Book Review: Ganymede by Cherie Priest (The Clockwork Century #3)

Ganymede, is the third book to Cherie Priest's “The Clockwork Century”. The story in Ganymede is loosely connected to the previous two books in the series. This is a cross country adventure set in New Orleans, and it is a steampunk novel set in alternate history version of the American Civil War, the story heavily revolves around the fictionalized struggles between the Union and the Confederate. Is this any good? Let's have a look.

Synopsis:

Captain Andan Cly is an air pirate of awesome reputation. He is planning to retire from a career of being an air pirate, and settle down in Seattle with his love interest. While he was preparing for a mission for a supply run, he received a telegram from his ex-lover, Josephine Early, who is an owner of a brothel in New Orleans, but in reality, a spy for the Union. Josephine wishes to hire Andan for a secret mission, a mission that will change the course of the American Civil War. This is a mission that can only be achieved by a pilot of great skills, a pilot such as Andan. The mission is, to smuggle a top secret, weaponised submarine called Ganymede from New Orleans into the hands of the Union.

What I think about this book:

Ganymede is an interesting book. It capitalizes on the well constructed world established in the previous two books, weaving a cross country adventure that is fun, but leaves much to be desired. The most interesting element in Ganymede (and in The Clockwork Century in general), is that the story features very strong female leads. In many ways, The Clockwork Century is a series of sci-fi novels where the lead characters are heroines instead of heroes. Personally, I found this refreshing. Another interesting aspect of this book is, there is a transgender character in this book. This is thought provoking because the author seeks to suggest that transgender people have always existed in history buy in secret (which is most likely true).

Aside from the interesting premises of the story, however, I found it difficult to get through this book. This is because the pacing of this book is somewhat uneven, and the characterization falls flat. I much prefer the previous installment in this series, Dreadnought, as opposed to Ganymede. The ending of the book, is once again, anti-climatic. Overall, this book has interesting ideas, but just doesn't flow every well. I can only hope that the next book, Inexplicables, will be a better read.