Review: Disappointing
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 01 1, 2012
--from Red Adept Reviews--I received Aboard the Unstoppable Aerostat Fenris (The Steam and Steel Chronicles), by Cameron Chapman, as a review copy submitted to "Red Adept Reviews" by the author.Overall: 1 3/4 StarsPlot/Storyline: 1 1/2 StarsA steampunk romance that's shy on steampunk and nearly absent on romance, this novella-length story answers essentially no plot questions and feels like Act I of a three-act novel rather than any sort of stand-alone piece. There is a sequel available on Amazon, for those who want to read the second installment, but it takes place four years in the future.Numerous plot details enter the story, then are abandoned, including an entire chase scene whose outcome must be inferred from the fact that the main characters are alive to discuss something unrelated in the next scene. The story's backdrop is a massive intercontinental war, but its combatants are never identified (outside the blurb), leaving the story drifting loose from its anchor in time and place.At one point, the characters agree to transport some mysterious cargo. While this decision fuels much of the rest of the plot, it turns out to be a mere plot device. A "no questions asked" employer fails to disguise the gaping plot hole any further than his re-entry into the plot, leaving the second half of the story feeling forced. The mysterious device itself raises several questions that are never answered.Though the ending left many loose ends, Isabelle's quest comes to a happy ending so quickly that it reads like a fairy-tale.Even die-hard steampunk fans will probably not enjoy this story as much as they think they will, and romance fans will likely be equally let-down.Character Development: 2 StarsThe main characters came with good background. Stig's in particular really piqued my interest. But the main thrust of the story involved the two characters' interpersonal interaction and dealings with current events, so their backgrounds were tangential at best. Stig didn't feel selfish enough, if that makes sense. For a man who travels alone, has a history of violence, and occasionally flies on the wrong side of the law, he was unbelievably solicitous to the runaway girl he found aboard his vessel. At one point, this grizzled veteran of numerous sky battles can't even concentrate on outrunning air raiders because he's daydreaming about the girl.Most of the characters' thoughts about each other were repetitious as they tried to resist their attraction to each other. Little progress was made throughout the story, despite opportunity, leaving them much the same place they started.Writing Style: 2 StarsThe way steampunk details are used in this story makes me wonder if it's the author's first venture into the genre. Words like "brass" and "gas" are tossed around, but deeper details, those which make one feel that one cannot be anywhere but smack in the middle of a steampunk tale, just aren't there. The aerostat Fenris itself gets no outer description despite its prominence in the story. When an untrained character must land the airship on a distant island, it involves a dial and a lever, and no turning.Too much of the action is told instead of shown. Filler sentences occur regularly. Wordiness is a problem in some areas, and a lack of detail in many others. Dialogue was unremarkable, when it should have been distinct: Isabelle was from Britain and Stig was Scandinavian, but both spoke with ordinary American word usage.My inner geek discovered that the author misused the term "einherjar". You may not know what it means, but Stig certainly should, since he's using it to explain part of the old Norse belief system of his ancestors.I did notice some hilarious confusion regarding the thoroughness of pirates who threw victims from their airships to their deaths far below: "Sometimes it was after their throats had been slit, and sometimes it was before." Think that through for a moment. I didn't mark off for this; it rather paled in comparison to other issues.Editing: No ratingThere were only a handful of small errors in the story, but we don't give bonus points for average editing.