Brunel, The Man Who Built The World

Brunel, The Man Who Built The World: A Penny Dreadful Review

            As I traveled by train the other day, I perused the biography of a man known for his bridges and railroads. He’s honored by monuments across England, and many of his viaducts and bridges still stand. He designed several of the routes that trains still travel, elegant stations that are still in use. Responsible for countless inventions and innovations, Isambard Kingdom Brunel truly built the world. Or at least, he shaped modern Britain.

            The book is Brunel: The Man Who Built The World. The author is Steven Brindle. The prose is accessible and fascinating. The man was a genius and a workaholic.

            Steven Brindle’s work is organized by accomplishment category (trains, bridges, ships, and so on) rather than strictly chronological. Indeed, as Brunel worked on several projects at once, it would be easy for the reader to lose track of them all if they were presented in such an order. I did not understand some of the technical aspects of bridge-making, but Mr. Brindle explained it as plainly as possible. A more mathematically-minded reader would doubtless understand everything.

            Isambard Kingdom Brunel shaped the Victorian world. He created much of the landscape Steampunk inhabits. Surely investigating such a figure is a worthwhile pursuit, and Brunel: The Man Who Built The World is a worthwhile book. I highly recommend this quick biography and award it four gears out of five.

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather

Sausages, Steam, And The Bad Thing

Sausages, Steam, And The Bad Thing: A Penny Dreadful Review

            The queen of intriguing titles has done it again. Rachael Acks, author of the delightful Marta Ramos mysteries, released a collected compendium of her novellas with Musa Publishing. But Miss Merriweather, you say, I already have all her books. Why should I buy them again? For the extras, my readers, the extras. This is so much more than a simple collection.

            Sausages, Steam, and the Bad Thing features bonus material to accompany each of the novellas, in addition to brand new stories. Fans will get an exclusive look into the world of Captain Ramos and Colonel Douglas through newspaper clippings, recipes, and more. Much of the bonus material focuses on secondary characters and What Happened Next after Captain Ramos waltzed out of their lives, mysteries solved. I especially adore the brief interlude from the point of view of Chippy the Exceedingly Tiny Dog entitled “Sniff, Sniff. Adventure!”

            A new story, “The Jade Tiger,” involves a daring train robbery and the liberation of a young girl. It offers a quick glimpse into Captain Ramos’s past, a subject on which she is all but mute. It also introduces us to a new character, the fierce, clever mother Madam Xing, who I hope we will see again.

            I give this compilation five gears out of five, and highly recommend it to any fan of intrigue and swashbuckling. I am madly in love with Captain Ramos and her strange world, and I delight in her quirky adventures.

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather