The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack

Burton & Swinburne, Book 1

By: Mark Hodder

Narrated by: Gerard Doyle

Length: 14 hrs

Publisher's summary

Sir Richard Francis Burton: explorer, linguist, scholar, and swordsman; his reputation tarnished; his career in tatters; his former partner missing and probably dead. Algernon Charles Swinburne: unsuccessful poet and follower of de Sade; for whom pain is pleasure, and brandy is ruin! They stand at a crossroads in their lives and are caught in the epicenter of an empire torn by conflicting forces: engineers transform the landscape with bigger, faster, noisier, and dirtier technological wonders; eugenicists develop specialist animals to provide unpaid labor; libertines oppose repressive laws and demand a society based on beauty and creativity; while the Rakes push the boundaries of human behavior to the limits with magic, drugs, and anarchy.

The two men are sucked into the perilous depths of this moral and ethical vacuum when Lord Palmerston commissions Burton to investigate assaults on young women committed by a weird apparition known as Spring Heeled Jack, and to find out why werewolves are terrorizing London's East End. Their investigations lead them to one of the defining events of the age - and the terrifying possibility that the world they inhabit shouldn't exist at all!

©2010 Mark Hodder (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The usual superlatives for really clever fantasy (imaginative, mind-bending, phantasmagorical) aren’t nearly big enough for this debut novel. With this one book, Hodder has put himself on the genre map.... Hodder’s only problem now is to find a way to follow up this exhilarating debut, which will appeal not only to sf/fantasy readers but also to mystery and historical-fiction fans." (Booklist)

"A historical figure already larger than life, Capt. Sir Richard Francis Burton, pursues a legendary and violent Victorian creature, Spring Heeled Jack, at the behest of the prime minister in this convincingly researched debut. Fans of steampunk will be intrigued by the alternate history setting, in which the queen dies mid-century; they will also enjoy following Burton and his sidekick, poet Algernon Swinburne, as they investigate the dark secrets of 19th-century England and recall Burton's legendary expedition to find the source of the Nile." (Publishers Weekly)

Forgot I had this but glad I did. Great Story!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack to be better than the print version?

Since I can't read print books anymore, I can't compare the two media.

What did you like best about this story?

It's a very engaging story that surprised me by how good it was.

What about Gerard Doyle’s performance did you like?

He gives the voices of the different characters great personalities.

oK

interesting, but a tad TOO far-fetched in some ways. worth the listen how ever. good

Poor Richard

Any additional comments?

Poor Richard.
Sir Richard, that is.
Francis Burton, that is.
First he gets resurrected and dragged all over Riverworld by Philip Jose Farmer with the greatest of all cowboys, Tom Mix as a sidekick.

Now, as if that's not enough, he's got to battle time-travelling gents and steam-punk historical persons with the eccentric poet Algernon Swinburne as a sidekick.

What is it about this fellow Burton?

For those who fear that all of this seems a little outlandish and fanciful, I would suggest that you do a little research on Sir Richard's actual life and adventures. They are at least as outrageous as anything in these books. Quite a fella, that.

This is a fun book, and where ever Richard might now be hanging out, I'll bet he is enjoying it, and translating it into 23 languages. Probably adding some dirty parts. For my part, I'll now charge straight ahead into the next volume, thank you very much.

Not for me

This was simply too ridiculous for me to enjoy it. The narrator was enjoyable, but the story was just absurd.

The steampunk mystery has arrived!

If you could sum up The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack in three words, what would they be?

Steampunk Sherlock Holmes

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

The ending nicely wrapped up the story while leaving room for a possible sequel or even an ongoing series.

Which scene was your favorite?

There were several, but the introduction of Charles Darwin was my favorite.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Definately not Elementary.

Any additional comments?

This book was fast paced with numerous twists and unexpected reversals. The setting is imaginative and well thought out. The characters have depth, something that I find lacking in many mystery novels. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery, is interested in the "steampunk" genre or someone who is interested in the real character of Sping Heeled Jack from Victorian England.

Steampunk / Filler / Time Travel / Wrap-Up

Steampunk has its own appeal and this story rides that for all its worth. The first third is awash with alternate history Steampunk elements, but after a few hours the story simply must carry the day. In this regard, this it is only partly successful. The middle third is little more than filler, padding the book out to novel length. Then in the past third we are treated to a section from Jack’s perspective. He is the most interesting character in the story. This section is an interesting exploration of time-travel paradox and is a lot of fun. But then near the end we return to Burton and Swinburne who must solve the mystery and bring the novel to an anticlimactic finish. Not enough to justify continuing with the series.

Gerard Doyle sounds so much like Simon Vance (aka Robert Whitfield) that I had to do a biographical search to validate, or in this case, invalidate that notion. Apparently Doyle and Vance are not the same person—at least that is what THEY say—but I am not so sure. At any rate, Doyle is every bit as competent as Vance would have been with the same material, so this audiobook has that much going for it.

A MUST read/ listen for all genres.

What did you love best about The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack?

Twists and turns so delightful in this tale. Characters are developed with finesse, action in a world setting that is different but familiar enough to allow entry. But oh my, the ride one takes in this tale. Best author ever, words are a delight. Savor this book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Swinburne. His eccentricities become endearing in a twisted warped way, and he allows levity to unwrap other characters while hinting at his own. Although the sweeper cat is a hard act to follow.

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

This is a different world setting, familiar in many ways but strange in others. The narrator read in a way that provides clarity and smooth enough to keep one flowing in the story.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Rewriting the past isn't a picnic in the park. It just takes a moment.

Any additional comments?

Mark Hodder has to be one of the most creative and brilliant writers of this century. Every one of his books are a delight to read, a delight to listen to, a delight to read and listen again. This series is one of the best adventure, mystery, and challenging story lines in a long time.

Would have been a 5 star all around but the ending

Where does The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's up there. After a slow start, once you get into it, it's riveting.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Edward Oxford; tragic.

Which character – as performed by Gerard Doyle – was your favorite?

Algernon

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

Burton's encounter with John Speak (sp?) near the end.

Any additional comments?

I'm hoping that a 2nd book will rectify the ending of "Spring Heeled Jack" in this book as part of the "reboot". Right now our hero (burton) is left looking a cold-blooded murderer.

Great plot but irritating writing gaffes

What did you like best about The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack? What did you like least?

Full disclosure: I am an English teacher, so the writing errors may not bother others as much. I also just bought the second book in the hopes that the plot magic will continue and the writing magic will grow.

The good: the plot took quite a while to get off the ground (about half of the book, actually), but when it got going, it was quite good! I liked the explanation for steampunk Victoriana as an error created through time travel, and I enjoyed watching inexplicable events from earlier chapters explain themselves.

The bad:
1. Death by Exposition: in normal conversation, people speak in short bursts. It's rare for one person to speak for long. In this novel, people lecture for ten or more minutes at a stretch in order to give "background" that the person listening would already know if it's so common knowledge. This is apparently what passes for normal conversation.

2. Department of Redundancy and Repetition: hey, did you read the description of the book yet? Then you'll know that Burton is both a "famous explorer" and a "king's agent." Learn to love those phrases, my friend. You will hear them in almost every paragraph. It gets old after the third time.

3. Toxic Description: This is what drove me up the wall. I searched for Mark Hodder's Wikipedia page just to make sure he wasn't actually in 8th grade before I tackled this section. Typically, grade and middle school students have a lot of trouble sorting out necessary and helpful details from unnecessary and tangential fluff. They get it eventually, so why is a published, adult author still confused about necessary versus unnecessary details?!

For example: there is a scene where Burton is trying to go to bed and take a nap. It has nothing to do with the plot and merely serves as a bridge between scenes. The scene takes him from the door of his house to his bed. "He staggered up the stairs and collapsed into bed" would do it nicely. Instead, we get lavish descriptions of the architecture of the house, digressions on what Burton plans to do with the spare bedroom in the future, a lovingly detailed discussion of the maid's schedule for the whole day, babbling about Burton's decorating decisions in his study and bedroom, and other trivia. It is useful to know about Burton's rapiers by the fire in a later scene. None of the rest of it ever comes up again.

THE WHOLE BOOK IS LIKE THIS. You will be treated to descriptions of random passers-by, itemized lists of everything worn by random characters (important or not), engineering treatises, and geographical ramblings when there's a plot to get to. I mentioned that it takes well over six and a half hours for the book to really start -- THIS IS WHY.

4. Unbelievable Talent: If Nancy Drew (who developed a new super-talent in every book) and James Bond (catnip to women) had a kid, that kid would be Burton. The talents just became laughable by the end because they were so ludicrously overplayed and poorly introduced. Rather than implying things and letting the reader figure them out ("Oh, gosh, he's speaking Swahili! And Bangalore! And French! And Linear A! And Klingon! He must be good with languages!"), the author brings whatever action to a screeching halt, identifies the talent specifically, and rambles about it for a while.

The talents are also hilariously improbable. Burton is a mastery of absolutely everything under the sun. I started out just rolling my eyes. By the end of the book, I was so amused that I'd pull out my headphones and share the news with my husband whenever new talents popped up like mushrooms after the rain.

"He's a master linguist who speaks 24 languages! Of course he is. He's a master fencer who studied under the best fencing master in the world and is so amazing that he created and named his own unstoppable fencing move! OF COURSE he is. He's a master of espionage and disguise who managed to cross the Sahara and sneak into Mecca disguised as a local! OF COURSE HE IS. He knows kung fu and can punch a man out in one hit!" And so on.

5. Uh, shouldn't you know that?: For all the exposition the characters provide and for all of Burton's mastery of everything in the universe, there are some really weird and glaring omissions. Burton hangs out with the Libertines. He is friends with them. He debates their philosophy with them. Yet, halfway through the book, he inexplicably requires a "conversation" (read: long winded lecture) to clarify who the Libertines are. Dude, you were just in their club debating philosophy with them. Why is this conversation happening? (See comments on poorly incorporated exposition.)

6. Linguistic oddities: so, Mr. Hodder is well acquainted with the thesaurus, and it shows. This is occasionally awesome, but it more often comes across as a bit fake. When the author repeats the same titles eleven million times throughout the book because he can't think of another way of phrasing things but then yanks "ingress" out of thin air instead of "entrance" or "door," something is up.

Also, it jarred me when he would go from throwing around curse words to using prim language. There's a scene where he describes a yard littered with "dog (excrement)," but then goes on to say a cop fell on his "bottom." Um...okay? We were all excited by cursing four lines ago, and now we're back to kindergarten language?

THE book, that best creates the Steampunk World

Any additional comments?

No other series bring together so much steampunk couture as this does. You get it all here; Victorian manners and customs, explorations, coal smoke filled streets, cigar smoke filled parlors, eugenicists, technologists and rakes!

My hat!

It's marvelous!