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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
It's space pirates plus Jane Austen. Of course I liked it.
I really enjoyed this, but I do feel that there were a few scenes or conversations that were missing? Like, . The book overall moved a little too fast, and then ended a bit abruptly. But definitely looking forward to the second in the series.
Spoiler
I missed how the captain knew of her family's plantation, when they basically weren't speaking
Why didn't I pick this sooner.
Review to follow
Review to follow
Mary Jo Putney’s blurb on the back of the book describes this novel as the “delicious love child of Jane Austen, Patrick O’Brian, and Jules Verne.” The first comparison is perhaps the biggest stretch. The book is set during the Regency period, and an entailed estate does feature prominently in the plot, but in tone and action, there is really no similarity. But the action is reminiscent of Verne, and Levine credits the inspiration for the airship aspects of the novel to O’Brian’s books, and a great deal of attention is lavished on the sailing and navigation parts of the tale. read more
A clever mash-up of a Regency England period piece with the sort of solar system imagined by early writers in SF. We get sailing ships in space plying the trade routes between Earth and Mars during the Napoleonic Wars along with a Mars with Martian natives and canals. (Also a Venus with swamps and jungles and lizardmen, but unseen here). And all of this with our viewpoint character, the wonderfully capable Arabella, raised on Mars where the native women are warriors and chafing under the restrictions on women in Regency society.
Arabella is a 17-year old girl raised on her family's wood plantation. She and her brother Michael have been undergoing training under their Martian nanny which goes far beyond the sort of activity expected of a young Englishwoman. This raises the ire of her mother who packs Arabella and her sisters back to Earth and away from Arabella's beloved father and his passion for automata that Arabella shares.
When a plot to steal her family's wealth comes to light Arabella needs to get to Mars in a hurry and so she takes employment in male disguise on a merchantman traveling there. What follows could be lifted from any set of sea adventure novels set during the Napoleonic Wars but with the added twists of her hidden gender and the ships-in-space thing.
I enjoyed this mashup with each part of the book being enjoyable separately. Arabella's Martian life, her banishment to England and flight away from her cousins, to the time on the Diana and her return to Mars. There are elements of how the English treat the Martians that gloss over aspects of colonialism however. This is deftly sidestepped by having Arabella being familiar with the Martian culture and apparently free from prejudice, but prejudice is everywhere in Regency society, so it's difficult to avoid and this book doesn't really criticize the status quo at all. There's also a low-key romance going on here, and I'm intrigued how that will play out in the ongoing story. It's hard to see how Arabella can function as she wishes when even her relatively enlightened love interest acts quite patriarchal at times.
Arabella is a 17-year old girl raised on her family's wood plantation. She and her brother Michael have been undergoing training under their Martian nanny which goes far beyond the sort of activity expected of a young Englishwoman. This raises the ire of her mother who packs Arabella and her sisters back to Earth and away from Arabella's beloved father and his passion for automata that Arabella shares.
When a plot to steal her family's wealth comes to light Arabella needs to get to Mars in a hurry and so she takes employment in male disguise on a merchantman traveling there. What follows could be lifted from any set of sea adventure novels set during the Napoleonic Wars but with the added twists of her hidden gender and the ships-in-space thing.
I enjoyed this mashup with each part of the book being enjoyable separately. Arabella's Martian life, her banishment to England and flight away from her cousins, to the time on the Diana and her return to Mars. There are elements of how the English treat the Martians that gloss over aspects of colonialism however. This is deftly sidestepped by having Arabella being familiar with the Martian culture and apparently free from prejudice, but prejudice is everywhere in Regency society, so it's difficult to avoid and this book doesn't really criticize the status quo at all. There's also a low-key romance going on here, and I'm intrigued how that will play out in the ongoing story. It's hard to see how Arabella can function as she wishes when even her relatively enlightened love interest acts quite patriarchal at times.
For context, I wrote a thesis on transvestism in the British navy, both the actual practice and the stories and songs of it. I could see that Levine did his research well in that arena, both in reality and in story, as some of the events fall very much within this old genre, with necessary changes in favor of more agency on the part of the heroine. The strongest part of the novel is, oddly enough, the middle, where the passage to Mars takes on the detail and fun of a naval adventure. There were a number of characters who became real with just a few well-placed lines, and there were places where I could visualize the Diana clearly, no small feat of description for such a complex flying machine. The colonialist issues of Arabella's society, including Arabella's own inevitable prejudices, I hope will be explored in more depth in Arabella and the Battle of Venus. In any case, enjoy! This book is decidedly fun.
This was a very good tale and I am looking forward to the next in the series. Arabella Ashby has to make it from Earth to Mars in order to save her brother from an unscrupulous cousin. To get there, she dresses as a boy and manages to become a Captain's Boy on a ship bound for Mars. I love the entire premise of a ship sailing in the air. Levine manages to make his descriptions well enough to understand what he is saying, but vague enough to be able to let your imagination fill in the blanks. I also love that this is not a love story. There is a love aspect, but it is so subtle that it doesn't interfere in the quest at all. Arabella is a great character and I can't wait for more from her world.
adventurous
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
How easily I could say that this has all been done before, and in many ways, it has. A well-bred young British woman conceals her sex and commences a swashbuckling adventure aboard a merchant airship. There are battles, mutiny, romance, and insurrection of course, with plenty of verbose and polite dialogue. But, it is so refreshing to read steampunk that actually deals with themes of colonialism that I will forgive all of that to say that Arabella is completely lovely. This is a sweet book and a solid debut novel from David Levine. Again, absolutely delightful!
(+) Steampunk setting.
(+) Some good vocabulary words.
(-) Boring.
(-) Lack of suspense or tension.
(-) Mary Sue.
(-) Martians.
SUMMED UP: I sadly continue to dislike steampunk novels.
(+) Some good vocabulary words.
(-) Boring.
(-) Lack of suspense or tension.
(-) Mary Sue.
(-) Martians.
SUMMED UP: I sadly continue to dislike steampunk novels.