Status
Checked out
Series
Collection
Publication
Roc (2008), Edition: First Edition, 374 pages
Description
In this steampunk fantasy set in the Whitechapel section of Victorian London, a mechanized, steam-driven hell ruled by two mysterious, mechanical gods--Mama Engine and Grandfather Clock--a few human veterans of the recent Uprising have formed a resistance group and are preparing another attack, with a secret weapon that could free them, or destroy them all.
User reviews
LibraryThing member jseger9000
S.M. Peters really impressed me with his weird first novel.
I’d picked this one up because I wanted to try a steampunk novel (and the cover really grabbed my eye). I think this is not really a steampunk novel (or at least not what I was expecting one to be). I guess if I had to categorize it as
Peters has created a unique world where the district of Whitechapel has been cut off from the rest of the world. A cancer-like disease (the clacks) is turning people into machines and steel girders seem to grow like trees.
His dialogue and narration worked pretty well. I thought he did a nice job of evoking his quasi-Victorian era of the story with just the right turn of phrase or bit of slang (or unusual character name). He was able to lace enough of this in to feel natural without hammering me over the head and breaking my suspension of disbelief.
His characters were also handled well. I thought for a first time author he did a good job at creating believable characters with some depth to them. His main characters were very well realized, three dimensional people. His secondary characters also came off as more than just sketches.
I would like to have a bit more description though. I admit I like description more than most. It wasn't bad, but his description was a little too vague for me. Especially when he was describing some of the more esoteric settings, creatures and devices in his world, things would be a little fuzzy around the edges. The setting was so outlandish that I think some real, detailed and concrete description was called for.
Also there are several threads and characters to follow and the novel jumps rapidly back and forth between them. None of the threads were dull or irrelevant to the plot. But I did lost track a couple of times of who was who, but was able to catch up. For a first time author to try something so out there, I give him a lot of credit.
I was also happy to see that the novel seems to stand alone I appreciate him putting so much creativity into his first novel without (as far as I know) intending to milk it forever in book after book.
I am very curious to see where S.M. Peters will go from here.
I’d picked this one up because I wanted to try a steampunk novel (and the cover really grabbed my eye). I think this is not really a steampunk novel (or at least not what I was expecting one to be). I guess if I had to categorize it as
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something I would say it's a Weird Tale.Peters has created a unique world where the district of Whitechapel has been cut off from the rest of the world. A cancer-like disease (the clacks) is turning people into machines and steel girders seem to grow like trees.
His dialogue and narration worked pretty well. I thought he did a nice job of evoking his quasi-Victorian era of the story with just the right turn of phrase or bit of slang (or unusual character name). He was able to lace enough of this in to feel natural without hammering me over the head and breaking my suspension of disbelief.
His characters were also handled well. I thought for a first time author he did a good job at creating believable characters with some depth to them. His main characters were very well realized, three dimensional people. His secondary characters also came off as more than just sketches.
I would like to have a bit more description though. I admit I like description more than most. It wasn't bad, but his description was a little too vague for me. Especially when he was describing some of the more esoteric settings, creatures and devices in his world, things would be a little fuzzy around the edges. The setting was so outlandish that I think some real, detailed and concrete description was called for.
Also there are several threads and characters to follow and the novel jumps rapidly back and forth between them. None of the threads were dull or irrelevant to the plot. But I did lost track a couple of times of who was who, but was able to catch up. For a first time author to try something so out there, I give him a lot of credit.
I was also happy to see that the novel seems to stand alone I appreciate him putting so much creativity into his first novel without (as far as I know) intending to milk it forever in book after book.
I am very curious to see where S.M. Peters will go from here.
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LibraryThing member bardsfingertips
This was an interesting book and my first real venture into a genre known as Steampunk. For those who do not know Steampunk is a backwards extrapolation of Cyberpunk; and like Cyberpunk there are usually humans with some sort of interface hook-up or implant with machinery. However, instead of
The story itself takes place in London and the eponymous locale Whitechapel; which is more like a mechanized cancer in the city of London that has grown monstrous machines designed by these two mechanical "gods" Mama Engine and Grandfather Clock; the later representing logic and efficiency and the former being composed of emotion. Each is an offspring of a mad engineer that has turned his engineering genius into a mad philosophy and society ruled over by these so-called gods. Whitchapel itself has employed nearly everyone contain (imprisoned) into a state of slavery that builds the machinery of the two gods. And, of course, the protagonist of the story is a group of rebels making their attempts at bringing down the gods thus destroying their grip on the people within Whitchapel and allowing London to take back what was once theirs.
My views of the book are like that of another reviewer: it was all a good and gripping story that held my interest. However, I felt like when I started reading it as though I was dropped into the middle of a novel whose begging chapters and pages were missing (or never written). I would have liked to of know how this all came to be rather than the cryptic musings of an engineer gone mad. It makes me yearn for a prequel… Perhaps this is the author's design. Being that this book is relatively new on the market (and the author's only book) one cannot be certain of future intentions. Thankfully the ending was well executed and the last 100 or so pages started to get really interesting.
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circuitry of silicon and digital interactions, the machinery is primarily composed of cogs, wheels, gears, pulleys, et cetera. The other main difference is the setting in history: usually in the Victorian era of our (alternate) history.The story itself takes place in London and the eponymous locale Whitechapel; which is more like a mechanized cancer in the city of London that has grown monstrous machines designed by these two mechanical "gods" Mama Engine and Grandfather Clock; the later representing logic and efficiency and the former being composed of emotion. Each is an offspring of a mad engineer that has turned his engineering genius into a mad philosophy and society ruled over by these so-called gods. Whitchapel itself has employed nearly everyone contain (imprisoned) into a state of slavery that builds the machinery of the two gods. And, of course, the protagonist of the story is a group of rebels making their attempts at bringing down the gods thus destroying their grip on the people within Whitchapel and allowing London to take back what was once theirs.
My views of the book are like that of another reviewer: it was all a good and gripping story that held my interest. However, I felt like when I started reading it as though I was dropped into the middle of a novel whose begging chapters and pages were missing (or never written). I would have liked to of know how this all came to be rather than the cryptic musings of an engineer gone mad. It makes me yearn for a prequel… Perhaps this is the author's design. Being that this book is relatively new on the market (and the author's only book) one cannot be certain of future intentions. Thankfully the ending was well executed and the last 100 or so pages started to get really interesting.
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LibraryThing member saltmanz
Really good, but frustratingly vague at times. But I think that's part of the charm; Peters gives you just enough information to follow along with the plot, and nothing more. And the atmosphere and the characters are well-realized and memorable.
LibraryThing member TeaCat
I picked up this book because I saw Whitechapel and was thinking Jack the Ripper. The blurb on the back of the book quickly told of it's real subject matter and was enough to convince me to buy it. I suppose I liked it well enough. Character development was pretty good. There was enough going on
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that it kept me interested and wanting to read it; something that's been lacking in other books I've read lately. But the end was something of a disappointment. There was a lot going on in the book up until the final 'battle' and then it's like the author didn't quite know how to tie everything up. Rather than things getting more exciting they seemed to slowly deflate. It probably took me longer to read the final 50 to 100 pages than the entire rest of the book. Show Less
LibraryThing member weakley
Mixed reaction to this one. The characters were very good, but I found the story to kind of wander in and out of focus. Towards the end I'm not really sure I followed everything that was going on. The setting was very good but I think the overall story suffered for me because of a plot that was a
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little nebulous. Show Less
LibraryThing member jen.e.moore
Good solid Steampunk worldbuilding, with some wonderful Victorian revolutionaries; loses a few points on some very cookie-cutter characters and their emotional plotlines and developments. I do think this is the most gore I've ever seen in Steampunk; it got downright bloody at times. But there were
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always gears involved, which made it okay. Show Less
LibraryThing member tldegray
This was one of those books that I couldn't stop reading and yet once I did, because the story had ended, I was ultimately unsatisfied.
The imagery and atmosphere were gorgeous. I picked this book up because I wanted to read something steampunk and this book not only did not disappoint, it went
Where the book lost me was with its characters. I found myself fascinated with Missy, Bergen, Tommy, Oliver, and even Baron Hume, but in the end the only character I really felt I had a handle on was Jeremy Longshore, a clickrat of great achievements.
All in all I enjoyed it even though it seemed there was a bit too much crammed into one small book.
The imagery and atmosphere were gorgeous. I picked this book up because I wanted to read something steampunk and this book not only did not disappoint, it went
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over and above in providing me what I was craving. I could so easily visualize this heavily-industrialized area of London, from its frightening Gods to its citizens who were ill with the clacks.Where the book lost me was with its characters. I found myself fascinated with Missy, Bergen, Tommy, Oliver, and even Baron Hume, but in the end the only character I really felt I had a handle on was Jeremy Longshore, a clickrat of great achievements.
All in all I enjoyed it even though it seemed there was a bit too much crammed into one small book.
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LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
I don't rate books that I didn't finish. Why I didn't finish is because that the writing is unrelenting bleak.... The plot is interesting, and has so much possibility, but the writing, while adequate.is not fun. It is dark, bleak, and depressing. I really wish the writing was better, this world is
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fascinating and has a lot going for it. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2008-02
Physical description
374 p.; 4.2 inches
ISBN
0451461932 / 9780451461933