You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
I loved this book, but after reading Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, I caught the mystery pretty fast. Will and Maren were entirely rootable, though, and I loved both of them!
Title- The Boundless
Author- Kenneth Oppel
Publisher- David Fickling
Date of this Publication- 2015
Genre- Fantasy, Steampunk, Adventure, YA
My Rating- 4/5 stars
Will Everett boards the Boundless- a frontier train trekking across the Canadian wilderness with his father- senior executive and engineer of the train, alongside Maren a tightrope water and Mr Dorian the ringmaster of Zirkus Dante. Also aboard the train is Brogan, a treacherous brakeman who will stop at nothing to sabotage the train and steal a gold rail spike from the corpse of its designer Cornelius Van Horne, interned within a funeral carriage just behind the engine.
Aboard the train, Will witnesses a murder and realises Brogan, a brakeman who kills for gold is after the gold rail spike supposedly interred within the deceased Van Horne’s funeral car. Will must travel along all 9,000 carriages of the train, with the help or Zirkus Dante’s tightrope walker Maren and its ringmaster Mr Dorian from class to class under the disguise of circus performer to warn his father of the impending sabotage.
However, certain elements did not appeal to me. For example, Will’s character could possible benefit from being younger as I found him to be a bit too old. Will’s character and personality seem too childlike and so naive at times to the point I found it hard to believe he was 17. Oppel should have avoided turning it into a YA novel and should have kept the main protagonist at age 12 as this book would have lots of appeal to ages 12+. Another element was the treatment of the Native Canadian tribes and the prejudices held against them. I found this did nothing for the plot and its addition simply did not appeal to me. What I did like were the characters of Maren and Mr Dorian who has a believable and sympathetic back-story and even the minor characters such as the conjoined twins Li and Zhang were memorable and likeable to me.
The Boundless has everything; adventure, a travelling circus, sabotage, wild sasquatches, fights aboard the train’s roof, a titanic inspired maiden voyage and a blend of fantasy, and reality into a clever steampunk novel. It also deals with strong themes such as conforming, being yourself and doing what you truly love as opposed to the will of society or a parent etc.
This book is very suitable for ages 12+ and also for fans of steampunk, adventure and fantasy.
And Sasquatches.
I was privileged to attend a Kenneth Oppel launch of this book and hear a lot about the genesis of this idea. He's taken an interesting approach with this book. By mythologizing Canadian history, he takes us on a journey across Canada, from Halifax to Victoria, via a Titanic-inspired train that is populated with famous personalities such as Sam Steele and creatures such as a Sasquatch. Personally, I enjoyed the use of present tense, which really serves to ground the reader in the moment (an interesting tactic for a book that takes place in the past).
The hardcover edition has a nice bonus at the back . . . a ticket for The Boundless, and another one for the Zirkus Dante.
The hardcover edition has a nice bonus at the back . . . a ticket for The Boundless, and another one for the Zirkus Dante.
Oppel doesn't disappoint in this action packed train adventure. Will is a relate-able character and the fantastic adventures are just believable enough. Kids should eat this up!
Summary: Aboard "The Boundless," the greatest train ever built, on its maiden voyage across Canada, teenaged Will enlists the aid of a traveling circus to save the train from villains.
Summary: Aboard "The Boundless," the greatest train ever built, on its maiden voyage across Canada, teenaged Will enlists the aid of a traveling circus to save the train from villains.
The Boundless is a train like no other. It is a city in itself. It is making its maiden voyage across the country. It stretches miles down the tracks and has 900+ cars. It includes Cornelius Van Horne's funeral car rumored to contain untold treasure and 80 circus cars. Will's father works for the railroad and will be driving the train. That leaves Will on his own for the trip. When he witnesses a murder, Will doesn't know who to turn to for help. Luckily Mr. Dorien, the circus owner steps in. He and young Maren, the tightrope walker, disguise Will as a spirit artist in order to help him make his way back to the front of the train. The villain, Brogran the breakman, wants the gold from the funeral car and has enlisted to the help of other train workers to get it. Will, Maren and Mr. Dorien must make their way to the front of the train and the funeral car before Brogan and stop him.
I like the claustrophobic feel of the train as they travel through the classes of cars. It adds a lot of atmosphere to the book. I did think the story was a bit of a mismash though. You have fantastical creatures like the sasquatch and the wendigo and the swamp hag. You also have the myth of the Fountain of Youth and the Portrait of Dorian Gray coming into play. Most middle grade readers will not have been exposed to Dorian Gray yet so that seemed like a real misstep to me. I thought the story would have been stronger without these supernatural elements, but they did add a bit more suspense and tension to the plot. Brogran was a bit one-dimensional and the ending was a little too perfect, but other than that it was a fun train mystery.
I like the claustrophobic feel of the train as they travel through the classes of cars. It adds a lot of atmosphere to the book. I did think the story was a bit of a mismash though. You have fantastical creatures like the sasquatch and the wendigo and the swamp hag. You also have the myth of the Fountain of Youth and the Portrait of Dorian Gray coming into play. Most middle grade readers will not have been exposed to Dorian Gray yet so that seemed like a real misstep to me. I thought the story would have been stronger without these supernatural elements, but they did add a bit more suspense and tension to the plot. Brogran was a bit one-dimensional and the ending was a little too perfect, but other than that it was a fun train mystery.
So much potential and so much to like - an epic train, a girl escape artist, a boy artist artist, a circus, a robbery, and a Sasquatch - I wish this was a series.
An interesting combination of historical and fantasy adventure. Starting with the Last spike of the CP rail moving along with Sam Steele, a circus ringmaster of Metis heritage, a Sasquatch captured as a circus marvel, Cornelius Krieghoff, Sir Sanford Fleming, and touching on many aspects of the rail era of Canadian history. Will, an engineers son must travel the length of a mammoth train The Boundless from caboose to locomotive disguised as a circus performer to escape from a murderer by depending on others in an effort to save his father and protect the last spike from the murdering thief.
adventure fantasy
Grades 5- 8
Excellent
adventure fantasy
Grades 5- 8
Excellent
Fast-paced, lots of action. Good for reluctant readers (especially boys)
A cute story, though the pacing was rather slow. Loved the setting!