Review: I love this author's version of steampunk
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 31, 2012
I've read all of the Gaslight Chronicles -- Steam & Sorcery, Photographs & Phantoms, Kilts & Kraken, and now Moonlight & Mechanicals. They occur in the same world, focusing on different relatives of an extended family and their friends. I love this author's version of steampunk, mixing Victorian Era alternate history with fantasy and supernatural. Imagine if the Knights of the Round Table still existed, but as a kind of X-Files or Men In Black organization which protects the UK from vampires, kraken, and evil spirits. Many of the characters have supernatural powers, such as visions of the future or seeing ghosts. Some are werewolves or descended from fey. The heroine Wink doesn't have these powers, exactly, but she's a genius at machines and building a mechanical menagerie.I've enjoyed all of the books, but M&M; is both my most favorite and least favorite. Lemme splain.This one is longer than the other titles in the series. I think it pulls together every character from every other book. I counted, and there's no fewer than THIRTY characters mentioned before you even get to chapter two (when even more characters are introduced). And their histories are all given. There's a lot of back story, and even though I'd read the other books, I found myself getting lost. "This is X and X once saved Wink from Y." "This is A and A is related to Wink this way..." A lot of it just didn't seem to be important to the main story. I guess it was part of the bigger storyline running through all of the books, but I'm just no good at following that kind of big story telling. I can hardly remember where I set down my mobile or how old my niece and nephews are, I haven't a chance of keeping the names, titles and histories of a huge fictional family straight. There was also a lot of going to balls, and dancing at balls, and talking about potential dashing husbands -- very Jane Austen, and I'm not a fan of Jane Austen.But... OMG when the plot got underway, the mystery of the Wapping disappearances was intriguing, the relationship between Wink and Liam was sizzling, and the action-packed ending -- wow. I love Liam. And there's this awesome tender moment between them when he shifts into his werewolf form in front of Wink... I'm trying not to be too spoilery, but it was so very moving. I found myself wishing M&M; didn't have so much of the family history and balls, and instead told more about Liam and Wink together, and the evil plot they uncovered to save England.