This is my review of “Hunted”, which is the second novella in the Flash Gold Chronicles series by Lindsay Buroker. In this story Ms. Buroker continues the adventure begun in Flash Gold with Kali and Cedar, now business partners as bounty hunters. They’ve left Moose Jaw and are setting out upon a new adventure seeking Cedar’s arch nemesis, both for the bounty and for personal vengeance. This takes them to a mining camp out in the wilds of the Yukon where they encounter Kali’s greatest enemy, and her hero, and find themselves in one desperate situation after another. Continue reading “Book Review: Hunted”
Tag: steampunk
Book Review: Flash Gold
This free novella is the lead-in to Ms. Buroker’s series The Flash Gold Chronicles. And a fine lead it is. I’ll borrow the author’s synopsis:
“Eighteen-year-old Kali McAlister enters her steam-powered “dogless sled” in a race, intending to win the thousand-dollar prize and escape remote Moose Hollow forever. The problem? Fortune seekers and airship pirates are after her for the secret to flash gold, her late father’s alchemical masterpiece. Continue reading “Book Review: Flash Gold”
Book Review: The Burning Sky
The Burning Sky was my very first encounter with a truly Steampunk novel. I read it more out of curiosity about the genre than anything. I’m glad I did, and I’m glad I chose this one as a starting point. This is my review.
The Burning Sky, by Joseph Robert Lewis is the first book in the Halcyon Trilogy. I found it to be the embodiment of the old writing adage that says: to create suspense, place your protagonists in a very bad situation, then make it worse. The story starts out with a horrific act of terrorism sweeping up an uninvolved mechanic on an air ship and carrying her along throughout the story. For most of the story, her plight and those of the characters that get rolled into the mix, get steadily worse. Resolution is saved for the very end.
The story is a masterful weave of multiple story lines, all winding around the main plot, although we don’t learn what that is for quite some time. However Mr. Lewis does not allow us to founder in confusion; each character’s contribution is quite interesting all on its own and the intrigue builds as they begin to coalesce and we start to make the connections. Continue reading “Book Review: The Burning Sky”