The Falling Machine
Paperback, 284 pg.
Pyr, 2011
Read: Jul. 11-14, 2012>
This was an utterly okay book. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it, and I certainly didn’t hate it, I felt a general “eh, whatever” towards it.
I do think the take on the status of women in 1880’s New York was a bit too heavy handed–most other steampunk authors can show strong women dealing with a less feminist age without sounding like they’re harping on it to the point you just don’t care anymore (see: Ballantine, Philippa/Morris, Tee, Cherie Priest, Steven Harper, Kady Cross for a few examples).
The Super-Hero story reminded me a lot of the one told in the superior After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn (as did many of the heroes).
Most of the characters were flat, the resolution was rushed and unfulfilling, the cliffhanger was more of a “they just stopped telling the story” than a “what will happen next?”
(okay, after reading what I just wrote, maybe it was less than okay…hmmm….)
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