Spring Break Reading #2

Here’s the lineup–

1. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
2. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
3. *NEW* The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
4. Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
5. Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Boneshaker is quintessential steampunk.  Sixteen years ago, in mid-nineteenth century Seattle, Leviticus Blue tested his amazing Boneshaker machine, a subterranean drill created to penetrate Klondike ice in search for gold.  But things went horribly awry, and Blue’s Boneshaker pierced a gas vent that leaked volcanic-poisonous Blight  into the air.  In order to contain the Blight, and the living dead who were infected, downtown Seattle was surrounded by a 200-foot wall.

Today, fifteen-year-old Ezekiel scales the wall to find out the truth about his father, and our heroine, Briar Wilkes (Blue), must venture in after him.  With her gun and her gas mask, Briar is prepared to face hordes of rotting corpses, political intrigue within the walls, and a mysterious inventor who might be her husband, all to find her son again and tell him the truth, once and for all.  There are cutting-edge chase scenes through destroyed streets, plenty of tunnelling underneath the city, a first-rate cast of supporting characters, and a spectacular airship collision.  What’s not to love?

The Seattle setting works splendidly here, although the first sixty or so pages were spent in laborious backstory.  But once Ezekiel and Briar were both over the wall, the action was nonstop.  While the beginning was a bit slow, the ending was a bit abrupt, yet I prefer a quick, clean break instead of an overly explained one.  Plus, Briar’s reveal in the last chapter about What Really Happened was quite satisfyingly in-character.

All-in-all, there is good reason that this book made a little sensation a couple of years ago.  It certainly merits being called the author’s breakout novel, and now she will be on my radar for future reading.