This is the
second probably the third book in Cherie Priest’s Clockwork Century series, set in an
alternative 1800 world of steampunk, airship pirates, zombies and wild
inventions. Like the first book, Boneshaker, this book features a strong
female protagonist that I immediately took to.
Mercy Lynch, a
nurse in a Confederate hospital, gets word that her soldier husband has died at
almost the same moment that she gets a message that her long vanished father is
very ill and wants to see her- in Seattle. She surprises herself by making the
decision to go and visit him, a trip that, given the war, isn’t easy. Her trip
across the continent by airship, steamboat, and train – no regular train- is a
wild adventure full of disagreeing Confederates, Union soldiers, Texians,
missing Mexican troops, zombies, gold, and a mad scientist. Mercy is a tough
woman, though, and deals with it all with courage and inventiveness, her
nurse’s training standing her in good stead what with the bullets flying almost
constantly.
One of the
things I love about this book, and Boneshaker, is that the protagonist
is not just strong, but that she is not a stunning beauty that men fall
instantly in love with. In fact, there is no romance in the books. Nor are they
genius inventors; they are average women doing what needs to be done. One can
identify with them easier than with some fantasy women- or at least I can!
The universe
that Priest has built for this series holds together well. Dreadnought is
a can’t-put-it-down, fast read that is full of action and has just enough
creepiness- not enough to slow the story down, but enough to ratchet the
anxiety level way up.
This is an affiliate link. If someone uses this link to buy the book, I get a few cents from Amazon.
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