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wildfaeriecaps's review against another edition
5.0
GAH! I have so many questions! First and foremost is HOW AM I GOING TO SURVIVE UNTIL THE NEXT BOOK?!
Rod Duncan writes the most amazingly complex characters and I am here for it. I spent the better part of the book unsure of how I felt about Elias and in the end, I rather like him. He's a flawed human who goes through a lot of growth and change but still has a ways to go come the end of the book. The world that is described is so clear in my mind despite being unfamiliar with the actual place in real life.
Basically (look, it's late and I'm sleepy), this book was spectacular. It draws you in, shakes you like a wild thing, toys with your emotions, and leaves you wanting more.
Rod Duncan writes the most amazingly complex characters and I am here for it. I spent the better part of the book unsure of how I felt about Elias and in the end, I rather like him. He's a flawed human who goes through a lot of growth and change but still has a ways to go come the end of the book. The world that is described is so clear in my mind despite being unfamiliar with the actual place in real life.
Basically (look, it's late and I'm sleepy), this book was spectacular. It draws you in, shakes you like a wild thing, toys with your emotions, and leaves you wanting more.
rilester's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
spikegelato's review against another edition
4.0
3.75 out of 5 stars
After leaving the Gas-Lit Empire behind and surviving a run-in with a floating city of pirates, Elizabeth Barnabus has landed on the inhospitable island of Newfoundland in less than ideal circumstances. While seeking a seemingly impossible escape to the Free States of America she runs across Elias, a thumbless outlaw who hungers for revenge against those who wronged him.
I appreciate that each book in this series does something markedly different while remaining true to the spirit of the overall saga. Here, in a brand new setting, Elizabeth takes a backseat to newcomer Elias and he drives the narrative for most of the book. Elias adds a new element to this story as his bitterness and reckless nature serve as a nice counterbalance to Elizabeth’s kind heart and sharp mind.
Author Rod Duncan continues to convey atmosphere in an engaging way. You can smell the brine, feel the mud, and hear the gulls in the sky, which is a testament to Duncan’s skills as a storyteller. Even if I wasn’t always enraptured by the story, I could enjoy the vivid imagery and worldbuilding that Duncan employs.
Overall, this is a strong entry in the ever-expanding Gas-Lit Empire saga and I enjoyed this one slightly more than the first book in this new trilogy. I’m excited to see how the story rounds out in the final book.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.
After leaving the Gas-Lit Empire behind and surviving a run-in with a floating city of pirates, Elizabeth Barnabus has landed on the inhospitable island of Newfoundland in less than ideal circumstances. While seeking a seemingly impossible escape to the Free States of America she runs across Elias, a thumbless outlaw who hungers for revenge against those who wronged him.
I appreciate that each book in this series does something markedly different while remaining true to the spirit of the overall saga. Here, in a brand new setting, Elizabeth takes a backseat to newcomer Elias and he drives the narrative for most of the book. Elias adds a new element to this story as his bitterness and reckless nature serve as a nice counterbalance to Elizabeth’s kind heart and sharp mind.
Author Rod Duncan continues to convey atmosphere in an engaging way. You can smell the brine, feel the mud, and hear the gulls in the sky, which is a testament to Duncan’s skills as a storyteller. Even if I wasn’t always enraptured by the story, I could enjoy the vivid imagery and worldbuilding that Duncan employs.
Overall, this is a strong entry in the ever-expanding Gas-Lit Empire saga and I enjoyed this one slightly more than the first book in this new trilogy. I’m excited to see how the story rounds out in the final book.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.
jgretton's review
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
pers's review
5.0
Every time I think Rod Duncan's written his best book, he writes another one and proves me utterly wrong.
Elizabeth, her best friend Julia, and the orphan boy Tinker, having escaped a battle between the Company (of the Gas-Lit Empire) and the women of Freedom Island in the middle of the Sargasso Sea, wash up on the shores of what they think is north America, only to discover it's Newfoundland, and they're about to be made slaves, according to Newfoundland Law (such as it is).
**SPOILERS AHEAD**
What follows is an account of how Elizabeth tries to find a way to get the three of them to freedom, sometimes aided, sometimes obstructed by Elias No Thumbs, formerly of the Blood, son of the ruling class of Newfoundland, who was set up in rigged card game and accused of cheating in punishment for his previous cheating at cards. He loses both his thumbs before being Outlawed by the Blood. He manages to escape from Newfoundland to mainland America in a smugglers' submarine and once in the Yukon finds work making 'glycer-fortis' (the equivalent of gelignite). He's sent back to Newfoundland after 18 months to persuade one of the Patrons (heads of the different Blood clans) to join forces with the smugglers in Yukon so that they can open up a trade route between the two.
What follows is weeks of crawling tension (I was forcibly reminded of Frodo and Sam's journey through the land of Mordor) as Elias tries to fulfil his task without being killed outright, and Elizabeth seeks to find a way to get herself, Julia, and Tinker, to the Americas.
Elizabeth, her best friend Julia, and the orphan boy Tinker, having escaped a battle between the Company (of the Gas-Lit Empire) and the women of Freedom Island in the middle of the Sargasso Sea, wash up on the shores of what they think is north America, only to discover it's Newfoundland, and they're about to be made slaves, according to Newfoundland Law (such as it is).
**SPOILERS AHEAD**
What follows is an account of how Elizabeth tries to find a way to get the three of them to freedom, sometimes aided, sometimes obstructed by Elias No Thumbs, formerly of the Blood, son of the ruling class of Newfoundland, who was set up in rigged card game and accused of cheating in punishment for his previous cheating at cards. He loses both his thumbs before being Outlawed by the Blood. He manages to escape from Newfoundland to mainland America in a smugglers' submarine and once in the Yukon finds work making 'glycer-fortis' (the equivalent of gelignite). He's sent back to Newfoundland after 18 months to persuade one of the Patrons (heads of the different Blood clans) to join forces with the smugglers in Yukon so that they can open up a trade route between the two.
What follows is weeks of crawling tension (I was forcibly reminded of Frodo and Sam's journey through the land of Mordor) as Elias tries to fulfil his task without being killed outright, and Elizabeth seeks to find a way to get herself, Julia, and Tinker, to the Americas.
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