The Golden Spider

Elemental Steampunk Chronicle Series #1

By: Anne Renwick

Narrated by: Henrietta Meire

Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's Summary

Lady Amanda is tired of having both her intelligence and her work dismissed.

After blackmailing her way into medical school, she catches the eye of her anatomy professor from the moment she walks into his lecture hall. Is he interested in her? Or only her invention - a clockwork spider that can spin artificial nerves?

Lord Thornton, a prominent neurobiologist, has been betrayed.

Secret government technology has been stolen from his laboratory, and a foreign spy is attempting to perfect it via a grisly procedure...using gypsies as test subjects. The last thing he needs is the distraction of a beautiful - and brilliant - new student, even if her spider could heal a deteriorating personal injury.

Until her device is stolen and used in the latest murder.

Lord Thornton has no option but to bring her into his laboratory as well as the investigation, where they must fight their growing yet forbidden attraction. Bodies accumulate, and fragile bonds are tested as they race across London, trying to catch the spy before it's too late.

©2016 Karen Pinco (P)2017 Tantor

Steampunk, action & romance = excitement

Action, romance, steampunk, romance, lords/ladies, romance and a university education for a woman in the 1800s.Our main characters are the intelligent and inventor, Amanda Ravensdale and renowned neurophysiologist, Lord Sebastian Talbort (Thornton).

They are making cutting edge equipment for the British government. Amanda is the student, has a prototype, which needs some adjustments. Thornton, her mentor, a British spy in the service of the queen, he has access to a state of the art laboratory, and Amanda’s device would facilitate his invention. A German spy stole a prototype of his invention a year ago.

The romance is between student and mentor. It is entirely against the rules of the university. There is also the push and pull between our lovers, which leads to them questioning the reason for the attraction. Is it love or lust? A romance between two would be a cause of expulsion for Amanda.

Amanda is one of four children of Duke of Avenbury, who commands the British agents for the queen. Amanda'a siblings are Emily, a chemist, and Ned and Olivia, Babbage card programmers. This is similar to computer programmers. The siblings closeness is illustrated in the dedication of the girls to combine their talents to create a method for their brother to walk again.

Because the duke raised his kids in an unconventional manner, without prejudice of other races, he has a dilemma. He must get two of his daughters married before society becomes aware that a third daughter has married beneath her station. He is also scrambling to find the German spy, to retrieve Amanda’s gadget and Emily’ formula.

Amanda has deadline to meet with her father. She made a deal for him to permit her to attend the medical school for a year. After that year, she must find a husband. In the 1800s, it was rare to find a husband who was willing to let his wife pursue a career. That has made it difficult for her to find a suitable husband.

Her brother’s situation is dire. If she does not get her gadget to work, he will pursue other means to walk without braces. The love of his life is being forced into a marriage within the next week. Without his sisters’ aid he will attempt a method which endangers his life or will leave him more crippled.

I give my kudos to Duke Avenbury, his kids are head strong. While juggling a country’s international espionage he is trying to save his family’s position for his girls to make good marriages.

I really enjoyed this story. There was lots of action, romance… Now there are a few Harlequin romance sex scene.

I Can't Hear Performance

I really enjoy Anne Renwick-and was so excited to listen to yet another saga. But after book 1-I am done. The performance voice has so many highs and lows in tone that she is too loud or too soft. If I'm busy doing my thing-the last thing I want to do is adjust the volume thru the listen.

Highly enjoyable book; narrator issues

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think it is solid steampunk literature and the romance was lovely as well.
One major issue. It is a rather large issue for me... the Romany should have Roma accents. They would not sound like south London workmen. It is bothersome; moreover it takes away from the performance of the novel. The Roma accents should add more variety and without them it leaves a lot to be desired.
Oh, also a minor issue with the narrator: the pronunciation of ton. When referring to the upper class of the time it is NOT pronounced like “won”, but like “on”.
So I only had issues with the narrator. The story is great. I look forward to the next.

Not What I thought based on summary

The narrator was semi monotone which added to the lack luster feel of the story.

I thought there would be more action and more wit. The story was a bit bland. A lot of medical jargin regarding nerves and nerve technology. There was a lot of talk about society and the need to marry. I was bored with borh.

I did not connect with this one.

I want more stars!

I am going to finish this series, it's a moral inparitive. I need four words more

Enjoyed this tremendously

Great story. Intelligent, engaging heroine and interesting secondary characters. I particularly liked the excellent world building. The narrator did a fine job. I'm off to buy the second book right now.

The story’s good, the narration not so much

Setting: London 1884
Genre: Steampunk Romance

Amanda Ravensdale talked her father, the Duke of Avebury, into allowing her to attend Lister University School of Medicine partially based on the fact that Sebastian Talbot, Fifth Earl of Thornton, the world’s premier neurobiologist, had his laboratory there, and it was possible she would be able to get his input on her invention, the neurachnid. She invented and is working on perfecting it in order to repair the damage her brother Ned suffered in an accident five years ago. All she has to do in return for this boon from her father is to become engaged and marry within a year.
Lord Thornton is ordered to take over an absent professor’s anatomy classes since he can no longer go into the field as a spy due to an old injury acting up. On the first day Amanda asks him about using base metals to repair nerve damage and he humiliates her in front of her classmates. Later he shows up at her home asking to see her invention and she denies him, and the next day it is gone. When she goes to accuse him of the theft, she ends up becoming a lab assistant dedicated exclusively to rebuilding and perfecting her invention. Meanwhile, the bodies of Gypsies keep showing up with their eyes surgically removed, the work of a villain the newspapers are calling the Eye Doctor.
The plot is multidimensional and the characters, even some of the secondaries, have depth. The suspense is low-key but still engaging (will Amanda be forced to accept Sommersby’s suit despite her growing regard for Thornton? Is the new spider actually safe? Will they be able to find more of the neurotoxin they need?) The mystery - who is the Eye Doctor? - kept me guessing and entwines itself throughout. The romance between Amanda and Thornton is a slow-burn attraction (yay! No inst-f#<k). This book is an enjoyable example of the steampunk sub genre and romance in general.
The performance however, is not so good. Although the narrator did a fairly good job of differentiating characters and genders, and kept the breathiness (is that a word?) to a minimum, there were pauses and full stops in the middle of sentences. I do not know if this was an issue with editing or if it was her. In either case, it was irritating and kept me from really getting into the story.

Good but wasted potential

I get that the story is romance but the author had a world that was begging to be expanded on. But the romance is nice though I think the story could have been more than just a romance story set in a steampunk universe.

I liked the female lead character, she had a strong development but in my opinion could be a little more independent.

I liked the male lead in that he does pull off the jerky but sympathetic personality.

The spy mystery was decent. I think the villain could have been written with more depth instead of the Saturday cartoon villain. Basically went blah blah human lives are meaningless which is fine but so heavy handed and predictable but it is a romance novel so the story has to end cleanly.

Overall, decent story though i listen to this story more for the world than the romance.

Dirigibles, krackens, and gypsy murders, oh my!

What a fantastic ride! Smart, sexy, and intriguing story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Forbidden romance, unique scientific inventions, and spy chasing will keep you guessing until the end. Very well done. I can’t wait for book two!

Good Mysterytainted by unnecessary sexual inserts

the mystery was good but all the sexual by play was detracted from the great mystery.

A great story.

I would go on to get the next one straight away. Though not sure about the narrator. When reading dialogue it was fine. But the narration was just on on level - even the sexier parts were read in the same tone as describing the inside of a house.

Great story line though. Anne Renwick has a great talent.