The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack (Burton & Swinburne, #1) in Beyond Reality

May 20, 2010 Stephen rated it really liked it

Shelves: sherlockian, science-fiction, mystery, 2006-2010, alternative-history, ebooks, punked, award-nominee-philip-k-dick

This super debut novel is like a sweet, dainty cup of mild English tea...if it was spiked with Absinthe, poured into a heavy brass goblet and served with Laudanum-laced cookies shaped like medical experiments gone awry. In other words, a great blend of prim, proper and the freakishly bizarre...somebody pass the hookah, this one’s gonna get weird.

Set in 1861 in an ~~Victorian~~ Albertian England, Mark Hodder has created one of the most enticingly strange and intriguing steampunk worlds I have come a ...more

104 likes · Like · see review

Jan 20, 2012 mark monday rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fog-and-gears, i-gave-up

EH? EH! this desperate steampunk non-adventure plays like an overly hysterical farce with delusions of grandeur. although seemingly full of creative ideas, those ideas have run sadly amuck. there is no grounding of the frivolity within interesting characterization or sparkling dialogue - both of which remain almost obstinately insipid and amateurish; famous english personages are tossed around willy-nilly with little sense and zero resonance; cutesie-poo preciousness is found everywhere, from th ...more

52 likes · Like · see review

Jun 28, 2011 Shanshad Whelan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, steampunk, fantasy, historical-fiction, time-travel

I picked this up after a run of perfectly uninspiring urban fantasies. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but was delighted with what I found. An alernate Victorian history steampunk novel full of familiar characters in unfamiliar roles. An engaging and fascinating romp through an England I've never even thought to imagine, but fully enjoyed seeing crafted on the pages I read.

Rather than a plucky young heroine or hero engaged in a wild steampunk ride, our protagonist is none other than Sir ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Jul 30, 2011 Justin rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2011, steampunk, pyr

http://staffersmusings.blogspot.com/2...

I love historical fiction. Shogun by James Clavell, Pride of Carthage by David Anthony Durham, and Gates of Fire by Stephen Pressfield, are a few of my favorites off the top of my head. What I love about the genre is how it stimulates me to learn about historical events or individuals that I haven't had an opportunity to pay much attention to. If an author is clever enough to take this historical fiction element and blend in some science fiction the end ...more

Like · see review

Jul 17, 2011 Sandi rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2011, scifi-fantasy-horror-althistory

Sir Richard Francis Burton must cope with a myriad of strange occurrences after being commissioned as a King's Agent in an alternative England. Lots of interesting ideas and uses of historical characters but the writing was not really up to the story. Info dumps abounded (with lots of telling not showing) and quite a bit of the weird and different technology just seemed to be garnishments and not really all that integral to the plot. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 04, 2011 Edward Butler rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Rollicking steampunk adventure so generously seasoned with absurdity as to almost qualify as a satire instead. Ended up being more enjoyable than I'd expected. Bumped up from 3 stars to 4 on account of the imaginative treatment of Victorian apparition "Spring Heeled Jack". Some tastelessness, but didn't get in the way; less than expected in a novel of this sort.
...more

Like · see review

Dec 03, 2010 Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

This was conceptually cool but I'm not sure I actually liked it. It was interesting in places, but man, did I get tired of Swinburne's squealing. ...more

Like · see review