Brekke K. (sfvamp) -
Helpful Score: 4
Awesome book! It delivers excellent characterization, an interesting and intricate plot, some wry humor, and more romance than I expected (but I'm delighted it is there). This is a fully realized steampunk world and I look forward to further escapades by Book and Braun. Not since Scully and Mulder have I enjoyed two characters' UST so much.
There is something very theatrical and visual about the writing. (It is really quite astonishing how often novels don't make their more visually inclined readers so at home within the story like Phoenix Rising.) I see everything vividly and if I had the power, I'd immediately develop this story into film or television. Each character is carefully and immediately fully realized yet just enough mystery remains for the reader to make interesting discoveries along the way. Side characters and those with mere cameos are given meaty significance and never suffer from cardboard representation. After reading some pretty poorly constructed paranormal romances in which the characterization was quite shallow, the humor forced, and the romance nil (I'm particularly thinking of Stephanie Rowe), I can't tell you how thrilled I am to read a well-rounded, visually scrumptious, fascinating story.
As with several of my favorite novels, my only real pet peeve with this book is the sloppy editing. This isn't something that is so prevalent as to make the book unreadable, but there does seem to be a higher count of problematic editing than I normally notice. When a book is as good as this one, you don't want anything to mar the easy flow of the story.
There is something about this literary world that reminds me of Carole Nelson Douglas' Irene Adler mysteries. The richness of characterization, the visual quality to the writing, the ridiculous readability of a plot that is no less meticulous and intricate for all of its inviting nature. Fans of that series might particularly enjoy what I hope will be the beginning of a prolific series.
There is something very theatrical and visual about the writing. (It is really quite astonishing how often novels don't make their more visually inclined readers so at home within the story like Phoenix Rising.) I see everything vividly and if I had the power, I'd immediately develop this story into film or television. Each character is carefully and immediately fully realized yet just enough mystery remains for the reader to make interesting discoveries along the way. Side characters and those with mere cameos are given meaty significance and never suffer from cardboard representation. After reading some pretty poorly constructed paranormal romances in which the characterization was quite shallow, the humor forced, and the romance nil (I'm particularly thinking of Stephanie Rowe), I can't tell you how thrilled I am to read a well-rounded, visually scrumptious, fascinating story.
As with several of my favorite novels, my only real pet peeve with this book is the sloppy editing. This isn't something that is so prevalent as to make the book unreadable, but there does seem to be a higher count of problematic editing than I normally notice. When a book is as good as this one, you don't want anything to mar the easy flow of the story.
There is something about this literary world that reminds me of Carole Nelson Douglas' Irene Adler mysteries. The richness of characterization, the visual quality to the writing, the ridiculous readability of a plot that is no less meticulous and intricate for all of its inviting nature. Fans of that series might particularly enjoy what I hope will be the beginning of a prolific series.
