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christajls's review against another edition
4.0
Originally reviewed at Hooked on Books
Sorcery! Mayhem! Dragons! Corsets! Logic! (Ok maybe that last one didn't need an exclamation point but you get the idea)
Lilith Saintcrow's newest steampunk adventure, The Iron Wyrm Affair, has all the mixing for an incredible and magical adventure. Emma Bannon is a sorceress of the highest calibre, so when some suspicious deaths start occuring within the city's mentah population (which as far as I could tell is basically an investigative person who uses logic to get to the bottom of things) she is called in to figure out what is going on. She's an incredibly independent woman, with a brilliant mind, and some impressive attitude. At times I found her a bit over the top - particularly when it came to her obsession with dresses. Every single one was described in so much detail, I sometimes found myself skimming to get on with the story. But overall I was definitely drawn to her as a character and fascinated by what she would do next.
Lilith Saintcrow is an intelligent woman. That much comes across in her writing. She nailed the Victorian aesthetic dress, customs etc. There was never a doubt in my mind that this is what an alternative Britain would have looked like. And not only is her book well researched, it quite clever writing. It was difficult at first to get into it. I got bogged down by the detail and structure, but then I began to pick out the similarities to Victorian writing and I could appreciate in much more. It was still occasionally difficult to decipher exactly what was happening at some points but it was beautiful writing nonetheless.
My one complaint about The Iron Wyrm Affair is that I still have a lot of questions. Potentially too many questions. There were a lot of character motivations that I just didn't understand. There were a few things hinted at, that never came to anything. It was almost as if the book was trying to accomplish too much, too include too many things. If you could weed through the surplus information, there was a really great story underneath, but it all comes down to whether or not you want to put that much effort into it.
Final recommendation: An intelligent, well written, sometimes witty steampunk novel, that captures the Victorian age perfectly. Great for fans of the genre.
Sorcery! Mayhem! Dragons! Corsets! Logic! (Ok maybe that last one didn't need an exclamation point but you get the idea)
Lilith Saintcrow's newest steampunk adventure, The Iron Wyrm Affair, has all the mixing for an incredible and magical adventure. Emma Bannon is a sorceress of the highest calibre, so when some suspicious deaths start occuring within the city's mentah population (which as far as I could tell is basically an investigative person who uses logic to get to the bottom of things) she is called in to figure out what is going on. She's an incredibly independent woman, with a brilliant mind, and some impressive attitude. At times I found her a bit over the top - particularly when it came to her obsession with dresses. Every single one was described in so much detail, I sometimes found myself skimming to get on with the story. But overall I was definitely drawn to her as a character and fascinated by what she would do next.
Lilith Saintcrow is an intelligent woman. That much comes across in her writing. She nailed the Victorian aesthetic dress, customs etc. There was never a doubt in my mind that this is what an alternative Britain would have looked like. And not only is her book well researched, it quite clever writing. It was difficult at first to get into it. I got bogged down by the detail and structure, but then I began to pick out the similarities to Victorian writing and I could appreciate in much more. It was still occasionally difficult to decipher exactly what was happening at some points but it was beautiful writing nonetheless.
My one complaint about The Iron Wyrm Affair is that I still have a lot of questions. Potentially too many questions. There were a lot of character motivations that I just didn't understand. There were a few things hinted at, that never came to anything. It was almost as if the book was trying to accomplish too much, too include too many things. If you could weed through the surplus information, there was a really great story underneath, but it all comes down to whether or not you want to put that much effort into it.
Final recommendation: An intelligent, well written, sometimes witty steampunk novel, that captures the Victorian age perfectly. Great for fans of the genre.
b33dubs's review against another edition
4.0
I rather liked it. Steampunk, a crafty sorceress, a gentleman reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes, and dragons! I did wish for, well, more. The book frequently moved past scenes that I wish I could have read, rather than being told about them. But that scene on pg. 250-251...holy crap. Freaking amazing. Pretty much made up for all the missing stuff.
ahcrowns's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted so much to love this book because the characters seem interesting and it seems like there is a great story in there somewhere but it just didn't come together properly.
kaciep's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this book, the premise was excellent, but the writing was a bit disjointed and made it difficult to follow the plot.
_camk_'s review against another edition
3.0
The Iron Wyrm Affair is one of the most interesting and unique books I have read this year with good characters. Yet, with me writing that, I must saying I felt out of depth with this book. I was confused by it a good bit. It seemed to just start without explanation to pretty much everything such as Primas and you think it will come eventually in the first few chapters but it doesn't.
fantastiskfiktion's review against another edition
3.0
http://fantastiskfiktion.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/the-iron-wyrm-affair/
halfpintreads's review against another edition
3.0
Took a while to get into the world... and I finished it still wishing I'd had some better explanations as to how things worked there.
seeinghowitgoes's review against another edition
3.0
Back into the world of steampunk with Sorceresses, Mentaths, Shields all in the name of Britannica! Confused? That's ok, because that's pretty much how I felt for most of the the Iron Wyrm Affair.
A lushly written book that's held back by the sheer amount of exposition and wordiness of its own world, there's a lot of information being portrayed in the first few chapters and the switching POV in each chapter just adds to the confusion.
I love the idea behind the world, but the power dynamics between the Shields and Sorceresses was a little uncomfortable.
A lushly written book that's held back by the sheer amount of exposition and wordiness of its own world, there's a lot of information being portrayed in the first few chapters and the switching POV in each chapter just adds to the confusion.
I love the idea behind the world, but the power dynamics between the Shields and Sorceresses was a little uncomfortable.
shells's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Potential. That's what this book has.
I listened to it on audio. If I'd read it, my experience might have been different, I don't know. But I only stuck with it on audio because it's easy enough to listen to on my drive to and from work.
It was convoluted and I didn't know which character was speaking a great deal of the time. That might have been the narrator's fault, but I can't say for certain. While the narrator had a nice "speaking voice" there was no distinction between her characters and the exposition.
The characters were a challenge to like - this isn't always a bad thing - but there should be at least one you want to follow throughout the narrative. I didn't care who was killing the mentaths. I wanted to know more about this world rather than Miss Banon's narrow point of view down the tip of her nose.
It wasn't until nearly the end that I became more invested in the story and started to see a little more dimension to the characters. That being said, the characters were still quite cliched, and it's unfortunate that I only enjoyed the final act of the story.
However, I might be willing to give the second book a try based on this one's ending and I hope the author developed her skills more between books 1 and 2.
I listened to it on audio. If I'd read it, my experience might have been different, I don't know. But I only stuck with it on audio because it's easy enough to listen to on my drive to and from work.
It was convoluted and I didn't know which character was speaking a great deal of the time. That might have been the narrator's fault, but I can't say for certain. While the narrator had a nice "speaking voice" there was no distinction between her characters and the exposition.
The characters were a challenge to like - this isn't always a bad thing - but there should be at least one you want to follow throughout the narrative. I didn't care who was killing the mentaths. I wanted to know more about this world rather than Miss Banon's narrow point of view down the tip of her nose.
It wasn't until nearly the end that I became more invested in the story and started to see a little more dimension to the characters. That being said, the characters were still quite cliched, and it's unfortunate that I only enjoyed the final act of the story.
However, I might be willing to give the second book a try based on this one's ending and I hope the author developed her skills more between books 1 and 2.
nickystrickland's review against another edition
3.0
Really wish I could give 1/2 stars. It'd be 3 1/2 then. I suspect life circumstances made the reading of this a little trickier than usual for e.g. Thamis over Thames & I kept being pulled out of story because of it. Look forward to seeing if it's easier next book.