Steampunk Darcy in Austen Variations

Sep 20, 2016 Sheila Majczan rated it really liked it

First of all: I had to look this word, "Steampunk" up on the Internet - "Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery." "Steampunk also refers to any of the artistic styles, clothing fashions, or subcultures, that have developed from the aesthetics of steampunk fiction, Victorian-era fiction, art nouveau design, and films from the mid-20th century."

I had no idea what a First of all: I had to look this word, "Steampunk" up on the Internet - "Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery." "Steampunk also refers to any of the artistic styles, clothing fashions, or subcultures, that have developed from the aesthetics of steampunk fiction, Victorian-era fiction, art nouveau design, and films from the mid-20th century."

I had no idea what a Steampunk was and did read the same statement in other reviews. I do think that the author would please many a reader with either a glossary (What is a fishobe?) and/or a prologue to give us a hint of when this story is set and the background leading up to the present.

While the author has used many names of people and places from canon, there is very little resemblance to P&P other than a few uses of lines or phrases and/or situations, i.e., Darcy has a sister, Georgiana, and a woman named Caro hangs on his arm. He works out of Longbourn Labs in the American Republic but Pemberley has been destroyed years ago in The Blitz and due to environmental damage. People in this world live under biodomes or in citiships which seem to be cities held up by dirigibles(?) We can garner "the uprising" was a wide spread rebellion linked to concerns about the ecological damage from evils such as slime rain or poisoned water. The Authorities suggest a Police State which may or may not have evolved when the Uprising was settled. But some people have “implants”, others are automatons and still others live outside the Grid so their movements, etc. are not monitored.

William Darcy is a descendent of ODC. He is “The Boss” and has invented many items to help in the Restoration Movement, i.e., biodomes. But his Pemberley Project, which no one but he knows about, has far reaching and possibly disastrous and world changing possibilities. He needs to hire help and Seraphene Grant, an MIT graduate, who moonlights using an Hansom cab to support her 16-year-old sister, Briar Rose, and brain damaged mother (who watches projection of the Peter Rabbit movie daily), is the ideal candidate. However, when interviewed and pressured to accept the position with Longbourn Labs, Seraphene wants nothing to do with it. “What did she mean when she said he was the last person in the world she’d want to work for?” Seraphene lives in an area off-the-Grid, the Crooked Lane, an interesting hodge-podge of houses and neighbors who don’t want to be tracked or traced.

Much of the tale has to do with learning what this project is and the relationship between Darcy and Seraphene a.k.a. Skipp, which runs hot and cold and finds them with huge trust issues due to miscommunications and/or misunderstandings. Skipp’s family history places her in shadowy territory with the Authority and she has walked a fine line trying to stay out of trouble while earning enough “credits” to put food on her family’s table. Richard Darcy is a half-brother to William (& there is a story there). Rich has some of canon Wickham’s traits but there is also a Wickham who SEEMS to be a passive aide to Darcy. Keep an eye on him. There are other interesting roles: Lang Jan Silver, Geronimo (brother to Seraphene), and Katrin Darcy/mamma.

There is a lot of action and adventure and edge-of-your-seat intrigue but it is not all wrapped up neatly. There is a paragraph after the story which states that Monica Fairview is working on a follow-up. Published on January 11, 2014 so I am hoping the sequel will be not long in being published. Yes, it was interesting enough that I want more! ...more

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Aug 28, 2013 Ceri rated it really liked it

Shelves: austen-inspired, steampunk, austenesque-different-era

This was my first foray into reading Steampunk so I’m not entirely sure what is typical for the genre. In this world, there has been some kind of environmental crisis, with corrosive slime rain and poisonous rivers. Poor people live in neighbourhoods in the open air with homes built from whatever could be scavenged, whereas richer people live in flying cities or eco-domes. The man who invented these eco-domes, William Darcy, is the descendent of Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy, who were real peo This was my first foray into reading Steampunk so I’m not entirely sure what is typical for the genre. In this world, there has been some kind of environmental crisis, with corrosive slime rain and poisonous rivers. Poor people live in neighbourhoods in the open air with homes built from whatever could be scavenged, whereas richer people live in flying cities or eco-domes. The man who invented these eco-domes, William Darcy, is the descendent of Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy, who were real people. The book of Pride and Prejudice exists as the chronicle of their romance. Darcy is extremely proud of his ancestors, and he contacts Seraphine to enlist her help with a project. Seraphine understands that the project is to recreate Pemberley, which was destroyed due to the environmental disasters, as a theme hotel, but this isn’t entirely the case. Darcy has a deeply awful half-brother, Richard, who he is trying to keep his inventions secret from so they are not misused. They also have a 15 year old half-sister, Gianna, who is very spoiled and tiresome.

Seraphine has had a very hard life. When she was 10 her father was taken by the authorities and erased from all records. Five years later her mother, who was previously a gifted scientist, was taken by the authorities and given mind-altering drugs – although she was returned to the family she isn’t really aware of much of what is happening. Seraphine’s brother ran away from the family leaving Seraphine, then a teenager, to look after her mother and her much younger sister, Briar-Rose. Seraphine did what she had to, not always on the right side of the law, to ensure her family’s safety and survival. Now, Briar-Rose is 15 years old and a selfish and self-absorbed teenager. Seraphine works as a scientific investigator and earns extra money from delivering cargo. Being the sole breadwinner, and being aware of the damage the authorities can wreak on a person, Seraphine fears being taken in by the authorities.

Although Sera doesn’t want to work for Darcy, her hand is forced, and they end up working together. Darcy needs her, but is afraid of trusting anybody and won’t let her in; he doesn’t actually let her work on the project he has employed her to help him with! The lack of trust definitely goes both ways. They have chemistry from the off, but they are both conscious of the class divide – he feels like he should make a society marriage and she feels that he couldn’t possibly be interested in her for more than a quick fling.

I would have liked to have seen a bit more interaction between the characters; although Sera and Darcy talked most of their relationship seemed based on chemistry, and they both frustrated me by telling each other very little. For example, at one point Sera has a listening device planted on her. She discovers how it was planted, and Darcy works out who arranged it but they never tell each other. I could understand their reluctance to trust each other but Darcy in particular was annoying about it, refusing to explain his motivations on many occasions which lead Sera to misinterpret his actions when a partial explanation would often have sufficed. These two also have major sibling issues which are largely left unaddressed, and in some cases this seems unlikely, such as a time when Sera’s sister crashes her ship and it’s barely spoken about.

Although this isn’t the type of thing I usually read I enjoyed this book. It might have been helpful to have a bit more detail on the uprising, as I was a bit sketchy on what they were fighting against, I imagined a kind of ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ type of society but less restrictive. There was a lot of action, and if you have quite a visual imagination it’ll be working overtime on this book because there was description of the outfits, machinery and fights which really helped set the scenes. The world the author created was very interesting, and I hope she writes a follow-up, as I am interested to know what happens with the invention, and what happens in the relationship of Sera and Darcy with their respective siblings. ...more

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Sep 24, 2016 JMarcy rated it really liked it

Shelves: jaff-fantasy-paranormal

What can I say, I so enjoyed this book, a romp in a P&P alternate future universe. How often do you find a Darcy for whom deception is not his abhorrence, a truly dastardly Richard, a "Katrin" who is more like Mrs Bennet than Lady Catherine, and a very unique twist on Wickham. And it is definitely not just a retelling in a new steampunk setting, there is a lot of new action and characters. I really hope the author publishes another story in this world she has created. ...more

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