Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel

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.

Yes. It's a great beach or vacation book. It's fun, easy, and amusing.

The initial meeting between the two main characters.

Wellington Books. He's calm, academic, and yet funny.

It's a typical steampunk adventure. A fun brain break worth your time but don't expect anything insightful or surprising. Eliza (the heroine) is pulled right from any feisty romance novel. The male lead, Wellington Books, is a bit more interesting. It's brain candy.

What a great book! Eliza D. Braun and her partner Wellington Books are fun to listen to and entertaining to follow, you never know what’s next. The mix of mayhem and comedy make this audio book hard to turn off, so make sure you are ready to get angry at anyone who tries to disrupt you. If you've never listened to a steam punk novel I suggest that you make this one your first. I really hope that Tee Morris and Pip Ballantine will continue to write more about these two.

The narrator was great, and although the story was a little silly it was certainly enjoyable. Action packed. It kept my attention, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

A great introduction to the steampunk genre and a wonderful first book in what I hope will be a very long series. The main characters are charismatic and have an excellent chemistry. Well written and narrated. Worth the credit.

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.

I listened to to this to see if I was at interested in it. Wow, I was impressed. It has left me with a desire to find, and wear, a bullet proof corset. This a a nicely written series and I really liked it. Love the narration by James Langton.

I'm not a qualified steampunk reader, so forgive me if I hit things with an obvious stick, but what fun! For those, like me, who are strangers to this universe: the science is wonky, steam powered and fantastical. History is not following the course that it did in our history books, so don't be alarmed by drastic departures. At times this seems like both an homage to and a parody of Victorian fantastic fiction, but with a thoroughly modern sensibility. I love that the male lead character is allowed to decide to be gentile and mannered and horrified by the behavior of the female lead character who is fierce and cunning, while at the same time fascinated by her. The role reversal seems natural and satisfying, both for the characters and for me, the reader.

I see this so often in the youngsters my son knows: gentle boys and fierce girls. Perhaps that is why this kind of literature is so popular with their generation. This world is turned on its head, but in a way perhaps it is truer than the world we live in.

Normally, I'm not a fan of steampunk but I was pleasantly surprised by Phoenix Rising. I liked the two main characters, Eliza Braun and Wellington Books, which made a somewhat meandering story easier to take. While the plot does drag in certain place it's interesting enough to keep you listening. Much of the credit for that has to go to the narrator, James Langton. He inhabits each of the characters and gives their own voice quite nicely; however, his New Zealand accent was questionable at times. While there are some major plot holes and unsettling events that may turn off some readers/listeners, overall this a was really fun story and I look forward to more adventures from Books and Braun.

Phoenix Rising is an absolutely wonderful action/adventure tale through a England of Gentleman, Ladies, Bulletproof Corsets, Airships. And most importantly, a plot that could destroy Queen Victoria's nation and perhaps even the world. Enter Eliza D. Braun & Wellington Books, Esq., two agents for the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences which from the shadows keep England safe.

Starting off with the lead characters they are so well developed and you quickly fall in love with them both for different reasons. But the great care and development runs all through the novel with a wonderful world you want to explore more of. And great characters, both good and evil, that make you not want to stop reading because you want to know what happens next. Cliche sounding perhaps but it is very true here.

And the narration by James Langton was wonderful the whole way through, a challenge I am sure with so many accents and such. But he performs just wonderful as well and very much, I think, helped to bring a soul to the world and characters like the great narrators of film and stage. Top marks to him.

If you are looking for a great action tale, please join Agents Books & Braun.