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kathydavie's review
4.0
Second in the Age of Steam steampunk western series for young adults and taking place after the Civil War in America.
My Take
Another riveting tale from Devon Monk as I read with heart in mouth while this party of refugees from Oregon brave the Strange and keep trying to escape aboard the marshal's tin airship.
i don't feel at all sorry for Rose and her condition. Stupid twit just had to waste time in that tiny town. Admittedly, for a good cause, but, in my opinion, the danger outweighed the morality. Then again, discovering what moves in town is too important not to destroy…
Airship pursuits, sky battles, betrayals, and Frankenstein-like operations abound. And Alun speculates that Rose has some of the old blood, a gift from the El, when she doesn't die right away.
The Story
We take up with our band of refugees from Dead Iron while they're on the trail heading back to Kansas before Mae goes completely insane. Hunt intends to see Mae safe, but the Madders have their own agenda.
Their encounters with the townsfolk of Vicinity in the Idaho Territory throws everything apart. The Strange is at work and a piece has embedded itself in Rose. The rising could spell the end for our travelers, but Hink and his Swift just happen to be in the right place for a rescue.
Meanwhile, Saint's allies are hunting the Swift. Captain Hink may be looking to shut down illegal glim mines, but Saint is looking to shut down Hink.
The Characters
Cedar Hunt is under a Pawnee curse to turn into a wolf on every full moon. Only it seems that the change may be pushing its way to other times of the month. He's promised the Madders he'll help them hunt down the seven pieces of the Holder, a powerful weapon that could destroy the world, in return for the help they gave with his brother. Wil Hunt is his brother cursed in reverse to turn into a man when the moon is at its smallest.
Other members of the party of travelers include Rose Small, a tinkerer with glim and anything mechanical. She's of a mind to see the world. Hunt is in love with Mae Lindson, the widowed witch whose worsening condition forces their pace. The three Madder brothers have their own agenda. Alun is the oldest, Bryn the middle, and Cadoc is the youngest. All of them even more talented with devices, gadgets, and matics than Rose.
Captain Hink, a.k.a., U.S. Marshal Paisley Cage, commands the Swift in his undercover role as a glim miner while he hunts down those engaged in illegal activities. Mr. Seldon is his second-in-command and quite efficient; Molly Gregor is the boilerman; Guffin swears in a number of languages, and Lum Ansell sings opera when the going gets tough.
Captain Beaumont of the Coin du Paradis and his passengers Sophie Dupuis, Otto Theobald (Sophie's lover), and Joonie Wright are a group with a mission and a desire for Hunt to join them.
Mae's old coven fears her even as the binding they forced on her is driving her mad. Miss Adaline is the head bitch, er, witch of the coven. And what a bunch of hypocrites!
General Alabaster Saint was a bloodthirsty monster in the Union Army whom Cage testified against. Saint is not a forgiving man and he wants revenge. Along the way, he intends to claim the West as his own. Lieutenant Foster is Saint's crippled sidekick. Les Mullins was the captain of the Iron Draught.
Old Jack is a crook who runs a trading post that can repair airships. Just don't ever turn your back on him.
Mr. Shunt is a Strange. Sewn together and kept going with glim. A dangerous, unkillable monster. I do rather like the deal he makes with Saint...heh-heh-heh...
The Strange are from another world and need bodies to operate in ours.
The Cover
It's an action-packed cover with wolf shifter Cedar Hunt watching for an attack, his "steam" rifle ready to be juked to his shoulder, his long leather coat swirling with the wind while the Swift herself hovers overhead.
The title is all about Marshal Cage's unique ship, his Tin Swift.
My Take
Another riveting tale from Devon Monk as I read with heart in mouth while this party of refugees from Oregon brave the Strange and keep trying to escape aboard the marshal's tin airship.
i don't feel at all sorry for Rose and her condition. Stupid twit just had to waste time in that tiny town. Admittedly, for a good cause, but, in my opinion, the danger outweighed the morality. Then again, discovering what moves in town is too important not to destroy…
Airship pursuits, sky battles, betrayals, and Frankenstein-like operations abound. And Alun speculates that Rose has some of the old blood, a gift from the El, when she doesn't die right away.
The Story
We take up with our band of refugees from Dead Iron while they're on the trail heading back to Kansas before Mae goes completely insane. Hunt intends to see Mae safe, but the Madders have their own agenda.
Their encounters with the townsfolk of Vicinity in the Idaho Territory throws everything apart. The Strange is at work and a piece has embedded itself in Rose. The rising could spell the end for our travelers, but Hink and his Swift just happen to be in the right place for a rescue.
Meanwhile, Saint's allies are hunting the Swift. Captain Hink may be looking to shut down illegal glim mines, but Saint is looking to shut down Hink.
The Characters
Cedar Hunt is under a Pawnee curse to turn into a wolf on every full moon. Only it seems that the change may be pushing its way to other times of the month. He's promised the Madders he'll help them hunt down the seven pieces of the Holder, a powerful weapon that could destroy the world, in return for the help they gave with his brother. Wil Hunt is his brother cursed in reverse to turn into a man when the moon is at its smallest.
Other members of the party of travelers include Rose Small, a tinkerer with glim and anything mechanical. She's of a mind to see the world. Hunt is in love with Mae Lindson, the widowed witch whose worsening condition forces their pace. The three Madder brothers have their own agenda. Alun is the oldest, Bryn the middle, and Cadoc is the youngest. All of them even more talented with devices, gadgets, and matics than Rose.
Captain Hink, a.k.a., U.S. Marshal Paisley Cage, commands the Swift in his undercover role as a glim miner while he hunts down those engaged in illegal activities. Mr. Seldon is his second-in-command and quite efficient; Molly Gregor is the boilerman; Guffin swears in a number of languages, and Lum Ansell sings opera when the going gets tough.
Captain Beaumont of the Coin du Paradis and his passengers Sophie Dupuis, Otto Theobald (Sophie's lover), and Joonie Wright are a group with a mission and a desire for Hunt to join them.
Mae's old coven fears her even as the binding they forced on her is driving her mad. Miss Adaline is the head bitch, er, witch of the coven. And what a bunch of hypocrites!
General Alabaster Saint was a bloodthirsty monster in the Union Army whom Cage testified against. Saint is not a forgiving man and he wants revenge. Along the way, he intends to claim the West as his own. Lieutenant Foster is Saint's crippled sidekick. Les Mullins was the captain of the Iron Draught.
Old Jack is a crook who runs a trading post that can repair airships. Just don't ever turn your back on him.
Mr. Shunt is a Strange. Sewn together and kept going with glim. A dangerous, unkillable monster. I do rather like the deal he makes with Saint...heh-heh-heh...
The Strange are from another world and need bodies to operate in ours.
The Cover
It's an action-packed cover with wolf shifter Cedar Hunt watching for an attack, his "steam" rifle ready to be juked to his shoulder, his long leather coat swirling with the wind while the Swift herself hovers overhead.
The title is all about Marshal Cage's unique ship, his Tin Swift.
amybraunauthor's review
5.0
So good. SO. GOOD. I really liked the first book, but if I had any doubts, they were erased by the sequel. The story opened intensely and kept up a fantastic pace until the explosive ending. This story was steampunk at its heart with daring chases, rescues, constant peril, romance, and an ending that honestly kept me up at night. I couldn't have put it down if I wanted to. Favourite characters like Cedar, Mae, Rose, and the Madder brothers returned, and we were introduced to new characters like Captain Hink, who is my absolute favourite airship captain EVER. Everything you want in a captain, he's got it. Then there were the villains, who were beyond devious and evil. Terrifying and fantastic to read about. The story took a slow point just past the halfway mark, but I was still immersed because it was filled with passion, tenderness, and built to a battle of epic proportions. I felt like I was right there with the characters. There's so much uniqueness to this book and this series in general. I honestly can't recommend it highly enough to anyone who enjoys supernatural steampunk adventures with daring airship captains. Best thing is, this book holds well as a standalone. But why would you do that to yourself when there are two other books to snare your attention and take you on more wild adventures?
git_r_read's review
5.0
I have been a fan of Devon Monk for quite some time. I like how she has her different voices for each of eight [so far] series. This series is steampunk western. I enjoyed book one a few years ago then waited to be in the right mood for book two. They are on my keeper shelf.
Sometimes I have voices narrate a book as I read them. This one had the cast from Firefly, the wonderful and sadly short-lived television series. It was a perfect chorus in my cranium.
This story has an intriguing premise, great characters, dialogue that sparks, and the chemistry between the characters is sublime.
The bad is creepy bad and there are so many different big- bads in this book. This was my back patio book which meant I read it in daylight which was good for me and my vivid imagination.
I can highly recommend this book, series and author.
Sometimes I have voices narrate a book as I read them. This one had the cast from Firefly, the wonderful and sadly short-lived television series. It was a perfect chorus in my cranium.
This story has an intriguing premise, great characters, dialogue that sparks, and the chemistry between the characters is sublime.
The bad is creepy bad and there are so many different big- bads in this book. This was my back patio book which meant I read it in daylight which was good for me and my vivid imagination.
I can highly recommend this book, series and author.
abigcoffeedragon's review
4.0
I won't say that I loved this but I won't say that I hated it - this got a three star rating because it added one thing that wasn't in the book prior - romance - now, I am a happily married man, so I believe in love, but NOT in my adventure stories - I mean, that is when TV shows go down hill, is when they start to pair of characters - I enjoyed the story itself, and the use of airships and even the new characters - but I could do without the part of people opening to take in the warmth of their romance - just give me the story - save the love for romance novels please - this makes me hesitate for book three -
hannas_heas47's review
5.0
Just when the romance is starting the book ends......but I truly like this genre. I can't wait for the next book, and any book by this author.
kblincoln's review
4.0
So here's my problem...Devon Monk is a phenomenal writer with an amazing ability to craft characters who tap into archetypes at the same time as seeming one-of-a-kind.
So what's the problem? Well, I think it's just not always my cup of tea. In Tin Swift, we get the continuation of the story of Cedar Hunt (cursed by Pawnee to shift into a wolf and hunt the Strange) Rose Small (a girl of the wild who likes to tinker) and Mae Lindson (witch).
They are traveling towards Kansas with the Madder brothers to both hunt a Strange weapon and to bring Mae back to her sister-coven before a binding on her drives her crazy.
There are just plain awesome descriptions, like this one of an airship landing in the middle of a gunfight:
"The Swift's fans roared, flattening the smoke into heated whips."
And the characters are just plain cool (the villain, Mr. Shunt, is the creepiest villain I've come across since Mr. Croup from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere). And it has just the right kind of romance that satisfies my romance novel hunger without overpowering the steampunk gadgets and adventure plot.
But....sometimes my attention wondered. I'm not sure if it was because of some slow pacing, or if the way certain descriptions of the characters were reiterated throughout the text in a way that didn't seem to matter much to the storyline. For example, Cedar Hunt often wrangles with the werewolf aspect of himself "..The killing need of the beast rose in him." But after a while, just hearing that without it having much implication on Cedar (he never turns to a wolf at an inappropriate time nor does he harm a main character inappropriately) made it less impactful.
However, don't get me wrong. This is one very well written, steampunk-lovely book. Totally worth your time if you like airships or alternate history or romance or adventure. (cause it's got it all)
This Book's Snack Rating: cheddar kettle chips for the solid crunch of steampunk airships/ideas with a non-spicy flavor of plot
So what's the problem? Well, I think it's just not always my cup of tea. In Tin Swift, we get the continuation of the story of Cedar Hunt (cursed by Pawnee to shift into a wolf and hunt the Strange) Rose Small (a girl of the wild who likes to tinker) and Mae Lindson (witch).
They are traveling towards Kansas with the Madder brothers to both hunt a Strange weapon and to bring Mae back to her sister-coven before a binding on her drives her crazy.
There are just plain awesome descriptions, like this one of an airship landing in the middle of a gunfight:
"The Swift's fans roared, flattening the smoke into heated whips."
And the characters are just plain cool (the villain, Mr. Shunt, is the creepiest villain I've come across since Mr. Croup from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere). And it has just the right kind of romance that satisfies my romance novel hunger without overpowering the steampunk gadgets and adventure plot.
But....sometimes my attention wondered. I'm not sure if it was because of some slow pacing, or if the way certain descriptions of the characters were reiterated throughout the text in a way that didn't seem to matter much to the storyline. For example, Cedar Hunt often wrangles with the werewolf aspect of himself "..The killing need of the beast rose in him." But after a while, just hearing that without it having much implication on Cedar (he never turns to a wolf at an inappropriate time nor does he harm a main character inappropriately) made it less impactful.
However, don't get me wrong. This is one very well written, steampunk-lovely book. Totally worth your time if you like airships or alternate history or romance or adventure. (cause it's got it all)
This Book's Snack Rating: cheddar kettle chips for the solid crunch of steampunk airships/ideas with a non-spicy flavor of plot
mjfmjfmjf's review
4.0
Not a bad sequel, especially for an Endeavour read and a western steampunk. I liked the adventure and the peril and the characters and the weird science including lightning gun and other assorted gadgetry. A relatively lightweight but breezy read. Though not sure if this series truly has legs - seems like a bunch of character are about to be left behind as well.
rclz's review
5.0
This was very good. Lots of excitement, great characters and a good solid plot. Add a bit of romance and you've got a good book. I can't wait for the next one in July.
billiegoat's review
4.0
I loved it so much I had troubles putting it down. Loved the new characters and thrilling happenings that had me on edge and in shock. I laughed out loud and cheered for my favorite travelers, Cedar, Wil, Rose May, Captian Hink and his crew and the Madder brothers. Can't wait to start the next book.