Boneshaker ~Cherie Priest
–published 2009
–Tor Books, 416 pages
–4.5/5 stars
“A steampunk-zombie-airship adventure of rollicking pace and sweeping proportions, full of wonderfully gnarly details. This book is made of irresistable.”
~Scott Westerfield
“Boneshaker is without a doubt Cherie Priest’s breakthrough work: This hollering, stamping, crackling thing is the best fun you’ll have with a book all year.”
~Warren Ellis
“If Jules Verne and George Romero got together to rewrite American history, it might go something like this. I loved it. I want more.”
~Mike Mignola
Three quotes from three authors with incredible geek cred who are also at the top of their game. Combine that with the eye-catching Jon Foster cover, the fact that steampunk is one of my favorite sub-genres of science fiction, and the fact that I have heard nothing but high praise for Cherie Priest in the past and had yet to read her fiction and you have a recipe that made it a foregone conclusion that I would be picking this book up as soon as it was released.
The risk of showcasing the above quotes and of tossing out the “steampunk” label is that it could potentially scare away readers who would:
a) Profess that a book like this is “not their kind of thing”.
b) Erroneously presume that this book is some sort of Night of the Living Dead zombie-fest.
and/or
c) Fear that any book categorized as science fiction would contain technical details that they just would not understand.
If you will allow me a few minutes of your time, dear readers, I will attempt to dispel those concerns and explain to you why this book should not only go immediately on your to-read lists, but should be a book that you read soon. Very soon.
Boneshaker is not a book about zombies. It is not a book about dirigibles or alternate history or air-pirates. Boneshaker is about a relationship between a mother and her teenage son. It is a book about rewriting one’s personal history and discovering the truth regardless of the potential dangers such a journey would pose. It is a book about making the very best of the situation you are in and triumphing against all odds.
And it just happens to have entertaining and fun elements like zombies, air-ships, and an alternate version of history around the time of the Civil War.
When I picked up this book and read the front and back cover quotes, I was excited. I also had an equal amount of trepidation. The varied elements that appeared to be the focus of the enthusiasm for this book carried with them the potential for disaster. If the novel was more about these fun elements and not about story then disappointment was waiting for me when I turned that first page. Fortunately, within minutes of that act, I was fully aware of why it is that so many people I trust had raved about Cherie Priest. She is a fantastic storyteller.
Boneshaker is set in Seattle at the time of the Civil War. Inventor Leviticus Blue has entered a contest to create a machine that will allow miners to dig for gold under Alaska’s ice fields. An impromptu test goes horribly wrong, rendering Seattle a disaster area, and in the process unleashes something into the city that will quickly cause those unaffected to wall-up the city and declare it uninhabitable. The story begins when sixteen year old Ezekiel Wilkes, son of the despised Leviticus Blue, decides to go into the city to discover the truth of what happened prior to his birth, a journey that will take him to places he never expected to go and one that will cause a mother to do anything to get him back.
Cherie Priest deftly weaves steampunk elements, zombies, and her own imagined version of 1860’s Seattle around a journey of discovery and love to create a tale that is truly a delight to read. She creates a world that is so real and believable that the reader is never once distracted by the fantastical trappings. The book is not about its setting, it is about the characters who inhabit it. However, as cliched as this may sound, the world she created comes to life and becomes its own character, but does so with a subtlety that you don’t really realize when it happened. I really loved this book. It is filled with mystery and adventure, danger and excitement, friendship, camaraderie, and love.
If I can be so bold as to just spell it out, this book has something for everyone. Yes, even for you. It is a story that appeals to readers of both sexes and a wide age range. While I have always considered science fiction a genre for both sexes, Priest does a marvelous job of making science fiction appealing to females by making her main protagonist a mother. Any parent, but especially a mother, will immediately relate with the circumstances Briar Wilkes finds herself in when her son runs off to a place that she knows has the potential to kill him, and kill him quickly. She is a strong, driven, likable heroine who was easy to relate to. Zeke is a well-written teenage boy, rendered realistically and yet not the whining, annoying adolescent that some teen characters are. And the cast of characters that Cherie Priest surrounds them with are fascinating and fun. I couldn’t help but feel after I turned that final page that there were a number of side characters that I would love to see Priest revisit in subsequent stories.
I have no idea if Boneshaker is a one-and-done project or if Priest has plans to revisit this world. In either scenario this is a book one should read. It has a definite conclusion, written in such a manner that the reader realizes that these characters don’t simply cease to exist at the close of the book. Their lives go on. Boneshaker was immensely satisfying. For those who are curious about the steampunk genre, Boneshaker is far and away the perfect introduction. Boneshaker is all about the story and doesn’t get distracted by its highly entertaining bells and whistles.
Cherie Priest, I am sold. You are every bit the writer that you were promised to be and then some. Well done!
For those of you who might have missed the message of this review: Read. This. Book.
Not yet convinced? Check out Chelle’s Review. She captures my own enthusiasm for this book even better than I did.
So I should run away from this book then?;) Yep I’m sold on this book too, hoping it might turn up for Christmas, but if not I see it being the first purchase of the NY. Maybe I could also get Leviathan and The Osiris Ritual and have a little steam punk party? I really liked that you focused on the fact that the mother is the heroine, so unusual to see an older women and a mother being an adventurous heroine.
Jodie: What I didn’t point out is that she is not the only strong female character in the book. Cherie Priest does her sex great credit with the women who populate this book. This book would make a great one to build a steampunk themed week, month around. Reading this book and then spending a few hours in the world of Fallout 3 sounds like heaven to me. I am having a hard time not diving into the James P. Blaylock adventures of Langdon St. Ives that I have sitting on my shelf.
My husband bought this for me during this past Readathon and I’m really looking forward to it. The only other steampunk book I’ve read is Leviathan.
Carl, Yu’ve truly excited my desire to read this novel. Your review was so excellent (just the sort I always wish I could come up with).
I asked my hubby for this one for Christmas. i do hope I get it, as I am now desperate to read it.
I’m hoping to get this one after the new year. I’ve had my eye on it since I first read about it in the Tor newsletter (which is just really cool, btw)! I want it now, dang it!
This sounds very interesting. I may have to find myself a copy!
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed this one Carl!! I have my own copy here waiting for me. Isn’t that cover phenomenal?? The only thing I’ve read by her is Four and Twenty Blackbirds and it’s one of my favorite books in that Southern Gothic Horror genre. Such an amazing book. She was sealed as a favorite author after just that book. Can’t wait to read this one too!
Chris: I remembered that you had read and enjoyed Four and Twenty, which is one of the reasons I really had hope that I’d be impressed with Priest’s writing. I have no doubt that you will enjoy this one when you have a chance to get to it.
Replicant: Do, its a good one.
Caitlin: Tor is great. They’ve been one of my favorite publishers for a long time. They fairly consistently put great art on the covers (thank you Irene Gallo) and some of my favorite reads over the past few years have been Tor books.
Vivienne: I’ll be crossing my fingers that your husband, or Santa, gets it put under your tree. 🙂
Heather T: Thank you so much. When a book is this enjoyable these things practically write themselves. Now if I could just teach them to actually write themselves my blogging would be a great deal easier! 😉
Amanda: What a cool husband. I hope you enjoy it.
I am glad that you picked this one up. I myself am absolutely sure that I will love it, but it has not yet happened to fall into my hands, so I shall be patient. But I know that Priest is amazing after enjoying “Four and Twenty Black Birds”, for which I still wish to grab the sequels. And Tor it seems is in complete synergy with what I want. Astounding. 🙂
Harry: One of these days I’ll go back to Priest’s other novels and realize what I’ve been missing all this time. I hope you can snag a copy of Boneshaker soon.
Just the cover alone makes me want to get this one!
I’ve been dilly-dallying about actually reading some steampunk instead of just ooh-ing and aah-ing about the art and crafts and such – even steampunk decorated cakes!
This review made Boneshaker sound like a good story quite apart from any of its elements. If I’m very, very good, Santa might bring it to me. If I’m not quite good enough for Santa, I’ll get it for myself. I’m on our library list for “Four and Twenty Blackbirds”. I was a little surprised there was a list, but I was number 22! That’s a bit of a recommendation in itself.
Shoreacres: yes it is. Must be a popular read in your library system. This honestly would be a great book to introduce yourself to steampunk literature. The story is entertaining and fun. And the arts and crafts of steampunk are wonderful. I love all the steampunk stuff that can be found on Etsy.
Bart: It did me too!!!
This looks really good. A friend and I have been looking for some good steampunk to read and this looks like it’ll be fun for both of us. Thanks for the review.
I saw the cover of this book and just knew I would have to have it!! I finally read my first Cherie Priest. Four and Twenty Blackbirds. A bit underwhelmed. I mean, I liked it. But parts of it dragged in the middle for me. Going to have to post a review this week. But the covers of her books….amazing!
Stephanie: No dragging with this one. It is a nice, steadily paced adventure from start to finish. A slight but very interesting lead in and it just builds from there.
Jacqui: If you’re looking for steampunk, you and your friend should look no further. Pick this up right away! 🙂
The cover already had me wanting to buy this book…your review just made me want to actually read it, too. 😉 Seriously, this sounds so darn good! I bought Four and Twenty Blackbirds a while back because Chris loved it so much, but I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. I think Boneshaker just shoved its way to the front of the Cherie Priest line though.
This is on my Christmas list, and I’m hoping Santa will be particularly good to me this year!!
Bride: I’ll put in a good word with the big guy for you! 😉
Debi: This is one I am sure you’d really enjoy. I am glad it was my first Priest experience. It is darn good!!! 🙂
I really want to read this. I asked the library to buy it, but they said no. 🙁 I will have to buy it in the new year. 🙂
Kailana: I’m sorry to hear that. I wonder if they are reluctant because it is a paperback and not a hardback or if they just don’t feel it is popular enough to spend the money on.
Thanks Carl! I went to the library this afternoon and put it on hold. Steampunk is so cool – even the word is cool!! I’ll let you know what I think after I read it.
Qugrainne: Great! I certainly look forward to reading your thoughts on it once you get a chance to read it.
well, this book just went to the top of my tbr pile.
MichelleM: If so, I think you’ll be very pleased with it. 🙂
I want this more than ever now 😀 Excellent review!
I think it would be right up your alley, Nymeth.
Wow, GREAT review! I like the term “geek cred” as well- it’s way more important and impressive than street cred.
Aarti: I couldn’t agree more!
I finally read this one Carl, and your review is right on. It has the serious elements of a story about a boy and his mother, as well as the story about a boy wanting to know his father when everyone tells him he’s a worthless piece of evil, but more than that, the story is full of colorful characters living in a harsh environment struggling to survive. Plus it’s priming with color and style.
I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed it Jim. You’ve pegged it exactly with your description. I know the sequel is either out or is coming out really soon and I look forward to picking it up.
Carl,
This is a fantastic review. Always more eloquent than I can conjure and always capturing what I felt – particularly about wanting to revisit some of the characters.
I think this review must have been posted a short while before I found your blog otherwise I would definitely have read this book sooner. I’m so looking forward to the next one (which I see you also read).
Lynn 😀
Aw, thanks Lynn. I thought you did a fantastic job. So fun to revisit this review after so many years. I’m certainly happy with it all this time later. When I’m super-excited about a book the review comes easy and I remember this one just flowing out.
I’m so psyched that you enjoyed the book. I’m always happy to find fellow Boneshaker lovers. I suspect you’ll really enjoy the next book, Dreadnought. It has one main character for the focus and she is a great character.