Cherie Priest's Boneshaker is the first in a series of several books. This is the second steampunk book that I've read in a while. It was more western than Victorian, and it takes place in a universe of alternate history during the civil war.
This book revolves around a young woman named Briar Wilkes, and her son, Zeke. Briar was married to a man who destroyed a city and caused a gas influx that turns people into vicious monsters. After, her married name, Blue, is stained by what her husband did, and the hundreds of people he killed, she lives in the outskirts of the city, which is now surrounded by a wall to keep the monsters inside. After her son, Zeke, decides that he wants to prove his father's innocence and travels into the city, not knowing what he will find. When Briar finds out she rushes after him, full of regret that she hasn't told Zeke the truth about his father. Both mother and son run around trying to find each other, while trying to escape from the hands of a maniacal man who acts like he runs the city, and a horde of dead who just want to take a little bite.
As the first in a series of books I wanted to like it then read the next to find out what happens to Briar and Zeke, but I looked and found out that the books don't follow the same characters, which I found annoying. The book ends without a real ending, with Briar and Zeke not knowing where to go or what to do. I guess this might have been a good thing though. I, honestly, found Zeke to be a very annoying boy. He asked too many questions, and made too many stupid errors. His character went through the entire book making mistakes and believing the best of people he knew he shouldn't trust.
Briar on the other hand, goes through the entire book regretting not telling her son about the things she should have. She feels that everything is her fault, and she takes any chance she can to tell anyone, including when she tells herself. I feel her character should have been stronger, as she has lived on her own during her entire pregnancy and she raised her son alone, without help, and with a curse over her head from her husband's name. Yet, every chance she got, she questions a lot, and she doesn't act when she should. She should be the type of person who can make decisions fast, and she doesn't make them, or doesn't seem to understand the situation around her.
Even though the characters aren't what I expect, or as strong as I expect, they did make me want to read the story and find out what happened to Briar's husband. I also enjoyed the zombies, but alas, this seems to be something that is only in book one of the series as well. I actually do read a lot of zombie novels, and I was excited to read a steampunk novel set in an alternate history with zombies, until I realized that this was the only one in the series.
So, while I enjoyed this a little (mostly for the zombies), I don't think I will read any of the other books in the series, and I can't really recommend it for others to read. It might be good, and some people might like books that follow different characters in each novel, I want things to be more cohesive. I want to have someone to follow in each book, someone to care about.
This book revolves around a young woman named Briar Wilkes, and her son, Zeke. Briar was married to a man who destroyed a city and caused a gas influx that turns people into vicious monsters. After, her married name, Blue, is stained by what her husband did, and the hundreds of people he killed, she lives in the outskirts of the city, which is now surrounded by a wall to keep the monsters inside. After her son, Zeke, decides that he wants to prove his father's innocence and travels into the city, not knowing what he will find. When Briar finds out she rushes after him, full of regret that she hasn't told Zeke the truth about his father. Both mother and son run around trying to find each other, while trying to escape from the hands of a maniacal man who acts like he runs the city, and a horde of dead who just want to take a little bite.
As the first in a series of books I wanted to like it then read the next to find out what happens to Briar and Zeke, but I looked and found out that the books don't follow the same characters, which I found annoying. The book ends without a real ending, with Briar and Zeke not knowing where to go or what to do. I guess this might have been a good thing though. I, honestly, found Zeke to be a very annoying boy. He asked too many questions, and made too many stupid errors. His character went through the entire book making mistakes and believing the best of people he knew he shouldn't trust.
Briar on the other hand, goes through the entire book regretting not telling her son about the things she should have. She feels that everything is her fault, and she takes any chance she can to tell anyone, including when she tells herself. I feel her character should have been stronger, as she has lived on her own during her entire pregnancy and she raised her son alone, without help, and with a curse over her head from her husband's name. Yet, every chance she got, she questions a lot, and she doesn't act when she should. She should be the type of person who can make decisions fast, and she doesn't make them, or doesn't seem to understand the situation around her.
Even though the characters aren't what I expect, or as strong as I expect, they did make me want to read the story and find out what happened to Briar's husband. I also enjoyed the zombies, but alas, this seems to be something that is only in book one of the series as well. I actually do read a lot of zombie novels, and I was excited to read a steampunk novel set in an alternate history with zombies, until I realized that this was the only one in the series.
So, while I enjoyed this a little (mostly for the zombies), I don't think I will read any of the other books in the series, and I can't really recommend it for others to read. It might be good, and some people might like books that follow different characters in each novel, I want things to be more cohesive. I want to have someone to follow in each book, someone to care about.
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