The Affinity Bridge

A Newbury & Hobbes Investigation

By: George Mann

Narrated by: Simon Taylor

Length: 9 hrs

Publisher's summary

Get ready to follow dazzling young writer George Mann to a London unlike any you've ever seen and into an adventure you will never forget, in The Affinity Bridge.

Welcome to the bizarre and dangerous world of Victorian London, a city teetering on the edge of revolution. Its people are ushering in a new era of technology, dazzled each day by unfamiliar inventions. Airships soar in the skies over the city, while ground trains rumble through the streets and clockwork automatons are programmed to carry out menial tasks in the offices of lawyers, policemen, and journalists.

But beneath this shiny veneer of progress lurks a sinister side. Queen Victoria is kept alive by a primitive life-support system, while her agents, Sir Maurice Newbury and his delectable assistant, Miss Veronica Hobbes, do battle with enemies of the crown, physical and supernatural.

This time Newbury and Hobbes are called to investigate the wreckage of a crashed airship and its missing automaton pilot, while attempting to solve a string of strangulations attributed to a mysterious glowing policeman, and dealing with a zombie plague that is ravaging the slums of the capital.

©2009 George Mann (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Fast-paced and well-written, this novel is likely to appeal to genre fans." ( School Library Journal)

Predictable

The plot solution was very obvious as soon as the only two plot points were suggested.

Narrator has a distinctive voice and his character voices are distinctive. I just did not care for his voice and sometimes the s sounds blurred. This is a personal preference only.

The story wasn't bad, I really wanted to enjoy this more and I will try the next book to see if it gets better.

Really Really Really Good Listen

George Mann's "The Affinity Bridge" was a real eye-opener for me. I am new to the steampunk genre and have been looking for books to read in order to quench that need. I have started several but became so bogged down in vampires and werewolves that I just stopped reading.

This book however is beautifully written. Yes, there are a few zombies, but they do not overwhelm the story. Mann captures the feel of the Victorian era with clever descriptions and remarkable characters. Maurice Newbury is quite a character in himself, rakishly flawed, but powerful in his determination to do right by the Queen and her country.

Veronica Hobbs is a force to be reckoned with. Headstrong, loyal, and as determined as Sir Maurice, they make an awesome pair.

Fighting against several unknown entities, Newbury and Hobbs are cast into a world of near chaos. They must discover if the forces at work are those of the dark forces, one of Newbury's weaknesses, or if something far more sinister is afoot.

With plenty of action, emotion, and a few good twists, "The Affinity Bridge" is one of my favorite steampunk novels so far. I can't wait to download the next one in the series.

As for the narrator, I normally don't prefer the male voices, but Simon Taylor has quite a talent. I think his performance of the various voices was quite exceptional and I will be looking for more books narrated by him. A damn good listen!

Zombies, Steampunk, Holmes and Feminists

I bought this title because I loved Doctor Who: Engines of War. This is very different! A secret agent for a Steampunk Queen Victoria solves incredible crimes with his equally intelligent, female assistant. The "Doctor Watson" role is filled by his friend at Scotland Yard. Why does Scotland Yard seem to have so many fictional foggy brained Chief Inspectors?

There is lots of gore, well and truly described here. I found I could not listen late at night if I wanted any sleep. But I couldn't stop listening because the characters were also well developed and the plot was engaging.

The narrator is particularly good at choosing voices, I thought. Some of them were not the voice I would have chosen and he whispers a lot for some reason, but he's the artist and I mostly forgot about him and let the story unfold in my mind - which is the hallmark of a good narrator.

One thing I found annoying, funny or interesting (depending on my mood) was the frequent moments when the narrator would suddenly emit 4 clicks and then repeat the phrase he had just finished. I think this must be an editing mistake. Someone was supposed to catch those and edit them out.

People who watch "Walking Dead" might live this. I'm still not sure whether the gore out weighs the really excellent plot and interesting characters

kinda like Steampunk irobot

The story wasn't bad. A dark London dealing with advancing technology, ideas, and a zombie plague. It definitely ticked a lot of the steampunk/ gaslamp fantasy check boxes. It may be one of the few book I would have rather read than listened to. The narrator...... just didn't feel excited or in the mood. It was read, not really preformed. I may just be spoiled by some great performances but I had this on 1.5 near the end just getting the feeling of some energy.

typical steampunk

This book was recommended to me by a friend, and it was definitely an enjoyable listen but doesn't really break any new ground. There's enough steampunk out there now that it uses all the cliches that we have come to expect: clever detective with adorable sidekick, Queen Victoria, allies at Scotland yard, dirigibles, killer automata, two seemingly different mysteries which are actually related, etc. etc. I'd say it's got more plot than say Gail Carriger but is less intense than Mark Hodder. I also liked the characters in this book better than the "Ministry of Peculiar Occurences" novels, although I'd say they are otherwise on a similar level. Actually, I recently read The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man by Hodder and it was interesting to see how Hodder and Mann handled the same elements: automata and zombies. The narrator was good, although his female voices were a little too high and over exaggerated sometimes. There were also a number of editing slip-ups, where the narrator stops suddenly, does some rather hilarious vocal exercises then carries on. Bottom line: standard steamed fare

Good Story

good story.
would like to hear more from the main characters.
and the story is well written.
recommend

A Bit Confused

There was a lot going on in this story -- murder, mayhem, zombies, an airship accident, a spunky female Victorian protagonist, a mysterious and talented main character, and a mad scientist. Maybe it was too much; there were some scenes that seemed like they should be part of another book, such as when the main character, Newbury, is in his room lying in a pentagram. It was never clear that this had anything to do with the storyline. Frankly, I found the mystery curious but the gross descriptions of zombie fights a bit over the top. I'm not into guts and gore; the story could have cut half of the fight scenes. And really, what is it with zombies? Are they just thrown in for comic relief in all books these days?

This book shows promise of good character development for subsequent stories, but the plots need no extraneous elements -- and that includes slavering zombies. I want more of the Victorian/steampunk elements and less monsters.

Love this series!

I love this series! I’ve read them multiple times. I love the chemistry between Newbury & Veronica.

nowhere near as bad as reviewed

The book, and the audio are nowhere near as bad as the other reviewers have indicated. Make no mistake, the story is not -- nor does it pretend to be -- great literature. It's a steampunk tale of Zombies, airships and automatons, featuring a semi-Holmes pastiche. If you like the genre, you'll probably find something to like there. It has some good passages, some areas that even excel, some that drag a bit and yes, it also has its low points (as many first efforts do). But the book is hardly worthy of the level of vitriol seen in some of the other reviews. Were the other reviewers looking for a great work of modern times? The story is what it advertises (warts and all) and as a "light listen" it is enjoyable enough for long car rides. No, Masterpiece theater-material it is not; but does it have to be?

Perfect Narrator!

Simon Taylor is the perfect choice to voice this tale. He embodies the characters excellently, and brings great life to the already-enjoyable text. I had already read this book when I decided to try an audiobook version, and I like this best. Simply aces!