Lady of Devices: A Steampunk Adventure Novel

Magnificent Devices, Book 1

By: Shelley Adina

Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham

Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

London, 1889: Victoria is Queen. Charles Darwin's son is Prime Minister. And steam is the power that runs the world.

At 17, Claire Trevelyan, daughter of Viscount St. Ives, was expected to do nothing more than pour an elegant cup of tea, sew a fine seam, and catch a rich husband. Unfortunately, Claire's talents lie not in the ballroom, but in the chemistry lab, where things have a regrettable habit of blowing up. When her father gambles the estate on the combustion engine and loses, Claire finds herself down and out on the mean streets of London. But being a young woman of resources and intellect, she turns fortune on its head. It's not long before a new leader rises in the underworld, known only as the Lady of Devices...

When she meets Andrew Malvern, a member of the Royal Society of Engineers, she realizes her talents may encompass more than the invention of explosive devices. They may help her realize her dreams and his...if they can both stay alive long enough to see that sometimes the closest friendships can trigger the greatest betrayals....

©2011 Shelley Adina (P)2013 Shelley Adina

great adventure

I love love love this book! What an adventure I have been on. Back to the past where steam was a magnificent thing!! A wonderful main character Lady Claire is. She is strong, quick witted , and has an amazing mind. I loved how this story came to life while listening to it.

Can't Wait to Listen to the rest of the Series!

This is my first Steampunk, and Shelley Adina has me hooked! Loved the book and can't wait to find out what happens next. The narrator is absolutely perfect for these characters. I was right there with them! I highly recommending listening. In fact, it might even be better than reading on my Kindle.

CLEAN AND FUN

Any additional comments?

It's difficult to find good family entertainment that is clean, creative and well written. I have found all three in The Lady. I sincerely hope the series continues in that vein.

Decent narrator, but oh, those misspoken words!

I loved the Lady of Devices stories in print and looked forward to an audio version. By and large, the narrator does a decent job, and she has some nice voice differentiation for the various characters, but she does mispronounce some fairly common words very badly - Hors d'oeuvres had the s sounded, viscount wasn't vy-count, etc. They're just enough of a bobble to throw the listener out of the story.

Enjoyably Different

I don't read a great deal of Steampunk but like the genre. I must say this story went in a different direction than I expected and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Happily moving on to book two.

Not sure if this is a keeper . . .

There were parts I liked, but there were a lot of parts I didn't like. Girl versus the system I liked. Girl not being isolated from society I didn't like. I guess I just can't get into "steampunk", but I tried. I can't in good conscience recommend this book. I give it an "E" for effort. Try at your own risk.

A Fun Story - Very Imaginative and Well Written!

I only heard about Steampunk very recently as a design that I always liked. Things cobbled together using bits and bobs and gears and pulleys. I had no idea there was a whole following to it with people dressing up, much less stories. I did enjoy H.G. Wells stories and the era they took place, but didn't realize there was a name for it besides Science Fiction. Intrigued, I set out to find other stories and movies. Sorry to say, much I found was very poorly written (the movie I started watching was simply awful!). Then I searched on Audiobooks and found this series. It is fabulous fun! I am currently listening to the next volume and am really enjoying it as well. The narration is very nicely done. American listeners might have trouble with some of the accents, but I love British television and have become accustomed to most of them. I am very happy there are so many books in the series. If they all are of the same caliber of work, I will remain happy for a good long time.

Wonderful story of 17yr old going on 30 in Victori

Would you consider the audio edition of Lady of Devices: A Steampunk Adventure Novel to be better than the print version?

do not know but the audio verision keep me riveted, could not wait to get back to it when I had to stop. The second book is even better since all the charactors have filled out as it moves along

What other book might you compare Lady of Devices: A Steampunk Adventure Novel to and why?

This is for me a stand alone type of story, have not read anything like this before, like it.

Any additional comments?

Do not wish to say more because I do not wish to ruin it for the next reader

it was ok

the story was entertaining. I felt like there weren't a lot of steampunk references or elements in the story. just a few things mentioned. the narrator had a nice voice but her lysp was distracting.

A culture d young woman in difficult circumstances

I love the performance by the narrator. The characters were distinctive and I look forward to reading more In this series.