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Empires of Steam and Rust
Unforeseen: Journey Through Rust and Ruin
Miyako is that rarest of teenage girls in Japan, circa 1915: a Samurai warrior. As technology and war spreads throughout the west, threatening the isolated Japanese way of life, the Shogun -- who rules for the Silent Emperor -- seeks the key to the nation's survival. Miyako's first solo mission takes her through a mysterious portal into a world of bizarre dangers and exciting temptations, where clockwork robots serve their masters and the very air itself can kill.
This is a stand-alone novella set in The Empires of Steam and Rust universe created by Robert E. Vardeman.
This is a stand-alone novella set in The Empires of Steam and Rust universe created by Robert E. Vardeman.
ebook
First published November 1, 2012
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18 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Bartsch
4 books5 followersYears ago in Wales, a little girl sneaking a bottle of Dr. Pepper in her Iron Age costume told me I sounded like Buffy (the Vampire Slayer). I'm pretty sure she meant my accent. Before that, I'd spent years training in Shotokan karate, but I fractured my finger taking soil samples in Northern Ireland, so that's one vote for martial arts being safer than archaeology.
It's still debatable where writing and cats fit on that spectrum.
It's still debatable where writing and cats fit on that spectrum.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 6, 2012
Review of Unforeseen: Rust and Ruin
By Sarah Bartsch
5 stars
I found this story quite unusual, as it is set in Japan in 1915. Why is that different? Well, it is unusual because it is a steampunk and dimensional travel plot line. I am a steampunk aficionado, but I had never before read any set anywhere geographically than England or America, in either the Victorian or Edwardian Eras; so here I learned something new. Also, the protagonist, trained female warrior Miyako, travels through a portal to reach an alternate world, where she hunts for new technology and industry, to bring back to her world. In Japan, the Silent Emperor is gung-ho on a course of new industry, in order to combat an expected attack from the West; and although Miyako knows that such manufacturing is having a toxic effect on her environment, still she is excited to be sent on her first solo mission. And what a mission it is? Filled with danger and excitement, Miyako will have to prove her mettle, or possibly die trying.
I reviewed an ebook copy provided by the author via the Goodreads review group Making Connections YA Edition in return for my fair and impartial review.
By Sarah Bartsch
5 stars
I found this story quite unusual, as it is set in Japan in 1915. Why is that different? Well, it is unusual because it is a steampunk and dimensional travel plot line. I am a steampunk aficionado, but I had never before read any set anywhere geographically than England or America, in either the Victorian or Edwardian Eras; so here I learned something new. Also, the protagonist, trained female warrior Miyako, travels through a portal to reach an alternate world, where she hunts for new technology and industry, to bring back to her world. In Japan, the Silent Emperor is gung-ho on a course of new industry, in order to combat an expected attack from the West; and although Miyako knows that such manufacturing is having a toxic effect on her environment, still she is excited to be sent on her first solo mission. And what a mission it is? Filled with danger and excitement, Miyako will have to prove her mettle, or possibly die trying.
I reviewed an ebook copy provided by the author via the Goodreads review group Making Connections YA Edition in return for my fair and impartial review.
November 26, 2012
Unforeseen: Journey through Rust and Ruin
by Sarah Bartsch
A book review by Kathleen Schmitt, author of Conversations with Amelia.
I love Unforeseen: Journey through Rust and Ruin. This action-fraught story about a fifteen-year-old girl who becomes the first woman Samurai warrior draws the reader into two worlds, 1915 Japan with its traditions, and a modern city discovered on a scary trek through a dangerous and polluted wasteland. Instantly we connect with our protagonist’s determination to prove herself on her first solo mission, and with the feelings of confusion and fear that well up in her.
Because the number of male warriors has diminished greatly, rather than that female warriors are particularly desired, Miyako has undergone rigorous training and proved herself fit to go on a mission. She is confident of her skills, and yet she suffers the lack of confidence of the inexperienced, as she moves through the portal of her own nation of Japan into another world, a wasteland.
Miyako’s assignment is peculiar for a first one. She is sent outside alone without clarity about her task, and more ominously, without explanation of how she will be able to return to Japan. Something odd surrounds the whole mission that makes her anxious. Still, she has received her orders. She goes.
From her step through the portal we follow Miyako through one peril after another, ending up fairly quickly in a city she has known nothing of: a modern city with electric trains and alarm systems and towering buildings that feel wobbly to her feet. From her first encounter with inventor and scavenger Sook in the wasteland and then a gang of kidnappers who want to keep her alive, she is never sure who she can trust or why she is a target.
The story continues with layers of confusion and revelation.
Throughout, we learn about Miyako’s character and some important events of her past. We gain sympathy for her, and suffer her flares of both confidence and doubt. Her success and welfare become our concern as the story moves forward. Because Sook’s point of view is also shared with us, we have a sense of his basic solidness and decency. The others in the story, save for Miyako’s mother and the girl’s teacher Shisho back home, we are not so sure about. The author keeps us in the web of Miyako’s uncertainty.
Sarah Bartsch has written a well-paced story full of events that lure us into exciting new worlds. The mystery of Miyako’s mission, the puzzle of why someone has sent her out to be kidnapped, and the action propel us through the story. The characters evolve as they should. The writing is tight and economic. Ms. Bartsch creates the settings of two distinct nations, one just past the turn of the Twentieth Century and one modern, and the wasteland between them, with clarity and through the perceptions of the characters. The style of the book itself is attractive and demonstrates its genre.
The one question I have, because I am older than the intended audience of this tale and this is the first steampunk story as such that I have read, regards the dialogue, that is snappy and modern, with use of current slang. I would expect Miyako’s thoughts and words to be more formal, more precise or even delicate in certain ways, and come from a world view of sensitivity and fine discrimination, like a Japanese painting. That she would quickly learn the slang of the modern city would be appropriate, and perhaps she would do so clumsily and everyone would have a laugh when she makes mistakes, or her misconception of language could even get her into trouble.
To younger readers, however, for whom this story was written, I doubt this subtlety is a problem, but in my mind modifying dialogue would help to clarify the difference of two distinct worlds and make the story line stronger. Also, I assume the author decided to not complicate her plot with language barriers between the two cities, which I see as a positive move to enable her readers to just enjoy the story.
I love Miyako, and would like to see more of her in future stories.
I highly recommend Unforeseen, especially to young readers.
To go to Sarah’s Goodreads book show site, use http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16...
And if you are new to steampunk like I am, see http://www.steampunk.com/what-is-stea...
by Sarah Bartsch
A book review by Kathleen Schmitt, author of Conversations with Amelia.
I love Unforeseen: Journey through Rust and Ruin. This action-fraught story about a fifteen-year-old girl who becomes the first woman Samurai warrior draws the reader into two worlds, 1915 Japan with its traditions, and a modern city discovered on a scary trek through a dangerous and polluted wasteland. Instantly we connect with our protagonist’s determination to prove herself on her first solo mission, and with the feelings of confusion and fear that well up in her.
Because the number of male warriors has diminished greatly, rather than that female warriors are particularly desired, Miyako has undergone rigorous training and proved herself fit to go on a mission. She is confident of her skills, and yet she suffers the lack of confidence of the inexperienced, as she moves through the portal of her own nation of Japan into another world, a wasteland.
Miyako’s assignment is peculiar for a first one. She is sent outside alone without clarity about her task, and more ominously, without explanation of how she will be able to return to Japan. Something odd surrounds the whole mission that makes her anxious. Still, she has received her orders. She goes.
From her step through the portal we follow Miyako through one peril after another, ending up fairly quickly in a city she has known nothing of: a modern city with electric trains and alarm systems and towering buildings that feel wobbly to her feet. From her first encounter with inventor and scavenger Sook in the wasteland and then a gang of kidnappers who want to keep her alive, she is never sure who she can trust or why she is a target.
The story continues with layers of confusion and revelation.
Throughout, we learn about Miyako’s character and some important events of her past. We gain sympathy for her, and suffer her flares of both confidence and doubt. Her success and welfare become our concern as the story moves forward. Because Sook’s point of view is also shared with us, we have a sense of his basic solidness and decency. The others in the story, save for Miyako’s mother and the girl’s teacher Shisho back home, we are not so sure about. The author keeps us in the web of Miyako’s uncertainty.
Sarah Bartsch has written a well-paced story full of events that lure us into exciting new worlds. The mystery of Miyako’s mission, the puzzle of why someone has sent her out to be kidnapped, and the action propel us through the story. The characters evolve as they should. The writing is tight and economic. Ms. Bartsch creates the settings of two distinct nations, one just past the turn of the Twentieth Century and one modern, and the wasteland between them, with clarity and through the perceptions of the characters. The style of the book itself is attractive and demonstrates its genre.
The one question I have, because I am older than the intended audience of this tale and this is the first steampunk story as such that I have read, regards the dialogue, that is snappy and modern, with use of current slang. I would expect Miyako’s thoughts and words to be more formal, more precise or even delicate in certain ways, and come from a world view of sensitivity and fine discrimination, like a Japanese painting. That she would quickly learn the slang of the modern city would be appropriate, and perhaps she would do so clumsily and everyone would have a laugh when she makes mistakes, or her misconception of language could even get her into trouble.
To younger readers, however, for whom this story was written, I doubt this subtlety is a problem, but in my mind modifying dialogue would help to clarify the difference of two distinct worlds and make the story line stronger. Also, I assume the author decided to not complicate her plot with language barriers between the two cities, which I see as a positive move to enable her readers to just enjoy the story.
I love Miyako, and would like to see more of her in future stories.
I highly recommend Unforeseen, especially to young readers.
To go to Sarah’s Goodreads book show site, use http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16...
And if you are new to steampunk like I am, see http://www.steampunk.com/what-is-stea...
February 8, 2024
I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review and opinion:
I gave 'Unforeseen' 4 stars and here is why:
'Unforeseen: Journey through rust' focuses on Rusu Miyako - A 15 year old Samurai who gets chosen to go on a mysterious quest.
She meets a boy named Sook when she is transported via a portal to a strange land; where you have to wear masks in order to breathe.
She soon finds out that she is a supposed enemy of that signalling the end of there worlds existence but when Sook is kidnapped bandits she has to team up with his big brother Jin to save him. Jin Later becomes a love interest for Rusu and I can't wait to see their relationship build.
It was a short read but it was a good read and it kept me captivated throughout. I am guessing there will be more in the series and I am more than happy to keep reading them.
Here is the link to my Amazon review:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R8E7IN...
I gave 'Unforeseen' 4 stars and here is why:
'Unforeseen: Journey through rust' focuses on Rusu Miyako - A 15 year old Samurai who gets chosen to go on a mysterious quest.
She meets a boy named Sook when she is transported via a portal to a strange land; where you have to wear masks in order to breathe.
She soon finds out that she is a supposed enemy of that signalling the end of there worlds existence but when Sook is kidnapped bandits she has to team up with his big brother Jin to save him. Jin Later becomes a love interest for Rusu and I can't wait to see their relationship build.
It was a short read but it was a good read and it kept me captivated throughout. I am guessing there will be more in the series and I am more than happy to keep reading them.
Here is the link to my Amazon review:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R8E7IN...
September 27, 2013
3.5 out of 5 stars
Review + Author Interview @ Say It With Books
"She felt lighter as though her shorn hair had been tangled up with worries and doubts and weights and then simply cut away."
Miyako is the protagonist in the story and I really admire the courage that she has shown in this story. Sarah Bartsch's narration made it easier for me to imagine what was going on, but on the downside, I think one must have a background knowledge about the 1915 Japan setting to understand some of the words used in the story.
There were so many revelations in the story and and readers will learn a lot of things about Miyako and her past as the story goes on.
Highly recommended for steampunk readers.
*I received an ebook in exchange for an honest review. This, however, did not influence my review in any way.*
Review + Author Interview @ Say It With Books
"She felt lighter as though her shorn hair had been tangled up with worries and doubts and weights and then simply cut away."
Miyako is the protagonist in the story and I really admire the courage that she has shown in this story. Sarah Bartsch's narration made it easier for me to imagine what was going on, but on the downside, I think one must have a background knowledge about the 1915 Japan setting to understand some of the words used in the story.
There were so many revelations in the story and and readers will learn a lot of things about Miyako and her past as the story goes on.
Highly recommended for steampunk readers.
*I received an ebook in exchange for an honest review. This, however, did not influence my review in any way.*
December 27, 2012
I really enjoyed this book, and I hope to see more from Sarah Bartsch. I was able to download this book for free from Sarah to review it, and I'll admit that I was scared I wouldn't like it, but I have never read a steampunk novel and after this one, I plan on reading more. I loved the main character! It's always nice to see a strong female lead (I wish I could be as awesome as her!) I don't know if Sarah plans on writing more about the people in this novel, but I would love to read more about all of them! I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys an action-packed read with an unusual story line.
March 28, 2013
This novella was a light, quick read; a nice blend of Japanese culture, Steampunk elements, and an alternate reality. I enjoyed the expanded role of samurai women and the portal concept. How the shogun utilized the portals was very fitting. Certain aspects, especially the flitting romance, seemed a bit out of place. I do wish Miyako's sword skills had been shown a bit more, but her sensory skills were quite useful. The ending, though a bit rushed, concluded on a hopeful note - one that could possibly be continued in the future.
Note: I received a free copy from the author for a fair and honest review.
Note: I received a free copy from the author for a fair and honest review.
December 20, 2012
In an alternate 1915, the Meiji Restoration never occurred and Japan is still ruled by samurai. As technology speeds the growth of empires, Japan is struggling to keep up. Portals have opened up around the world that lead into another world. Miyako, the first woman samurai of her line, is sent through one of the portals to see what technology she can find. As the mission proceeds, she not only engages in a thrilling adventure with robots and bandits, but learns about herself as well. I enjoyed this steampunk novella - a great entry in the Empires of Steam and Rust saga.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews