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The Alexander Legacy #2
The 'Pprentices, the Puppets, and the Pirates
Oliver Twist takes up the tale of the company's adventures after "the Battle of the Bronze Cascade". Can he trust Spring-heeled Jack when so many strange things happen each time he comes around? Costume balls conceal more than the faces of the wealthy and powerful. Trevor Newsome disappears just days before the election but they can't search for him from the London Lockup. When the trip to Switzerland finally becomes a reality, it's for a funeral, not for a wedding.
They begin to learn about quests for power and immortality. In Switzerland they see different kinds of worship of very different kinds of men with terrifying and tragic consequences. And when Long John Silver arrives, Oliver has to do some fast thinking to protect more than just his own life from the pirate who says he only cares about rescuing his daughter.
They begin to learn about quests for power and immortality. In Switzerland they see different kinds of worship of very different kinds of men with terrifying and tragic consequences. And when Long John Silver arrives, Oliver has to do some fast thinking to protect more than just his own life from the pirate who says he only cares about rescuing his daughter.
- GenresSteampunk
338 pages, ebook
First published May 1, 2013
2 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Sophronia Belle Lyon
11 books19 followersSophronia Belle Lyon grew up in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, reading HG Welles, Jules Verne and other classics. She dressed up and acted out scenes with friends much like Louisa May Alcott's beloved "Little Women," and got to be a cauldron spirit in Macbeth in fourth grade. She traveled to Italy by way of Iceland and Luxembourg. She's taken apart her share of clocks to study the gearworks and feels well-prepared to enter the Steampunk genre. Hundreds of cat friends informed her about Bagheera's attitudes and manners. Oliver Twist's oblivious, eccentric habits came from the Science-absorbed men in her life, and her love for weapons translated into the well-armed members of the Alexander Legacy Company. She travels widely, shoots when she can, collects swords and knives, but is so far too shy to be photographed.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 21, 2013
There is so much to say about this story. First of all, it's still not finished, so I hope Sophronia has been writing! Seriously though, it's not a cliffhanger; it has its own ending and closure of sorts. This book, like the first one in the series, is so fully of beautiful descriptive words that paint a lovely picture in the reader's mind. As I said in my review of the first book, it really doesn't matter if you've never read the classics this story draws from. Sophronia has a way of filling in the gaps for you, and she's even concluded small bios of the characters in the back of the book. The Christian themes of this book are so refreshing and touching. I tend to get a little choked up when one of the characters is able to lead another to Christ. Although the book deals in human trafficking, it's not graphic, which I also appreciate. I would like to add that I really enjoyed reading from Ollie's POV this time around. And I love that most of the members of the Alexander company have a past that some religious folks would shun. The fact that orphans, misfits, thieves, and other criminals are accepted, forgiven, and shown mercy and grace is just one more way Sophronia's writing glorifies our Lord and shows the world what kind of God he truly is. I simply cannot wait for the next book in this series. I'm dying to know who the real villain is behind all of the evil that has taken place. Do yourself a favor and get this series. It will take you to another world and time. But enjoy it as it is. Don't pick it apart and compare it to the classic works it was drawn from. It would be just as good if Sophronia had completely made up her own characters. It's her writing that is magnificent, not the classic characters she writes about. Although, I think she makes them even better. Hats off to Sophronia for another well done tale!
May 14, 2013
Loved it! Full review to come.
October 24, 2014
Steampunk is an iffy genre for me, but thanks to the plot twist at the end of the first book in this series, I had The Pinocchio Factor on my To Read shelf since this summer.
Plot – Grade A-
This book actually backs up a little to the end of Book One, now retold from Oliver Twist’s POV. I didn’t mind that piece but then the next two chapters had so much rehashing of past events that I confess I did skim to get to something truly new. At first the plot held together well, unraveling some mysteries while adding new ones, although a couple of them were extremely easy to figure out and made me wonder why Twist the lauded genius couldn’t fit the pieces of the puzzle together faster. This, however, is partially explained away by Twist being more of an absent-minded genius type. However, towards the end the flow didn’t work quite so well and it felt rushed. The plot plants for the next book in the series were a tiny bit contrived but not to the point of being intolerable. And sometimes there just isn’t a better way to do things as a writer.
Content – Grade B
Continuing from Book One, this book addresses sodomy. If it weren’t Twist narrating, I would be more inclined to officially say that too much time was spent on the subject. It got to the point where it felt that every character was bringing up the horrible crime that happened over and over to the point that I was quite ready to move on. The sodomy associated with human trafficking is also addressed with two young boys asking who was going to be their “Pederast,” I have no idea what that word actually means since no one bothers to clarify in story and I still haven’t looked it up, but based on Twist’s reaction that it is a “horrible word” and given the context, I’m assuming it is only related to sodomy. And then again the word is used to describe the villain Polidori’s treatment of Jack Dawkins prior to the books. I suppose not understanding the meaning that provided the horror of the word slightly lessened the impact of this question but the reactions did make up for it. As with Book One, some Christians may appreciate the bluntness and emphasis on the horror of these actions but others like myself might feel that the bluntness was perilously close to harping.
There is violence in this book. For the most part it takes place off-screen or is only lightly touched on. There is one creepy scene where a character with an apparatus needed to help him live has tubes ripped loose and “ichor” drips loose. The giant squid was a neat touch, even though I was disappointed in my sudden hope that Captain Nemo would put in an appearance. We get Long John Silver instead. Language was once again hinted at but avoided.
In my review of Book One, I noted that I found Lady Phoebe Moore-Campbell as the most annoying character and perilously close to becoming a “Mary Sue.” In this book, she officially became a “Mary Sue” in my opinion and was most aggravating. Phoebe is always referred to as beautiful and perfect by all of the male characters. If a character doesn’t like her, they are most likely a bad guy and/or female. I could tolerate the former Prince of Bohemia using flowery language to describe Perfectly Perfect Phoebe but it pushes the envelope of belief too far when even the rougher men fall at her feet, singing her praises. Springheeled Jack refers to her talking as listening to an angel. I could accept her being described as singing like an angel but TALKING like an angel made me roll my eyes in exasperation. The fawning by the men especially bothered me because Phoebe is married and several of these men either have wives or are supposed to be in love with other characters yet they come across as infatuated with Phoebe. She is also only wrong once and that’s because the girl who is also a bad guy doesn’t fall in to Phoebe’s trap. Even to the point that the sole time she indulges in a near rant because she doesn’t approve of Twist’s suggestion to help his friend in a financial manner, Twist immediately concedes to her. However, perhaps what vexes me most about Perfectly Perfect Phoebe is that she is once again the source of all spiritual wisdom even when Edward the minister is present and then they leave him to do what he does for the boys but by then Phoebe had taken care of practically everything. She is also dragged into the ocean by a sea monster, rescued, and then while dripping wet and not even stopping for breath as told by Twist she is rushing about saving all these passengers who might become victims too and Springheeled Jack the giant, burly man rescues two children. It was getting perilously close to the point of why does Phoebe need these people except to fawn over her, which sadly is complete and utter “Mary Sue” territory. I had hoped that she would be rounded out in this book and rescued from the brush of “Mary Sue” in the last book but I found myself barely able to keep reading whenever Perfectly Perfect Phoebe was on scene. That was disappointing since I feel she could be a strong woman without straying into “Mary Sue” territory with just a few adjustments in how her character is executed.
The evangelism is once again VERY heavy. There are several sermons (none given by the minister). This includes a recounting where Twist’s speech seems almost alien to his normal narrative voice so that threw me off a bit. I actually liked that this time we had two people who remained uncertain and one guy who has currently refused the gospel message because that felt more realistic and balanced out the five conversions that DID occur.
There is barely any romance in this book in spite of three couples becoming engaged and marrying at the end of the book. I rather wished Twist and Tati’s relationship had been explored further especially with Twist abruptly requesting Tati and her father move into Nancy House in order to stave off character assassination by gossip that he is a sodomite. It seemed to suck a ton of the cute romance out of their relationship even though he does tell her that he loves her because it had the unpleasant side effect of making Twist seem slightly mercenary in his desire to marry Tati, as if to save his reputation alone even though that’s not true.
Technical – Grade B-
This book did improve on Book One’s habit of jumping narrators by sticking with Twist, which I liked. However, there were typos and punctuation errors littered throughout the book. The biggest gaff is when Fata Blu’s real name is used the page before she is asked what her real name is, but that kind of slip is both easy to make and easy to miss when editing. Once again I had extreme difficulty with deciphering Sluefoot Sue’s western/southern accent and the cockney accents. I gave up trying to figure out what Sue said in a couple areas because her accent so butchered the words, I couldn’t make heads or tails of them. Although I have been told by the author that the degree to which these accents are written out is adjusted in upcoming books, which should help improve the readability for these characters.
Final Grade – B or 4 stars
Overall, the book was okay. It didn’t blow me away and I was vexed by Perfectly Perfect Phoebe to the point I don’t care to read about her anymore. However, I really liked the plot when I wasn’t distracted by my annoyance at one character. There is an interesting set up at the end with a hint of an upcoming adventure in Algeria. Will I read the third novel? Maybe. And how annoying a character is varies by the reader, I am certain there are many readers who might find Phoebe enjoyable or at least more palatable than I did. I would recommend this book for mature Christians and advise parents to be ready to discuss the topics raised in this book with their older teens if they read the book. I would also recommend this book for fans of Steampunk who are looking for books with a strong Christian bent. Recommended for ages 17 and up.
Plot – Grade A-
This book actually backs up a little to the end of Book One, now retold from Oliver Twist’s POV. I didn’t mind that piece but then the next two chapters had so much rehashing of past events that I confess I did skim to get to something truly new. At first the plot held together well, unraveling some mysteries while adding new ones, although a couple of them were extremely easy to figure out and made me wonder why Twist the lauded genius couldn’t fit the pieces of the puzzle together faster. This, however, is partially explained away by Twist being more of an absent-minded genius type. However, towards the end the flow didn’t work quite so well and it felt rushed. The plot plants for the next book in the series were a tiny bit contrived but not to the point of being intolerable. And sometimes there just isn’t a better way to do things as a writer.
Content – Grade B
Continuing from Book One, this book addresses sodomy. If it weren’t Twist narrating, I would be more inclined to officially say that too much time was spent on the subject. It got to the point where it felt that every character was bringing up the horrible crime that happened over and over to the point that I was quite ready to move on. The sodomy associated with human trafficking is also addressed with two young boys asking who was going to be their “Pederast,” I have no idea what that word actually means since no one bothers to clarify in story and I still haven’t looked it up, but based on Twist’s reaction that it is a “horrible word” and given the context, I’m assuming it is only related to sodomy. And then again the word is used to describe the villain Polidori’s treatment of Jack Dawkins prior to the books. I suppose not understanding the meaning that provided the horror of the word slightly lessened the impact of this question but the reactions did make up for it. As with Book One, some Christians may appreciate the bluntness and emphasis on the horror of these actions but others like myself might feel that the bluntness was perilously close to harping.
There is violence in this book. For the most part it takes place off-screen or is only lightly touched on. There is one creepy scene where a character with an apparatus needed to help him live has tubes ripped loose and “ichor” drips loose. The giant squid was a neat touch, even though I was disappointed in my sudden hope that Captain Nemo would put in an appearance. We get Long John Silver instead. Language was once again hinted at but avoided.
In my review of Book One, I noted that I found Lady Phoebe Moore-Campbell as the most annoying character and perilously close to becoming a “Mary Sue.” In this book, she officially became a “Mary Sue” in my opinion and was most aggravating. Phoebe is always referred to as beautiful and perfect by all of the male characters. If a character doesn’t like her, they are most likely a bad guy and/or female. I could tolerate the former Prince of Bohemia using flowery language to describe Perfectly Perfect Phoebe but it pushes the envelope of belief too far when even the rougher men fall at her feet, singing her praises. Springheeled Jack refers to her talking as listening to an angel. I could accept her being described as singing like an angel but TALKING like an angel made me roll my eyes in exasperation. The fawning by the men especially bothered me because Phoebe is married and several of these men either have wives or are supposed to be in love with other characters yet they come across as infatuated with Phoebe. She is also only wrong once and that’s because the girl who is also a bad guy doesn’t fall in to Phoebe’s trap. Even to the point that the sole time she indulges in a near rant because she doesn’t approve of Twist’s suggestion to help his friend in a financial manner, Twist immediately concedes to her. However, perhaps what vexes me most about Perfectly Perfect Phoebe is that she is once again the source of all spiritual wisdom even when Edward the minister is present and then they leave him to do what he does for the boys but by then Phoebe had taken care of practically everything. She is also dragged into the ocean by a sea monster, rescued, and then while dripping wet and not even stopping for breath as told by Twist she is rushing about saving all these passengers who might become victims too and Springheeled Jack the giant, burly man rescues two children. It was getting perilously close to the point of why does Phoebe need these people except to fawn over her, which sadly is complete and utter “Mary Sue” territory. I had hoped that she would be rounded out in this book and rescued from the brush of “Mary Sue” in the last book but I found myself barely able to keep reading whenever Perfectly Perfect Phoebe was on scene. That was disappointing since I feel she could be a strong woman without straying into “Mary Sue” territory with just a few adjustments in how her character is executed.
The evangelism is once again VERY heavy. There are several sermons (none given by the minister). This includes a recounting where Twist’s speech seems almost alien to his normal narrative voice so that threw me off a bit. I actually liked that this time we had two people who remained uncertain and one guy who has currently refused the gospel message because that felt more realistic and balanced out the five conversions that DID occur.
There is barely any romance in this book in spite of three couples becoming engaged and marrying at the end of the book. I rather wished Twist and Tati’s relationship had been explored further especially with Twist abruptly requesting Tati and her father move into Nancy House in order to stave off character assassination by gossip that he is a sodomite. It seemed to suck a ton of the cute romance out of their relationship even though he does tell her that he loves her because it had the unpleasant side effect of making Twist seem slightly mercenary in his desire to marry Tati, as if to save his reputation alone even though that’s not true.
Technical – Grade B-
This book did improve on Book One’s habit of jumping narrators by sticking with Twist, which I liked. However, there were typos and punctuation errors littered throughout the book. The biggest gaff is when Fata Blu’s real name is used the page before she is asked what her real name is, but that kind of slip is both easy to make and easy to miss when editing. Once again I had extreme difficulty with deciphering Sluefoot Sue’s western/southern accent and the cockney accents. I gave up trying to figure out what Sue said in a couple areas because her accent so butchered the words, I couldn’t make heads or tails of them. Although I have been told by the author that the degree to which these accents are written out is adjusted in upcoming books, which should help improve the readability for these characters.
Final Grade – B or 4 stars
Overall, the book was okay. It didn’t blow me away and I was vexed by Perfectly Perfect Phoebe to the point I don’t care to read about her anymore. However, I really liked the plot when I wasn’t distracted by my annoyance at one character. There is an interesting set up at the end with a hint of an upcoming adventure in Algeria. Will I read the third novel? Maybe. And how annoying a character is varies by the reader, I am certain there are many readers who might find Phoebe enjoyable or at least more palatable than I did. I would recommend this book for mature Christians and advise parents to be ready to discuss the topics raised in this book with their older teens if they read the book. I would also recommend this book for fans of Steampunk who are looking for books with a strong Christian bent. Recommended for ages 17 and up.
August 27, 2013
There's good books and then there's great books, and I've had the pleasure of reading one of the great ones recently. For a Christian who loves Steampunk and the Classics, The 'Pprentices, the Puppets, and the Pirates (Alexander Legacy, #2) by Sophronia Belle Lyon kept me going from beginning to end and then I wanted some more!
We get all the Christian truth, love, and family goodness mixed in with all the fantastic steampunkery one could imagine. I love how Oliver Twist is the geeky cool inventor we get to see the story through.
I'm a bit attached to my God, Steampunk and the authors she draws characters from to throw them into a fun story. Authors like Dickens, Stevenson, Kipling, Doyle, etc. I love seeing the characters presented in this way.
The 'Pprentices, the Puppets, and the Pirates (Alexander Legacy, #2) is so entertaining and faith inspiring that I'm going on to get the first book, A Dodge, a Twist and a Tobacconist.
Yes, I started with the second book, thanks to the generosity of the author in letting me have a copy. But I'm going on to buy the first of the series and read it too!
Try seeing a little bit of what Sophronia Belle Lyon writes here and you'll rush to buy the full book too! https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
We get all the Christian truth, love, and family goodness mixed in with all the fantastic steampunkery one could imagine. I love how Oliver Twist is the geeky cool inventor we get to see the story through.
I'm a bit attached to my God, Steampunk and the authors she draws characters from to throw them into a fun story. Authors like Dickens, Stevenson, Kipling, Doyle, etc. I love seeing the characters presented in this way.
The 'Pprentices, the Puppets, and the Pirates (Alexander Legacy, #2) is so entertaining and faith inspiring that I'm going on to get the first book, A Dodge, a Twist and a Tobacconist.
Yes, I started with the second book, thanks to the generosity of the author in letting me have a copy. But I'm going on to buy the first of the series and read it too!
Try seeing a little bit of what Sophronia Belle Lyon writes here and you'll rush to buy the full book too! https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
June 5, 2015
Behold, the sequel to the first book I ever reviewed! (Not on my blog... But first ever!)
I met "Sophronia" (a pen name) in a writer's group on Facebook, and she introduced me to her series, The Alexander Legacy, and the rousing Victorian steampunk adventures to be had!
Just this spring, I finally had the opportunity to purchase and download the sequel to the novel I enjoyed so much.
As is bound to happen with any series, the second book, while fair enough in its own right, doesn't quite match the fervor of the first one.
The pacing was a lot slower, and I felt like every time the novel introduced a new character, it was either a fresh enemy for this ambiguous quest (I'm sorry, but "Find Out What Professor Evil Is Up To And Stop Him" was never defined clearly enough... Not like the last book, when they were tracking down Spring-Heeled Jack and stopping a serial killer...) or a potential ally... In need of immediate proselytizing.
[...]
Around these lengthy passages (that did virtually nothing for the plot, just gave a handful of fictional characters assurance of eternal life) the real tale was quite fun. Dr. Moreau, a brace of D'Urbervilles, Long John Silver, the giant squid from "20,000 Leagues"... Oh, and Mac Campell shows up as the young engineer from an obscure Sherlock Holmes case that I was familiar enough with to recognize it immediately! I really got excited over that! Also I thought the description of Silver's daughter was really neat.
[See the full review at "The Upstream Writer" ]
I met "Sophronia" (a pen name) in a writer's group on Facebook, and she introduced me to her series, The Alexander Legacy, and the rousing Victorian steampunk adventures to be had!
Just this spring, I finally had the opportunity to purchase and download the sequel to the novel I enjoyed so much.
As is bound to happen with any series, the second book, while fair enough in its own right, doesn't quite match the fervor of the first one.
The pacing was a lot slower, and I felt like every time the novel introduced a new character, it was either a fresh enemy for this ambiguous quest (I'm sorry, but "Find Out What Professor Evil Is Up To And Stop Him" was never defined clearly enough... Not like the last book, when they were tracking down Spring-Heeled Jack and stopping a serial killer...) or a potential ally... In need of immediate proselytizing.
[...]
Around these lengthy passages (that did virtually nothing for the plot, just gave a handful of fictional characters assurance of eternal life) the real tale was quite fun. Dr. Moreau, a brace of D'Urbervilles, Long John Silver, the giant squid from "20,000 Leagues"... Oh, and Mac Campell shows up as the young engineer from an obscure Sherlock Holmes case that I was familiar enough with to recognize it immediately! I really got excited over that! Also I thought the description of Silver's daughter was really neat.
[See the full review at "The Upstream Writer" ]
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews