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The Bookman Histories #1-3
The Bookman Histories
Books in This Series (included in this Omnibus Edition):
1. The Bookman (January 2010)
2. Camera Obscura (April 2011)
3. The Great Game (February 2012)
1. The Bookman (January 2010)
2. Camera Obscura (April 2011)
3. The Great Game (February 2012)
1024 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
25 people are currently reading
375 people want to read
About the author
Lavie Tidhar
390 books740 followersLavie Tidhar was raised on a kibbutz in Israel. He has travelled extensively since he was a teenager, living in South Africa, the UK, Laos, and the small island nation of Vanuatu.
Tidhar began publishing with a poetry collection in Hebrew in 1998, but soon moved to fiction, becoming a prolific author of short stories early in the 21st century.
Temporal Spiders, Spatial Webs won the 2003 Clarke-Bradbury competition, sponsored by the European Space Agency, while The Night Train (2010) was a Sturgeon Award finalist.
Linked story collection HebrewPunk (2007) contains stories of Jewish pulp fantasy.
He co-wrote dark fantasy novel The Tel Aviv Dossier (2009) with Nir Yaniv. The Bookman Histories series, combining literary and historical characters with steampunk elements, includes The Bookman (2010), Camera Obscura (2011), and The Great Game (2012).
Standalone novel Osama (2011) combines pulp adventure with a sophisticated look at the impact of terrorism. It won the 2012 World Fantasy Award, and was a finalist for the Campbell Memorial Award, British Science Fiction Award, and a Kitschie.
His latest novels are Martian Sands and The Violent Century.
Much of Tidhar’s best work is done at novella length, including An Occupation of Angels (2005), Cloud Permutations (2010), British Fantasy Award winner Gorel and the Pot-Bellied God (2011), and Jesus & the Eightfold Path (2011).
Tidhar advocates bringing international SF to a wider audience, and has edited The Apex Book of World SF (2009) and The Apex Book of World SF 2 (2012).
He is also editor-in-chief of the World SF Blog , and in 2011 was a finalist for a World Fantasy Award for his work there.
He also edited A Dick and Jane Primer for Adults (2008); wrote Michael Marshall Smith: The Annotated Bibliography (2004); wrote weird picture book Going to The Moon (2012, with artist Paul McCaffery); and scripted one-shot comic Adolf Hitler’s I Dream of Ants! (2012, with artist Neil Struthers).
Tidhar lives with his wife in London.
Tidhar began publishing with a poetry collection in Hebrew in 1998, but soon moved to fiction, becoming a prolific author of short stories early in the 21st century.
Temporal Spiders, Spatial Webs won the 2003 Clarke-Bradbury competition, sponsored by the European Space Agency, while The Night Train (2010) was a Sturgeon Award finalist.
Linked story collection HebrewPunk (2007) contains stories of Jewish pulp fantasy.
He co-wrote dark fantasy novel The Tel Aviv Dossier (2009) with Nir Yaniv. The Bookman Histories series, combining literary and historical characters with steampunk elements, includes The Bookman (2010), Camera Obscura (2011), and The Great Game (2012).
Standalone novel Osama (2011) combines pulp adventure with a sophisticated look at the impact of terrorism. It won the 2012 World Fantasy Award, and was a finalist for the Campbell Memorial Award, British Science Fiction Award, and a Kitschie.
His latest novels are Martian Sands and The Violent Century.
Much of Tidhar’s best work is done at novella length, including An Occupation of Angels (2005), Cloud Permutations (2010), British Fantasy Award winner Gorel and the Pot-Bellied God (2011), and Jesus & the Eightfold Path (2011).
Tidhar advocates bringing international SF to a wider audience, and has edited The Apex Book of World SF (2009) and The Apex Book of World SF 2 (2012).
He is also editor-in-chief of the World SF Blog , and in 2011 was a finalist for a World Fantasy Award for his work there.
He also edited A Dick and Jane Primer for Adults (2008); wrote Michael Marshall Smith: The Annotated Bibliography (2004); wrote weird picture book Going to The Moon (2012, with artist Paul McCaffery); and scripted one-shot comic Adolf Hitler’s I Dream of Ants! (2012, with artist Neil Struthers).
Tidhar lives with his wife in London.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 31, 2014
This is a 2.5 star review as this book is so hard to rate. Firstly I want to say that this was my first venture into the world of Steampunk, and I wasn't really sure what to expect. I would not advise this as a start place for Steampunk as it's very long, very detailed and very much geared towards people who have a good understanding of literary referencing.
The first book is focused on a young man named Orphan. Orphan is a key character in the story and he travels around the world in the hopes of saving his beloved - however, this is certainly NOT a romantic tale. The world is a strange one where three races are constantly battling and trying to achieve peace. The humans, the Lizards (the ruling power) and the Machines. There is an element of mystery around the origins of the Lizards and this is again a part of the tale. The first story is focused on finding 'The Bookman' who is a notorious killer striking London.
Overall I gave book one 2* as it was interesting but most of the writing I felt unnecessary and far too overly detailed and complicated in order to effectively communicate the message and plot of the book.
Book 2 is the story of Lady de Winter and she works for The Quiet Council. I found that Tidhar seemed to write a lot better and a far more intriguing tale came out of this book that the first. It was a lot more brutal and violent in some places which made it more exciting, and the narration seemed a lot better when focused on a lady. I did enjoy this story as it was compelling and fun in some areas, and the Lady de Winter was a much more vibrant character than Orphan from book 1. I would give it 4*.
And finally Book 3 is the story of many characters and is told from a variety of viewpoints which can sometimes be pretty confusing. I also found that there seemed to be so many references in this book, as if the author knew it was the last book and was trying to cram as many famous names as possible into the story. Whilst I admit that some of these names are funny and ironic in their implementation into the story, some of them seem to be forced in for no reason and others are obscure so that I did not get the reference until late in the book. I would say that I do not have a fantastic knowledge of the classics and therefore that could explain my lack of understanding, however I maintain that the number included was far too high and it felt, at times, like the author was borrowing the work of others rather than thinking up his own ideas.
Book 3 is the culmination of everything where the three races battle it out, machines, humans and lizards alike are caught up in the fighting and mystery surrounding the story and the entire plot is a web of parties competing for a variety of things. I, unfortunately, liked very little of the book except for the end which was somewhat inspired. I would give this 2* also, hence the 2.5* rating of the entire Bookman Histories.
I would only recommend to those who want something rich in literary references and very complex in detail.
The first book is focused on a young man named Orphan. Orphan is a key character in the story and he travels around the world in the hopes of saving his beloved - however, this is certainly NOT a romantic tale. The world is a strange one where three races are constantly battling and trying to achieve peace. The humans, the Lizards (the ruling power) and the Machines. There is an element of mystery around the origins of the Lizards and this is again a part of the tale. The first story is focused on finding 'The Bookman' who is a notorious killer striking London.
Overall I gave book one 2* as it was interesting but most of the writing I felt unnecessary and far too overly detailed and complicated in order to effectively communicate the message and plot of the book.
Book 2 is the story of Lady de Winter and she works for The Quiet Council. I found that Tidhar seemed to write a lot better and a far more intriguing tale came out of this book that the first. It was a lot more brutal and violent in some places which made it more exciting, and the narration seemed a lot better when focused on a lady. I did enjoy this story as it was compelling and fun in some areas, and the Lady de Winter was a much more vibrant character than Orphan from book 1. I would give it 4*.
And finally Book 3 is the story of many characters and is told from a variety of viewpoints which can sometimes be pretty confusing. I also found that there seemed to be so many references in this book, as if the author knew it was the last book and was trying to cram as many famous names as possible into the story. Whilst I admit that some of these names are funny and ironic in their implementation into the story, some of them seem to be forced in for no reason and others are obscure so that I did not get the reference until late in the book. I would say that I do not have a fantastic knowledge of the classics and therefore that could explain my lack of understanding, however I maintain that the number included was far too high and it felt, at times, like the author was borrowing the work of others rather than thinking up his own ideas.
Book 3 is the culmination of everything where the three races battle it out, machines, humans and lizards alike are caught up in the fighting and mystery surrounding the story and the entire plot is a web of parties competing for a variety of things. I, unfortunately, liked very little of the book except for the end which was somewhat inspired. I would give this 2* also, hence the 2.5* rating of the entire Bookman Histories.
I would only recommend to those who want something rich in literary references and very complex in detail.
November 18, 2014
This is a series of three novels set in a “Steampunk” Universe that includes a large population of Nineteenth Century fictional and historical characters. By ‘large,’ I mean that I lost track during the first volume and merely took occasional notes during the later volumes. For example, Chief Sitting Bull appears in the same volume as Erich Weiss, aka Harry Houdini and Irene Adler is a Scotland Yard Inspector, keeping her eye on Fagin and Oliver Twist. The three volumes in the series are, respectively, “The Bookman,” “Camera Obscura” and “The Great Game.” All three volumes are, more or less, stand-alone publications. On the other hand, I have a number of questions after completing the third volume, so all of the answers are definitely NOT included in the books.
The main theme of the series revolves around Mycroft Holmes and his Intelligence Organization. Many other Sherlockian characters appear as well as an unruly mob of other personages. One really needs a scorecard to keep track. The author also has a habit of making readers work for understanding of the environment. Every once in a while, some character will summarize a part of history, either recent or ancient, so that readers can orient (not ‘orientate’) themselves. Mostly, though, the characters talk about more immediate concerns as do people involved in active lives so readers are left to catch up on their own. I found this aspect more interesting than most fictional settings because it makes a reader think. Meanwhile, the action continues and events keep happening.
The three volumes occur in 1888, in 1893 and in 1899. Many characters appear in all three volumes and some explanations are offered. I retain a number of serious questions, such as “What happened to Smallpox” and “Where did Amerigo Vespucci learn to pilot a ship?” There are also open questions about who is on which side of what. There seem to be more ‘sides’ than players and there are a real ocean full of players. Needless to say, the action takes place all over the place and even in some unexpected places.
At base, this is an action series. Agents, counteragents, retired agents and secret agents wander in and out, change sides, switch masters and shoot it out with each other at the drop of a hat. It is difficult to bring up any subject without revealing some of the mysteries that are part of the story. As an example, there was a revolution in France in the late eighteenth Century. It was called “The Quiet Revolution.” Doctors Frankenstein and Jekyl are working together, sort of. Milady DeWinter and the Comte de Rochefort are still (or again) in business, working for the French Government, in between other clients. One hint, when the author talks about a “Vespucian” you can translate that as “American.”
This is a fun series. There are lots of interesting characters, stolen from everywhere, as much action as can be kept track of and a whole slew of questions left unanswered. Familiar characters pop up in the oddest places for even odder reasons and familiar places all look just a little bit odd. If you can figure out what actually happened, please drop me a note. I’m still a bit puzzled.
Reviewed by: Philip K. Jones, February 2012
The main theme of the series revolves around Mycroft Holmes and his Intelligence Organization. Many other Sherlockian characters appear as well as an unruly mob of other personages. One really needs a scorecard to keep track. The author also has a habit of making readers work for understanding of the environment. Every once in a while, some character will summarize a part of history, either recent or ancient, so that readers can orient (not ‘orientate’) themselves. Mostly, though, the characters talk about more immediate concerns as do people involved in active lives so readers are left to catch up on their own. I found this aspect more interesting than most fictional settings because it makes a reader think. Meanwhile, the action continues and events keep happening.
The three volumes occur in 1888, in 1893 and in 1899. Many characters appear in all three volumes and some explanations are offered. I retain a number of serious questions, such as “What happened to Smallpox” and “Where did Amerigo Vespucci learn to pilot a ship?” There are also open questions about who is on which side of what. There seem to be more ‘sides’ than players and there are a real ocean full of players. Needless to say, the action takes place all over the place and even in some unexpected places.
At base, this is an action series. Agents, counteragents, retired agents and secret agents wander in and out, change sides, switch masters and shoot it out with each other at the drop of a hat. It is difficult to bring up any subject without revealing some of the mysteries that are part of the story. As an example, there was a revolution in France in the late eighteenth Century. It was called “The Quiet Revolution.” Doctors Frankenstein and Jekyl are working together, sort of. Milady DeWinter and the Comte de Rochefort are still (or again) in business, working for the French Government, in between other clients. One hint, when the author talks about a “Vespucian” you can translate that as “American.”
This is a fun series. There are lots of interesting characters, stolen from everywhere, as much action as can be kept track of and a whole slew of questions left unanswered. Familiar characters pop up in the oddest places for even odder reasons and familiar places all look just a little bit odd. If you can figure out what actually happened, please drop me a note. I’m still a bit puzzled.
Reviewed by: Philip K. Jones, February 2012
August 22, 2014
This is one of the few cases that I judged a book by its cover, and I'm glad I did! I noticed this in a bookshop one day for two reasons. One, the book is huge, as in over one thousand pages and two, the cover was great. On it was a War of the World tripod and a Lizard Queen Victoria. That really got me interested in what this book was all about. The author Lavie Tidhar was unknown to me, but I had to give it a chance.
The thing that sticks out to me about the story is that Tidhar attempts to cram every historic and literary Victorian figure in the story, with fun results! If you know anything of those times (who doesn't?) then you are going to recognize more than one character. I also enjoyed looking up others that I did not, improving my knowledge of history. Go me! In fact the next book I will be reading I discovered the character here: Harry Flashman.
Don't let the thousand page novel fool you though, this is actually three novels in one combined release, they had been released independent of each other previously. I will therefore review them separate.
The first book is called The Bookman. In it, we have a wandering poet by the name of Orphan. This is a story of a character he gets in way over his head, with a huge surprise at the end. Orphan lives in the Victorian era, but one far different from our own. The English royal family are lizards from outer space. There is a terrorist out there undermining their rule called the Bookman, known for planting bombs in books. Orphan gets caught in-between the two.
The second novel is called Camera Obscura, starring Milady de Winter of The Three Musketeers fame. Except this Milady is black, has a Gatling gun for an arm and is an all-around bad ass. This story was centered in France with French Victorian characters, as The Bookman centered more on English characters. Milady works for the Quiet council, a group of automatons (androids) who rule France and oppose Lez Lizards. Throughout the story, Milady is compared to a gun, as she is used and abused but still keeps going, unstoppable in completing her mission, even with superior firepower in opposition. In this story, you also learn more about this world. In it, you see that the Lizard royal family isn’t all that bad, in fact, they seem more humane then our human one was. They have conquered India like ours, but it seems they have left the rest alone, as well as the rest of the Euro powers. The US is run by its Native Americans, with Sitting Bull as president, The Aztecs are still around with their own country and China is much stronger. Lez Lizards have even outlawed slavery and the killing of Whales. That doesn't stop every other power trying to bring them down.
This leads Milady and every other agent of every other power in a mad scramble to try to obtain an alien artifact for whatever reason.
The third book is The Great Game. It's a reference to the game British India and the Russian Empire played in central Asia, but this one is more worldy, as in more than one world. This time the story stars three characters. Smith; a retired British Assassin, Lucy; a British commando, and Harry Houdini; now an agent for Sitting Bull and The Bookman. Smith is a great character, and I loved the start of this story, probably my favorite part of the whole book. However, once the other two enter the story, the story gets a little too confusing. I had to reread a lot because I didn't understand what was happening, and a lot I still don't.
The read went by much faster than I thought it would. I loved the wise range of reference and characters, everyone from Mycroft Holmes to Dr. H.H.Holmes. Awesome! I will be looking forward to more of Mr. Tidhars work.
The thing that sticks out to me about the story is that Tidhar attempts to cram every historic and literary Victorian figure in the story, with fun results! If you know anything of those times (who doesn't?) then you are going to recognize more than one character. I also enjoyed looking up others that I did not, improving my knowledge of history. Go me! In fact the next book I will be reading I discovered the character here: Harry Flashman.
Don't let the thousand page novel fool you though, this is actually three novels in one combined release, they had been released independent of each other previously. I will therefore review them separate.
The first book is called The Bookman. In it, we have a wandering poet by the name of Orphan. This is a story of a character he gets in way over his head, with a huge surprise at the end. Orphan lives in the Victorian era, but one far different from our own. The English royal family are lizards from outer space. There is a terrorist out there undermining their rule called the Bookman, known for planting bombs in books. Orphan gets caught in-between the two.
The second novel is called Camera Obscura, starring Milady de Winter of The Three Musketeers fame. Except this Milady is black, has a Gatling gun for an arm and is an all-around bad ass. This story was centered in France with French Victorian characters, as The Bookman centered more on English characters. Milady works for the Quiet council, a group of automatons (androids) who rule France and oppose Lez Lizards. Throughout the story, Milady is compared to a gun, as she is used and abused but still keeps going, unstoppable in completing her mission, even with superior firepower in opposition. In this story, you also learn more about this world. In it, you see that the Lizard royal family isn’t all that bad, in fact, they seem more humane then our human one was. They have conquered India like ours, but it seems they have left the rest alone, as well as the rest of the Euro powers. The US is run by its Native Americans, with Sitting Bull as president, The Aztecs are still around with their own country and China is much stronger. Lez Lizards have even outlawed slavery and the killing of Whales. That doesn't stop every other power trying to bring them down.
This leads Milady and every other agent of every other power in a mad scramble to try to obtain an alien artifact for whatever reason.
The third book is The Great Game. It's a reference to the game British India and the Russian Empire played in central Asia, but this one is more worldy, as in more than one world. This time the story stars three characters. Smith; a retired British Assassin, Lucy; a British commando, and Harry Houdini; now an agent for Sitting Bull and The Bookman. Smith is a great character, and I loved the start of this story, probably my favorite part of the whole book. However, once the other two enter the story, the story gets a little too confusing. I had to reread a lot because I didn't understand what was happening, and a lot I still don't.
The read went by much faster than I thought it would. I loved the wise range of reference and characters, everyone from Mycroft Holmes to Dr. H.H.Holmes. Awesome! I will be looking forward to more of Mr. Tidhars work.
January 1, 2015
I am really enjoying this book! A wonderful blend of steampunk and aliens combined with a orphan who has no idea who he really is (no spoilers!) makes for a rollicking good read! Right now I am so busy that I need some good escape reading and this is the ticket, for sure. This volume has three books and I just completed the first of the three.
May 17, 2019
I'm a fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy. So, stepping into Steampunk can be both easy and trying. Fortunately I'm not so tied up with the harder form of science fiction.
I think some contemporary authors of Hard Science Fiction take the hard part to heart and make it as hard as they can.
Still, I wanted to do some research before I started into the Bookman Histories by Lavie Tidhar.
First, though, I must admit that I read the sample of the first book on Amazon and was intrigued to say the least.
With a character using the name Gilgamesh I was assuming that someone might lose something valuable and someone would have to go through hell to get it back.
And it looked in this case that the protagonist, Orphan, was to lose the love of his life, Lucy. I wanted to know how that was going to work out.
Since the price of the three volumes together as an e-book was the same as each individual I saw no way to lose by purchasing the Bookman Histories.
I was not disappointed.
In my search to help define Steampunk I was led to one place where there was a notion that such authors as Jules Verne,H.G.Wells and even Mary Shelley could be considered to be influences of Steampunk. Those were good influences and I'm fairly certain that they all figure nicely into the Bookman Histories.
I also found mention of the movie - Metropolis- which was intriguing. I don't have a copy of the movie but I do have one of the novel by Thea Von Harbou which is quite a bit different from the movie. It's been suggested the book was made from the film but there is not enough evidence to substantiate that and its just as likely the book was made to be a film and the screenplay was adapted from the book. It's not so much different though, to make it unqualified as an influence. In fact I found some interesting parallels with the book Metropolis and the first book of the Bookman Histories.
Both Protagonists Freder in Metropolis and Orphan in Bookman have lost their mother.
Both Protagonists fall in love at first sight. Freder with Maria and Orphan with Lucy.
Both become driven by their love and passion, as their motivation throughout the story.
Both are destined to be catalysts for change, even though they would deny it.
Of Metropolis Thea Von Harbou spoke of it being a moral - that the mediator between brain and muscle must be the heart.
The first book of the Histories seems to be the same since it is Orphan who seems to be the heart. His love for Lucy (his heart) is his motivation for moving forward into things he barely understands. He soldier's on in his devotion to the belief he's doing this to help him regain that lost love, Lucy. It becomes an inner conflict between his selfless devotion to undo an enormous wrong while trying at all times to do what, in his heart, is right.
I first read Metropolis when I was around sixteen years of age. It was a difficult read. When I reread it for this I thought it would be less difficult. But, it's written as are many books of its time a bit florid and in a time when purple prose wasn't a nasty thing. Although it's entertaining; it's difficult.
Thankfully the reader of the Bookman Histories will not find this book difficult. The entire three volumes are quite easy to read. Not only a pleasure; but, in some cases a wonder.
There is an enormous amount of name dropping in these books.
They are almost a who's who of famous people not only out of history but characters from the fiction of those times. We have elements of Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G Wells, Lord Byron and many more. If not in their actual appearance,then in the appearance of characters they created. Often they are anachronistically portrayed.
In some ways these books remind me of the RiverWorld series by Philip Jose Farmer. And in other ways they remind me of the later work of Robert Heinlein where there was an alternate world where many of his favorite characters were resurrected.
An interesting side note is that in a scene in the first book, Bookman; Orphan is going through a pile of books and they are named to a tune of around 39 various titles that are all fictitious books written by fictitious characters. These books show up in a variety of real books and are out of the imaginations of the authors of those books. I have no idea if Lavie Tidhar is suggesting that he's read all the books that those come out of; or if he did an extensive search for books and authors that don't exist.
In that list there is one news article mentioned that may have some basis in reality.(It might be a foreshadow of the last book also.)
And of course there is Rime of the Ancient Mariner which is quoted throughout.
There are some parts of this trilogy that get a bit gruesome and remind me of the Deathstalker series by Simon R. Greene. Elements reminiscent of the surgeries of Dr. Frankenstein in Frankenstein by Mary Shelly Or Ras Thavas in Edgar Rice Burroughs Master Mind of Mars.
The fun fantastic part is that Lavie Tidhar puts it all together with such wonderful prose and a tight plot that it all works.
All I have to say is, "I want more."
There are plenty of threads left-for more.
Save time an money and buy the whole History its well worth it for the first story, Bookman. The rest is like icing on the cake.
J.L.Dobias
I think some contemporary authors of Hard Science Fiction take the hard part to heart and make it as hard as they can.
Still, I wanted to do some research before I started into the Bookman Histories by Lavie Tidhar.
First, though, I must admit that I read the sample of the first book on Amazon and was intrigued to say the least.
With a character using the name Gilgamesh I was assuming that someone might lose something valuable and someone would have to go through hell to get it back.
And it looked in this case that the protagonist, Orphan, was to lose the love of his life, Lucy. I wanted to know how that was going to work out.
Since the price of the three volumes together as an e-book was the same as each individual I saw no way to lose by purchasing the Bookman Histories.
I was not disappointed.
In my search to help define Steampunk I was led to one place where there was a notion that such authors as Jules Verne,H.G.Wells and even Mary Shelley could be considered to be influences of Steampunk. Those were good influences and I'm fairly certain that they all figure nicely into the Bookman Histories.
I also found mention of the movie - Metropolis- which was intriguing. I don't have a copy of the movie but I do have one of the novel by Thea Von Harbou which is quite a bit different from the movie. It's been suggested the book was made from the film but there is not enough evidence to substantiate that and its just as likely the book was made to be a film and the screenplay was adapted from the book. It's not so much different though, to make it unqualified as an influence. In fact I found some interesting parallels with the book Metropolis and the first book of the Bookman Histories.
Both Protagonists Freder in Metropolis and Orphan in Bookman have lost their mother.
Both Protagonists fall in love at first sight. Freder with Maria and Orphan with Lucy.
Both become driven by their love and passion, as their motivation throughout the story.
Both are destined to be catalysts for change, even though they would deny it.
Of Metropolis Thea Von Harbou spoke of it being a moral - that the mediator between brain and muscle must be the heart.
The first book of the Histories seems to be the same since it is Orphan who seems to be the heart. His love for Lucy (his heart) is his motivation for moving forward into things he barely understands. He soldier's on in his devotion to the belief he's doing this to help him regain that lost love, Lucy. It becomes an inner conflict between his selfless devotion to undo an enormous wrong while trying at all times to do what, in his heart, is right.
I first read Metropolis when I was around sixteen years of age. It was a difficult read. When I reread it for this I thought it would be less difficult. But, it's written as are many books of its time a bit florid and in a time when purple prose wasn't a nasty thing. Although it's entertaining; it's difficult.
Thankfully the reader of the Bookman Histories will not find this book difficult. The entire three volumes are quite easy to read. Not only a pleasure; but, in some cases a wonder.
There is an enormous amount of name dropping in these books.
They are almost a who's who of famous people not only out of history but characters from the fiction of those times. We have elements of Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G Wells, Lord Byron and many more. If not in their actual appearance,then in the appearance of characters they created. Often they are anachronistically portrayed.
In some ways these books remind me of the RiverWorld series by Philip Jose Farmer. And in other ways they remind me of the later work of Robert Heinlein where there was an alternate world where many of his favorite characters were resurrected.
An interesting side note is that in a scene in the first book, Bookman; Orphan is going through a pile of books and they are named to a tune of around 39 various titles that are all fictitious books written by fictitious characters. These books show up in a variety of real books and are out of the imaginations of the authors of those books. I have no idea if Lavie Tidhar is suggesting that he's read all the books that those come out of; or if he did an extensive search for books and authors that don't exist.
In that list there is one news article mentioned that may have some basis in reality.(It might be a foreshadow of the last book also.)
And of course there is Rime of the Ancient Mariner which is quoted throughout.
There are some parts of this trilogy that get a bit gruesome and remind me of the Deathstalker series by Simon R. Greene. Elements reminiscent of the surgeries of Dr. Frankenstein in Frankenstein by Mary Shelly Or Ras Thavas in Edgar Rice Burroughs Master Mind of Mars.
The fun fantastic part is that Lavie Tidhar puts it all together with such wonderful prose and a tight plot that it all works.
All I have to say is, "I want more."
There are plenty of threads left-for more.
Save time an money and buy the whole History its well worth it for the first story, Bookman. The rest is like icing on the cake.
J.L.Dobias
May 31, 2013
excellent...coulod not put it down.
September 14, 2013
Hard to rate. Parts I really like and parts were meh.
August 15, 2021
Well that was disappointing...
I know Lavie Tidhar to be a fine writer (I recommend 'Central Station'), but here he seems to have fallen down the rabbit-hole of fanfic-ish steampunk cliches here, levering in as many famous characters from other novels as possible and giving them over-familiar, gnomish, or just plain silly, things to say amidst plotting a first-time novelist should be ashamed of.
It suffers particularly from being composed almost wholly of short chapters (the second novel, "Camera Obscura", comprises 75 chapters in 345 pages) which, rather than pushing the pace of the story breaks it up unnecessarily. And there are so many instances of poor editing (repetitive phrases and character descriptions) that I was tempted nclusion.to start making corrective notes. That's not a good sign, is it? Even the overarching concept of the three books ended up being rather 'meh' in light of the grand concepts of which other SF writers are capable. And over a thousand pages is a lot to struggle through to reach that conclusion.
I know Lavie Tidhar to be a fine writer (I recommend 'Central Station'), but here he seems to have fallen down the rabbit-hole of fanfic-ish steampunk cliches here, levering in as many famous characters from other novels as possible and giving them over-familiar, gnomish, or just plain silly, things to say amidst plotting a first-time novelist should be ashamed of.
It suffers particularly from being composed almost wholly of short chapters (the second novel, "Camera Obscura", comprises 75 chapters in 345 pages) which, rather than pushing the pace of the story breaks it up unnecessarily. And there are so many instances of poor editing (repetitive phrases and character descriptions) that I was tempted nclusion.to start making corrective notes. That's not a good sign, is it? Even the overarching concept of the three books ended up being rather 'meh' in light of the grand concepts of which other SF writers are capable. And over a thousand pages is a lot to struggle through to reach that conclusion.
May 17, 2020
The first half was pretty good, the second half very slow - mainly lots of aimless running about - but it ended OK.
April 5, 2015
This is an alternate history steampunk trilogy in one volume, comprising three separate books: The Bookman, Camera Obscura, and The Great Gamee. And while all steampunk novels can be considered alternate history, this one truly is, because the ruling family of Great Britain is comprised of large, intelligent lizards. (The queen is still named Victoria, however.) The origin and motives of these lizards are part of the mystery that is unraveled in the course of the novels. Each novel is fairly stand-alone, but there are common characters and plot lines that run through all three, so I would recommend that you read them in order.
This is not a short read - all three novels combine for over 1000 pages. And the story is quite complex, with quite a large number of characters and sub-plots to keep straight. It wasn't quite as difficult to get through as War and Peace, but it was close. It is truly an epic tale.
Part of the difficulty in getting though the books was the fact that I never truly connected with the characters. The only exception was the character of Orphan in the first book, but that is his only appearance. I thought I'd really like the main character in the second book, as she is a kick-ass female assassin, but she is portrayed so dryly that I never felt emotionally invested. This is my main complaint about these books - the characters, though quite complex, seem wooden, and seem to exist only to move the story to the next plot point. One gets the impression that the author had an idea for a story, and simply added in the characters as needed, in order to serve the plots.
The star of the books really is the world. It is rich and complex, and quite inventive. The author brings in both real-world and fictional characters (such as Frankenstein, Lord Byron, Dr. Jekyll, Harry Houdini, Sherlock Holmes and Oliver Twist) and weaves them into the myriad plots quite nicely, even though they may be from different eras in our world. He also uses real-wold events, such as the Chicago World's Fair. These little touches are fun, and help to lighten the rather complex plots.
Had I read these books back-to-back-to-back, I may not have struggled so much with keeping the plots and characters straight. As it was, I read the books over about a five month period, interspersing them with dozens of other books. These books just didn't pull me in, so that I was content to pause for long periods between them. For me, the mark of a successful series is that you cannot wait to pick up the next book, as soon as you finish the current one. This was definitely not the case for this trilogy, and I blame the wooden characters. Even the most interesting and inventive of alternate worlds cannot make up for this lack.
However, I would still recommend this to steampunk fans, as the world is delightfully complex, and the mix of fictional and real-world characters is quite fun. I just think that the author could have done a better job with the characters.
This is not a short read - all three novels combine for over 1000 pages. And the story is quite complex, with quite a large number of characters and sub-plots to keep straight. It wasn't quite as difficult to get through as War and Peace, but it was close. It is truly an epic tale.
Part of the difficulty in getting though the books was the fact that I never truly connected with the characters. The only exception was the character of Orphan in the first book, but that is his only appearance. I thought I'd really like the main character in the second book, as she is a kick-ass female assassin, but she is portrayed so dryly that I never felt emotionally invested. This is my main complaint about these books - the characters, though quite complex, seem wooden, and seem to exist only to move the story to the next plot point. One gets the impression that the author had an idea for a story, and simply added in the characters as needed, in order to serve the plots.
The star of the books really is the world. It is rich and complex, and quite inventive. The author brings in both real-world and fictional characters (such as Frankenstein, Lord Byron, Dr. Jekyll, Harry Houdini, Sherlock Holmes and Oliver Twist) and weaves them into the myriad plots quite nicely, even though they may be from different eras in our world. He also uses real-wold events, such as the Chicago World's Fair. These little touches are fun, and help to lighten the rather complex plots.
Had I read these books back-to-back-to-back, I may not have struggled so much with keeping the plots and characters straight. As it was, I read the books over about a five month period, interspersing them with dozens of other books. These books just didn't pull me in, so that I was content to pause for long periods between them. For me, the mark of a successful series is that you cannot wait to pick up the next book, as soon as you finish the current one. This was definitely not the case for this trilogy, and I blame the wooden characters. Even the most interesting and inventive of alternate worlds cannot make up for this lack.
However, I would still recommend this to steampunk fans, as the world is delightfully complex, and the mix of fictional and real-world characters is quite fun. I just think that the author could have done a better job with the characters.
January 13, 2014
“And remember,” he said, “If you go-you will not come back.”
“Will you not require me still?” I said, and he laughed, and his words chilled me.
“Why, I have another one of you in storage already,” he said. “Just in case I need you, and you’re not around.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had been eyeing this book on the B&N Bookshelf for some time. These 1000+ page books often catch my attention, and then I looked at the cover and was more interested. I have always had an interest in the “Steampunk” genre and told myself that someday I would investigate further. To me it is where fantasy and science fiction intersect, but still more than that-throw in some history, some hardcore science, real and fictional people and places, the Victorian Era, and fantastic twists of reality.
This book, or should I say three books-The Bookman, Camera Obscura, The Great Game, has it all. Modern technology, alien technology, a lizardine ruling class, humans, automatrons, human-automatron combinations, simulacra, spies, intrigue, murder, politics, non-stop action, plots within plots and twists on top of twists, mystery, love, hate, etc, etc, etc. At times it was hard to keep up with the players, and more than once I had to page back for something I missed, but it was worth the quick search.
Amazing how a small jade statue weaves it way into the lives of so many. For some it becomes an obsession, for others doom and death, for others it holds supreme power-or so they think. It would be hard to put the plot into words…for me impossible. The general plot is that many different groups of people are doing everything and anything to gain control of this odd jade statue and the power it holds-some think it is the key to other worlds. And quite often people are drawn into the mystery surrounding it by accident, while others are drawn to it very much on purpose. The story weaves its way through so many characters, agents, double-agents, and quite often the intersection of these agents and plots ends in disaster. Who really is working for who? Throw in real and fictional characters and places and you have one heck of a wild ride. The twists and mystery kept me turning the pages and many, many times I was surprised.
So glad I picked this up and it will be worth reading again.
“Will you not require me still?” I said, and he laughed, and his words chilled me.
“Why, I have another one of you in storage already,” he said. “Just in case I need you, and you’re not around.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had been eyeing this book on the B&N Bookshelf for some time. These 1000+ page books often catch my attention, and then I looked at the cover and was more interested. I have always had an interest in the “Steampunk” genre and told myself that someday I would investigate further. To me it is where fantasy and science fiction intersect, but still more than that-throw in some history, some hardcore science, real and fictional people and places, the Victorian Era, and fantastic twists of reality.
This book, or should I say three books-The Bookman, Camera Obscura, The Great Game, has it all. Modern technology, alien technology, a lizardine ruling class, humans, automatrons, human-automatron combinations, simulacra, spies, intrigue, murder, politics, non-stop action, plots within plots and twists on top of twists, mystery, love, hate, etc, etc, etc. At times it was hard to keep up with the players, and more than once I had to page back for something I missed, but it was worth the quick search.
Amazing how a small jade statue weaves it way into the lives of so many. For some it becomes an obsession, for others doom and death, for others it holds supreme power-or so they think. It would be hard to put the plot into words…for me impossible. The general plot is that many different groups of people are doing everything and anything to gain control of this odd jade statue and the power it holds-some think it is the key to other worlds. And quite often people are drawn into the mystery surrounding it by accident, while others are drawn to it very much on purpose. The story weaves its way through so many characters, agents, double-agents, and quite often the intersection of these agents and plots ends in disaster. Who really is working for who? Throw in real and fictional characters and places and you have one heck of a wild ride. The twists and mystery kept me turning the pages and many, many times I was surprised.
So glad I picked this up and it will be worth reading again.
August 18, 2014
I generally have an ambivalent relationship with the "steampunk" genre. As a concept it excites me and I really want to enjoy it more than I actually end up doing in most cases. I am happy to report that Lavie Tidhar's The Bookman History's was a success for me on all levels. The Bookman History's is a collection of the three novels in Tidhar's Bookman series (The Bookman, Camera Obscura and The Great Game). The novels are told in different styles, with different protagonists, but are centered around the same series of events (and the fallout from them) and take place in an alternative Victorian Era where England is ruled by anthropomorphic lizards from outer space, and France is controlled by a secret faction of sentient automatons. It is filled with lots of amusing reinterpretations of famous historical and literary characters of the period. All things considered a fast and fun read. Recommended.
February 23, 2016
The Bookman Histories is a hard trilogy to describe to the unfamiliar reader. Even calling it a trilogy is perhaps unfair, for the three books flow and mesh together uniquely. The steam punk setting of the universe offers an amazing backdrop that Tidhar populates with incredible characters. However, the complexity of the universe and the way the narrative often jumps between different characters abruptly can leave many readers confused, and rather bewildered. On the whole, the Bookman Histories offers a rather painstaking reading experience to the dedicated reader who'll stick on despite the occasionally obtuse narrative and character development, and is suitably rewarded at the end with a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. The end does leave many questions unanswered, and plenty of plot material remaining for future follow-ups which this reader would be quite happy to read, albeit with a little trepidation. 7/10
February 7, 2014
Read book one. Ummed and aahed. Left it there assuming I'd never read books two or three but felt book one was ok; enjoyable but a little too random to really settle into. Now, however, I find I'm increasingly compelled to revisit the world of the Bookman. Which means it's done something right, I'm just damned if I can work out what it is. Refreshing, odd, haphazard steampunk that reads like Victorian England viewed through a kaleidoscope. A good romp, thoroughly perplexing but quite a lot of fun. Contains lizards.
November 25, 2014
Hard to rate this one, as someone else has noted this was really good in parts and so-so in others. That said, its my first foray into steam punk and I enjoyed the alternate timeline ideas and the various literary references to characters. Elements were handled very well, and sometimes it just seemed to be more of the same again. Overall, enjoyable but nothing amazing.
March 16, 2025
If you like reading steampunk based books, then this one might fit your tastes. I found it very thrilling to read. It did keep me on the edge of my seat the entire read. I highly recommend it. Especially if you love read about corruption of the government and the people standing up for their rights.
August 18, 2013
This monster is a soap opera seeking to be literature. It may be for those who do not read science fiction but as such it leaves much to be desired. The author is clearly quite talented, composes well, but has yet to find the right media for the fame that he deserves.
December 31, 2013
Grand in scope, inventive in its adaptation of the Victorian scene, and fascinating in its amalgam of various fantasy elements and themes -- the Bookman Histories limped along for me because of the cliche-ridden writing and the two-dimensionality of its main character. A near miss.
June 20, 2016
That was a real page-turner! These adventure books revived my boyhood dreams. I read all three books in a row. The last time I did this was when reading A Song of Ice and Fire.
One thing. It's "Die Erntemaschine" not "Der". I hope an editor will correct this eventually in a future edition.
One thing. It's "Die Erntemaschine" not "Der". I hope an editor will correct this eventually in a future edition.
May 25, 2014
I loved the first two books in the trilogy. The third was enjoyable, but slow at the end. Tons of literary references.
April 29, 2014
Awesome! Alternate history and positively stuffed with literary references.
April 10, 2016
this book will definitely have me reading more steampunk but it was hard to finish the first book he had me so enthralled that I couldn't put it down but the second one was too slow and the third
February 19, 2014
I enjoyed but not as good as some of the other steampunk novels I've read.
abandoned
April 25, 2017I like what else I've read of Tidhar, so I thought I'd give this a go despite my scepticism of almost all modern steampunk. And because his other books had earned it, I persevered past my early suspicions that this was just another reshuffle of the same dog-eared deck (Prime Minister Moriarty! Inspector Adler! Wilde and the Ripper!), enlivened only by a bit of David Icke-via-'Study in Emerald' (lizard Queen Victoria, you say? How thoroughly original). After all, maybe the fact that it was all so predictable was part of the plan? Maybe it was all going to be revealed as an uproarious spoof, thus also justifying those newspaper reports which read nothing like the journalism of the period? Well, maybe it is. After 50-odd pages, after the scene where Marx, Maskelyne and Mrs Beeton all come into the same shop one after another, after the obligatory War of the Worlds nod with a guest spot by Flashman, I just couldn't face spending any longer finding out one way or the other.
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