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anna8ananas's review
4.0
I should say, I haven't read the first book in the series and I don't think you need to necessarily. Of course there are a few details that I could tell I was missing but they didn't keep me from enjoying this book.
The beauty of this story came from the interesting writing style, the author used a lot of fantastic details and surprising word choices. I must add that it sometimes made the book hard to understand and slow to read but it was also fascinating and just made me happy.
There are a lot of people and I don't have the best memory, so I made a little bookmark where I noted down the persons and I still got confused sometimes. For me, the book would have profited from a little graphic of the characters and also it would have been so fun to have a map of New Venice and Paris. Also, the characters stay a little bit flat if you just read the second book since 500 pages isn't enough to give you a detailed pictures of the world, which the book does so nicely, and develop all the characters. Mostly this didn't bother me just at the end I would have like to have a better feel for the main character in particular as he was the one with the least characteristics.
I loved how the story developed,got more intricate and always stayed interesting. It was sometimes more violent than I expected but I felt that it fit that world. Something I really didn't understand and gave up on was the occult/science-y/magic system, maybe here I was missing the first book, so I just let the story take me for a ride and didn't try to analyse it too much. Also, what annoyed me in the end that the story came too full circle and suddenly everyone knew each other and was related and every arrow found it's mark, that was too much it wouldn't have needed to make sense of everything, for me it would have been more believable. Still, I really loved the world and the writing style and I would recommend this book.
The beauty of this story came from the interesting writing style, the author used a lot of fantastic details and surprising word choices. I must add that it sometimes made the book hard to understand and slow to read but it was also fascinating and just made me happy.
There are a lot of people and I don't have the best memory, so I made a little bookmark where I noted down the persons and I still got confused sometimes. For me, the book would have profited from a little graphic of the characters and also it would have been so fun to have a map of New Venice and Paris. Also, the characters stay a little bit flat if you just read the second book since 500 pages isn't enough to give you a detailed pictures of the world, which the book does so nicely, and develop all the characters. Mostly this didn't bother me just at the end I would have like to have a better feel for the main character in particular as he was the one with the least characteristics.
I loved how the story developed,got more intricate and always stayed interesting. It was sometimes more violent than I expected but I felt that it fit that world. Something I really didn't understand and gave up on was the occult/science-y/magic system, maybe here I was missing the first book, so I just let the story take me for a ride and didn't try to analyse it too much. Also, what annoyed me in the end that the story came too full circle and suddenly everyone knew each other and was related and every arrow found it's mark, that was too much it wouldn't have needed to make sense of everything, for me it would have been more believable. Still, I really loved the world and the writing style and I would recommend this book.
greeniezona's review
5.0
Oh, my God. This book. The next book in the series after Aurororama, it is a little bit less bewildering than the first, but maybe only because now it starts to feel familiar?
Basically, Brentford & Gabriel have been out-maneuvered in their attempt to reform New Venice. They, and a team of "supporting experts" have been sent on a diplomatic mission to Paris in an extremely disreputable transport known as a psychomotive that seems likely to have been intended to kill them. But instead sends them back in time to witness and perhaps participate in the birth of the idea of the city that will be New Venice.
Oh, there is a lot of mystery and snake oil! Occult figures, "medical" devices that affect the mind with magnets and electricity. Wax museums, poetry readings, and "therapeutic" drinking of animal blood. Wise-cracking child prostitutes and a severed head kept alive by complicated machinery.
As usual, I feel like I'm missing every other reference, especially to turn of the century French poets and philosophers. Female characters have more autonomy here, but they still sometimes feel like what a man's "sexy" idea of what a strong woman should be. But some neat ideas on do you really die if a version of you is still alive in another timeline? Is it better to remember or be wiped clean? And the one-step forward, one-step back nature of revolutions.
Another book coming, I think? Still definitely on board until the end.
Basically, Brentford & Gabriel have been out-maneuvered in their attempt to reform New Venice. They, and a team of "supporting experts" have been sent on a diplomatic mission to Paris in an extremely disreputable transport known as a psychomotive that seems likely to have been intended to kill them. But instead sends them back in time to witness and perhaps participate in the birth of the idea of the city that will be New Venice.
Oh, there is a lot of mystery and snake oil! Occult figures, "medical" devices that affect the mind with magnets and electricity. Wax museums, poetry readings, and "therapeutic" drinking of animal blood. Wise-cracking child prostitutes and a severed head kept alive by complicated machinery.
As usual, I feel like I'm missing every other reference, especially to turn of the century French poets and philosophers. Female characters have more autonomy here, but they still sometimes feel like what a man's "sexy" idea of what a strong woman should be. But some neat ideas on do you really die if a version of you is still alive in another timeline? Is it better to remember or be wiped clean? And the one-step forward, one-step back nature of revolutions.
Another book coming, I think? Still definitely on board until the end.
abookishtype's review
4.0
Imagine a city at the far north of the world, close to the Arctic Circle. This city was built with magic and money and industry and strange science. The city is peopled with Inuit and adventurers and wizards. The city is frozen in time, adrift from the rest of the world. Jean-Christophe Valtat introduced readers to New Venice in Aurororama and continues the unlikely adventures of its inhabitants in Luminous Chaos.
Read the rest of my review on A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review on A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.
velocitygirl14's review
3.0
It was cute and a good steampunk read, but didn't blow my mind. It's a great concept and I enjoyed reading about winter and the possibility of a city in the far Canadian north. But it wasn't a book that grabbed me and wouldn't let me go.
jakethedad's review
1.0
Is there a more frustrating/disappointing series out there than New Venice? After the increasingly convoluted mess that was Aurorarama, I got Luminous Chaos hoping that it would better fulfill the series' unique promise. I was initially thrilled at the more interesting premise (Time travel!) and historical fiction setting (Paris!) and some new characters and dared to hope.
Unfortunately, the more interesting characters get almost no spotlight, and we're left to again watch Brentford and Gabriel wander aimlessly from mystery to increasingly frustratingly complex mystery. (Thankfully without as much depravity from Gabriel this time, just a reminder every 5 pages or so that he likes to hook up with underage hermaphrodite siamese twins.)
All the squandered opportunities make this even worse than book 1. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, I'm not reading anymore of your crappy books.
Unfortunately, the more interesting characters get almost no spotlight, and we're left to again watch Brentford and Gabriel wander aimlessly from mystery to increasingly frustratingly complex mystery. (Thankfully without as much depravity from Gabriel this time, just a reminder every 5 pages or so that he likes to hook up with underage hermaphrodite siamese twins.)
All the squandered opportunities make this even worse than book 1. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, I'm not reading anymore of your crappy books.
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