Hmm. I don't think about books that way (although I know what you mean about having to be in the right mood for things) so let me describe it briefly.
It's explicitly U.S.-based steampunk, set in Seattle in 1875-80. It's also alternate history. Seattle has been destroyed 15 years prior, when a huge digging machine undermined and wrecked part of the city, and also released a gas that turned people into zombies. The city is walled off, but people still struggle to get by inside.
The plot centers around the widow of the machine-building mad scientist who has to reenter the city to find her son. There are air ships, air ship pirates, and an inventer/ crime boss with a scarred face and a mysterious past.
For a lot of readers, just a list of those things would be appealing enough--zombies, air ship pirates, old fashioned sfnal gadgets--but I'm not one of them. I generally can't stand zombies and I'm not all that interested in steampunk. The characters are terrific, though, and the story is engaging.
It's also been named to a few "Best of 2009 lists," including Publishers Weekly's (http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6704595.html).
Jeez, that's a long response. I hope you weren't expecting a one-word answer like "wistful" or "adventurous." As my buddy used to say "You asked me the time and I built you a clock."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-12-01 07:26 pm (UTC)It's explicitly U.S.-based steampunk, set in Seattle in 1875-80. It's also alternate history. Seattle has been destroyed 15 years prior, when a huge digging machine undermined and wrecked part of the city, and also released a gas that turned people into zombies. The city is walled off, but people still struggle to get by inside.
The plot centers around the widow of the machine-building mad scientist who has to reenter the city to find her son. There are air ships, air ship pirates, and an inventer/ crime boss with a scarred face and a mysterious past.
For a lot of readers, just a list of those things would be appealing enough--zombies, air ship pirates, old fashioned sfnal gadgets--but I'm not one of them. I generally can't stand zombies and I'm not all that interested in steampunk. The characters are terrific, though, and the story is engaging.
It's also been named to a few "Best of 2009 lists," including Publishers Weekly's (http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6704595.html).
Jeez, that's a long response. I hope you weren't expecting a one-word answer like "wistful" or "adventurous." As my buddy used to say "You asked me the time and I built you a clock."