Boneshaker

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fantasy, steampunk, the old west, the American Civil War, and zombies. This book has it all.

The premise here is a really interesting one. The story opens with a bit of a history lesson about the purchase of the Alaskan Territory by the US from Russia. Set in the mid-1800's, it involves the gold rush and the invention of a machine designed to dig through ice and tundra in order to extricate gold. It's invented in Seattle, goes haywire during a test and destroys the city. In the process it digs deep enough to release gases which turn people into zombies - the high functioning kind that can run and climb. Seattle is evacuated and a wall is built to keep the zombies and gas inside. The widow and son of the machine's inventor are ostracized as they live in The Outskirts, the city next to Seattle formed by the evacuation. In the rest of the US the Civil War rages on in an altered, fictional future.

So suffice it to say that the world building here is spectacular. It is gritty and desperate. Priest has even done so good a job as to make it difficult to breathe and claustrophobic at times. The action is palpable. The description is rich. The situations are dire. And the whole thing doesn't bog down at all as the events happen.

The characters here are all well-developed and multi-faceted. Briar, the main character, is determined but knows her limitations. Zeke is brash and young but not altogether stupid. He has just enough sense to be his mother's son. Swakhammer (what a great name for a guy in a novel like this!), Lucy, Captain Cly and Minnericht were all entertaining and excellent supporting characters - I was drawn in by them and kept interested with their unfolding backstories.

The plot here is what really takes center stage. Getting to the bottom of the mystery is really the point. Zeke's motives for entering the city become more and more cloudy as the story progresses, but the overall story of Levi Blue and his motives become clearer. It's a nice interplay.

On audio, the book is narrated from two points of view by Kate Reading and Wil Wheaton. Reading, while expressive, tended to be a bit stiff. Wheaton on the other hand was fantastic. Reading's expression was obviously limited by her character's voice, as Wheaton's was enhanced. Overall the narration was great and enhanced the story.

There are several more books in this series but they appear to be companion novels, set in the same world but stand-alones, occasionally picking up a character or two from this novel. I doubt I'll be continuing simply because this isn't my genre of choice. But if I am in the mood again for steampunk, this world is where I'll look first.

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