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)

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Hold onto your period appropriate hats.

It gets crazy lol but it is a very fun ride and the author is SO very good and keeping track of every single gle detail even when you think something isn't important it will be later and it is not forgotten. Very fun and very well written and read.

Social Commentary hidden in an Excellent Story

What made the experience of listening to The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack the most enjoyable?

Gerard Doyle's ability to flawlessly define every character and give them unmistakable personality was a pleasure. The clever story gives steampunk a reason to exist central to the plot and chases it's own tail through all three books!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Richard Francis Burton, the genius adventurer is the picture of the african explorer! He is an honorable man of action!

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

His characterizations add a dimension to the characters that transcend the written word.

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

Yes, it was a wonderful epiphany.

Any additional comments?

This book truly puts the PUNK in Steampunk. It uses the genre as it SHOULD be used, to examine the ethical conflicts inherent in rampant technological progress. Thus making it relevant to the world we live in.

Nearness to Excellence Sadly Highlights its Flaws

Would you try another book from Mark Hodder and/or Gerard Doyle?

Gerard Doyle did a great job narrating this story and I would certainly listen to other recordings of his.

Would you be willing to try another book from Mark Hodder? Why or why not?

I'd be willing to try another book by him, as he had some very good ideas. Unfortunately, he also had some very weak ideas and sometimes, it felt to me that there was a very simple and reasonable motivation available that he consciously avoided, in favor of a convoluted and unreasonable motivation.

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

Doyle's performance of Spring Heeled Jack was great - I didn't like the way the character was written, but he was performed well.

Any additional comments?

This book was a real mix of highs and lows. The explanation for the existence of a Steampunk Victorian era is fantastic. The depiction of one character's decent into madness is great. On the flip-side, the reason that character goes insane is paper thin, and I felt that there was a very good, accessible reason for him to begin going insane, that the author avoided. The antagonists in the book are extremely weakly written, their motivation feeling shallow and unbelievable. It feels to me like they were thrown in there because the book needed an exciting climax and that they were made to do cruelly evil actions up until that point so that the reader would appreciate that they are indeed bad guys. I suppose that's my major complaint - they are depicted as shallow Saturday morning cartoon bad guys, rather than being antagonists. Finally, the ending left me thinking "uh, what?" as the "moral" of the story was revealed. I think that I see what the author was going for, but I don't think that it was really achieved.

My First Steampunk!

I have done LOTS of Audiobooks, but this was my first steampunk novel. Overall I thought the performance was good and the story was solid. I will be checking out the 2nd book in the series.

Give reality a pass and enjoy the ride!

If you like to play "what if" then you'll enjoy this book! Excellent narration, the many different characters take on vivid life in the (really, really) incredible story. Again, you have to be able to this "what if" to enjoy, it's pretty much out there.
A great introduction to the steampunk genre, which I didn't really understand until I read this book!

This reminds me of a Sherlock Holmes mashup!

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

It was a strange way the book was laid out, but as it progresses through the sequence of the events and writing. It made sense and loved the approach of the author. The narrator certainly brought life to this book and incredible ways he approached each character and their voice personalities.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Actually Swineburne was an exquisite as the "I want to prove how useful I can be" for Sir Richard Burton

What about Gerard Doyle’s performance did you like?

The way he brought each character to life with their personality and never missed a switchup in voice reconizing each of them.

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

When Spring-heeled jack knew that his one decision to correct what he thought was correcting his family out come really started with him - or did it? Have to listen to see if you agree

Any additional comments?

MUST LISTEN TOO!

A Unique World

This story has all the elements of a great tale - a dashing hero, an intriguing side-kick, a well-motivated antagonist. It particularly picked up in the second part. There were also a lot of "steampunk" elements and a very imaginative world. Hat's off to the author for bringing together an amazing array of fresh ideas in a world that, crazy as it is, all makes sense in the end.

On the downside, there was a lot of "head hopping," which made it difficult to keep track of view points. Perhaps in the manuscript there were visual cues for changes in point of view, but the narrator doesn't seem to bring these across. I also felt that the main character was a little "too perfect."

Overall, I think if you enjoy a creative world, it's worth a listen. I wouldn't nominate it for any awards, and I'm on the fence about carrying on with the series.

Literary Steampunk with some Time-Travel

I enjoyed this book. Hodder weaves actual historical events with plausible non-events, fictional characters and historical personages, in a fun--and at times confusing--tale of time-travel and madness. I'll admit that the book wasn't quite what I was looking for--a silly romp full of impossible technology (although those elements are there), but I enjoyed myself nonetheless.
Gerard Doyle is always great.

OK start to an up-and-down series

This is really two reviews in one: the review of this particular book and a review of the full 6-part "Burton & Swinburne" series.

This book is an interesting steampunk novel, set in the mid 1800's. The lead characters Richard Burton and Algernon Swinburne (based on the historical figures) are in an alternative steampunk age, with technologists and eugenicists making mechanical and biological marvels (such as flying rotor-chairs and foul-mouthed messenger parakeets). They are investigating a rash of mysterious appearances and minor assaults by a legendary figure, Spring-Heeled Jack.

I like the book in that it mixes up genuine history (and historical figures) and legend with the alternative-history variations in a way that makes sense and seems consistent, including how this alternative universe came to be. Swinburne, in particular, is a charming character and one that it is easy to get hooked on. Burton is a more serious character (Swinburne's straight man, so to speak) and works as the center of the adventure. I didn't love this, but I liked it enough to carry on with the rest of the series.

The series as a whole was very up and down. "Spring Heeled Jack" could have been the jumping-off point for a series of adventures with Burton & Swinburne in this new alternative timeline, and Volume 2 ("Clockwork Man) mostly reads like a fun sequel. Volume 3 becomes a lot darker and more violent, but it creates a startling (and, perhaps, all too believable) extrapolation of the world created by Spring-Heeled Jack. And it ends on a dark note but one which could be interpreted as "the end" of a fine trilogy, albeit with a significant loose thread. And I would recommend stopping here (although I didn't).

The problem is that there is an urge to see what happens next (how that loose thread is tied up), and that brings us to the "second trilogy." Volume 4 starts off attempting to (and partially succeeding) at capturing the atmosphere and fund of the first 2 volumes, and is pretty good compared with the originals. However, the story isn't finished here, but it goes downhill and you end up with two final volumes that have their moments but generally are dark, bogged down in metaphysics, not particularly amusing and finish up on a rather unsatisfying (to me) note.

In summary: A good not great stand-alone novel. The first volume of a quite good trilogy. Or the first book in a very mixed double trilogy. It all depends on how far you go.