Boneshaker

By: Cherie Priest

Narrated by: Wil Wheaton, Kate Reading

In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice.

Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born. But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.

Now it is 16 years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history. His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.

©2009 Cherie Priest (P)2010 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Intelligent, exceptionally well written and showcasing a phenomenal strong female protagonist who embodies the complexities inherent in motherhood, this yarn is a must-read for the discerning steampunk fan." ( Publishers Weekly)

A good, rollicking read/listen

Cherie Priest's Boneshaker is well-told, well-narrated, and despite the zombie gore, manages to tell a rather sweet story about mothers and sons. I decided to download this novel after listening to the first two books in the Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld because I felt the need for more steampunk in my life, and I wanted to see what it might look like outside of YA-novel-world.

I was not disappointed. Both Kate Reading and Will Wheaton do an excellent job with narration, and even though they don't use exactly the same voices for the same characters, it wasn't hard to follow who was speaking because there are good cues in the text itself. Besides the quality of narration, the story arc is well-plotted and has a good mix of action and dialogue. Briar's quest to save her son, and his quest for the truth about his father, avoids schmaltz and sentimentality but is still moving.

My only caution is that you should avoid listening while eating once the action of the novel moves into the sealed-off section of Seattle. I was eating a snack and listening when zombie mayhem broke out in the story, and the descriptions of what exactly happens to a zombie's head when it gets shot made my snack much less appetizing. Other than that, which was my own fault for not knowing better, I wholeheartedly recommend this book!

A good time

Overall this was a fun listen, it had potential to be great, but needed to be longer so as to further develop the characters. Zombies, guns, and action, don't expect it to be anything more and you will not be disappointed.

Well narrated Seattle Steampunk

I picked this title because I like the narrators, then I discovered it took place in Seattle and had a strong woman protagonist so I jumped in.

Good enough story about a Seattle ruined in a freak or not-so-freak accident and a mother's journey to rescue her curious son in a hostile environment. I'm not a zombie fan, but these weren't too distressing.

Great Book, Decent Performance

If you could sum up Boneshaker in three words, what would they be?

steampunk, zombies, and zeppelins

Who was your favorite character and why?

I think that Captain Cly might be one of my favorite characters. He's no-nonsense and does what he has to in order to survive, but he loves his ship and is an honorable and decent man in his own way. Second on the list would probably be Jeremiah Swackhammer.

Have you listened to any of Wil Wheaton and Kate Reading ???s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listened to Wil Wheaton narrate Ready Player One. To be honest, I would have preferred he narrate this entire book. Kate isn't bad, but I found some of her characterizations a little annoying (like Swackhammer with his mask on).

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I didn't have any extreme reactions to the book except for enjoyment. It's a great blend of genres and Priest does a marvelous job of simple descriptions that are complex in their meaning. Many times I've had to pause the audiobook to consider the way she described something and just mull it over in awe.

Somehow it's boring

really struggled with this one. I don't know why, but it was just so horing and hard to pay attention to. Nothimg against the book, I jist couldn't get into it.

Creative World, Odd Synergy Between Two Narrators

Any additional comments?

Boneshaker is one of the more creative novels I've read recently - tying together zombies, dirigibles, mad scientists, steampunk weaponry and an overall western feel takes skill to do right, and Priest definitely delivered in her world building.

The story kept me on my toes. I was never entirely sure what Dr. Blue's fate was. I thought I knew and then something would change my mind - something that happened many times throughout the book.

There was a very fun cast of secondary characters, all with their own personality quirks.

I'm interested to see how Priest continues to build her Clockwork Century world, and will be continuing with the series.

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The audiobook was narrated by Kate Reading (Briar's POV) and Wil Wheaton (Zeke's POV). I really enjoyed Wil Wheaton's reading on Zeke's point of view, but Kate Reading left me wanting more and she didn't quite seem to fit with the world as well as Wheaton did.

As I read through some other reviews, I note that some people complain that they couldn't connect to the main characters or didn't really care about them. I didn't feel this way, and I think the audiobook may have helped lend to that emotion that others didn't feel while reading.

YA all the way

After reading great books like the Hunger Games and The Knife of Never Letting Go, I wondered what makes a book, Ya. I thought It meant no sex, but after reading this book, I now know it means, it reads like it was written by a youth.

The concept of the story was pretty good, reminding me of Sanderson's "Elantris" and the movie," Escape From New York". Unfortunately, CP failed to capitalize on a great story Idea.

Briar Wilkes the main character has no character. She is a boring droll individual. I could easily understand why her husband was bored with her.

I have never heard so many cliches in one book in my life.

Even the Zombies are boring in this book. The mad scientist is pretty tame and lame.

I will admit that I did listen to all of it, because I did want to find out what was going to happen and there was a small twist at the end.

Cherie is not going to break out of the YA category with this type of effort.

I enjoyed Wil Wheaton's performance and Kate Reading was good in all, but her interpretation of Briar Wilkes. She did not help make her real, using the same voice she used for Aes Sedai. While it worked for Aes Sedai it does not work for a Mom with a son in danger.

Outstanding in Every Way

Having read Priest's Clockwork Century series, I decided to hear Boneshaker read. I was not disappointed. This unique, vivid, steampunk yarn is unforgettable, and the narrator's tag-team to bring Priest's characters even more alive -- even the undead.

By far, the best narration I have yet experienced.

Steampunk Zombies

Loved it. Loved the writing and the characters and the world. It was all great.

Steampunk Zombies!

Very interesting addition to the Steampunk fandom, but in a good way. Loved it! 😊