Review: Excellent
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 17, 2013
I originally picked up the first novel in this series as a distraction, as well as a genuine love for the steampunk aesthetic.  What I found within its first pages was a tale with masterfully defined characters, a thrilling plot that who's conclusion, unlike many books today, could be guessed within the first 30 pages, and, most of all, a world built by an author that was an insightful student of history.  The sheer number of books available to us, especially with online book stores, often makes us hyper-critical in our selection of reading material.  It becomes easy to think that the value of a book can be judged by a brief description, and a handful of reviews.  Never again will I pass a book by simply because it was not the product of a corporate publishing house.  This book, and the one before it, have given me hours of real enjoyment such as I have not had since reading the classics for the first time.  It has proven something that I began to suspect a year or two ago; the digital age has made it possible for readers to, once again, have a chance at reading something unique, genuine, and interesting.  No marketing team, or focus group is required for a genuinely talented author to bring their work to the public for consumption.  No longer will my choices be limited by what a corporate publishing house believes will sell.  I have made a point of buying more of this authors books, and look forward to reading them.  But more than that, I made a point of buying in the hope that this author might come to the conclusion that he not only can, but should write for a living.  I anxiously await the sequel to this book, and encourage anyone reading this review to give this authors work a chance.  I haven't had this much fun reading in a very long time.