Boneshaker
A Novel of the Clockwork Century
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4.0 • 130 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska's ice. Thus was Dr. Blue's Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.
But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.
Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue's widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.
His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Maternal love faces formidable challenges in this stellar steampunk tale. In an alternate 1880s America, mad inventor Leviticus Blue is blamed for destroying Civil War era Seattle. When Zeke Wilkes, Blue's son, goes into the walled wreck of a city to clear his father's name, Zeke's mother, Briar Wilkes, follows him in an airship, determined to rescue her son from the toxic gas that turns people into zombies (called rotters and described in gut-churning detail). When Briar learns that Seattle still has a mad inventor, Dr. Minnericht, who eerily resembles her dead husband, a simple rescue quickly turns into a thrilling race to save Zeke from the man who may be his father. Intelligent, exceptionally well written and showcasing a phenomenal strong female protagonist who embodies the complexities inherent in motherhood, this yarn is a must-read for the discerning steampunk fan.
Customer Reviews
A well conceived romp through a steam powered yesteryear.
Enjoyed the book quite a lot. Didn't get gratuitously 'steampunky' with over wrought and superfluous tech. The world and technology was believable and the characters well written and fully flushed out. Well worth the dollars spent looking forward to Priest's other stories.
Not what I expected but still a good read.
This is the first time that I picked up a 'Steampunk' book and u was expecting more gadgets and stuff in the story (because that what I envision 'sp' being) but was still satisfied reading what I'm going to call a historical coming of age zombie adventure novel.
The author is good at what she does and will be picking up a few more of her "PRINTED ON REAL PAPER MEANING NOT DIGITAL DOWNLOADS" books to see some of her characters in their own novels.
Boneshaker
Well told story with just the right amount of colorful descriptions. Not the dried up formula writing that is prevalent with most of the authors today.
I really liked the fact she just told the story without a lot of explanations and extraneous information that was not needed. Kind of like the style of Heinlein.....no need to explain all of the high tech, just tell the story.