Boneshaker

I rarely (because I'm cheap and OCD) abandon a book. It may take me awhile, but eventually the constant chirp in the back of my brain makes me run and pick the damn thing up (come on...you paid real money for it) and just finish it. However, there are few RARE exceptions to this rule.

When a book is SO poorly written, so filled with cliches, 'bad' adjectives, and weak verbs; when the dialogue is so awkward and stilted that it is a painful experience to read; when the book produces no virtuous feelings in me; when there is NO forward momentum (except for the earthy desire to finish and be done with it) -- it begins to dawn on me (pg 194) that I should just abandon the book.

Thus I excommunicate it. I close the book, blow out the candle, and ring the damn bell. May god have mercy on Cherie Priest's soul.

I went for this because of the steampunk aspect. I mean, how can a story with an airship in it be bad? Well, it's not bad, really, but I was disappointed by the story. There was too much emphasis on arguments between the mother and teenage son and less emphasis on developing the plot. I thought the Boneshaker machine was going to be at the midst of this story, but it was off to the side. Too bad. And frankly, I can do without zombies.

For a steampunk zombie novel, it's surprisingly low on both steampunk AND zombies until almost the halfway mark. Some good ideas that are lost in the mess, but my biggest complaint as an audiobook is in the direction. Wil Wheaton, who is fantastic and Kate Reading, who falters when having to dispaly a range of voices, trade off the narration by chapters and inexcusably utilize radically different voices for the same characters, making this a far more confusing listen than you'd expect.
Compared to transcendent YA novels like The Hunger Games, this one's a slog and unless you're gonzo for goggles, airships, and zombies enough to be very very patient until they show up, this one's a skip.

I really enjoyed the book and especially the narration by Kate Reading and Wil Wheaton. I’ve listened to other audio books where the female narrator just can’t do male voices convincingly (Emily Gray botched a Jasper Fforde novel so badly that I couldn’t get past the second chapter) but Kate Reading does a great job. And Wil is top-notch. Unlike some reviewers, I didn’t mind the narration switching back and forth between these two voices. In fact, it seemed to give the characters more dimension somehow.

As for the book itself – what a delicious concept. Zombies, zeppelins, sky pirates, a mad scientist, a Wild-West society underground in the ruins of “Old Seattle”, and a resourceful mother’s desperate search for her son. The book was a bit slow in places, and some dialogue dragged on much longer than it had to (hence my 4-star, not 5-star rating), but that’s okay. The slow beginning led to a dynamite ending, and a perfect set-up for future novels.

This novel isn’t what I would really call “steampunk.” I think it’s only called that because the publishing world has to put everything in a slot. It’s more like “Wild West Zombie punk,” if such a category can be imagined. But the female characters are strong and fully imagined, the desperation of the characters feels real, and the ideas are wonderful.

And the outrageous names – Leviticus Blue, Doctor Minnericht, Jeremiah Swakhammer – LOL!

I highly recommend this book.

Cherie Priest's BONESHAKER is a romp through an alternate Civil War era Seattle, torn apart by Leviticus Blue's Boneshaking Drill -- a Russian-funded experimental drilling engine designed to tunnel under the Alaskan ice, looking for gold. But something goes wrong when Blue tests the machine, and gas which would become known as "the Blight" begins to seep out of the ground, killing those who breathe it. And worse.

So a large section of the city is walled off, Blue has disappeared, and his widow, Briar Wilkes, is left to raise the son she didn't know she carried when the calamity struck. She and her son, Ezekiel, are treated with disdain and open contempt by the remaining townsfolk, believing she must have known what Blue was up to, and so blaming her in part for the new way of life on the "Outskirts" around Seattle.

Ezekiel, longing to clear the family name, heads into the city for answers, and Briar soon follows. Only then do they start to truly understand what has become of those who have been claimed by the Blight -- the "rotters" -- zombies whose appearance in the book is truly suspenseful and riveting. Add goggles and gasmasks (to protect against the Blight) and gadgets dreamed up to sustain human settlements within the ruins of the city, Civil War era airships, and a great cast of supporting characters, and it's no wonder that BONESHAKER has had the praise heaped upon it that it has. It's great fun and well-imagined.

Here, Kate Reading gives a great deadpan Briar Wilkes, capturing the frustration and urgency of a tired, bitter mother looking for her son, and putting a great voice behind Jeremiah Swakhammer, the big, armor-plated -- well, I don't want to give too much away. And Wil Wheaton helps bring Zeke and the characters he meets to life, particularly taking the day with his performances as Zeke, a certain Princess (this one is great!), and the mysterious "Dr. Minnericht."

How this one escaped nominations for the Audies I don't know.

I thought I would LOVE this book -- I mean, zombies, steampunk (with Zeppelins), what's not to like? Well, I guess a strong narrative and plot would have helped. Also, I never really felt engaged to any of the characters and kept hoping they would stumble across some zombies to add a bit of zest.
The performance, for the most part, is well done, although when the 2 primary characters come together, it becomes a bit confusing (as we have become used to Wil reading Zeke's lines and Kate reading Briars's spots, so it takes some getting used to as they read chapters without regard to who is speaking.)

Overall, I recommend a pass on this book unless you just rally love Steampunk.

I thoroughly enjoyed Boneshaker. The plot was fantastic and the characters were well-developed (steampunk + zombies, what's not to like?). I only have one small quibble. The audio book used two different narrators throughout the work. This tactic was effective for the majority of the book since each narrator provided the perspective of one of the main protagonists. When the protagonists meet up towards the end of the book there is some conflict with the narration. A character that was voiced by one narrator was suddenly voiced by the other narrator. The discontinuity is jarring. It would have been worth a bit of post production to overcome this small problem in what was otherwise a fantastic read.

Boneshaker is an interesting study in a good idea that just falls flat. Simply put the world is amazing, the idea is enchanting, and the supporting cast of characters are each a ray of imagination. But, and its a very large but, the main characters, mother and son protagonists, are flat, one dimensional, lacking any interesting dynamic qualities, and down right annoying. I cant even relate in any meaningful way to them, and time and again I just struggle to care. The son is a cliche of the annoying brat. And annoying he is. Maybe its the narration, maybe its the writing, but I cant remember a character that has got on my nerves so much.
The mother is slightly more dynamic, and only mostly a cliche of the abandon and abused single mother. She almost makes up for the other half of the book.
2 out of 5 stars for almost. If there was one word I could use for Boneshaker, its almost.

I've always been on the fence about steampunk but this book is so well written it wouldn't matter what genre it was in. The characters are easy to love and the setting is detailed but not overly so. While I've had issues with Kate Reading's narratives in the past because she can only really do one male voice the way the narration switches between Wil Wheaton and Reading resolves the issue to satisfaction. Each reader perfectly suits their role. This work is one of the best all around audio books I've listened to in ages.

Yes, I would recommend this. It's a highly original story with great characters.

This fits in with the other 2 books of the Clockwork Century trilogy. Love that there are 3 great books with strong women lead characters who can care for themselves & kick some butt.

The scenes in King Station were creepy but so well brought to life! I will never go through that station again without thinking of the big fight there.