Dreadnought is the second book
in Cherie Priest's “The Clockwork Century” series.
This book is built on the premises of the previous book, Boneshaker.
Like its predecessor, Dreadnought is a steampunk novel set in
alternate history version of the American civil war. It has elements
of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. Let's have a closer look:
Synopsis:
Nurse Mercy Lynch is stationed at a war
hospital in Richmond, Virginia. One day, bad news reached Mercy when
she was told her husband has died in a POW camp. Adding frost to the
snow, she also received a telegram from the west coast informing her,
that her father has sustained grave injuries, in danger of dying, and
he wishes to see her.
Mercy set out on a journey to Tacoma to
see her father, traveling thousands of miles between war-torn states.
Eventually, she boarded a train pulled by a Union operated steam
engine called Dreadnought, a mighty and terrifying steam engine
equipped with awesome armory and weapons.
Very soon, Mercy discovered her hope
for a peaceful journey quickly dissolved as the train was attacked by
a band of Rebel soldiers. Their goal, to steal the mysterious cargo
pulled by Dreadnought. Will Mercy survive this perilous journey?
What I think about this book:
In comparison to its predecessor,
Boneshaker, the pace in Dreadnought is a little bit
slower. However, this is not saying that Dreadnought is
boring. In fact, I enjoy Dreadnought more than Boneshaker.
This time around, the characterization has improved, because the
characters' thoughts and emotions are revealed to the readers. Having
said this, there is still very little character development in this
book. It feels like after the Mercy went through all the life
threatening moments and her epic journey, her character didn't grow
or change.
Without spoiling the story, I found the
ending to be somewhat anti-climatic. There are some twists in the
story but it won't surprise you that much. Where this book succeeds,
is the world building and the description of scenes. The author
brilliantly established a fantastic, yet believable alternate history
version of the American Civil War, with funky steam powered machinery
and flesh eating zombies. Overall, as long as you don't take this
book too seriously, this is a fun read and a good way to escape into
the world of steampunk. If you already liked Boneshaker, you will
probably like this one too.
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