Synopsis from Amazon:
No sane airshipman will fly near a storm, but the cover of storm edge offers effective concealment for airship pirates who can strike quickly from above before anyone knows a ship is near. With the protection of Aide, the goddess of air travel, one airship defies the elements to seek fortune for the rag tag aerialists who make up the pirate crew.
The elements are the least of their problems when they find themselves saddled with an airsick clerk, a crewmember suspected of working for the East India Company and a lovesick farm girl whose headstrong misconceptions compel her to seek adventure where no decent woman would wander unescorted.
Battling businessmen, mechanoids and villagers armed with torches and pitchforks, Captain Bonny must decide who to trust, and whether the only rational course of action is one of apparent madness.
The elements are the least of their problems when they find themselves saddled with an airsick clerk, a crewmember suspected of working for the East India Company and a lovesick farm girl whose headstrong misconceptions compel her to seek adventure where no decent woman would wander unescorted.
Battling businessmen, mechanoids and villagers armed with torches and pitchforks, Captain Bonny must decide who to trust, and whether the only rational course of action is one of apparent madness.
>>>>>>
My Review:
Jaq D. Hawkins was one of the authors I "met" when we submitted stories to the same anthology. (In fact, we've collaborated on two anthologies!) When I learned she wrote steampunk, I knew I had to acquire at least one of her books. I'm glad I chose this one!
Airships, pirates, rugged English countryside, even the odd automaton--all neatly contained in this relatively short read.
My favorite part of the book was the world-building and characters. At the start, Wake of the Dragon gives all the feels of a classic Victorian adventure novel: a pirate crew raids a London warehouse and steals a shipment of opium, and the owner dispatches men to hunt down the stolen goods and transport them back to him, surreptitiously behind the backs of the law as they're doing so. We have stowaways, runaways, country folk who have never seen an airship before, and a team of "mechanoid domestics" that understand the finer points of servitude more than espionage! The characters were amazingly diverse and wonderfully vivid: from the noble Captain Bonny and his crew who ranged from the first mate who is hard enough to cut a man, yet gentle enough to attract a cat, to unscrupulous folk who seek to abandon ship and turn in their own crewmates when the money was good enough. There were mysterious characters with wider backstories who join the crew with ulterior motives, and others who seek airship passage as a means of escaping their lives on land.
The plot itself, I felt deserved more, based on how much detail was woven into the setting and the characters. I wanted epic discoveries and complex plot twists, but the story as it is reads quick and simple. It was impactful enough, I suppose, but it reads more like a prequel novella more than a full-on adventure novel. Also I felt that as much as the activity of partaking in some of the opium was supposed to feature as a main aspect of the story (it becomes very clear that this is what is meant by the "dragon" in the title), I did find the things that the characters were doing outside of the smoking scenes to be far more entertaining than the vivid descriptions of the smoke's effect. The storm scenes, in particular, were well-paced and masterfully done.
All in all, The Wake of The Dragon deserves a modest ****4 STAR**** rating, and I think that those looking for a unique and quick dose of steampunk will find it every bit as enjoyable as I did!
Further Reading: (Also By The Author/Steampunk/Excellent World-Building)
Punk Anthologies--Writerpunk Press Group
-Sound & Fury: Shakespeare Goes Punk, Vol. 1
-Once More Unto The Breach: Shakespeare Goes Punk, Vol. 2
-What We've Unlearned: Classic Literature Goes Punk
-Sound & Fury: Shakespeare Goes Punk, Vol. 1
-Once More Unto The Breach: Shakespeare Goes Punk, Vol. 2
-What We've Unlearned: Classic Literature Goes Punk
The Red Dog Conspiracy--Patricia Loofbourrow
-Gutshot (Novellette)
-Gutshot (Novellette)
-The Alcatraz Coup (Novella)
-Vulnerable (Short Story)
-The Jacq of Spades
-The Queen of Diamonds
-The Ace of Clubs
-The King of Hearts
-Vulnerable (Short Story)
-The Jacq of Spades
-The Queen of Diamonds
-The Ace of Clubs
-The King of Hearts
No comments:
Post a Comment