Spring, summer, and into fall 2014 has been
insanely busy, with scarcely a moment for reading/writing. It doesn’t help that
with the fall arriving, I’m also really loving getting back to knitting. But
things are finally smoothing out, and I’ve had a chance to read Nimbus, by
Austin King, and B.J. Keeton.
Lately I’ve been drawn to reading Steampunk, as
the sense of adventure on board a free flying air ship has tremendous appeal. All
the gizmos and curious steam inventions just add to the experience, though it
seems that writing Steampunk well is challenging.
Nimbus, Part 1, has been an intriguing read. The authors have created a creditable world
where people now live either in burrows below ground to escape a life-threatening
fog that covers a layer of the planet,
or in sky ports that serve as connections for various air ships that travel
back and forth, above the fog. The Gangly Dirigible is one such air ship,
and our main character, Jude,is a hoser
(crew that works hoses on board to suck up moisture vapour from clouds and
rainstorms to collect clean drinking water) who works aboard her.
King and Keeton have done a really great job
interweaving a second plot line that is about the governing body of the world,
the High Prelate, Cornelius Rucca, and his son, Demetrius. There is a great
mystery about them as the story begins with a curious scene where Demetrius is
saved from certain death by an unknown force.
It seems we will not find out what this force is until another book,
although we see this force in work through Demetrius in Part 1.
So, the best elements of this story are very good
interweaving of two story lines which don’t meet in this part, and an
interesting scenario in the death fog and how everyone lives around it. I really
enjoyed the scene where the Gangly
Dirigible is working through a terrible storm with tornado-style wind
forces, even though there is loss.
On the other side is the near complete lack of
description of our characters, or the air ship. One feels as though they are in
a sort of vacuum not knowing what Jude looks like, or what sort of air ship he
works on (aside from wooden decks). I don’t
know if this is a deal breaker, but I feel somewhat blind going through the adventure.
For adventure, story line,
and world building I would give this four stars. For lack of being able to
visualize the characters and world clearly, two stars. If you really love
steampunk, this is still worth a read.
The Pearl Savage
By
Tamara Rose Blodgett
I was really taken with the unique future world
presented in The Pearl Savage and for
other reasons I’ll mention, I would recommend reading this book. Princess Clara lives in a dome world in order
to survive a past earth disaster. The domes are maintained by steam machines
and Clara’s dome farms oysters and pearls for their food and wealth.
There’s nothing like an easily identifiable enemy
to rally the reader to the heroine’s cause.
Clara’s mother, the Queen, is a cruel woman whose only grasp on daily
life is to keep a wine bottle in one hand and disperse drunken ‘discipline’
with the other, especially upon Clara.
So I really feel for Clara who takes the option of not retaliating in
order to keep a few of her friends close to her and not wreak havoc upon their
lives. But it’s hard to deal with Queen Ada’s unrelenting viciousness.
As is common in royal families, Clara is to be
engaged to Prince Frederick who also turns out to be equally vicious as the
Queen; maybe worse since he’s sober.
Clara finally agrees with her good friend Charles and maid that to save
her own life, she must breach the domes and venture out into the outer world. Where the savages are.
Clara has already seen two savages who have dared
to observe her from outside her personal quarters. She is even curiously
attracted to one of them.
This intriguing story then relates how Clara
bravely learns about the outer world of the so-called savages. She also has an
unusual connection with the savage clans in the romance department.
Clara I think represents the sacred feminine or
goddess principle. This is most clearly
shown in the scene where she is tested with some members of the savage clan to
determine who should be her mate/king. While the scene is somewhat basic, the
idea that the reproductive forces of a Select
female are held in such high honour, really highlight and promote the idea that
the goddess principle is sacred and of value. Whatever the weaknesses of this
book, I commend Blodgett.
I didn’t like the level of violence that Clara
endured as it seemed a bit much at times though I would also say this shows how
the goddess principle is currently under attack as well. Clara endured with
strength. I would have liked more description of what everyone looked
like. I found this an interesting
premise if somewhat simplistic execution. Overall I found the book entertaining
and it ends with a positive promise to be taken up in the next book, The Savage Blood (five books total in
the series).
Favourite quote “Bravery
was a matter of containing your fear while throwing away caution.” (pp 225 of
337).
Happy St. Patrick's Day! 
I wanted to read something set in Eire or thereabouts and decided on The King's Druidess by Sky Purington. This is a short story or novelette prelude to Sky
Purington’s MacLomain series (Fate’s Monolith, Destiny’s Denial and Sylvan Mist). Purington also has written other series.
This novelette begins with a sensual scene of
Chiomara (a druidess/diviner of the goddess Brigit) meeting King Erc for a
mystical coupling in the circle of the stones before his forthcoming marriage.
The king is very taken with her and Chiomara herself has had feelings for Erc
for a long time; however, their destiny may not allow them to be together.
Despite this, they will have a predestined child.
There are many Celtic elements to this short read
that are interesting and overall it’s a nice story. Because it’s so short
(listed at 48 pages), there isn’t time to develop things. For example, Chiomara
is a druidess and while we see her pray to her patron, Brigit, the goddess of
divination and that she blesses the bread of some of King Erc’s subjects, there
is no other detail about her druid practices and what she’s capable of.
The time-travel element which comes in right at the end brings the reader up to speed for the next book but is written very quickly and I found it useful but not satisfying.
If you've enjoyed reading the MacLomain series and want a bit more (especially about birth origins), this is a nice tidbit but I’d wait for a free Amazon day to download it. Nice cover.
