Monday, August 31, 2015

Doctor Tripps: Kaiju Cocktail

Doctor Tripps: Kaiju Cocktail, A Penny Dreadful Review

I recently passed a diverting afternoon with an excellent novelette containing the maddest of mad science. And Rasputin. This slim volume is entitled Doctor Tripps: Kaiju Cocktail, and it contains a chapter entitled “Sheepzilla.” The author Kit Cox has created something like a cheesy science fiction movie in book form, and it is glorious.
The titular Doctor Tripps dislikes the new garish diesel engines. He much prefers a world powered by graceful steam boilers. Being a man with his brain on display inside a glass dome, he concocts a scheme. People like Doctor Tripps do not plan. They scheme. He creates a formula that causes monstrous transformations, taking an ordinary sheep or flying baboon or mad Russian monk and turning them into something much more enormous and terrifying. His intention is to provoke war and destroy diesel technology.
The world, of course, does not enjoy being attacked by monsters. Mr. Diesel (who is not, in fact, dead) has convoluted, invention-filled plans of his own intended to counter Doctor Tripps. The illustrious and impeccable women at NANI stand steadfastly between the children of the world and the dangers of it. And one young foundling becomes a hero when his master weasels out of an obligation.
Kaiju Cocktail is a joyful thrill ride on many different types of conveyances. It is adventure and inventions. It is monsters and good guys vanquishing them. It is fun for the whole family.
I give Doctor Tripps: Kaiju Cocktail three and a half gears out of five. It was a delight to read, and I highly recommend picking up a copy from Telos publishing. In closing, beware of giant sheep whilst traveling by train, particularly if your death might trigger a world war.


Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,
Penny J. Merriweather

Monday, August 24, 2015

The Inexplicables: A Penny Dreadful Review

When a character goes off and has an adventure, what happens to the characters that get left behind? When Zeke Wilkes slipped underneath the wall into zombie-infested old Seattle to learn about his father in Boneshaker, he left behind Rector Sherman, an orphan who's fallen in with the wrong crowd. Haunted by guilt and drug hallucinations, Rector finds his way into the walled and poisoned city of Seattle. What he finds there is much more frightening than a few zombies. There's a drug war, a city crumbling at a touch, and something horrific in Seattle. Something huge. Something wild. Something that isn't and never was human.
The Inexplicables is a brilliant addition to Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century series. I love her broken characters rebuilding their lives with whatever they find at hand. Rector - abandoned, drug-addled, directionless - is more broken than most. I love him as the focus of this book. In the hands of a lesser writer, the story would be as confused as Rector.
         Almost all your favorite Clockwork Century characters are back and being awesome, especially Princess Angeline Sealth. She identifies the strange creature in Seattle, and... Nope, I'm not going to spoil it.
I give The Inexplicables four and a half gears out of five. It's a marvelous addition to one of my favorite series. I adore every chance I get to read Cherie Priest.


Your Correspondent from the Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather


Monday, August 17, 2015

The Derring-Do Club And The Year Of The Chrononauts

The Derring-Do Club and the Year of the Chrononauts: A Penny Dreadful Review

Things always get frightfully interesting when one meets a person claiming to be one’s future self. David Wake has given us another riveting installment of the Deering-Dolittle sisters’ adventures.
Men in tophats and bizarre glasses abduct various personages from all over London, including the Deering-Dolittle sisters’ uncle. Georgina, meanwhile, must deal with the inheritance left her by her beloved husband Arthur, who was tragically killed in the undead incidents of the previous book. Earnestine finds gainful employment in a secret government office where she must organize mounds of plans for all sorts of strange inventions that might be of use to the Empire one day. Oh, and Charlotte learns how to fence. This is quite important.
The adventures in this book are just as twisty and exciting as those in the last volume of the Deering-Dolittle story. David Wake again balances several plots at once, choreographing a breathtaking dance of characters. It seems that the dance get a little out of his control in this book, and I grew slightly confused over who was doing what when and where. Maybe I just wasn’t paying close enough attention. Time travel does tend to mess with the mind. At any rate, I enjoyed myself entirely. I recommend the Derring-Do Club series to Steampunks of all ages.
I give this adventure three and a half gears out of five. I eagerly await the publication of the next book. Do the Deering-Dolittles at last journey to the Amazon and rescue their missing parents? Does Charlotte successfully join an army of some sort? I demand answers! And adventures!

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,
Penny J. Merriweather

Monday, August 10, 2015

Space Captain Smith

Space Captain Smith: A Penny Dreadful Review

            You know it is going to be a wonderful book when you start chuckling on the first page. I laughed all the way through Space Captain Smith by Toby Frost, and I bet you will, too.
            Isembard Smith is a desk-clerk from the British Empire, which spans several planets. He is given a run-down spaceship, a pilot who is a sexbot who faked her credentials, and a mission he was never supposed to complete. He must transport a magical hippie chick to a safe location, despite aliens and cultists who want to use her for their own nefarious purposes.
            Toby Frost is a comic genius. He has an excellent grasp of the absurd. Space Captain Smith is loaded with satirical jibes and pop culture references. There’s a cyberpunk planet, there’s a War of the Worlds Martian, and there’s a chapter entitled, “Ho-Down Of The Damned.” This is a silly, silly book. It reminds me a bit of Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy with a Steampunk twist.
            I give this silliness four and a half gears out of five. It is an excellent addition to any adult’s library. Space Captain Smith is the perfect book-shaped companion for when you need a good laugh and feel like reading something with aliens in.

Your Correspondent from the Bookstore,


Penny J. Merriweather

Monday, August 3, 2015

1913

1913: In Search Of The World Before The Great War, A Penny Dreadful Review

1913. An interesting year. The year before the sweeping changes of the Great War. What was it like? What was it like in Paris? In London? Berlin? Charles Emmerson is here to answer your questions.
               1913: In Search Of The World Before The Great War is arranged in sections by city, a great information mine about Vienna, Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, and more. It is an in-depth and detailed portrait of a world poised on the brink of a new era. This book is an incredible resource, a well-spring of historical knowledge.
              The drawback to this magnificent work of knowledge is that it is very dense and very dry. What should be fascinating and exciting comes across as a blur of facts. This book is an incredible work of research, but I wish it were written in a juicier style.
            I give this opus two and a half gears out of five. It's like reading an odious textbook, but there is so much knowledge here that it cannot be passed up.


Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,


Penny J. Merriweather