Well, this may be the first "steampunk superhero" story, but I have to admit I'm not a big fan of superheroes in general, and I found the story to be unexceptional (and unfinished - it's a cliffhanger with a sequel on the way).
I try not to complain about typos in ARCs (there are many), but the lack of commas before a character's name throughout the book seemed to be more than a typo (it was consistent), and was very distracting. (There's a difference between "You know, John" and "You know John.")
Anyway, the story is about a young (and irrelevantly beautiful) woman, Sarah, who happens to be the daughter of a member of a sort of faux-Justice League in 19th-century New York. Their leader dies and wills the leadership of the group to his automaton. However, a traitor who wishes to circumvent his will, and oh, also bring about the end of the world, is secretly at work. Sarah and the automaton are the only ones who realize the truth.
The superhero group's powers rest in the fact that their recently-deceased leader was an inventor who discovered some sort of radioactive substance with which he produces "fortified steam." The portrayal of this energy source is every bit as ridiculous and unrealistic as Spiderman being bit by a radioactive arachnid.
It has a lot of loose ends (characters who appear briefly never to re-appear, &c). Perhaps these will be tied up in future books, but I won't go out of my way to find them.
I try not to complain about typos in ARCs (there are many), but the lack of commas before a character's name throughout the book seemed to be more than a typo (it was consistent), and was very distracting. (There's a difference between "You know, John" and "You know John.")
Anyway, the story is about a young (and irrelevantly beautiful) woman, Sarah, who happens to be the daughter of a member of a sort of faux-Justice League in 19th-century New York. Their leader dies and wills the leadership of the group to his automaton. However, a traitor who wishes to circumvent his will, and oh, also bring about the end of the world, is secretly at work. Sarah and the automaton are the only ones who realize the truth.
The superhero group's powers rest in the fact that their recently-deceased leader was an inventor who discovered some sort of radioactive substance with which he produces "fortified steam." The portrayal of this energy source is every bit as ridiculous and unrealistic as Spiderman being bit by a radioactive arachnid.
It has a lot of loose ends (characters who appear briefly never to re-appear, &c). Perhaps these will be tied up in future books, but I won't go out of my way to find them.
A steampunk novel featuring superheroes - The Paragons (the good guys) and The Children of Eschaton (the bad guys) and the new invention of steam power. What started out as an interesting concept quickly fizzles when the leader of the Paragons was killed and the infighting and back-stabbing began as they chose a new leader. It rapidly descended into boring territory and became a rather tedious read. Until slightly more than half way through, then the action started and I couldn't put it down. With everyone wearing masks it was impossible to tell who was the traitor. It will be interesting to see where the story goes now. I must say that the idea of grown men running around in silly costumes with masks was slightly ridiculous.
I liked Sarah Stanton but disliked her father and step-brother. They had that "women belong in the kitchen" attitude which was condescending and irritating. Sarah may not have been a Paragon but she lived with them since she was a little girl and knew almost as much as they did. Alexander Stanton's attitude really annoyed me and I was glad when Sarah ignored his edicts.
I liked Sarah Stanton but disliked her father and step-brother. They had that "women belong in the kitchen" attitude which was condescending and irritating. Sarah may not have been a Paragon but she lived with them since she was a little girl and knew almost as much as they did. Alexander Stanton's attitude really annoyed me and I was glad when Sarah ignored his edicts.
