Boneshaker Audio Book Review

Boneshaker Audio Book Review
AUTHOR: Cherie Priest
SOURCE: DB 70887
Reading time: 12 hours 25 minutes / Read by Mare Trevathan
NOTE: This is the Talking Book format used by the Library Of Congress.
Paperback, 416 pp Published 2009
Series (The Clockwork Century Followed by Clementine)
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(SPOILER Alert: The following Audio Book review may contain spoilers. I've tried to keep certain parts as general as possible.)

While researching zombie novels, I came across Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. This Hugo Award Nominee , Nebula Award Nominee and Locus Award winner also introduced me to steampunk novels. I was disappointed that this wasn't more of a zombie novel, but I was happy to discover a new world with interesting characters and steam-driven technologies.

The Boneshaker novel is the first book in the Clockwork Century Universe but there is a short story that came out in 2009 called 'Tanglefoot' which is available for free on the Subterranean website.
http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/fall_2008/fiction_tanglefoot_a_story_of_the_clockwork_century_by_cherie_priest

the Clockwork Century Universe Reading Order
01 Boneshaker 2009
02 Clementine 2010
03 Dreadnought 2010
04 Ganymede 2011
05 The Inexplicables 2012
06 Fiddlehead 2013

On November 30, 2011 it was announced that there will be a Boneshaker movie produced by Hammer Films and Cross Creek Pictures.

In this Clockwork Century universe England broke the Union’s naval blockade and formally recognized the Confederate States of America. England's interaction has caused the war to go on for close to two decades. The Civil War has brought on a mini Industrial Revolution where inventors play a key part in developing technology that will tip the scales in favor of the North or the South, usually based on who is the highest bidder.
Are you hooked yet? You can see all the possibilities that Cherie Priest has set up in her alternate Universe for this book as well as future novels..
With the Civil War under way and the Klondike Gold Rush the Pacific Northwest is heavily populated in the 1860s. The Klondike is in northwest Canada east of the Russian-owned Alaska, and the Russians don't want to be left out of the gold rush.
A Seattle Inventor named Leviticus Blue builds his Incredible Bone-shaking Drill Engine with funding from Russian prospectors.
The Russians want The boneshaker tested before it's used to mine for gold in the Alaskan ice. When Leviticus Blue decides to test the Boneshaker under the streets of Seattle, 10000+ people are startled when several blocks of downtown Seattle are destroyed. People are killed during the accident and during the commotion millions of dollars are stolen from the bank vaults.
It looks like Leviticus Blue found gold without having to go all the way to Alaska!
Unfortunately the Boneshaker drilled through a vein of unbreathable blight gas. The toxic gas starts rising and starts killing people. Those who aren't killed are turned into zombies/rotters. O.K. this sounds a little weird, but isn't absurd. One of the speculations is that the blight gas may be from Mount Rainier which is actually a 500,000 year old volcano located southeast of Seattle. Plenty of authors use the digging up of some ancient evil, this just happens to be a volcano instead of some ancient burial ground.
Leviticus Blue, the Boneshaker and millions of dollars are missing, but the Walking Dead are here and are looking to form the world's largest Grunge Band!
To keep the blight and rotters contained a huge wall is built around the city of Seattle which is two hundred feet high and fifteen to twenty feet wide.
We then fast-forward 15 years to the 1880's and we're introduced to Leviticus Blue's wife and son who have been surviving on the outskirts of the wall.
Briar Wilkes was married to Leviticus Blue, the man who many believe was responsible for the destruction of Seattle.
If that wasn't bad enough, her father Maynard Wilkes was a lawman who many believe was responsible for the prison riots during the evacuation of Seattle.
Briar is raising her 15 year old son Zeke Wilkes and they have to live with the sins of her father and husband.
Zeke wasn't born when his father disappeared and Grandfather died, and grows frustrated with his mother's reluctance to talk about either of them. He decides to enter the walled city through the underground tunnels with the intent of clearing the family name.
When Briar finds out what he's done, she goes after him, but an earthquake collapses parts of the tunnels, so she needs to find another way into the city.
Time to storm the castle! Waiting inside the castle there are zombies, blight gas, drug dealers, revolutionaries and a princess. You can't have a castle without a princess!
So how does one get into the city of Seattle with the tunnels out of commission? Not by catapult. The Civil War is still going on and there are Combat dirigibles.
Briar Wilkes gets a ride over the wall on the airship Naamah Darling. The crew are Sky pirates who smuggle lemon sap a drug made from the blight.
Captain Andan Cly is freakishly huge and was one of the prisoners released by Briar's father Maynard Wilkes. The lawman Maynard Wilkes lost his life to the blight while saving the prisoners and has become a folk hero to many of the criminals who dealt with him.
Fang is the Chinese navigator. His tongue was cut out so he navigates by using hand signs and head movements.  Rodimer is the first mate.
NOTE: Later in the novel there is a cool midair grappling battle between two airships. Two later novels in the series have both captains heavily involved in the storyline.
02 Clementine 2010 Captain Croggon Beauregard Hainey
04 Ganymede 2011 Captain Andan Cly
Once inside the walls we meet a rich cast of characters who are forced to live underground since the rotters walk the street levels. Most of these characters see Maynard Wilkes as a hero and are more than willing to help out any of his family members. Below is a list of the more memorable and noteworthy characters.
Jeremiah Swakhammer is well-armored and his mask is described as a combination of horse head / squid with two round filters and an amplifier. He is equipped with Dr. Minnericht’s Doozy Dazer which is a rotter stun gun.
Lucy O’gunning is the barkeeper/Proprietor of a underground bar Maynard's ( named after Maynard Wilkes). Her arm was amputated after a rotter bite, and she now has a mechanical one in it's place.
Princess Angeline is a a knife-wielding Native American princess who rescues Zeke. She is the most deadly female character in the vook.
Doctor Minnericht is a scientist, inventor and sap dealer. The underground crime-lord's mask looks like a steel skull with illuminated blue tinted goggles. His technology helps the people within the wall survive. Lucy o’gunning can thank him for her mechanical arm, and Jeremiah Swakhammer's Doozy Dazer can stun rotters for three minutes. His technological talent has lead many to believe the he may be Leviticus Blue.
The rest of the story is a thrill ride to unite mother and son and resolve the questions about Leviticus Blue. If I go into more detail I'll end up giving away parts of the plot and spoiling the book.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
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This book seemed like it took 10 chapters just to get both characters within the walls, but once inside the adventure was non-stop.
The zombies seem like they are more of a nuisance and the fear of the gas turning characters into zombies is more of a threat than they ever were.
The character of Zeke was annoying, and at times it seemed like he'd take turns with his mother being held hostage, or being told what to do. Thankfully the secondary characters are awesome enough to keep the story going.
There was a little too much "Girl Power" at the end. Three of the most prominent male characters are either killed from behind or end up being carried off by women, yet Zeke was allowed to live.
Since this was my first steampunk novel I have nothing to compare it to, but it did make me want to pick up another steampunk novel. I also would like to follow the series, and hope there additional audio books to follow.
FINAL RATING 3.5/5
As always Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Frank Hipolito started listening to audio books and audio podcasts after a medical condition left him with Cortical Blindness. The Helen Keller Institute worked with him on touch typing and he decided to share his reviews online.
The audio books are usually downloaded from the National Library Service for the Blind's BARD website and are used on a digital talking-book player, While the audio podcasts are usually downloaded through Itunes.