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Sunset Val #1
Sunset Val
Thrill to the daring exploits of the infamous pirate queen, recounted in her very own words! In this first adventure she makes friends and enemies alike, frees slaves and hunts down villainous pirates! Admire her perserverance in the face of hardship and adversity as she draws together her cadre of companions, whether human, vampyri, animan automaidon or patchwork! Be amazed at how this young girl surmounts so many obstacles to become one of Ayrth's greatest airship pirates!
180 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 12, 2010
16 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 30, 2014
Sunset Val is an interesting story but isn't what I'd call 'deep reading'. In many ways it seems like a modern day penny dreadful; a Story of adventure and peril in which the hero lurches from one set-piece to the next, and frankly, there is nothing wrong with that.
'Sunset Val' is actually Valerie, a high-school girl from a regular boring family. Waiting for her no good older brother to pick her up after her fencing lessons, she is suddenly whisked away by a 'Mad Scientist' to a fantastical steam-punk world. A world in which North America is a shattered continent as the mid-atlantic boasts the 'Atlan' empire, an Atlantis type civilization that has conquered good portions of the planet, including Europe and most of Africa. It is a world with Sky-ships, pirates, slavers, Frankenstein like 'Patchwork' people, Animal-human Hybrids, Vampires, Mechanical Robots and so forth. A veritable hodge-podge of steampunk clichés. Taken by Slavers, and taking the alias Sunset Val, Valerie organizes a rebellion and than takes to the skies herself as a sort of Steampunk Robin Hood, vowing to upset the present social order and battle tyranny.
So yeah, this book was fun. The writing could be a bit sloppy at times, but over-all it had a good pace of adventure that got better as the book went on. There are a few anachronisms here and there, and a bit of a saviour complex as the character from 'our world' brings idea's of Justice and such to a beat-down people, but those themes, while heavy-handed at times, don't disturb the meat of the book, which is clever plans, daring sword-fights and Giant Airships.
The first in an obvious series, it will be interesting to see if the penny dreadful style continues and can sustain itself. I'd be interested to see a few more actual 'aerial' battles with the Airships, so I'll keep an eye out for further adventures.
'Sunset Val' is actually Valerie, a high-school girl from a regular boring family. Waiting for her no good older brother to pick her up after her fencing lessons, she is suddenly whisked away by a 'Mad Scientist' to a fantastical steam-punk world. A world in which North America is a shattered continent as the mid-atlantic boasts the 'Atlan' empire, an Atlantis type civilization that has conquered good portions of the planet, including Europe and most of Africa. It is a world with Sky-ships, pirates, slavers, Frankenstein like 'Patchwork' people, Animal-human Hybrids, Vampires, Mechanical Robots and so forth. A veritable hodge-podge of steampunk clichés. Taken by Slavers, and taking the alias Sunset Val, Valerie organizes a rebellion and than takes to the skies herself as a sort of Steampunk Robin Hood, vowing to upset the present social order and battle tyranny.
So yeah, this book was fun. The writing could be a bit sloppy at times, but over-all it had a good pace of adventure that got better as the book went on. There are a few anachronisms here and there, and a bit of a saviour complex as the character from 'our world' brings idea's of Justice and such to a beat-down people, but those themes, while heavy-handed at times, don't disturb the meat of the book, which is clever plans, daring sword-fights and Giant Airships.
The first in an obvious series, it will be interesting to see if the penny dreadful style continues and can sustain itself. I'd be interested to see a few more actual 'aerial' battles with the Airships, so I'll keep an eye out for further adventures.
January 15, 2015
One of my favourite books - I've read it over and over and always discover something new. LOVE the humour.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews