Scan barcode
A review by lorus
The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter by Rod Duncan
3.0
The Bullet-Catcher’s Daughter is set in a steampunk world where the United Kingdom has been divided in two and an organization called the International Patent Office has great influence throughout the world. The protagonist is Elizabeth Barnabus, a woman who cross-dresses as her brother in order to get around the Victorian morals of her society to lead a life as a private-detective. The story is about a case of hers where she has been commissioned by a noblewoman to find her brother who has crossed the border with a traveling circus.
What I found most appealing about the book is the setting. It is rather unique and it is interesting to read about how the historical events that lead to the world of the book becoming so different from our own world.
The main problem that hampered my enjoyment of the book by quite a bit was how flat and underdeveloped the characters were. The characters were given far too little description to be compelling. Even the protagonist, Elizabeth, is given no personality whatsoever. I did enjoy how clever Elizabeth was, but that is a skill, not a personality trait. In the end, I had no more of an idea of what Elizabeth was like than I did in the beginning. It made it feel like Elizabeth was little more than a plot point, meant to unravel the clues. This was a huge drawback for me.
The ending I also found a bit disappointing:
Overall, while it was an alright book, I didn’t find it really captivating or impressive. It was a rather enjoyable read, though, so I am glad that I did give it a shot, especially since I don’t normally read steampunk. I’m not sure if I’d be interested in reading the sequel or not when it comes out. That will probably depend on the reviews and if it seems to have improved or not.
What I found most appealing about the book is the setting. It is rather unique and it is interesting to read about how the historical events that lead to the world of the book becoming so different from our own world.
The main problem that hampered my enjoyment of the book by quite a bit was how flat and underdeveloped the characters were. The characters were given far too little description to be compelling. Even the protagonist, Elizabeth, is given no personality whatsoever. I did enjoy how clever Elizabeth was, but that is a skill, not a personality trait. In the end, I had no more of an idea of what Elizabeth was like than I did in the beginning. It made it feel like Elizabeth was little more than a plot point, meant to unravel the clues. This was a huge drawback for me.
The ending I also found a bit disappointing:
Spoiler
I found the ending rather spoiled the impression the Elizabeth was so smart and clever. As a detective, she should have been way more suspicious about the reward that was being offered her and questioned whether the payment could or would be made. It was the kind of offer that even to me sounded “too good to be true.” Why didn’t she tell Tinker that it was his sister that was looking for his master? I found it odd when I first read it, that she described the person who is looking for Tinker’s master only as “someone who loves him” because no one would ever phrase it like that. Once I read the ending it was clear it was written that way because otherwise Tinker would have given the ending away by saying his master’s sister doesn’t love him. Elizabeth doesn’t even listen to the man himself when she meets him and he says his sister hates him. I can maybe excuse one of these things, but combine it was too much for my suspension of belief to accept that a detective supposedly so clever as Elizabeth wouldn’t have figured it out sooner.Overall, while it was an alright book, I didn’t find it really captivating or impressive. It was a rather enjoyable read, though, so I am glad that I did give it a shot, especially since I don’t normally read steampunk. I’m not sure if I’d be interested in reading the sequel or not when it comes out. That will probably depend on the reviews and if it seems to have improved or not.