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

steampunk!

a good story! Action, adventure, A Little Romance, all in a steampunk world. I plan to finish the series

Great Steampunk - worth a listen

I was very pleasantly surprised to listen to this book - great main characters, fast paced steampunk mystery. The narration is great, and James Langton does a very good job depicting the different characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this book as a funny light mystery, and am about to explore Pip Ballantine's other novels.

MUCH better than expected. Not a steampunk fan but

Any additional comments?

I'm not a fan of steam punk but this is a book that could get me interested in the genre. I'm definetly looking forward to the second book.

Fun but nothing special

If you like steampunk then you'll probably enjoy this book. It's a fun romp through all the cliches of the genre. It's got gadgets and secret societies and British manners. If you're looking for something super new, innovative or different, then you will probably be disappointed. I would have given the book a higher rating, but the heroine just rubbed me the wrong way. I'm as much a fan of the spunky heroine as the next gal, but to me Eliza crossed the line between spunky/independent to rude jerk. Frankly, I didn't like her much. Books, the hero, was really too cliche to be really interesting.

Steampunk Meets Urban Fantasy

We've seen these characters before.

We've heard this story before.

But there's something compelling about the way they are strung together.

No surprises...but a very listenable book.

Average young adult novel, with sex tacked on.

I thought it was mostly OK as a juvenile work, but it appeara to have an unnecessary sprinkling of sex and violence in what I guess is an attempt to loolk adult.

But since the prose and tone are straight from Harry Eragon the skeleton detective... The combination is just weak.

Great Orginal SteamPunk Novel

I loved this book - the characters are engaging and evolve - the story is written vividly so i can actually see the story in my mind!. It is great to see the Genre make it to audible! I recommend this to all who like a good paced story with humor and action. Cant wait for the next in the series!

The Narrator is perfect for this book and this Genre.

Clever and Fun

If you could sum up Phoenix Rising in three words, what would they be?

Fun steam punk.

What does James Langton bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Mr. Langton's performance of Wellington Books is spot on; he perfectly embodies Books.

Any additional comments?

Light and fun, this is a good brain-candy kind of book.

Jolly good fun!

Sherlock Holmes meets Steam Punk. Fast paced, mysterious, diverse characters. A very original story even though there was some borrowing here and there, it was fun recognizing it.

The start of a great adventure

Welcome to the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences. This shadowy ministry investigates anything which may be described as a peculiar occurrence. The also collect outre' artifacts and provides reports, all of which wind up under the oversight of the Ministry Archivist (do NOT call him a librarian). The intrepid field agents, with a wide array of weapons and other equipment supplied by the strange inhabitants of the Research and Development branch, venture all over the world to address the cases that nobody else can solve. All of this is presided over by the enigmatic Dr. Sound.

This adventure is a mix of Steampunk science fiction, action, and an alternate history where you will find a salting of historical characters placed into an exciting new world where Queen Victoria presides over the technological wonders while still finding time for a civilized cup of tea.