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A review by obr
The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder
4.0
Imagine a world where Queen Victoria wasn't queen for very long, where a geothermal Battersea Power Station dominates the London skyline (when the city isn't engulfed in smog), and where Sir Richard Francis Burton the explorer has become some kind of private investigator with a royal seal of approval. Then chuck in some extra weird sci-fi bits and bobs to go with the oh-so-clever steampunk contraptions and the phantom attacker Spring Heeled Jack who isn't all he seems. Mind = blown.
If I'm honest, the start of the book left me feeling like this was going to be a DNF. It suffers from that sci-fi malady of having to pause the story to explain just how wonderful and clever parts of it's world are. I found myself forcing to skim over all the descriptions of steam powered handsom cabs, litter-picking automatons and the like. It felt pretentious, the need to explain just how clever the author was being taking real part of history and making them "work" with the steampunk technology. But get past that and the lacklustre early introduction of Sir Richard's character (not helped by the hopping to the different perspectives of Isabel and John Speke, of whom we also don't really get much of a handle on), and it's a surprisingly good sci-fi mystery.
Plough through those first 100 pages or so, because after that the twisty-turny, wibbly-wobbly nature of the story is it's greatest strength. It's utterly bizarre, full of Frankenseinesque levels of oddness alongside the steampunk tech that doesn't ever feel just tacked on to fit the genre like so many other steampunk novels. It's integral to the story and the world itself.
It's not a great novel for those looking for strong characters. I didn't get much of an impression from any of the major players. The playing fast and loose with history is the most interesting thing about them.
It's a book that's too clever by half. But once it's gotten over the need to prove just how clever it is, there's a fun and dark story to be told... as long as you have the tolerance for popular sci-fi, the ability to go with the absolute trashing of historical figures, and are very good at suspension of disbelief!
If I'm honest, the start of the book left me feeling like this was going to be a DNF. It suffers from that sci-fi malady of having to pause the story to explain just how wonderful and clever parts of it's world are. I found myself forcing to skim over all the descriptions of steam powered handsom cabs, litter-picking automatons and the like. It felt pretentious, the need to explain just how clever the author was being taking real part of history and making them "work" with the steampunk technology. But get past that and the lacklustre early introduction of Sir Richard's character (not helped by the hopping to the different perspectives of Isabel and John Speke, of whom we also don't really get much of a handle on), and it's a surprisingly good sci-fi mystery.
Plough through those first 100 pages or so, because after that the twisty-turny, wibbly-wobbly
Spoiler
timey-wimeyIt's not a great novel for those looking for strong characters. I didn't get much of an impression from any of the major players. The playing fast and loose with history is the most interesting thing about them.
It's a book that's too clever by half. But once it's gotten over the need to prove just how clever it is, there's a fun and dark story to be told... as long as you have the tolerance for popular sci-fi, the ability to go with the absolute trashing of historical figures, and are very good at suspension of disbelief!