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A review by mackle13
The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder
2.0
2 1/2
An alt-history, steampunk mystery with various contraptions, Eugenicists and Technologists and a secret history style look into the origins and Spring Heeled Jack, investigated by a rough and tumble explorer and a quasi-Libertine poet. What could go wrong?
Well, mostly, the writing.
There's a lot of interesting ideas and potential, and I think the book could've been a lot better than it actually was. But there's a lot of telling instead of showing - from the ambiance and atmosphere of the world and society, to the characters and descriptions of the devices, to the huge chunks of (repetitive) expository text and the ever-popular pontificating of the villain in which he, knowingly or otherwise, reveals his plots and plans.
I also felt a good deal of the "second part" wherein we learn the truth of Spring Heeled Jack was mostly redundant and unnecessary. I wish that Hodder would've trusted his readers a bit more to put the pieces together once the major reveal was revealed 'cause, honestly, I didn't feel like we needed to revisit the whole damn book a second time from a second perspective.
All that said, it wasn't terrible. The characters were relatable and interesting enough, and the story was intriguing (even if I'm not the biggest fan of. I liked the dirtier and grittier vibe that it has - a change of pace from the more romanticized notions of Victorian England which a lot of these stories have. (Not that I mind the romanticized past - this was just an interesting change of pace.) That said, there wasn't a lot about the story or writing that "felt" period. I mean, there were the passing nods in descriptions and things, but it didn't have that ring of periodness which I so love in alt-history type books.
But I do plan on reading the second book in the series at some point to see if maybe the writing gets tightened up. But I'll be getting it from the library - just in case it doesn't.
An alt-history, steampunk mystery with various contraptions, Eugenicists and Technologists and a secret history style look into the origins and Spring Heeled Jack, investigated by a rough and tumble explorer and a quasi-Libertine poet. What could go wrong?
Well, mostly, the writing.
There's a lot of interesting ideas and potential, and I think the book could've been a lot better than it actually was. But there's a lot of telling instead of showing - from the ambiance and atmosphere of the world and society, to the characters and descriptions of the devices, to the huge chunks of (repetitive) expository text and the ever-popular pontificating of the villain in which he, knowingly or otherwise, reveals his plots and plans.
I also felt a good deal of the "second part" wherein we learn the truth of Spring Heeled Jack was mostly redundant and unnecessary. I wish that Hodder would've trusted his readers a bit more to put the pieces together once the major reveal was revealed 'cause, honestly, I didn't feel like we needed to revisit the whole damn book a second time from a second perspective.
All that said, it wasn't terrible. The characters were relatable and interesting enough, and the story was intriguing (even if I'm not the biggest fan of
Spoiler
time travel and its various inherent paradoxesBut I do plan on reading the second book in the series at some point to see if maybe the writing gets tightened up. But I'll be getting it from the library - just in case it doesn't.