Review: Did not do it for me.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 11, 2012
I loved Silver Wings and Valkyrie Rising by this author, but this one did not engage me nearly as much.  I'm technical by nature and with all the attention to detail given to some of the devices described, could not for the life of me figure out how the characters got from a relatively simple "steam cannon" to a mobile steam engine powered wagon.  The steam cannons were described in detail (OK, I had trouble believing they'd work as described, but at least the author made the attemped to make them somewhat believable).  I have a lot more credulity accepting warp drives and wormholes than someone without advanced metal working, engineering and machining techniques cobbling together a working steam engine in few months, not to mention the complex automatons that were somehow hooked up to the engine to slash the enemy. I like Evan Curries work so much that I will continue to buy what he puts out, but the inexplicable tech in this one pulled me out of the story.