Simon Pulse, 2013
London, late 1800s....
Meg is still in mourning. She lost her family, her life, everything she's ever known to a devastating fire. After this tragedy, she only has memories of her parents and grandfather (who passed away not so long ago) and one memento from her father's workshop...a filigreed locket .
Her life doesn't get any easier either. Without her parents, Meg was certain to be an orphan, but a kind and mysterious benefactor has taken her under his wing. Now, she serves as a housemaid on an estate of a man who knew her father, but regardless of past affiliations, Meg doesn't really like or understand her new position. Tip a glass of wine over, don't disturb the vase shards on the floor, never replace the burned down candles...She feels like she works and is trapped in a mausoleum. But one event and person changes it all.
Meg soon learns her locket is more than it appears. It's a key to some very mysterious places and things. The clock she unlocks on the estate leads to a very odd room, filled with incredulous inventions. But it's her covert encounter with a stable hand named Will that becomes a coincidental relationship with side effects.
Small clues, including a letter from her grandfather, leads Meg down a path of danger and death, only if she can avoid it. First in a series.
It's been awhile since I read steampunk, and this novel deftly implements modern technology in a Victorian world. Not only does Kristin Bailey add elements of technology, but with forward thought, she also begins to slightly alter social roles within the cast of characters along the way that reflects new thought in an age full of tradition and modicum. Once I began, this book quickly became a fast read, only so I could find out the secrets the characters encounter and the traitor within the story. As a YA reader, I found this novel more appropriate at a middle school setting, but fans of steampunk and Victorian England can enjoy this regardless of higher grade levels.
Need some more steampunk? Try this YA titles from the past! Regardless of when steampunk books are published, they are timeless because of their historical fiction background and elements of steampunk continue to defy age because of their quirky inventiveness:
The Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld
The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare
Airman by Eoin Colfer
Incarceron and Sapphique by Catherine Fisher
Steam on!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment