WINNER OF THE LOCUS AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL Ezekiel Blue's father committed a crime, unleashing a deadly menace into steampowered Seattle. And his bereaved family has paid the price. Now, Ezekiel is determined to clear his father's name, risking death and the undead in the attempt. Sixteen years ago, as the American Civil War dawned, gold brought hordes to the frozen Klondike. Fanatical in their greed, Russian prospectors commissioned Dr Leviticus Blue to create a great machine, to mine through Alaska's ice. Thus the ...
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WINNER OF THE LOCUS AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL Ezekiel Blue's father committed a crime, unleashing a deadly menace into steampowered Seattle. And his bereaved family has paid the price. Now, Ezekiel is determined to clear his father's name, risking death and the undead in the attempt. Sixteen years ago, as the American Civil War dawned, gold brought hordes to the frozen Klondike. Fanatical in their greed, Russian prospectors commissioned Dr Leviticus Blue to create a great machine, to mine through Alaska's ice. Thus the Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine was born. But the Boneshaker went awry, destroying downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas. Anyone who breathed its fumes turning into the living dead. The devastated city is now walled in to contain the blight. But unknown to Briar, his widowed mother, Ezekiel is going in. His quest will take him into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive. 'Adventure of rollicking pace and sweeping proportions ... this book is made of irresistible'Scott Westerfeld, 'This is a hoot from start to finish'Cory Doctorow,'Intelligent, exceptionally well written and showcasing a phenomenal strong female protagonist' Publishers Weekly
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Add this copy of Boneshaker (Sci Fi Essential Books) to cart. $1.22, fair condition, Sold by BookHolders rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gambrills, MD, UNITED STATES.
Add this copy of Boneshaker to cart. $1.25, fair condition, Sold by Once Upon A Time Books rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Tontitown, AR, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Tor Books.
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Fair. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear. It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear. It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket.
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Zombies in a steampunk version of Seattle! It wasn't a top favorite of mine by any means. It was a bit cliched but mostly fun read imo. A 3.5 that I'll round up to 4.
The characters are enjoyable, you have Briar, a protective, poverty-stricken widow and mother ostracized by the community for her dead husband's role in causing the zombie-flooded wreck that Seattle is now. Then Zeke, Briar's ridiculous, headstrong son sets off inside the walls thinking he can clear his father's name and thus end the persecution him and his mother constantly face.
The first half of this book is probably the most enjoyable part, a lot of interesting side-characters are introduced, and you get multiple clearly described views of the decrepit streets and buildings of Seattle. The rotters, which is the name for the zombies inside the city, are definitely described disgustingly and introduced in ways that invoke a bit of dread. The story is fast-paced for the most part, with so much action once inside the city.
The main issues I had were one: the villain and climax between him, Briar, and Zeke was the number one most cliche part of the book. Minnericht was pretty much the most 2D angry controlling villain. Then the climax is that cliche "main character distracts the villain to the point that he conveniently doesn't notice the other character creeping up on him to end his life, and somehow it works" kind of climax. Very low effort and yeah honestly the worst part of the book. My second issue was more with the audiobook narrators. Wil Wheaton reading Zeke's chapters and Kate Reading reading Briar's chapters was a nice touch, but it would have helped if they synchronized better. After listening to Kate's voice for Swackhammer, making him sound different and tinny when he wears his helmet, Zeke meets him and Wil just gives him the same male voice he gives every other male in the story. Kate was definitely the better narrator but only by just a bit, with Wil basically giving every character the same gruff male voice aside from Angeline, and a slightly less gruff male voice for Zeke.
Tl;dr fun, well-paced and satisfying action-adventure steampunk zombie story with a few 2D characters that needed fleshed out more, a poor climax, and poor choices for audiobook narrators.
