Ivy leaves touched by frost
Month: April 2016
Shadow of a totem pole
Shadow of a totem pole
Steampunk meets sorcery in this action-packed story. I zipped through this 630-page book in less than a week, its characters and their intertwining adventures were all so compelling. The first in a new series, it introduces us to a mist-shrouded world where humans have lived for generations in Spires, miles-high towers built by unknown beings in the distant past. Rare crystals focus magic to power weapons and fleets of airships. In this narrative, an unlikely band of misfits from Spire Albion find themselves caught up in intrigue that seems to be leading to war with a rival Spire.
The Aeronaut of the title is Captain Grimm, a former Navy captain who has fallen from grace with the corps and has reluctantly become captain of a merchant ship turned privateer. His ship sustains tremendous damage in an enemy engagement early in the book. His limited funds and crippled social standing soon have him in the position of providing transport to a rag-tag band of agents on a secret mission.
Three of these unlikely heroes are very young aristocrats serving their time in the Spire’s security service.
Gwendolyn Tagwynn has the regal bearing, commanding manner, and sense of entitlement of one born to a high house, which leads to both humorous and dangerous episodes. Her cousin Benedict has already served a couple years in the security service, which has given him a dose of reality. Each of them is a compelling character, but I especially liked Bridget, daughter of a high house that has fallen on hard times. A social misfit who would rather stay home and tend her father’s butcher business than serve, she has a wonderful relationship with a very heroic cat, Rowl. Rowl and his feline counterparts from other levels of the Spire play a key role in unraveling a major military conspiracy and saving the day.
The remaining two main characters are the sorcerers they guard. One is an elderly, absent-minded mage who insists on carting around a magpie’s pile of seemingly useless objects he has accumulated over his long life. The other is his scatterbrained apprentice, who cannot make eye contact with people and can only converse with a jar of discarded magical crystals.
The reading experience is rounded out with a wonderful cast of supporting characters and an unending series of calamities that force the likable protagonists to change and grow.
Highly recommended!
A bird perched on the suet feeder silhouetted against a window shade.
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