The Adventures of Alan Shaw, Volume 1

The Adventures of Alan Shaw: A Penny Dreadful Review

            I do love an exciting adventure story. The plucky hero defeats overwhelming odds and outwits a horrible villain. This sort of dashing tale is close to the heart of Steampunk. There are often deranged plots to foil and airships to clamber aboard. Therefore, Craig Hallam is to be applauded for creating The Adventures of Alan Shaw, Volume 1. If one likes adventure, one will like Alan Shaw.

            Craig Hallam’s exciting book is a collection of novellas detailing a few of the scrapes of young Alan Shaw. Alan Shaw is an orphan escaped from the workhouse and surviving on the streets. He’s clever, resourceful, and a silver-tongued little devil. In his first adventure, he stops a bomber and is adopted by a police constable, whose son Simon teaches him to read. In later chapters, a growing Alan encounters a shadowy organization, gypsies, a mechanical squid, a mad scientist, and a fishing boat. Alan is everything a man of action ought to be.

            Not all of Alan Shaw’s adventures turn out to have happy endings, however. Sometimes the bad guys win, and sometimes the good guys get hurt or killed. Alan doesn’t always have all the answers, and he is maneuvered like a pawn more than once. This gives the stories depth and seriousness that one would not necessarily expect from a book whose cover depicts a dashing young man swinging from an airship. I rather like this dimension to the adventures, but it might not be for everyone.

            I give The Adventures of Alan Shaw, Volume 1 four gears out of five. It is a lot of fun to read, and I look forward to seeing what other scrapes Alan Shaw talks (or shoots) his way out of.

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather

Edge of Empire

Edge Of Empire: A Penny Dreadful Review

            High adventure! Magic! Cleavage! These are just some of the wonderful things that await in Rod Espinosa’s Edge of Empire series. Three exceedingly powerful baronesses with odd names and odder abilities rescue their friends from dungeons, undead hordes, gladiators, lecherous captors, and much, much more.

            This series focuses mainly on the adventures and less on character development and differentiation. It is very exciting, but I’d like more backstory on these incredible baronesses. Perhaps in future volumes? I look forward to learning more.

            The settings are lush and gorgeous, the monsters are frightening, and it is a pleasure to watch the baronesses fight, for more than one reason. I definitely recommend Edge of Empires to any with a love of adventure.

            I give Edge of Empire three and a half gears out of five. Very well done, Mr. Espinosa! I demand more!

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather

Cyrus Darian And The Ghastly Horde

Cyrus Darian And The Ghastly Horde: A Penny Dreadful Review

            It is certainly a bother to return from a holiday to find problems waiting on one’s doorstep. The necromancer and alchemist Cyrus Darian arrives home after a well-deserved vacation to discover an army of ghosts awaiting him. And he can’t make them leave.

            Cyrus Darian and the Ghastly Horde is the sequel to Raven Dane’s gripping masterpiece Cyrus Darian and the Technomicron. The plot is just as fascinating and twisted as the plot in the previous book. The reader is treated to lots of familiar faces (well, as much as the face of a shapeshifter can be called familiar), and a lot of new people appear as well. There are occult mechanisms, international travel, government conspiracies, revenge, sex, love, airships, and plenty of the callous, selfish Cyrus Darian himself. There’s also a breathtaking submarine in this book, as well as strong ladies who know their minds.

            Raven Dane creates excellent characters. No one is simple, and no one acts without several reasons. Her prose is vivid, putting the reader smack dab in the middle of the action, whether it’s an airship battle or a seduction.

            Unfortunately, parts of this book seem as if they’ve been written in a rush. Words are not as carefully chosen. This is a bit disappointing from an author I’ve come to adore.

            I give Cyrus Darian and the Ghastly Horde three and a half gears out of five. I highly recommend plunging into the adventures of this fascinating anti-hero. I am left with only one question. Where’s the next book?

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather

Airship Shape & Bristol Fashion

Airship Shape & Bristol Fashion: A Penny Dreadful Review

          I have never been to Bristol, but after reading this anthology I feel as if I have. Or at least, I have visited several Steampunk alternatives thereof. Airship Shape & Bristol Fashion contains a variety of delightful works from the dark to the hilarious. The stories take the reader to strange pasts and even stranger futures. They star freedom fighters and forward thinkers, tinkerers and dreamers.
         Every story has its merits. There isn’t a rotten apple in this barrel. I feel that a few works deserve a special mention for being especially delectable.
          I gleefully devoured "Brassworth," by Christine Morgan, the tale of a society rake acquiring an impeccable clockwork valet. It's rather posh and Jeeves and Wooster. Quite the thing.
          In contrast, "The Girl With Red Hair," by Myfanwy Rodman, is a dreamy, gorgeous concoction of aetheric science, a bit of magic, and a woman determined to solve a mystery. It was beautiful.
          I found the send up of the narrative style of Victorian adventure tales in "The Sound of Gyroscopes," by Jonathan L. Howard to be absolutely hilarious.
          Finally, "The Lanterns of Death Affair," by Andy Bigwood, is a marvelous adventure. It is the last story in the book, and they have certainly saved the best for last. It has everything. Danger! Romance! Airships! Naval officers!
          I give this excellent anthology four gears out of five. I strongly recommend a visit to Bristol in Airship Shape & Bristol Fashion.

Your Correspondent from the Bookstore,
Penny J. Merriweather