Phoenix Rising

A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel

By: Pip Ballantine, Tee Morris

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Evil is most assuredly afoot - and Britain’s fate rests in the hands of an alluring renegade... and a librarian.

These are dark days indeed in Victoria’s England. Londoners are vanishing, then reappearing, washing up as corpses on the banks of the Thames, drained of blood and bone. Yet the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences - the Crown’s clandestine organization whose bailiwick is the strange and unsettling - will not allow its agents to investigate. Fearless and exceedingly lovely Eliza D. Braun, however, with her bulletproof corset and a disturbing fondness for dynamite, refuses to let the matter rest... and she’s prepared to drag her timorous new partner, Wellington Books, along with her into the perilous fray.

For a malevolent brotherhood is operating in the deepening London shadows, intent upon the enslavement of all Britons. And Books and Braun - he with his encyclopedic brain and she with her remarkable devices - must get to the twisted roots of a most nefarious plot... or see England fall to the Phoenix!

©2011 Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers

A good tale - if a tad slow in the beginning

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

YES. Nice characters and a rather witty plot.

What did you like best about this story?

The interaction between the two heroes.

Did James Langton do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Well... he was superb when it comes to that... BUT that so called kiwi accent. I have seldom heard a worse one - it is frankly atrocious. It is plain broad Aussie and in being so probably offends every Kiwi and Aussie in equal measure ;) Because of this, I gave him three stars - one less than the rest of his performance deserves.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

nope

Steampunk - Not too overdone

This one is straight down the middle. The story is not unique, but it is fairly well-executed. The writing and dialog is good. The steampunk is there, but it's done with a light hand so its not too annoying. The Victorian manners and speech have been updated so that we can have spirited characters that are not too constrained. The reader's performance starts out a little stilted, but he gets the hang of it pretty quickly.

It's a slow start and I was *just* about to give up when the action kicked in and then I couldn't stop listening. I really like the main characters and they carry the story. The author's do a good job of giving us enough information about them to make us invested but hold back enough to keep us reading.

Fun new heroine!

Loved the narration by James Langton who gives the reader the essential sound of all tongue in cheek Victorian romps. The heroine, Eliza, has a perfect foil in the surprisingly adept Welllington. Reminds one of The Avenger as played by Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman.

Simply Delightful

A great introduction to the steampunk genre and a wonderful first book in what I hope will be a very long series. The main characters are charismatic and have an excellent chemistry. Well written and narrated. Worth the credit.

Better Than Expected

Normally, I'm not a fan of steampunk but I was pleasantly surprised by Phoenix Rising. I liked the two main characters, Eliza Braun and Wellington Books, which made a somewhat meandering story easier to take. While the plot does drag in certain place it's interesting enough to keep you listening. Much of the credit for that has to go to the narrator, James Langton. He inhabits each of the characters and gives their own voice quite nicely; however, his New Zealand accent was questionable at times. While there are some major plot holes and unsettling events that may turn off some readers/listeners, overall this a was really fun story and I look forward to more adventures from Books and Braun.

Fun!

When I first started listening, I thought I wouldn't get through. The book begins with a high-action sequence that the narrator reads as slowly as a bunny book for two-year-olds. Fortunately, narrator, characters, and action improve. All triteness of plot becomes forgivable in the enjoyment of the slowly building partnership between the two main characters. Their quips, characters and interactions begin working together like an efficient steampunk machine--or better, since this machine doesn't fall apart.

Excellent

Great story and production. I will definitely get the next books in the series. Good character development .

Worth a read

This was my first 'read' of a steampunk book, although I've been aware of the genre for a while. Phoenix rising grabbed me early and never got boring. The writing is excellent, and the mix of steam-driven computers, Babbage-inspired mechanical gizmos and Victorian era mystery is convincing. James Langton does a good job voice acting the characters, and nearly got me to listen to the whole thing non-stop, to the dismay of my wife. I'd recommend this novel to mystery and fantasy alike.

It took a couple chapters but I fell in Love!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. Just give it a couple of chapters. It's worth the slow, slightly confusing, start.

What other book might you compare Phoenix Rising to and why?

Gail Carriger's books. Slightly darker story line but smart, snappy humor.

Which character – as performed by James Langton – was your favorite?

Agent Eliza Braun has become one of my all time favorite heroines!

Any additional comments?

It took me a little while to get interested in this book. I even considered returning it but am so very glad that I did not. Agent Braun and Mr. Books are hilarious and make perfect partners. I love the secrets they've kept from each other and look forward to when they both discover these secrets.

Fun steampunk read!

This is the first book in the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series. Right now there are five books released in this series. I really enjoyed this start to this steampunk series. There is a lot of action, a secret society, automatons and many crazy devices. Additionally I really enjoyed the characters; they have complex pasts and are intriguing and fun to read about.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was very well done. Langton was a joy to listen to and did a great job on character voices and with emotion. I would definitely recommend listening to this series on audiobooks if you enjoy them.

I am a huge fan of steampunk books and this was one of the better steampunk books I have read. It is much less paranormal romance in tone and has a much more urban fantasy type pace to it. It seems like a lot of the steampunk series I have read are more on the romance end of things. While there are some hints at a romance in this book it is mostly an investigative urban fantasy.

I loved the pairing of Books and Braun (an excellent, if blunt, play on names here). Eliza Braun is a blow everything up, attack first, ask later kind of woman who gets sent down to the archives for acting too brashly and disobeying orders on her last case. Wellington Books mans the library...eh...archives for the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences. They could not be more different. However, when Eliza unearths an interesting case that’s been filed with the other unsolved mysteries they suddenly find themselves with a common cause.

There is a lot of action, intrigue and mystery in this book. The book is chock full of interesting devices, weaponized automatons and other crazy steampunky inventions. It was great fun to read and I ended up enjoying it a ton.

Overall this book was highly entertaining and I would recommend to both steampunk and urban fantasy fans. This was a fun read and I plan on continuing with the series.