Boneshaker

Starred review from August 31, 2009
Maternal love faces formidable challenges in this stellar steampunk tale. In an alternate 1880s America, mad inventor Leviticus Blue is blamed for destroying Civil War–era Seattle. When Zeke Wilkes, Blue’s son, goes into the walled wreck of a city to clear his father’s name, Zeke’s mother, Briar Wilkes, follows him in an airship, determined to rescue her son from the toxic gas that turns people into zombies (called rotters and described in gut-churning detail). When Briar learns that Seattle still has a mad inventor, Dr. Minnericht, who eerily resembles her dead husband, a simple rescue quickly turns into a thrilling race to save Zeke from the man who may be his father. Intelligent, exceptionally well written and showcasing a phenomenal strong female protagonist who embodies the complexities inherent in motherhood, this yarn is a must-read for the discerning steampunk fan.

September 1, 2009
Priest (Fathom, 2008, etc.) bravely, and successfully, ventures into steampunk and zombie-horror territory.

The action takes place in an alternate-history version of 1880s Seattle. In Priest's variant, the Klondike gold rush came decades early. In 1863, Seattle scientist Leviticus Blue invented a massive steam-powered machine (Dr. Blue's Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine) to drill for gold through thick ice. When tested, it went out of control and wreaked havoc throughout Seattle, destroying several buildings and killing dozens. Soon after, a mysterious gas, the Blight, turned many who breathed it into predatory zombies called"rotters." Sixteen years later, Blue's widow Briar and son Zeke have little beyond a ruined family reputation. When Zeke impulsively decides to revisit walled-off Seattle to find proof that his father wasn't a villain, Briar follows him into the rotter-infested city. Priest, a Seattle resident, delivers a fast-moving story filled with cool steampunk technology and scary zombies. Fans of science fiction will find much to enjoy here.

An impressive and auspicious genre-hopping adventure.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

October 15, 2009
Priests steampunk novel set in Civil Warera Seattle begins rather confusingly, with a historian interviewing the protagonist, Briar Blue. It becomes obvious that Briar is hiding something dark and ugly in her past that she is unwilling to discuss even with her son, Zeke. The horror-mystery mood deepens when Zeke sets out to discover more about his father, the man who created the machine that decimated downtown Seattle and ripped open a vein of Blight gas, which turns those who breathe it into the living dead. Zombies, underground societies, mad scientists, and war dirigibles pervade a ruined Seattle lacking any organized justice system and awash in vigilantes trying to fill the law-enforcement vacuum. Readers looking for mere historical fiction or sf may be disappointed, but those interested in how technology could have changed had the Civil War lasted longer will appreciate some interesting ideas on that topic. Meanwhile, the characters are captivating enough to make finding out what Zeke discovers and why his mother has hidden her past from him quite compelling.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)