Review: Another story from the Iron Seas, Wrecked is everything both a novella and steampunk should be.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 14, 2014
Meljean Brook writes a fantastic novella. Whether you’re a fan of the Iron Seas series, the steampunk genre or just looking for roughly one hundred pages that packs a punch of romance, adventure and worldbuilding then this story is for you. Although its 3.something in the Iron Seas world this is a stand-alone story with new characters and not to be missed. If you are unfamiliar with steampunk or leery of it I recommend starting with something like this because Brook writes steampunk as everything it should be.Elizabeth has been running from years - from her own father. It isn’t quite clear at first why a man who loves his daughter so much would obsessively send his trained hunters (who usually spend their time in zombie-infected Africa tracking down near-extinct species) after her...but the answer. Wow. I wouldn’t call these dark stories, but they’re not exactly light - they’re just the right amount of twisted. Caius, an indentured servant, and one of those hunters is after her, but for his own reasons this time. The one man who kept Elizabeth looking over her shoulder for years may be the only one who can help her.Wrecked is a sweet, desperate love story teeth-clattering escape tale all in one where certain disaster is always lurking around the corner. My only complaint concerns the villain and takes place toward the end - but it’s a spoiler so I won’t say more here. Otherwise, the historic, fictional world rich in detail and polished off with Meljean Brook’s wonderful writing voice makes Wrecked a treat to read.