Dawn's Early Light

Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences

By: Tee Morris, Pip Ballantine

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

After being ignominiously shipped out of England following their participation in the Janus affair, Braun and Books are ready to prove their worth as agents. But what starts as a simple mission in the States - intended to keep them out of trouble - suddenly turns into a scandalous and convoluted case that has connections reaching as far as Her Majesty the Queen. Even with the help of two American agents from the Office of the Supernatural and the Metaphysical, Braun and Books have their work cut out for them as their chief suspect in a rash of nautical and aerial disasters is none other than Thomas Edison. Between the fantastic electric machines of Edison, the eccentricities of MoPO consultant Nikola Tesla, and the mysterious machinations of a new threat known only as the Maestro, they may find themselves in far worse danger than they ever have been in before.

©2014 Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris (P)2014 Tantor

Better and Better

This series gets better and better with each book. A interesting blend of steampunk action adventure, a pinch of romance & history, and heaping handful of imagination. Likable and interesting characters keep us guessing...and looking forward to the next book!

Full Steam Ahead

Love the Series, Love the Characters and Love the Action; with that said, I'll be blunt, this was my least favourite installment so far. Why? I hate romantic angst, especially when it seems be slapped onto a story line like Bondo on a cheap auto body repair. I get little enjoyment from the peaks and valleys of the "will-they won't-they" type sub plot because the longer it continues the greater the chance it will become the main plot. If the main characters' on again off again relationship become the sole focus of the plot, you're left with only two outcomes: the main characters are never happy, or, the main characters get happy and the series dies.

Sorry about the negative tone of my review, I really do love this series and I did enjoy most of the story. The introduction to all things American and the vilification of Edison were fantastic.

Will I get the next installment? Yes I will. I can't wait.

Great Steampunk; a little too romantic.

I really enjoy this series. This book in particular was a little too sappy for my taste, but it was good in overall sorry telling.

the best

wonderful story and action packed, enjoyed the change of location to America
love meeting US counterparts

Very Entertaining!

A true 'Odd Couple ' ! Cool story, great narriration. The tweaks to "historical facts" are certainly within the realm of believability. I normally stay within the fantasy genre, but glad I ventured out a tad. See? They even have me using their brand of slang... Very cool! Check these stories out, you won't be disappointed 'Old Chap!'

Victorians in the Wild West

Any additional comments?

This adventure features agents, Books and Braun taking their newly formed partnership to the US. Tensions flare between the two as the attentions of their American counterparts lead to jealousy and confusion. Also look out for the James Bond style car in this action packed installment.

When is the latest one available !!!

What did you love best about Dawn's Early Light?

Loved all the books and waiting for #4 to be available !!

Thrilling Tales of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences

Ends with a bang!

This story started out in the usual way of a Books and Braun novel with the two of them starting an assignment. This time it was in America. Although I thought there was too much of Welly's car in the story, the interactions with America - dressed up a lot like the wild west with steampunk, was really good. All the way through it was as quality as any other of the Ministry novels but I think they really outdid themselves at the end. I won't give away any details except to say that you actually meet the Maestro and boy won't you be surprised. - Or maybe not, but I sure was.

So my suggestion on this one is : Yes Read It !! . . Read them in order for the best effect. You can read this one as a single, but you'll be missing parts of the story that help fill things out.

Read this steampunk adventure!

Found this on an , "if you like Gail Carriger" list and wasn't disappointed! Great book, Great audio.

Return of the Most Dangerous Duo in Steampunk!

I described the first book as the X-Files meets James Bond, Steampunk style. The sequel surprised me in that it kept up the pace and really expanded on the world and the characters, cementing this series' place as one of my favorites, and certainly my favorite Steampunk series to date.

This third book... a little less X-Files, a lot more 007 - Roger Moore era, to be exact - and it's a glorious ride! As Books and Braun make their way to the rough and tumble United States, they join forces with their American counterparts to take on their scariest assignment yet. Someone has seemingly built Tesla's theoretical death ray, causing the destruction of dozens of ships in recent days. Our heroes have to fight the bad guys, the supergenius who's using them to his own aims, and each other, which forces the obligatory use of plenty of ammunition and explosives. Morris and Ballantine have knocked another one out of the park. It's impossible not to have fun with this series. I'm chomping at the bit for the 4th book, due out next year.

Langton's voice performance is a bit - ok, a lot - cartoonish for the women, but once you get used to it, it works for the Roger Moore / Wild Wild West tone of the story. There are a couple of points where I noticed he'd use the wrong voice here and there, but given the seat-of-the-pants nature of the story and the number of characters he's juggling in certain scenes, I have to say I'm deeply impressed on the whole. There are some narrators that might not try that hard, and others that maybe wouldn't convey the sense of dramatic comedy this book carries. Besides, he narrated the first two, so it just wouldn't be the same without him.