Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
A brilliant book, exciting, thoughtful, linguistically inventive, moving. I can't imagine a better present for anyone between the ages of 10 and 90. And if you don't want to give anyone else a present, you could always just buy it for yourself.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A gothic and gritty historical fantasy. Edward Carey is great at creating a dark atmosphere without making his books too desolate and depressing. I loved the fantasy system in this story, so unique and creative, having characters have birth objects that they are attached to. This turned mundane objects into something of great value and of intrigue for the reader. This intrigue really drew me in and captured my imagination as this plot went along. A delightfully bizarre and brilliant read.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A gothic and gritty historical fantasy. Edward Carey is great at creating a dark atmosphere without making his books too desolate and depressing. I loved the fantasy system in this story, so unique and creative, having characters have birth objects that they are attached to. This turned mundane objects into something of great value and of intrigue for the reader. This intrigue really drew me in and captured my imagination as this plot went along. A delightfully bizarre and brilliant read.
DNF. 2/5 Stars.
I just couldn’t waste any more time on this book. I have it 150 pages. It wasn’t necessarily bad, I’m just not interested... like, at all. It was a cover buy, so it’s my fault. To the donation pile it goes.
I just couldn’t waste any more time on this book. I have it 150 pages. It wasn’t necessarily bad, I’m just not interested... like, at all. It was a cover buy, so it’s my fault. To the donation pile it goes.
According to Wikipedia, "Steampunk refers to a subgenre of science fiction and sometimes fantasy that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery." I'm not sure this really falls into the category of steampunk, and in fact I have not read much steampunk (I'm not much of a sci-fi reader generally), but that word kept popping into my head as I plowed through this. It describes a world which is covered by garbage, and in the middle of the garbage-filled world (the Heaps) is a family home, a mansion really, which is occupied by the Iremonger family and its myriad Serving Iremongers (people who are kidnapped or otherwise recruited from among the unfortunate classes, to give up their identities and serve the ruling family). That seems pretty dark, right? Well, it gets even darker, as the truth about the Iremongers and their inanimate "birth objects" becomes clear over the course of the story. The narrative follows Clod Iremonger and Lucy Pennant, an accidental interloper into this weird world. One of the most interesting conceits in this story is the strangeness of the names: Clod, Tummis, Ormily et al, names which are almost familiar but somehow warped, just like the world they inhabit. That Lucy is the only "normal" name should be a clue to the way the story progresses, but I don't usually pick up on those kinds of clues. This is supposed to be a YA book (or even a middle-grade book), but some of the concepts here are very sophisticated, and certainly the world and the story playing out are extremely dark. I suppose a less sophisticated reader could take it for a kind of sci-fi romp, but there is much more to it than that. Weirdly enjoyable though, and given the way it ended (no spoilers here!) I shall add the next installment to my reading list.
hopeful
Wow! This was very different! I very much enjoyed it. It had a lot of darker themes running through the novel which I enjoyed. There was also a lot of adult jokes thrown in there if you pay attention. Very well written, very unique, will be picking up the next books in the trilogy and his new book coming out soon. The ending! Ahh the ending! It did drag a little bit towards the end, I think some of the action parts could have been either cut or resolved faster. I'm interested to see if we'll be seeing more answers in the next book. Very intriguing!
This is closer to a 3.5 for me. I was into it right up until the end and finished feeling like I wasn't sure if I wanted to read the next book in the series. I will probably give it a shot eventually but for now I have too many other books I'm more excited to read.
adventurous
funny
mysterious