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mollymortensen's review against another edition
4.0
This book took me longer than I expected since I couldn't read it at night. (Nightmares) It's rather violent, gruesome, and has scary monsters. (Although I am a wuss.)
At the beginning some of the lines were so over the top I couldn't tell if the authors were serious, (Grins that blazed in the darkness, and striking cavalier poses) but the writing quickly improved.
Simon's a party boy, and a womanizer, and at first I couldn't stand him, but over the course of the book he grew on me.
Malcolm said it best:
"Once I thought little of you, but I was wrong. You are an honorable man, and while there are times I would as soon throw you through that window, I’d stand with you if you need me."
Kate's fiery and strong, and exactly my kind of heroine. I wasn't sure about her judgment, being attracted to Simon and all, but she proves herself to be a smart woman. My favorite character was Simon's best friend Nick. He's a slob who would rather use magic to change his appearance than dress up and he always calls Simon on his failings. I wish he had a point of view too! He's a much needed bit of comic relief. Malcolm the solemn werewolf hunter and Penny the spunky mechanic were also nice additions.
Simon's potentially the last scribe, and uses runes to invoke magic. Nick's a jack of all trades when it comes to magic and is Simon's teacher. Kate practices alchemy, but despite her father's vast travels, she's never encountered magic before. If you ask me, magic needs limits. Those limits were unique here, as Simon acts drunk when he's used too much magic!
There wasn't much mystery, but I didn't have a clue what the villains were up to. (And still mostly don't) I prefer a little more story with my action, but the action well done so I can't complain.
All three books of this trilogy come out in the month of June!
I probably should've rated this higher, but the gruesomeness was a bit much for me.
Point of View: Third (Simon, Kate, Gretta, Malcolm)
Predictability: 3 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)
My Summary:
A werewolf is loose in London and Simon, a magician and playboy, is after it for personal reasons.
Kate, the daughter of a rich adventurer, intends to discover what's been done to her sister.
At the beginning some of the lines were so over the top I couldn't tell if the authors were serious, (Grins that blazed in the darkness, and striking cavalier poses) but the writing quickly improved.
Simon's a party boy, and a womanizer, and at first I couldn't stand him, but over the course of the book he grew on me.
Malcolm said it best:
"Once I thought little of you, but I was wrong. You are an honorable man, and while there are times I would as soon throw you through that window, I’d stand with you if you need me."
Kate's fiery and strong, and exactly my kind of heroine. I wasn't sure about her judgment, being attracted to Simon and all, but she proves herself to be a smart woman. My favorite character was Simon's best friend Nick. He's a slob who would rather use magic to change his appearance than dress up and he always calls Simon on his failings. I wish he had a point of view too! He's a much needed bit of comic relief. Malcolm the solemn werewolf hunter and Penny the spunky mechanic were also nice additions.
Simon's potentially the last scribe, and uses runes to invoke magic. Nick's a jack of all trades when it comes to magic and is Simon's teacher. Kate practices alchemy, but despite her father's vast travels, she's never encountered magic before. If you ask me, magic needs limits. Those limits were unique here, as Simon acts drunk when he's used too much magic!
There wasn't much mystery, but I didn't have a clue what the villains were up to. (And still mostly don't) I prefer a little more story with my action, but the action well done so I can't complain.
All three books of this trilogy come out in the month of June!
I probably should've rated this higher, but the gruesomeness was a bit much for me.
Point of View: Third (Simon, Kate, Gretta, Malcolm)
Predictability: 3 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)
My Summary:
A werewolf is loose in London and Simon, a magician and playboy, is after it for personal reasons.
Kate, the daughter of a rich adventurer, intends to discover what's been done to her sister.
kathrynmcmahon's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the beginning so much that I rented the next two books before I’d finished. I should have waited because they expired before I finished the first one. The last 3/4 of the book is primarily detailed descriptions of fight scenes moving to a new location and then a detailed description of another fight scene. This is the Michael Bay film of books. It was so boring I started to fast forward through the scenes. The “strong” female character is poorly written with descriptions of how she’s lighter than a feather to lift. She’s smart but suffers many of the pitfalls of the male gaze. I may give book 2 a try to see if the characters I liked (Penny) play a larger role.
git_r_read's review against another edition
4.0
Strong women and strong men, misunderstood and a bit feared. Steampunk is such a nifty genre, especially in the paranormal world. It's done very well here, even if a bit grim and shuddery-ick in places, at least for me. Didn't keep me from reading it all the way through, but the lights had to be on in some places. Dark, dank, evil versus good. And everyone who gets in the way had best get out of the way or be ready to fight or be trampled by the beasties.
I do like this writing team's other series, Vampire Empire, better, but this one has its definite merits. I look forward to reading more of it.
Definite recommend.
I do like this writing team's other series, Vampire Empire, better, but this one has its definite merits. I look forward to reading more of it.
Definite recommend.
hgranger's review against another edition
1.0
There might have been the makings of a good urban fantasy here but it got lost somewhere between broody male protagonists and Kate’s “expressive hips.” (🙄🙄🙄) Kate and Penny were promising as strong female characters until it turns out that they do in fact need to be saved by men at every turn. Imogen’s motivations were never really clear — and her sudden strength of character and bravery at the end comes completely out of the blue considering she just watched her sister get tortured for hours and said NOTHING — not even an expression of concern. (On her face or her hips since the authors seem to think those can talk as well). Gretta’s indestructibility is silly; it always irks me when the villain can take any amount of beatings and still shrug it off. Dr. White was a caricature of a villain as well. “I do it because I can.” Ok then, that saves you the effort of actually sketching out some motivation I suppose. Finally, the dialogue is stilted and awkward — this book was not what I hoped for.
monica_r_jae's review against another edition
4.0
As I was contemplating giving the book a go, I read a Goodreads review that struck me as decidedly fair and generally positive - no adulating praise but no dismissive derision. The reviewer in question noted that there is not enough character delving but that it is a very fast-paced action-packed book. For my part, I will say I found this book highly entertaining, and this is shaping up to be, perhaps, my favorite of the Griffiths'. I feel the characters are drawn enough for me to know their motivations and to root for them beyond this first book. And I thoroughly enjoy that this book is action upon action; the only down-side is that it was difficult to find a stopping-point when one was needed. Thusly, this book is ideal for a rare day of long, lazy, uninterrupted reading.
texaswolfman's review against another edition
3.0
Well written Steam Punk Urban Fantasy. A bit brutal and standard storyline but entertaining.
irareads's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. There was more action scenes in this than character development but what we did get from the characters, I liked. I particularly enjoyed the setting of Victorian steampunk London.
Adjust your expectations and you’re in for a treat. It’s not a novel that takes itself too seriously or attempts to explore the human condition but it did what it set out to do, an action movie in book form.
Give this a try if you ever read Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare and wanted more of the action and less of the whining.
Adjust your expectations and you’re in for a treat. It’s not a novel that takes itself too seriously or attempts to explore the human condition but it did what it set out to do, an action movie in book form.
Give this a try if you ever read Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare and wanted more of the action and less of the whining.
felinity's review against another edition
4.0
Simon's been a dabbler for a while. Not dabbling in magic precisely, but dabbling in concentrated study, treating it like a game. And then suddenly it isn't a game any more.
Werewolves and magic abound in this new series, combined with alchemy and before-their-time engineers. In general style and device think Mercedes Lackey's "Elemental Masters" series, but with a darker edge and in a steampunk setting. The characters control their own fate, question the morality of their actions - or plans - and have to pay the cost of their magic usage. The female characters are strong but not invulnerable, unlike others which tend to choose either swooning female or Marvel-style invincibility.
Is it great literature? No, but it's a fun read with new worldbuilding, and I was very glad to have book 2 already queued up!
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Werewolves and magic abound in this new series, combined with alchemy and before-their-time engineers. In general style and device think Mercedes Lackey's "Elemental Masters" series, but with a darker edge and in a steampunk setting.
Spoiler
(There's no easy romance either.)Is it great literature? No, but it's a fun read with new worldbuilding, and I was very glad to have book 2 already queued up!
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
rclz's review against another edition
2.0
This could have been really good but eh..... I tried one of their other series and wasn't too impressed with it either but still I had hopes for this one. I like a good steampunk but this wasn't it. Barely held my interest.
rebeccadupont's review against another edition
3.0
Fair book, enjoyable but not very inspiring. We had basically 3 leads, 2 men and 1 women; with a minor man and woman as well. Our ‘rake’ lead guy was, of course, the most powerful with his rare magic 'scribe' ability. The lead girl was tough and smart but of course ended up kidnapped and needing to be rescued; also, of course, laid the grounds for romance between the two. There was a lot of fights that mostly involved smashing stuff and werewolves; some interesting inventions and uses of alchemy. I enjoyed the Victorian location, the occasional steampunk feel, our main villain werewolf being female and the homunculus angle. But all around it was pretty pale ale, non original historic era fantasy.