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nerfherder86's review
5.0
This book is totally "brass"! That's League of Seven steampunk slang for cool, awesome, exciting, and terrific. Archie Dent lives in an alternate 1875 America, a United Nations of cooperation between Yankees and 6 tribes of Native Americans in the Iroquois Confederacy. In Archie's world, Cherokee and Muskogee Indians are as commonplace as Latinos and African-Americans in ours; in Archie's world, all boats are submarines, flying is done in steam-powered airships, and electricity is a forgotten, forbidden evil. Archie's parents are members of a secret society that has the important mission of keeping an eye out for the escape and return of giant scary Mangleborn monsters that want to enslave all of humanity. And this action-packed story begins with some serious action, as Archie's parents become controlled by a Manglespawn--smaller but no less nasty creatures-- and it's up to Archie and his clockwork Machine Man companion/guardian Mr. Rivets to try to rescue them, while fighting for their very lives! Along the way, Archie will team up with the highly skilled girl warrior Hachi and a funny mechanical genius named Fergus, and encounter more sinister monsters, alternate versions of historical figures we know such as Thomas Edison and Nicola Tesla, and even tangle with a mecha-ninja. Will Archie be able to stop the evil Mangleborn from taking over? Or is mankind doomed to failure? Is this the moment when a new League of Seven, legendary figures who alone can defeat the Mangleborn, is being formed? Find out by reading The League of Seven!
I just adored this book. The steampunk setting is cool and cleverly described; loved the pneumatic mail system (an 'inter-net' of tubes! Ha!) and other nods to modern tech done in steampunk style, everything in brass or leather, the clever alternate history of not only the USA but also Europe and other countries thrown in for good measure. Excellent worldbuilding without dragging down the story. Frequent sprinkling in of Latin and other languages, and some clues to solve, and terrific characters who grow throughout the book as they learn their own strengths and/or embrace their pasts. Funny dialogue and witty comebacks, too! And the Machine Men (clockwork robots, basically) are really nifty. Great book to share with Percy Jackson fans or fans of Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld and other steampunk stories, but also anyone who loves a rollicking good story. I read an ARC of this book and I can't wait to share it with several young readers.
I just adored this book. The steampunk setting is cool and cleverly described; loved the pneumatic mail system (an 'inter-net' of tubes! Ha!) and other nods to modern tech done in steampunk style, everything in brass or leather, the clever alternate history of not only the USA but also Europe and other countries thrown in for good measure. Excellent worldbuilding without dragging down the story. Frequent sprinkling in of Latin and other languages, and some clues to solve, and terrific characters who grow throughout the book as they learn their own strengths and/or embrace their pasts. Funny dialogue and witty comebacks, too! And the Machine Men (clockwork robots, basically) are really nifty. Great book to share with Percy Jackson fans or fans of Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld and other steampunk stories, but also anyone who loves a rollicking good story. I read an ARC of this book and I can't wait to share it with several young readers.
ashleygsiler's review against another edition
4.0
This is such a fun book! Monsters and alternate history and a mysterious past. I loved it.
librarianlayla's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars.
I found the flow of this story a little hard to maintain, so I found my interest waning at quite a few points. However it has some really interesting history, and I enjoyed the diverse characters.
I found the flow of this story a little hard to maintain, so I found my interest waning at quite a few points. However it has some really interesting history, and I enjoyed the diverse characters.
confused_hamburger's review against another edition
4.0
When I started reading this book, I thought it was pretty dumb. The main character kept saying really annoying things like "clangers" and "brass" and it really got on my nerves because it was so cringey.
Another thing I wasn't a fan of was the bad guy Edison's motivation. It was extremely stupid and therefore he wasn't a believable or threatening bad guy.
Luckily, we didn't get much of those and the book instead focused on things I liked which were the main characters, the world and the plot. Those were pretty solid after I suspended my disbelief that the new League of Seven were children.
Another thing I wasn't a fan of was the bad guy Edison's motivation. It was extremely stupid and therefore he wasn't a believable or threatening bad guy.
Luckily, we didn't get much of those and the book instead focused on things I liked which were the main characters, the world and the plot. Those were pretty solid after I suspended my disbelief that the new League of Seven were children.
booksandbosox's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
http://librarianosnark.blogspot.com/2014/08/release-day-review-league-of-seven.html
http://librarianosnark.blogspot.com/2014/08/release-day-review-league-of-seven.html
tommyleemeyer's review
5.0
For being a middle grade book the story and characters are so deep and we'll thought out. I couldn't put it down and flew right into the next one.
aconfundityofcrows's review
4.0
I think the world developed in this book is really interesting. It is a very steam punk sort of setting. It portrays a North America where Native Americans are the dominate people group on the continent with some influence from western settlers, but overall non Native Americans are in the minority. Overall I liked the book, but I did start wondering partway through if the incorperation of Native American culture was handled well. There was nothing particularly obvious to me, but I also don't know as much as I would like to about the different Native American cultures. If anyone else who has read this book knows more about it than me I would be curious for some insight.
Note: There was one part where the main character is at a fireside ritual and the narrator describes the people dancing around the fire as wearing "costumes". Which isn't great, but I really don't know if anything else in the story was done poorly.
Note: There was one part where the main character is at a fireside ritual and the narrator describes the people dancing around the fire as wearing "costumes". Which isn't great, but I really don't know if anything else in the story was done poorly.
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