I loved this book and found it both utterly charming and a fast, entertaining read. Steampunk elements were handled well, with just enough explanation for the reader to have an overall view of the tech without being bored by a nuts-and-bolts explanation of how things work. It features the classic steampunk character: the plucky girl adventurer. This is not a bad thing.
Emilie is who I wanted to be as a child. My fantasies may have centred more upon running away to join the circus, but any adventure involving running away and doing dangerous things in exotic lands would have worked. She is perfectly written as a girl standing on that precise point between childhood and adulthood, an occasionally gauche mixture of awkward child and capable adult. She barges in where she doesn’t belong, embarrasses herself occasionally and lets her bravery carry her through perilous situations. Lovely!
I liked this book so much that it makes me wish that my daughter was young again so that I could buy this for her in hopes of her own dreams of danger and derring-do catching fire. Take risks, follow your dreams and damn the consequences.
Highly recommended overall as an entertaining, classically cinematic book with great characters and high adventure.
Note: I am trying to catch up on reviews. This is one I had written some time ago on Netgalley, but at the time you couldn’t go back and see your reviews so I couldn’t post it here after publication.
Buying Info:
UK Print & Ebook
Amazon.co.uk | Book Depository | Waterstones | WHSmith
North American Print & Ebook
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | BarnesandNoble.com | IndieBound.org
Global DRM-Free Epub Ebook
Robot Trading Company
Other Books in This Series
Emilie and the Sky World (March 2014)
It sounds like a rousing good story. I’ve put it on my new-year’s reading list. Have you heard of Stephen Hunt and his books: The Court of the Air and The Kingdom Beyond the Waves? I picked them up about a year back and have yet to read them. Something about the back cover blurb reminds me of Emilie’s tale.
I have The Court of the Air, but haven’t read it yet – it’s been sitting on a bookshelf for ages. I think I tried to start it a time or two, but just didn’t get into it. I tend to read books based on how I’m feeling and what type of world I currently want to escape into, so I think I will read it eventually. They’re supposed to be very good.