance, there are only certain places where people can breathe without masks safely within the city. The gas is a constant presence and enemy that the people living inside the city are up against. It made the story so much more suspenseful with all of these factors mixed in. I was flying through the pages trying to see what would happen next. Briar, herself, is a great main character. She is strong but feels that she has made mistakes in regards to her son. Who can't relate to that a bit? And what it comes down to is that this is a story about a mother and son and their relationship which just makes the book that much better. Briar is not only trying to save her son, but she is also trying to do better by him. I loved the other characters in this book...heck, I just really loved this book. There isn't much more to say than that. Obviously, I highly recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a good story. I'm pretty sure that I didn't do this book justice but if it sounds at all interesting go check it out. According to Goodreads this is book 1 so I'm assuming (hoping) that there are going to be more books. Because the author does leave a few things open with the ending. All in all, a great read and one of my favorites this year so far.
Review by samantha.1020 (LibraryThing), February 18, 2010 An enjoyable adventure through a fictional 19th century Seattle. So whether you are into Steampunk, zombies, or just a rollicking tale, you have come to the right place with Boneshaker. The only two cons, as far as I'm concerned, is that the book could have used more grit, and the writer broadcast the ending way back in the first half of the book. I will definitely read any future books in the series and I think this particular book would bake an enjoyable if not formulaic screenplay. I've been running actresses through my head for the part of the lead.
Review by SwampIrish (LibraryThing), February 12, 2010 The steampunk concept can be a love/hate thing with sci-fi dorks. We love the idea of an alternate reality where a presumptive Industrial Revolution juts up against a retarded Moore's Law, resulting in mutated technology like coal-burning mecha suits with brass fittings. At the same time, we hate the depressing settings of squalid post-Victorian England, the mooning and swooning of female characters, and the Cockney bluster of heroes and villains alike.Boneshaker is a little different in the latter sense, taking place in hardscrabble colonial America instead of grimy old England. The real twist is that it also takes a conceitedly historical Seattle (still isolated after a prolonged, sixteen-year Civil War) and throws a few thousand zombies into a walled quarter of the city. The story is told mostly from two divergent viewpoints, Ezekiel Wilkes and his mother Briar, as they both take circuitous paths through (over and under, actually) through downtown, encountering varying degrees of living and undead ruffians along the way.While there are obvious motifs from Escape From New York and The Empire Strikes Back, along with the requisite George Romero overtones, what Boneshaker is most notably lacking in is period patter. There are intermittent scenes of turn-of-the-century etiquette, but for the most part, the characters speak as if they all came from 1980s Wisconsin instead of 1880s Seattle. This in itself isn't a bad thing, as phoneticizing the rough-edged slang of 19th century hard-asses can make for tiresome reading.What Boneshaker does have, (in addition to just enough retro-tech to satisfy, but not too much that it becomes fetishistic) is strong female protagonists, especially Briar Wilkes, the rifle-toting, steampunk equivalent of Aliens' Ripley. Briar hides a dark secret that the entire conceit of the story hinges upon, and it's her regret and passion to protect her son that ultimately drives her, rather than the potential clearing of her besmirched name.An open-ended conclusion sets the stage for additional canon stories, while smooth, snappy dialogue and relevant, unobtrusive action sequences make it potential big-screen fodder, should this steampunk thing ever graduate from the underground into a real trend.
Review by conformer (LibraryThing), February 9, 2010 I love the idea of steampunk - the visuals alone are utterly compelling (both the real life versions and the ones in my head). I think it's the mashup between Victorian aesthetic sensibility and cyberpunk that hooks me. Boneshaker has the sensibility nailed down to the small details past storytelling of the aesthetic of the book itself with it's amazing cover art by Jon Foster and its sepia-tone typeface - that attention to detail serves the reader well by creating an entire coherent experience that you don't often get outside of comics. And then there's the story! This is a great story - an adventure over the wall into an imaginary 19th century downtown Seattle where the Blight Gas has turned much of the population into zombies. I lived in Seattle for ten years (within walking distance of much of the landscape Ms. Priest appropriates) and it's captured fairly well despite some license taken for the sake of better storytelling. Did I mention there are zombies? And zeppelins, and pirates, and Chinese mechanics, and mysterious engineers running Fagin-like criminal enterprises in a vaguely Victorian, vaguely cowboy Western atmosphere, but none of these elements are the point of the story. The point of the story is the relationship between a boy and his mother and their quest to find each other in an alien environment and all the people they meet along the way. The book is smart and funny and sad and entertaining. I have a few quibbles with the handling of certain characters (no one who has lost both arms is as nice as Lucy - her dialogue is so sappy sweet it threatens to derail the story), but they are very small compared to the coolness of the overall experience.
Review by kraaivrouw (LibraryThing), January 30, 2010 I have been wanting to read something from Cherie Priest for some time. When I saw Boneshaker out on the shelves and read the premise of it I had to get it. It was a good buy. I really enjoyed the book, the plot, the world, the characters, all of it. This is the first of three planned books to take place in the Clockwork Universe. The books are supposed to be unrelated stories set in the same universe. Lecviticus Blue won a contest to drill for gold in the Klondike with his invention the Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine. Only problem was that on the first trial something went extremely wrong. The Drill ripped apart Seattle and released the Blight; a poisonous gas that turned many of the residents of Seattle into walking zombies that love to feast on raw flesh. A wall was built to contain the Blight. Briar Wilkes is Blue's widow and lives outside the Wall; she is eking out a living raising her son and daily deals with the hate of her fellow humans for the actions of her husband. Her son Zeke is determined to prove that his father was not a bad man so he sneaks back into the Blight filled city to find evidence. While he is there things go wrong and now Briar must enter the city of her childhood and face all of the horrors there if she is ever going to rescue her son. This was a great book. I mean it had zombies, so that's pretty cool right there. It also had airships, lots of shotguns, non-stop action, beautiful descriptions, and a wonderful cast of characters. It shows how both a mother's love and humanity's penchant for survival can go against all odds. You have to love Briar as a character, she has her flaws, but she is one resourceful mother and will stop at nothing to get back her son. Zeke is an awesome character too. Priest captured the family dynamics really well. All of the side characters were fascinating and interesting too. The action is non-stop with danger lurking around literally every corner. The descriptions of the various steampunk machinery are wonderful and well-done. This is steampunk adventure at its best. I think just about everyone will find this book a fascinating read. It could also be read to young adults, maybe not younger kids though; it gets pretty scary and there are quite a bit of rather violent fighting scenes. The aesthetics of the book also bear mentioning. This was the first book I have ever read that is on an deep off-white paper with the words printed in a deep rust color; it does a good job of setting the mood of the story. I was worried that the lower contrast would make it hard to read; but it didn't, just lent the book a very, well, steampunk feeling! This is definitely a keeper and I look forward to reading the next two Clockwork Universe novels that are planned. I will also be checking out Priest's previous works like her Eden Moore series.
Review by krau0098 (LibraryThing), January 27, 2010 Steampunk, pirates in air ships, a mad scientist AND zombies! This was one of those books I just knew I had to read when I started seeing it's title pop up in various LT threads. Add the fact that it's an incredibly good looking book (brown letters on sepia paper, even!) and it's no wonder it quickly wandered to the top of my TBR mountain range. "Boneshaker" is set in 1880 in a America where the civil war, back east, is fought primarly with war machines. This story however, is set in a warped Seattle, a town that began to swell rapidly as a result of the Klondike craze but was brought to a sudden and pretty definite halt. Genious inventor Leviticus Blue was appointed by the Russians to build a huge machine, a drilling and mining device to investigate the Klondike mountains under the permaforst. On it's first testrun, however, the Boneshaker got out of control, caving in half of Seattle downtown. Worse: it managed to release a poisonous underground gas, the Blight, which turns people into "rotters", living dead, when inhaled. Seattle was sealed off behind giant walls, it's inhabitants now huddling in miserable existance on the outskirts, while the Blight-ridden town is infested with rotters. But since the poison gas can be distilled into a lethal drug, there are still people going in and out of Seattle proper, and also a small huddling population of criminals and outcasts still living there - relying on gas-masks, sealed off air pockets and huge ventilation furnaces for their existance. Into this dangerous world enters fifteen year old Zeke, son of Leviticus Blue, adamant to find out the truth about his father's role in the destruction of Seattle. And after him, to find her son and protect him from the real truth about his dead father comes Briar, Blue's widow and the town scapegoat. They travel different paths through the dangerous town, alternating as main characters, until the story comes together in an inevitable crescendo. The premise is improbable (this is steampunk, people!), but Priest builds a neat and well-designed world. She uses Seattle landmarks for her own purposes and seems to know the city very well, probably adding to the experience for a reader with local knowledge. I really like the fact that she keeps the setting small-scale: these are events happening in a backwater, not even a state yet. Which, thankfully, doesn't turn out to have global implications on an epic scale. This very local battle for truth and justice works fine for what it is. I've not read much zombie literature, but the scenes with the rotters work really well for me, suspenseful escapes through dark streets with a band of slobbering undead on your heels. Overall, the storytelling is fast, actionpacked and exciting. But unfortunately, when Priest is going to bring the whole book together, she falls into some sad clichés, bringing my rating down by at least half a star. I would happily have done without the villain in a mask and flowing cape snarling things like "Ignorant fool! I would have given you everything!", and the book's conclusion seems like a little bit of an anticlimax. I really wanted for this book to blow me away. The last quarter brings it down a notch, though. Even though I had fun all the way through and most definitely will look for more books by Priest, I'm left with a slight feeling of disappointment. Still, a recommended and high-paced read.
Review by GingerbreadMan (LibraryThing), January 10, 2010 Mrs. Priest has pacing problems. Fathom in particular has a very peculiar rhythm to it, but with the release of Boneshaker, Mrs. Priest has shown that she has both fixed that aspect of the pacing and revealed a far more worrisome problem: Mrs. Priest is going to use up her supply of awesome if she keeps releasing works like this. Boneshaker is steampunk, but not the steampunk you know and may or may not love. It's set in an alternate history, but doesn't dwell on it. It's set in Seattle, but not the Seattle you know. It's got zombies, but they're not the problem (directly). This book is or has many familiar things, and the narrative settles into them as comfortably as pulling on a well worn overcoat. There's a story to tell, and layers to build upon, and the book does exactly that, and it's exactly the right way to do it.
Review by SaintBrevity (LibraryThing), January 9, 2010 I knew when I saw this book I had to have it. So buy it I did, and as soon as I picked it up and started reading, I fell in love. It's so quirky that it instantly appealed. And when I was finished with it, I wanted more. So I'm particularly grateful that there are rumors of more books set in this alternate-history world, and hopefully they'll be this good. The author has managed to create a world that the reader can actually believe in, the mark of a good steampunk, sci-fi, or alternate history writer. For example, to be really honest, I don't normally like books (or movies) featuring flesh-eating zombies, but here in this world it works, because they are an after effect of the blight. They are a constant danger, and the book wouldn't be the same without them. Gas masks are essential for life in this world, and she never eases up on this point. Priest set her novel during the time of the Civil War, complete with airships and hot-air balloons, and she has included some real people and real places so the reader feels a bit more grounded while reading the novel. The atmosphere is dark and gloomy, and people spend a lot of time underground, and I never lost track that this was Seattle (one of my favorite cities), albeit some time ago. And then there's the lemon sap, the drug of choice which a lot of people are making money on. Even the book's print is unique, giving you a feel that you're reading something from that era. And at its core, this book is really about a mom searching for her son, a storyline that is wholly believable. The characters are also awesome; the villain of this book is one Dr. Minnericht, who tinkers with technology and holds the residents of downtown Seattle in his clutches. One of my favorite characters is Lucy, who has a robotic arm and runs an underground saloon called Maynard's. Then there's Swakhammer, who wears full body armor as protection against the Rotters (zombies). Even the characters you don't meet in person are great: Maynard Wilkes, for example, is a lawman who is revered both inside and outside of the gates, and there's Leviticus Blue, husband of Briar and father to Zeke (who both tell the story from their alternating points of view) , who started the whole mess in the first place. Cherie Priest has written an outstanding book here, and I can't wait for the new additions to the series to start rolling off the presses. Highly recommended for people who enjoy alternate history, or science fiction or steampunk. Or, if you're like me, and you just like quirky things very much away from the norm, you'll love this one.
Review by bcquinnsmom (LibraryThing), January 5, 2010 The alternate-history steampunk Seattle Priest creates is pretty badass - zombies, pirates, poisonous gas, etc. And the set-up between her protagonists, the mother son duo of Briar and Zeke, is rich with dramatic potential. But it turns out that Briar and Zeke aren't really interesting characters - they just have interesting things happen to them. The pay-off lacks any proverbial oomph.
Review by kougogo (LibraryThing), January 4, 2010 I wanted to like this book. The cover is fantastic, the alternate history is imaginative and promises to give Priest plenty of room to roam in future books. But for many pages after the initial setup I found myself fighting to keep reading. By the last 2/5ths of the story, I was back in it, despite a few pages of narrative that left me wanting to skim along to get to the juicy parts. The descriptions are spot on, and Priest draws her characters quite well. It may be that steampunk is not for me. And I'm not particularly attracted to zombie lit. But if you are into steampunk and zombies, this book has it all. I'm looking forward to see what Priest comes up with next, because I really am fascinated by the depth and originality of her alternate history.
Review by erikschmidt (LibraryThing), December 31, 2009 The premise: in order to truly appreciate what Priest is doing, I'm giving you not one, but TWO premises. The first is the overall premise for the series/world-building, and the second is the actual premise of the book. I think that's fair. The Clockwork Century: explanation plucked from Subterranean Press's website, the preface for Priest's short story, also set in the Clockwork Century universe, Tanglefoot.: Stonewall Jackson survived Chancellorsville. England broke the Union’s naval blockade, and formally recognized the Confederate States of America. Atlanta never burned. It is 1880. The American Civil War has raged for nearly two decades, driving technology in strange and terrible directions. Combat dirigibles skulk across the sky and armored vehicles crawl along the land. Military scientists twist the laws of man and nature, and barter their souls for weapons powered by light, fire, and steam. But life struggles forward for soldiers and ordinary citizens. The fractured nation is dotted with stricken towns and epic scenes of devastation–some manmade, and some more mysterious. In the western territories cities are swallowed by gas and walled away to rot while the frontiers are strip-mined for resources. On the borders between North and South, spies scour and scheme, and smugglers build economies more stable than their governments. This is the Clockwork Century. It is dark here, and different. Boneshaker's Premise: Rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike encouraged the Russians to seek a machine that could actually drill for it. Leviticus Blue took up the challenge and built the great Boneshaker. But before the Russians could get a hold of it, it went on a test run through the city of Seattle, not only destroying several blocks of the city, but it released a blight of gas that turned anyone who breathed it into a rotter (aka the living dead). Now, years later, the son of Leviticus Blue is determined to prove his father wasn't a criminal for his actions, and he sneaks into the now-walled city of Seattle to get that proof. His mother, Briar Blue, terrified for her son's safety and what he might find, goes after him. But nothing easy within the walls of Seattle, as there's more than just the undead to outwit and outrun, and Zeke and Briar will need everything they've got to survive those who have a peculiar and deadly interest in them. My Rating Worth the Cash: it's definitely an entertaining read, and a well-written one. For anyone curious about steampunk as a sub-genre, it's a great place to start, because Priest has a sensible, practical approach to it, all the while telling a fun story. Fun might be an odd word to describe a book that reeks a bit of horror, but it's all good. I could easily see this made into a movie, and to be honest, I hope it happens. There's something wonderfully visual about this book, and the story lends itself to the big screen. While it's not my favorite Priest book (that honor goes to the Eden Moore trilogy, but that may be bias talking as the trilogy's setting is two hours from where I live), it's very good and I'm happy to have another Priest book under my belt. For those of you still not sure if Boneshaker is right for you, you can sample the Clockwork Century universe by reading Priest's short story Tanglefoot. The only relation to Boneshaker is the world itself, as no characters overlap and nothing references the events, let alone spoils the events, of the book. It's a good little read, with shades of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and I think you'll enjoy it. You can also check out her Clockwork Century website, which features news of all the books and short stories taking place in the universe. Priest is an entertaining blogger anyway, so you shouldn't be disappointed. As for my part, Priest remains one of my favorite authors, and I'm happy to continue with her books, steampunk or no. She hasn't kindled a great love within me for steampunk or anything, but I'll read whatever she writes provided it's well-written and entertaining. She hasn't let me down yet. Review style: No spoilers. I'm going to talk about, and I may say some things that might lead you to figure out certain plot points, but I won't outright spoil anything. :) If you're paranoid, don't bother clicking the link below, but if you're not, the link goes to my LJ, and there's a much longer discussion about the book. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :) REVIEW: Cherie Priest's BONESHAKER Happy Reading! :)
Review by devilwrites (LibraryThing), December 2, 2009 Spectaculary amazing. Let me start with the artwork; the cover art is beautiful, charming drawings of goggles and wheels adorn the chapters, and the text is in sepia ink. Priest creates an altered Victorian Seattle, ravaged by a mad scientist (who may or may not be dead) who creates the Boneshaker to dig through Alaskan ice for gold. But the Boneshaker destroys downtown Seattle, releasing a toxic gas which turns its residents into zombies. A wall is hastily erected to keep it all contained. Briar, who has to deal with daily prejudice as her husband was the mad scientist, learns that her son has gone over the wall to find out about his past. Here's where a swashbuckling, non-stop adventure involving dirigibles, air pirates, zombie blasters, and underground tunnels begins. Priest takes you on an incredible ride as Briar searches for her son and the brave survivors she meets along the way.
Review by GirlMisanthrope (LibraryThing), November 22, 2009 This adventure tale falls into the growing steampunk genre (a genre that's hard to pin down). Boneshaker is set in an alternate history. In this tale, the American Civil War has dragged on into the late 1880s, the Klondike Goldrush has happened earlier and to a larger degree, and Seattle (Washington Territory) is home to tens of thousands of settlers. Due to an experimental earth-drilling invention that went awry, a vein of gas (known as the Blight) has infected downtown Seattle so that it had to be walled off from the Outskirts. Within the walled city are roaming bands of rotters (think zombies), and some people crazy enough to venture inside and eke out a living among the rotters and Blight gas. When 15-year-old Zeke sneaks into the city, his mother, Briar, heads in after him and then things get really interesting. Most steampunk stories include airships and this story is no exception. Among the many interesting characters are piratical airship captains and crew. Makes for a very fun, very cool story.
Review by woodge (LibraryThing), November 20, 2009 Straightforward description: Steampunk and zombies. Dr. Leviticus Blue designed his Boneshaker machine to compete in the Klondike gold rush by digging deep through the frozen earth. Instead, on its test run the machine tore a gouge through downtown Seattle, exposing a vein of gas that sickened the populace and turned some into flesh-eating zombies. Fifteen years later, the ruins of Seattle are encased behind 200-foot high walls to hold back the toxic Blight gas and undead hordes. In the outskirts, Leviticus Blue's widow struggles to raise her teenage son under the heavy legacy of what her husband caused. Then, the unthinkable happens - her son finds a way into the city, determined to clear his father's name. Briar goes in after her boy, willing to risk it all to bring him out alive. Wow. I love the very concept of this book, and it lived up to its promise. Boneshaker is a fantastic romp through an alternate history Seattle. The world building is believable, complete in steampunk glory; the Civil War rages on, airships rule the skies, and incredible inventions help keep "rotters" at bay. Briar Wilkes is a wonderful heroine. She's not some skinny sexy girl. No, she's a thirty-five-year-old mother treated as an outcast for what her husband did, and her son Zeke is all she has left. Since I lived near Seattle and loved the area, this book felt somewhat personal. I could really see it in my head. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Definitely among my top ten for the year.
Review by ladycato (LibraryThing), October 31, 2009 Steampunk airships, giant boneshaking drills and mindless zombies. What more could you ask for? This is a fantastic page-turner that takes you to a reimagined steam era Seattle in which the civil war has raged on and on and the coastal Northwest has been all but forgotten. The City of Seattle in particular has been hit with troubles. A noxious gas has come up from the ground, and it not only kills folks, but turns them into "rotters" rotting flesheating zombies. Full of adventure, interesting characters and a strong heroine, I highly recommend this title.
Review by ashkev (Cass District Library), September 7, 2010 I'm actually torn about this book. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The writing was pretty good and the story moved along nicely. The setting, as unbelievable as it was, was fun and exciting. The characters were well drawn and likable and unlikable as appropriate. I read it as fast as I could, and wanted more when I was finished. On the other hand, there were quite a few times where it was difficult to stay oriented about how buildings were laid out on streets or rooms were laid out in buildings. Maybe that's just hard to do in books. It didn't really detract from the story, since the characters were confused about their location anyway. The ending was a bit of a letdown. Even so, I like the characters, world, and writing so much that I can hardly wait to get my hands on the next books in this series.
Review by zot79 (LibraryThing), August 20, 2023 More reviews: page 1 | page 2 | page 3 | page 4 | [page 5] | page 6