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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
A wild ride I thought would never end! (and due to the mucked up chapter links in the front matter, I had no clue when it would end) But, muddled chapter links aside, I really enjoyed this adventure. The writing style dropped me right into the streets of London in 1861. I could see, hear, *smell* the city, I felt crushed under the weight of poverty, heavy fogs, unbearable pollution, and the horrors committed by criminals and inhuman creatures. With an all-star cast including many big names of the day and a wild plot that spins Burton and Swinburne round and round, this one's a page-turner and eye-popper.
This book was a lot of fun. The alternate history of Sir Richard Burton, steampunk, and a great cast of characters. I look forward to reading the next one.
Victorian explorers were never on my radar until now. Mark Hodder's The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack is one of the best books I've read in some time and also one of the most enjoyable. The writing and pacing is excellent with just enough mystery in the timeline to make it quite hard to put the novel down. His characters were interesting and even Algernon Swinburne grew on me enough that I didn't dislike him. So little can be said about the plot to leave it unspoiled but it was engaging and very surprising, reaching a depth of mental, moral and ethical issues I did not expect. Plus, any book with broom cats is a great book!
This book was interesting. I thought the best part was actually finding out the origin of Spring Heeled Jack. I'm a fan of steampunk, so it was a quick and diverting read.
Reading the opening paragraph of this book, I very nearly put it down, and thank goodness for my book club or I would have.
"Oh hum," I thought. "Another sanitized faux-Victoriana piece about intrepid but annoying females and the manly but mannerly males who put up with them."
I.
Could.
Not.
Have.
Been.
More.
Wrong.
Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack is a wonderful, playful romp in an engaging alternate history which Mark Hodder uses to take figures from our Victorian age who were shortchanged and offer them new lease to live up to their potential. Or perhaps follow their heart's true desire...
Woven through Hodder's alternate England are the threads of dark, gritty detail I found absent in so many other Steampunk novels, not the least of which is how the marvelous science of such an age would be applied by an entitled and class-ist society.
Strongly reminiscent of Tim Power's [b:The Anubis Gates|142296|The Anubis Gates|Tim Powers|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1344409006s/142296.jpg|2193115], this book should be at the top of anyone's 'to read' Steampunk list.
"Oh hum," I thought. "Another sanitized faux-Victoriana piece about intrepid but annoying females and the manly but mannerly males who put up with them."
I.
Could.
Not.
Have.
Been.
More.
Wrong.
Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack is a wonderful, playful romp in an engaging alternate history which Mark Hodder uses to take figures from our Victorian age who were shortchanged and offer them new lease to live up to their potential. Or perhaps follow their heart's true desire...
Woven through Hodder's alternate England are the threads of dark, gritty detail I found absent in so many other Steampunk novels, not the least of which is how the marvelous science of such an age would be applied by an entitled and class-ist society.
Strongly reminiscent of Tim Power's [b:The Anubis Gates|142296|The Anubis Gates|Tim Powers|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1344409006s/142296.jpg|2193115], this book should be at the top of anyone's 'to read' Steampunk list.
I have long loved and adored the idea of steampunk but had yet to read a novel in that genre, until I picked up this book a few weeks ago. I felt somehow deflated after just a few chapters - though I'd never read a steampunk novel yet as I said, so many of the inventions and machines felt incredibly familiar, overly contrived or just plain fell flat in some cases (swearing messenger birds?). I also found it incredibly short-sighted and a little patronising that in this "Albertian" Britain, in which the course of the 1800s has been so radically altered, that the one thing which has stayed the same as in Victorian Britain is female oppression and male dominance. The male characters, Burton, Swinburne, Trounce, Oliphant, Honesty, Jack, Beresford, Quips, Darwin, Pennyforth, Palmerstone, Brunel.... I could go on - they swagger, giggle, glare, invent, fight, adventure, impart wisdom, rescue, and collectively, change the course of history, and break down the barriers of what would have been their Victorian world. However, the few female characters, coincidentaly enough slot right into what would have been their accepted Victorian roles as nurses, housekeepers, and prospective wives.
As for the main characters, I confess to feeling ambivalent toward Burton and his stoic man quest, and a little irritated by Swinburne's mischief and histrionics. On the whole however, as they pull the mystery together and work on it in their own ways, I was drawn in, and did enjoy the ride, especially the addition of Trounce. I found Hodder's prose a little repetitive, especially the phrase 'the King's agent' and the constant reminders about Swinburne's small stature and his love of pain. I was also a little disappointed by the reveal of Spring-Heeled Jack's story, a bit sudden and inelegant I thought.
I did give the book 3/5 stars though, because I was entertained by a rollicking tale in the end, and that's what I went in looking for. I am interested enough to read the second Burton and Swinburne story, and I'm hoping for the inclusion of more female characters, and a less repetitive writing style.
As for the main characters, I confess to feeling ambivalent toward Burton and his stoic man quest, and a little irritated by Swinburne's mischief and histrionics. On the whole however, as they pull the mystery together and work on it in their own ways, I was drawn in, and did enjoy the ride, especially the addition of Trounce. I found Hodder's prose a little repetitive, especially the phrase 'the King's agent' and the constant reminders about Swinburne's small stature and his love of pain. I was also a little disappointed by the reveal of Spring-Heeled Jack's story, a bit sudden and inelegant I thought.
I did give the book 3/5 stars though, because I was entertained by a rollicking tale in the end, and that's what I went in looking for. I am interested enough to read the second Burton and Swinburne story, and I'm hoping for the inclusion of more female characters, and a less repetitive writing style.
Imaginative steampunk tale where a man from the future keeps inadvertently changing events in Victorian England. Interesting and unexpected appearances by famous folk who aren't what we expect at all (Darwin, Nightingale, etc)
