Review: 41. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest...

I wanted to read more steampunk this year, and I'm ashamed to say I've only gotten to Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan so far... Sad, too, as I'm liking this genre--what I've read of it, anyway!

Title: Boneshaker (Clockwork Century #1)
Author: Cherie Priest
ISBN-13: 9780765318411
eBook
Publisher: Tor, 2009
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Purchased

drey's thoughts:
Set during the Civil War, Cherie Priest's Boneshaker is an alternate-history steampunk tale with wit, adventure, and zombies. Yup, zombies. They call 'em rotters, but you can't miss the shambling, moaning, tear-your-flesh-off, used-to-be-people, zombies...

Briar Wilkes was widowed sixteen years ago, when the world as they knew it went to heck in a hand-basket. She's shunned by her neighbors and coworkers, as they think that her husband caused the calamity that brought about the gas. The gas that turns those it touches into rotters. So Briar keeps to herself, and away from everybody. Until her son Ezekiel decides to prove that his father was innocent, and runs into the walled-off, gas-filled portion of the city...

I like Briar. She's stubborn and persuasive, and the fact that she's a mother out to save her son contributes nicely to the story. She doesn't always make the best decisions, but she's motivated by her son's safety, and worries about what he'll find. Along the way, she learns that you can't always be beholden to those who hold you responsible for actions that weren't yours.

Zeke's story is a little lighter than Briar's, and focuses more on the adventure. There are rotters! And more rotters! And a crazy inventor who could be his father! But is he? Or is he not?

You'll be stuck with this book until you find out if Briar and Zeke survive their excursion into the city, and whether the elusive and crazy Dr. Minnericht is Zeke's father...

drey's rating: 4/5 Excellent! Boneshaker has an engrossing fast-paced plotline, intriguing characters, and believable world-building. You won't go wrong with this as an introduction to the steampunk genre. I'm off to get the next Clockwork Century novel, Dreadnought.

Challenge: New Author, Steampunk