Worldshaker

Worldshaker: A Penny Dreadful Review

            A hovercraft trundles over the Earth, large enough to contain an entire civilization and a revolution. Up top is a civilized, luxurious society. Below, among the gears, live the Filthies, thought to be animals by those on the Upper Decks. Behold the Worldshaker! Richard Harland’s tale is one of prejudice, love, revolution, and steam.

            I feel that it could have been better. The world is lovingly crafted, the Worldshaker itself planned out in detail, yet the story is lacking. The characters seem wooden and inhuman. Col, heir to the command of the Upper Decks, seems like an automaton parroting prejudices while behaving as a revolutionary. He suffers as all the Upper Deck dwellers suffer – they are cardboard cutouts with no real motivations and no real depth. They simply exist to be the bad guys. The Filthies, the creatures we are supposed to think of as inhuman, have much more spark and warmth about them, yet they don’t seem to be actual characters either. They are more like broad concepts set up to preach about.

            I give this young adult novel one and a half gears out of five. The execution of what could be a fantastic concept is lackluster and disappointing. Give Worldshaker a miss.

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather