ARC REVIEW: Gears of Revolution by J. Scott Savage (Mysteries of Cove #2)

Gears of Revolution

by J. Scott Savage

Mysteries of Cove #2

Shadow Mountain Publishing

YA/Fantasy
Available: September 20

Ratings
4/5 stars
PG for some fantasy violence
Recommend for anyone who likes steampunk or dragons or steampunk dragons

The Review

[There will be SPOILERS of the events from the first book, Fires of Invention.]

When last we left Cove, super-mechanics Trenton Coleman and Kallista Babbage showed their underground civilization that the outside world wasn't a poisonous death trap of technological pollution. They proved they had been lied to for years. They also proved that inventing wasn't a sin and that machines could be used for great and wondrous things. They learned the true name of Cove -Discovery, once a haven for scientists and inventors. They even killed the dragon that attacked their city.

Right.

DRAGONS EXIST.

That was the other little secret they uncovered.

Then they managed to kill the dragon that attacked their city.

Now, Kallista is determined to find her father, the eccentric and brilliant inventor Leo Babbage, who escaped the city and left another puzzle of clues behind for her to follow. With Trenton's help, they follow Leo's path aboard their majestic mechanical dragon Ladon to a far off city called 'Seattle', dodging dragons of the scales and blood variety along the way.

You're sold on this already, aren't you? I don't blame you. I love, love, LOVE this premise so. freaking. much.

While just as much of an adventure as Fires of Invention, the intrigue for Gears of Revolution really kicked it up a notch. Plus, Savage delves even deeper into the 'steampunk' culture with the introduction of the Whipjacks -technological superior social outcasts with fantastic accents and slang- and their charismatic leader, the 'dimber damber' Cochrane. (Oh yep. Loving it.)

And once again, Savage regales us with new inventions and throws in some political and social discord for Trenton and Kallista to contend with -because obviously dragons aren't enough of a challenge for them. Gears also takes the world on a darker turn, because the city Trenton and Kallista find next is more brutal, more savage. (No pun intended*) This Seattle has a survival-of-the-fittest mentality unseen in the peaceful Discovery and it's interesting watching Kallista and Trenton deal with this unpleasant jolt of reality. It adds a new angle for them and I like the affect it has on their characters, coming from a city where everyone has enough to eat to seeing a place where some have to resort to desperate methods just to keep from starving.

Kallista and Trenton are still awkwardly adorable, since they both relate far better to machines than people (especially each other). They are learning to interact better (which, again, is adorable) but they still need some work on their dealings with others. Which is part of the fun!

Kallista comes a little into her own in this sequel. Up to now, she has been dutifully following the clues left behind by her father, but I like that we see a touch of perhaps not exactly resentment, but the idea that these games her father loved to play aren't exactly her cup of tea. I like seeing this side of Kallista and I'm excited to see where it takes her from here.

One thing I mentioned specifically in my review for Fires of Invention was the portrayal of Trenton's mother, who disapproves of the machines Trenton loves so much, and of the complicated relationship between them, and I have to say, I love it even more in the sequel. Since they reached a better understanding of each other last book, Savage successfully starts deepening their relationship and I love watching every minute -even though there aren't very many! (Next book, maybe. Next book...)

Fires floored me with the reveal of dragons, and Gears wowed me with the further depth of this world. Whereas Discovery had hidden away from the reality of dragons, the city built from the remains of Seattle designed a religion around them. (Whoa is right.) The Order of the Beast is exactly what it sounds like. The core of the religion is a worship of the 'holy beasts' and its role in society is basically the peace they claim to have brokered with the dragons.

I would have loved to see The Order of the Beast explored more within the story; I'm a worldbuilding nerd like that. We do get one of these 'Red Robes' as a prominent character and I devoured the tidbits of this whacked out religion he fed us. He also raised some very interesting -and uncomfortable- questions about the nature of dragons. And Kallista is uncovering questions about the dragons on her own. The deeper Savage takes us into his world, the deeper we see the story go and I love this progression!

There a couple of great new characters in this book. Aside from the aforementioned Cochrane, head of the motley eccentric Whipjacks, we also get Ander -a member of the dragon-worshiping Order of the Beast who has questionable motives- and Plucky -a young Whipjack with awesome mechanical leg braces who has questionable motives. You might be sensing a theme here.

But even with all this fantastic new content, one of my very favorite moments in this book actually involves old faces, specifically Mr. Darrow and his son, Angus. It's not much of a spoiler. So I'm going to tell you about it.

As you might recall, Angus isn't much of a fan of Trenton and Kallista. He's actually a bit of a bully, just like his father. Angus has always intrigued me, though, and he's one of the characters who really stuck in the back of my mind. There is a moment in Gears when Trenton finds his path blocked by Mr. Darrow and this happens:

"You're a coward and a fool," Trenton yelled as he ran past. "And one day, your son is going to realize it."

Remember that Trenton isn't much of a people person; I don't feel like this line is spoken out of spite or even that Trenton is lashing out. This is just the truth as Trenton sees it.

So why am I so hung up on this? It's a tiny moment. A single line. It's never addressed again and, to be honest, Angus and his father are barely in this story, so it's not that important in the grand scheme of things. But I'm really excited to see the aftermath of this single line. Because it makes me realize WHY I'm so interested in Angus Darrow. This kid has a great core. He has good instincts and qualities -like wanting to protect his people at all costs and vehemently opposing any threat- he just has a bad example in his bully father and has been taught too many lies.

What Trenton says here is painfully true. It's exactly why I'm chomping the bit for book 3. Because some day Angus IS going to realize it and that might very well be the day a Great Character is born. That's a day I want to see.

So, Angus:

I loved how Savage ended this book. It's an epic finale and I cannot wait to get my hands on book 3. Gears of Revolution, with its new setting, new characters, and whole plethora of dragons has been a blast. But it's also a build up. The deeper we dive into the world of this series, the closer we get to the really meaty question, and it is waiting for the answer to that that has me on the edge of my seat.

Overall, it's a fantastic continuation to the series and even more fascinating than its predecessor. The whole time I was reading this, my big recurring thought was: I can't wait to see how that unfold next time!

Oh, right. Did I mention that blessedly beautiful AIRSHIP?

An ARC of this ebook was provided courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review

*Okay. Pun totally intended.

REVIEW: Fires of Invention by J. Scott Savage (Mysteries of Cove #1)

Fires of Invention
Mysteries of Cove #1
by J. Scott Savage
Shadow Mountain Publishing
YA
4/5 stars

I want to thank Shadow Mountain Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC.

A major thing I love about this book is that there is definitely the feel of a dystopian or post-apocalyptic society here, but it isn't depressing. I'm very tired of the no-hope, doomed-civilization worlds. With Fires of Invention, there's a fun, playful essence to the story that's infectious. It's just a group of people who decided to hole themselves up in a mountain because overuse of technology poisoned the air outside and that's just their life. It's a (mostly) normal little society -no Hunger Games, no aptitude test, just good old fashioned job placement. 

But back to that 'holed themselves up in the mountain' thing. I was a little wary at first when the characters talked about how the sky was poisoned by too much technology because I didn't want to be beat over the head with environmental strong-arm tactics and that wasn't the intent at all. Imagine my joy to find that this is straight up, really truly, an actual plot device to further the story. Because of this outside sky poisoning, inside Cove 'inventing' and being 'creative' are the worst crimes comprehensible.

Of course our main character rather excels at that. Trenton is a mechanic who wants nothing more than to improve the poor, often ill-maintained machinery their society runs on and, while he doesn't want to be a cursed Inventor, sometimes he just can't help but see a better way to do things. Throw in Kallista Babbage, daughter of an Inventor and murderer, on the hunt for her father's last invention and -yeah, I call that a party.

The story unfolds at a good pace, giving us a mystery within the first few chapters to keep our attention until things really start to unfold. For this reason, this book could be easily handed to a middle grade or YA reader and I doubt they would even notice. Coupled with the great characters and the fantastic if eerie underground steampunk setting, this one's a win.
 
Both of our main characters understand machines and blueprints far better than they do people and emotions, which means the awkward interactions (<3 <3 <3!!) are frequent, endearing, and great points of character and relationship development.

Speaking of relationships...
 
One thing I really admired is that, in the story, Trenton and his mother don't get along very well. Savage handled it so well because -despite Trenton's frustration and anger with his mother, how he makes her stew and stings her with barbed comments in his anger- Savage never makes his mother the bad guy. Trenton's angry with her, he's hurt by her actions, and he doesn't understand why she's trying to ruin his dreams. He certainly doesn't like her for a good portion of the book, but despite all that I never felt that she was truly villainized and I have immense respect for Savage for that, especially since this is a children's book.

But that's not the only tricky parent/child relationship Savage handles and the second one is much subtler. Leo Babbage is hinted to be much like Trenton in the respect that he understands mechanics much more than people and we see how this affected Kallista's upbringing and personality, and how it affects her relationship with Trenton. We don't see too much on the actual relationship between father and daughter, but I'm hoping we get more flashbacks/details in the sequel. *crosses fingers*

Minor characters are given good depth alongside our heroes and, even better, roles to play in the story's conclusion. I love it when that happens.
The one exception for this was Clyde who, admittedly, didn't have a whole lot to offer in the climax. I don't even know what he would have done. I just liked the character and wanted to see him involved. The fact that he didn't isn't bad for the story, but it does mean that I will be watching out for Clyde's role in future books because he'll have to do something important eventually.

Oh, right. Did I mention that huge mechanical, FIRE-BREATHING dragon? Each chapter is headed by an illustration of this steampunk awesomeness, as it is being built one gear and mechanism at a time. But what's it doing in the story? Dude, you have to find that out for yourself!

Have you read Fires of Invention?
If not, what book are you enjoying right now? 

REVIEW: Third Daughter (Dharian Affairs bk 1) by Susan Kaye Quinn

Third Daughter
Dharian Affairs, bk 1
by Susan Kaye Quinn
YA/Military Intrigue/Romance

Steampunk goes to Bollywood.

I love this descriptor even more because it's actually true. So much of this story felt reminiscent of the film Jodhaa Akbar, about a Hindi princess forced to enter a peace-brokering marriage with a Muslim emperor, that I instantly felt the presence of Bollywood inspiration. Throw in rumors about a flying machine, some military intrigue, family secrets, and personal metamorphosis, and I'm one happy camper.

Princess Aniri of the powerful Dharian empire is days away from her birthday and the freedom it will grant her to escape the Queen's court and marry whomever she pleases. Specifically, a handsome courtesan whose kisses she steals in the moonlight. Cue the arrival of Prince Malik, of the barbarian mountain country Jungali, with an offer of a peace-brokering marriage between himself and the Queen's only remaining eligible daughter. Granted, for the first several chapters it seemed like this was going to be your run-of-the-mill 'princess forced to marry for duty while in love with someone else' story. But no. I learned pretty quick that Quinn doesn't want to settle for run-of-the-mill. Torn and bitter, Aniri confronts her mother. This is when the Queen says she doesn't want her daughter to marry the war-loving Jungali's prince. She wants her to spy on him. 

Things got incredibly interesting from there.

With her devoted maid servant and a bodyguard who despises her, Aniri ventures into the heart of enemy territory. Her mission is to learn whether this sky warship exists and bring the information back to Dharia before the wedding date. After that, she will be free to marry the man she loves. Until then, she can't tell him the truth.

I fell in love with this world. It's rich with Eastern culture and influence, like an exotic spice in an otherwise traditional buffet. People have been talking a lot about needing diversity in books, so I would start here. Only once or twice did a distinctly English colloquialism catch me off guard. The infusion of Bollywood and steampunk was beautiful and felt so natural together, I'm shocked I haven't seen this done before. I will be interested to see how far the other two books in the trilogy will take us into the world -whether we'll see hints of any culture outside of India- but if we just stay within the three Queendoms presented in this first book, I'll be happy. (That's another thing -the three most powerful countries here are ruled by women.)

I would classify this as a military intrigue romance, and I was very happy to find it clean. There's lots of kissing, certainly, but Quinn stayed away from anything too descriptive, doing the love story justice without dipping into the steamy romance side of the pool. For this, a million kudos.

Another thing I loved about the romance was that the love triangle wasn't overdone or overemotional or tacky. There is definitely a love triangle, but it never felt like a high school drama/teen movie/soap opera love triangle. One of my major peeves of love triangles is the feeling somebody is always being unfair and unfaithful or just downright insensitive and I never felt this to be the case.

Aniri had wonderful depth and development. I loved watching her grow, not just emotionally and in confidence, but in genuinely becoming a better person. She constantly feels ashamed in the presence of Prince Malik, who is so devoted to his country and people, whereas she is just waiting for her chance to escape. I loved how much she learned from him, and I love that she still has the potential for more development. Even better, all the supporting characters had their own depth and minor development while contributing to hers as well. I didn't see any flat characters here, and I cheer for that.

Satisfactory ending, but with open-ended elements to be dealt with in book two. And I must say, after reading the summary for the sequel, and the main character's doubts about relationship choices, make me hopeful that Quinn will make a very healthy handling of the romantic relationships.

In short, I had incredibly high expectations of this book, and it didn't let me down. Third Daughter by Susan Kaye Quinn gets four stars and yes. You should read it.

DOUBLE REVIEW + Major Gushing: The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade (bks 3&4)

Here it is, the moment you've been waiting for!

I had to sludge through the unpredictable temper tantrums of my new video editing program, but I'm now happy to present my spoiler free reviews for Empire of Ruins and Island of Doom, the third and fourth and *sob* final books of Arthur Slade's series The Hunchback Assignments.

But wait! There's MORE!

I couldn't say everything I wanted to say in one video. And let's face it, I want to talk about spoilers.

 

So I did a second video in which I basically gush and rant and rave, so if anyone wants to discuss the events of The Hunchback Assignments, now is the perfect time.

Happy Second Day of Hanukkah!

BOOK REVIEW: Dark Dancer by Jaleta Clegg

Steampunk fairy land.

That is what first drew me to this book, and it didn't disappoint. There are elves and pixies, mushroom fairy rings, magic, and machines. The world Clegg has created here is fascinating, part traditional fairy folklore, part steampunk.

(Strictly speaking, 'steampunk' isn't a completely accurate description, as steam isn't really what powers the machinery. It's better than that. Clegg went and invented a whole new 'punk' genre: Magicpunk.)
 
This blending of steampunk-style machines with magic was my favorite element of the entire book because it works. The steampunk and the magic aren't in conflict with each other, but symbiotic. Granted, there is some repercussion in the world because of this symbioses, but that's just a plot bonus. Clegg found a way to make something new out of the two elements, rather than to try holding on too hard to their traditional connotations.


My fascination with Clegg's world doesn't stop with the magicpunk. There's an interesting twist on the old English feudal system going on with the politics here, bindings and oaths, and a natural order of the fairy land tired of being ignored. There is so much about this world to learn, the pages go by fast.


The story itself is mainly plot driven, but interesting enough to keep my interest. The main character, Sabrina, learns she is the answer to a prophecy in the fairy land, and everyone wants her allegiance. Or her death. There doesn't seem to be anyone she can trust, except maybe the dashing elf outlaw pirate captain on board his airship. Yep. Dashing elf outlaw pirate captain. If Dark Dancer didn't have you at 'steampunk fairy land', Captain Joren and his airship should pull you in.


Aside from Captain Joren, there's a whole fun band of characters -including a rather short-tempered pixie, a personal favorite of mine. I did wish I could have gotten better acquainted with them all. Being primarily plot-driven, it didn't delve too deeply into character development or back story, which I would have really enjoyed. I got the same feeling with these character as I did when I first watched 'Serenity' before ever seeing 'Firefly' -namely that there's a great cast of characters, full of fun rapport, but you've caught them in the middle of something, and it would be better to find the beginning.
 
Bonus points to Clegg because this story presented the perfect trappings for a love triangle, or at least dual love interests, but she resisted, and the book was definitely better for it.


I wish Sabrina -and myself- had more of a chance to become better acquainted with the fairy land. A lot of what she learns about the world and its people is second-hand or from a distance. A sequel or companion novel to explore more of the world wouldn't be remiss, though isn't necessary. Still, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

To Read or Not to Read?

While there was a lack of character development here, I think the fascinating world balanced it out. (I'd still love to see some more background info on Joren, like how Mikkle is previously acquainted with him, etc.)

The ending wrapped up the main story, but I still had questions. There were elements stretching back as far as Sabrina's childhood that weren't entirely answered, at least to my satisfaction.

The world building was steady, but not suffocating or overbearing. Clegg also managed the story well, balancing two villains and half a dozen conflicting sides throughout the story. The book is short and sweet, goes by fast, and leaves a sweet aftertaste of pure guilty pleasure reading. (Did you catch the bit about the elf pirate?)

Dark Dancer by Jaleta Clegg gets 3.5 stars, and is definitely a fun read.

Don't miss Jaleta Clegg at Salt Lake Comic Con September 4-6!


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