Book Review: Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (The Clockwork Century #1)

  Boneshaker, is a steampunk novel set in the alternate history version of Seattle, during the American civil war. This is unique in the genre of steampunk, because steampunk books are usually set in alternate Victorian era in England. The author of this novel is Cherie Priest, and this book won Hugo award for the best novel in 2010.

Personally, I don't know much about the steampunk subculture. My little experience with steampunk comes from movies such as Van Helsing and The League of Extra Ordinary Gentlemen (I have also seen people wearing funky things for Cosplay, walking down the streets). One day, when I was browsing in the bookshop, the cover arts of this book grabbed my eyes, and I decided to give this book a try. This book has zombies, airships, steam powered mechanical devices, and evil villains. At the first glimpse, this book certainly sounds as if it has all elements for making an awesome story, right? Well, let me share some of my thoughts about this book.

Synopsis:

The story of Boneshaker is set in alternate history version of Seattle. During the early stages of the American Civil war, some Russian investors commissioned Leviticus Blue, an engineering genius, to build Boneshaker, an incredible drill engine. Boneshaker was supposed to give the Russians advantages in the race for the Kondike gold race.

Unfortunately, Boneshaker went haywire during the test, and accidentally released a poisonous gas from the underground. This poisonous gas, known as the Blight, turned people into mindless zombies who thirst for the human flesh. The survivors fled the city in a mass exodus, repopulated at the outskirt of Seattle, then built high walls around Seattle to contain the Blight and the zombies inside.

16 years later, a teenage boy stole away from home, venturing into the dangerous city, to solve the mysteries surrounding Leviticus Blue and Boneshaker. After his mother realized her son has gone into the city, she also went into the city to find him. Dangerous gangs dominate the abandoned city, with flesh eating zombies lurking at every dark corner. Can the mother and the son escape from the city with their lives?

What I think about this book:

Upon the first glimpse, the story of Boneshaker sounds exciting and refreshing. However, after I read it, I discovered, while this book is fun, but it also has some major weaknesses despite its originality. Let me talk about them briefly.

First of all, on top of being original, this book succeeds in terms of pacing. The pace of the story is good. There aren't many boring moments in the book. Another strength of this book is that the scenes are well described, and quite vivid. These strengths make Boneshaker a fast moving book with well described scenery.

However, in my opinion, there are several major flaws in this book. The biggest weakness being the lack of character development, the characterization is fairly weak. The result is, I didn't really care about the characters, and I didn't care about what happened to them. Maybe I was expecting a bit too much, but as a reader, I was unable to connect with the characters in the book. Usually, when I read a book, I want to venture with the characters, know their inner most thoughts, and share their feelings and emotions. However, in Boneshaker, I felt like I was just observing the characters as they venture into a story, I didn't know their thoughts, I didn't know who they were, and I wasn't there with them. The characters didn't develop, they stayed the same people after all the dangers and toils. My experience of reading Boneshaker feels a bit like watching someone else playing a video game.

Having said this, it does not mean Boneshaker is a terrible book. As I have said, this book has some original ideas, and it is refreshing. I am not a fan of steampunk, but I like the flavors, the scenes, and the descriptions about alternate history version of Seattle. At the end of the day, I speculate Boneshaker is a book for those who are interested in exploring the steampunk subculture, and it is probably a must read for fans of this genre. As for me, I discovered Boneshaker is only the first book to a series of five books titled “The Clockwork Century”, all written by Cherie Priest. My habit is that if I start a series, then I have to finish it, so next, I will be reading the second book to this series.