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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Our heroine is the niece of Sherlock Holmes. Her mother eloped with an army officer that died before she was born and her mother died soon after leaving her to be raised by her paternal grandmother in a circus. Her maternal grandmother comes for her and sends her to finishing school where she befriends the sickly daughter of a British ambassador. The setting still has Sherlock and he does feature in the story later on. There are Steam Barons that are quickly carving up the country and they are eyeing the rest of the world. They do all they can to stifle mechanical innovation unless they control it and work hard at stamping out magic. Magic users are burned at the stake. Turns out that Evelina is a magic user and because of her friend's father's scheming is also trying to find out who killed a serving girl in the house when the rest of the family wants to ignore it and concentrate on her friend's debut Season. To manipulate her uncle she is allowed to be presented to the Queen and have a Season of her own. All while trying to solve the mystery. All the players seem to have a long history with one another and the main threads of the mystery don't wrap up until the very end of the book. It was enjoyable and I plan on reading the next one.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edleweiss
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edleweiss
Steampunk AU set in the time of Sherlock Holmes, featuring his own niece (I have no idea how that works in canon, but I like it well enough) trying to solve crimes. What can possibly go wrong?
I was expecting a lot of things to go wrong, actually. I've recently read [a:M.K. Hobson|1550534|M.K. Hobson|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1334447713p2/1550534.jpg]'s steampunk novels and while they were quite enjoyable, I had lots of problems with it (internalised misogyny what). A Study in Silks also feature a *drumroll* love triangle, which is really something I don't really get. But somehow, it actually works?Well, no one ends up with anyone in the end, since this is just book one. But I totally love where Nick's story is going. And I want to know what happens to Tobias next. I guess the point here is that Evelina might get distracted by her fancy boys, but she knows that she's getting distracted and (having had walked the tightrope before in her youth) knows how important balance is when you're doing your own thing.
I just really like the characters, okay.
I was expecting a lot of things to go wrong, actually. I've recently read [a:M.K. Hobson|1550534|M.K. Hobson|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1334447713p2/1550534.jpg]'s steampunk novels and while they were quite enjoyable, I had lots of problems with it (internalised misogyny what). A Study in Silks also feature a *drumroll* love triangle, which is really something I don't really get. But somehow, it actually works?
I just really like the characters, okay.
A Study In Silks is so much more than a Holmes spinoff. The story blends the careful detail exposition that makes Arthur Conan Doyle fun to read, and references to Holmes canon that add depth for fans and don’t detract if readers miss them. (Halfway in, Uncle Sherlock returns from Bohemia, where there’s been something of a scandal.) The mystery involves artifacts from Heinrich Schliemann’s Troy dig, a crew of Chinese craftsmen working in secret, code-breaking, a gypsy knife-thrower, and all the mysterious notes and listening at doors that make Victorian novels so lovely.
I hesitate to call this steampunk, because that conjures images of watch parts glued to waistcoats, when what I mean is a Victorian London full of Jules Verne and Space 1888 science. Powerful steam barons run their districts by controlling access to essential energy, that lights and heats homes. Dozens of servants and clockwork appliances keep grand society homes running smoothly. Despite the scientific advances, Victorian mores reign. Evelina, and her heiress friend Imogen, are presented to the queen in preparation for their first London Season, and even while solving the murder, Evelina takes care not to be unchaperoned with any young gentlemen.
Read the long (Long!) review on my blog
I hesitate to call this steampunk, because that conjures images of watch parts glued to waistcoats, when what I mean is a Victorian London full of Jules Verne and Space 1888 science. Powerful steam barons run their districts by controlling access to essential energy, that lights and heats homes. Dozens of servants and clockwork appliances keep grand society homes running smoothly. Despite the scientific advances, Victorian mores reign. Evelina, and her heiress friend Imogen, are presented to the queen in preparation for their first London Season, and even while solving the murder, Evelina takes care not to be unchaperoned with any young gentlemen.
Read the long (Long!) review on my blog
Intriguing steampunk AU starring Sherlock Holmes' niece and a wide cast of fantastical characters. Predictable ending but a romp worthy of the title. Definitely going to read book 2.
This steampunk novel is a big chewy london broil in a buffet full of tasty hamburgers. Realistically flawed protagonists face multi-faceted issues while inhabiting a meticulously-designed yet never-explained fantasy world full of complex politics and social inequity. No punches pulled, nothing fed to the reader. It's a big, multi-plotted multi-POV character-filled novel full of "extraneous" events and "unnecessary" elements that never become relevant to the storyline--and all of it is presented in delightful, rich prose. i loved it. The story takes its time developing, even the main characters barely reveal hints of mysterious pasts, the scenes dwell in the quiet places between events more often than they focus on the center of action, the mechanics of the world are not fully explained at any point, and the resolution does not depend on those unique elements. So, of course, I loved it.