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Jackelian #3
The Rise of the Iron Moon
From the author of The Court of the Air and The Kingdom Beyond the Waves comes a thrilling new adventure set in the same Victorian-style world. Perfect for fans of Philip Pullman and Susanna Clarke. Born into captivity as a product of the Royal Breeding House, friendless orphan Purity Drake suddenly finds herself on the run with a foreign vagrant from the North after accidentally killing one of her guards. Her strange rescuer claims he is on the run himself from terrible forces who mean to enslave the Kingdom of Jackals as they conquered his own nation. Purity doubts his story, until reports begin to filter through from Jackals' neighbours of the terrible Army of Shadows, marching across the continent and sweepign all before them. But there's more to Purity than meets the eye. As Jackals girds itself for war against an army of near-unkillable beasts serving an ancient evil with a terrible secret, it soon becomes clear that their only hope is a strange little royalist girl and the last, desperate plan of an escaped slave.
455 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
37 people are currently reading
1275 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Hunt
39 books346 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Stephen Hunt is a British writer living in London. His first fantasy novel, For the Crown and the Dragon, was published in 1994, and introduced a young officer, Taliesin, fighting for the Queen of England in a Napoleonic period alternative reality where the wars of Europe were being fought with sorcery and steampunk weapons (airships, clockwork machine guns, and steam-driven trucks called kettle-blacks). The novel won the 1994 WH Smith Award, and the book reviewer Andrew Darlington used Hunt's novel to coin the phrase Flintlock Fantasy to describe the sub-genre of fantasy set in a Regency or Napoleonic-era period.
Stephen Hunt is a British writer living in London. His first fantasy novel, For the Crown and the Dragon, was published in 1994, and introduced a young officer, Taliesin, fighting for the Queen of England in a Napoleonic period alternative reality where the wars of Europe were being fought with sorcery and steampunk weapons (airships, clockwork machine guns, and steam-driven trucks called kettle-blacks). The novel won the 1994 WH Smith Award, and the book reviewer Andrew Darlington used Hunt's novel to coin the phrase Flintlock Fantasy to describe the sub-genre of fantasy set in a Regency or Napoleonic-era period.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
August 25, 2012
Purity Drake escapes the Royal Breeding House with a strange escaped slave. Molly Templar receives a strange message from the Hexmachina just before Earth is invaded! Can Purity Drake, last queen of Jackals, stop the invaders from the Iron Moon? Can Molly Templar, Commodore Black, Coppertracks, and a motley crew reach Kaliban to cut off the invasion at its source after being shot out of a giant cannon with riding an intelligent spacecraft?
Stephen Hunt does it again. When I picked up The Court of the Air, I never thought I was also picking up a new favorite author. Hunt once again shows his love for proto-sf in this yarn. The Rise of the Iron Moon is part War of the Worlds, part First Men on the Moon, a little of John Carter of Mars, with a dash of King Arthur thrown in. The invaders, the slats and their overseers, are disgusting and appropriately fearsome. You know things are going to be bad when The Court of the Air gets their collective asses handed to them.
It was good to see all the old favorites in action again, both from Kingdom Beyond the Waves and The Court of the Air. Molly, Oliver, and of course Old Blackie. Purity Drake was a bit of a cliche but you can't fault Hunt too much for that, not when the story is a page-turner brimming with ideas. The story takes a few unexpected turns, especially when everything goes horribly pear-shaped about 2/3rds of the way through.
This one is brimming with interesting ideas. Steampunk space travel, space elevators, bioengineered servants, a time singularity, all wrapped in a grand adventure straight out of H.G. Welles or Jules Verne.
There's so many good things I want to share about this book. The plot is top notch, revelations about the world of Jackals are well done, and the usual steampunkery is in fine form. Highly recommended but you would be best served to read the previous two volumes first.
Later: Looking back, I think the series hit its apex with The Kingdom Beyond the Waves. This book was almost as good as Kingdom but I didn't think Secrets of the Fire Sea or Jack Cloudie quite measured up. I'm not sure I'm going to read the sixth book at this point.
Stephen Hunt does it again. When I picked up The Court of the Air, I never thought I was also picking up a new favorite author. Hunt once again shows his love for proto-sf in this yarn. The Rise of the Iron Moon is part War of the Worlds, part First Men on the Moon, a little of John Carter of Mars, with a dash of King Arthur thrown in. The invaders, the slats and their overseers, are disgusting and appropriately fearsome. You know things are going to be bad when The Court of the Air gets their collective asses handed to them.
It was good to see all the old favorites in action again, both from Kingdom Beyond the Waves and The Court of the Air. Molly, Oliver, and of course Old Blackie. Purity Drake was a bit of a cliche but you can't fault Hunt too much for that, not when the story is a page-turner brimming with ideas. The story takes a few unexpected turns, especially when everything goes horribly pear-shaped about 2/3rds of the way through.
This one is brimming with interesting ideas. Steampunk space travel, space elevators, bioengineered servants, a time singularity, all wrapped in a grand adventure straight out of H.G. Welles or Jules Verne.
There's so many good things I want to share about this book. The plot is top notch, revelations about the world of Jackals are well done, and the usual steampunkery is in fine form. Highly recommended but you would be best served to read the previous two volumes first.
Later: Looking back, I think the series hit its apex with The Kingdom Beyond the Waves. This book was almost as good as Kingdom but I didn't think Secrets of the Fire Sea or Jack Cloudie quite measured up. I'm not sure I'm going to read the sixth book at this point.
January 11, 2014
I had this half-started for a while, and finally bit the bullet and read on. I'm not impressed by this series, really -- it doesn't stick in my head at all. I couldn't remember who was meant to be a recurring character, who was aligned with what... and I didn't read the other books that long ago.
As I recall it, the other books are kinda fun adventure stories, and there's plenty of shiny ideas going on, but I just can't get into this series. Next?
As I recall it, the other books are kinda fun adventure stories, and there's plenty of shiny ideas going on, but I just can't get into this series. Next?
October 10, 2014
First: ninety nine cents. The ebook version is aggressively--belligerently to the point of mouth-froth, rather--priced at ninety nine cents at Amazon, at least for the moment. This is a value of such mind-boggling scale that I was agog for a full fifteen seconds before stabbing the 'Buy now with 1-Click(r)' button. If you want to try the Jackelian series, this is the way to do it. Reading the unavailable-as-ebook earlier members of the series is inessential but provides background.
Secondly: Sorry, _The Rise of the Iron Moon_...it's me, not you. You were the book that proved that ebook-on-a-tablet simply isn't working for me, both in terms of eyestrain, schedule, and distraction-by-internet. It's hard when reading sessions are limited to certain hours on certain days and aren't _quality_ hours. You deserve another star, but the long drag across the finish line, scattered over nearly a month, took a toll.
The Jackelian series up to and including this point have formed the sort of Russian nesting dolls that Doc Smith was so fond of: the threats unveiled in book X neatly encapsulate and render quaint the threats of book X-1, and will in turn be shown puny relative to book X+1. And given the scope of events here and the likely ramifications to the world, I can't see this progression going on indefinitely.
Just when I think I understand the setting--is this actually a far-future Dying Earth style style, the universe gone strange and doddering in its old age?--the author neatly pulls the rug out from under. From _The Court of the Air_ it felt like a smorgasbord of brass-goggles-on-my-tophat steampunk imagery mixed with odd elements of fantasy and whatnot, but in the last quarter of this book the explanations start to arrive, and the eclectic mix of genres finally does crystallize into something cohesive and satisfying.
Secondly: Sorry, _The Rise of the Iron Moon_...it's me, not you. You were the book that proved that ebook-on-a-tablet simply isn't working for me, both in terms of eyestrain, schedule, and distraction-by-internet. It's hard when reading sessions are limited to certain hours on certain days and aren't _quality_ hours. You deserve another star, but the long drag across the finish line, scattered over nearly a month, took a toll.
The Jackelian series up to and including this point have formed the sort of Russian nesting dolls that Doc Smith was so fond of: the threats unveiled in book X neatly encapsulate and render quaint the threats of book X-1, and will in turn be shown puny relative to book X+1. And given the scope of events here and the likely ramifications to the world, I can't see this progression going on indefinitely.
Just when I think I understand the setting--is this actually a far-future Dying Earth style style, the universe gone strange and doddering in its old age?--the author neatly pulls the rug out from under. From _The Court of the Air_ it felt like a smorgasbord of brass-goggles-on-my-tophat steampunk imagery mixed with odd elements of fantasy and whatnot, but in the last quarter of this book the explanations start to arrive, and the eclectic mix of genres finally does crystallize into something cohesive and satisfying.
March 29, 2010
This is the first major disappointment of 2009. Though released as an adventure fantasy, The Rise of Iron Man is unabashed pulp-sf and as such failed my suspension of disbelief early on.
The cast of At the Court of the Air returns with their ridiculous names (scheme of defense and offense) and mannerisms "dear mammal" and what was acceptable in a series debut, becomes truly wearisome here.
However that is nothing compared with the plot that reads as a cluttered HG Wells War of the Worlds mixed with some superhero comic like Superman, or vice-versa a modern comic cluttered with pseudo-Victoriana...
There are some poignant moments and the last 50 pages are superb action that redeem somewhat the novel, so it was not a complete waste of time.
Still after the magnificent Kingdom Beyond the Waves, what a come-down!
Edit 3/28/2010
About a month ago when Secrets of the Fire Sea was published I gave another try to Rise of the Iron Moon and while it still read too pulpy, I was better disposed towards it and today I would give it a B, rather than the D to F I gave it originally - that's the power of expectations, after a very good but flawed Court of the Air, the superb Kingdom was a top book, after that the pulpy Iron Moon was almost a throw away in anger...
The cast of At the Court of the Air returns with their ridiculous names (scheme of defense and offense) and mannerisms "dear mammal" and what was acceptable in a series debut, becomes truly wearisome here.
However that is nothing compared with the plot that reads as a cluttered HG Wells War of the Worlds mixed with some superhero comic like Superman, or vice-versa a modern comic cluttered with pseudo-Victoriana...
There are some poignant moments and the last 50 pages are superb action that redeem somewhat the novel, so it was not a complete waste of time.
Still after the magnificent Kingdom Beyond the Waves, what a come-down!
Edit 3/28/2010
About a month ago when Secrets of the Fire Sea was published I gave another try to Rise of the Iron Moon and while it still read too pulpy, I was better disposed towards it and today I would give it a B, rather than the D to F I gave it originally - that's the power of expectations, after a very good but flawed Court of the Air, the superb Kingdom was a top book, after that the pulpy Iron Moon was almost a throw away in anger...
December 3, 2011
How can one plucky orphan girl save the world from ultimate destruction?
Born into captivity as a product of the Royal Breeding House, lonely orphan Purity Drake suddenly finds herself on the run with a foreign vagrant after accidentally killing one of her guards.
Her mysterious rescuer claims to have escaped from terrible forces who mean to enslave the Kingdom of Jackals as they conquered his own nation. Purity doubts the story, until reports begin to filter through from Jackals’ neighbours of a murderous Army of Shadows, marching across the continent and sweeping all before them.
But there’s more to Purity Drake than meets the eye. And as Jackals girds itself for war against a near-indestructible army, it soon becomes clear that the Kingdom’s only hope is a strange little orphan girl and the last, desperate plan of an escaped slave from a land far, far away.
Back in July, I picked up Jack Cloudie by Stephen Hunt. I had never read any of his books but I was sold on the premise by the cover alone. It was a lot of fun and afterwards, I mentally took note that I must try to pick up the other novels in the series. Jump forward a couple months to FantasyCon 2011 and I was given a copy of The Rise of The Iron Moon, reminding me once again how much I had enjoyed Jack Cloudie, and that I should really read more of this author’s work. Excuse my tardiness Mr Hunt but finally, nearly six months after the original thought, I’ve gotten around to doing just that.
With subtle nods to classic works such as War of The Worlds, and The Barsoom series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, it is incredibly easy to get caught up in this steampunk alien invasion story. The action is fast paced and builds nicely from the beginning right up until the epic conclusion. The battles described are vividly drawn visceral affairs and contain some spectacular individual moments.
There is a cavalcade of wonderful characters. Not only is there Purity Drake, you also get Jared Black, a cantankerous old u-boat captain; Molly Templar, author of science-fiction penny dreadfuls; and Coppertracks, a scientist and steam powered artificial humanoid. Each of these players gets moments to shine and I would happily read much more about any one of them. I was surprised to find how affected I was by the eventual fate of some of the novel’s key characters. The author is certainly not averse to highlighting the fact that there are always consequences to actions, and that sometimes in war, hard sacrifices have to be made.
The thing that really struck me about the writing is the exquisite attention to even the smallest of details. This novel, like the others in the series, is set on an alternate Earth where the Victorian-era British Empire is instead The Kingdom of Jackals. There is a sense of genuine delight when you spot the Jackelian equivalent to something that exists (or existed) in our world. It makes everything seem that much more alive when you catch one of these references. It doesn’t even have to be anything particularly relevant to the narrative. In the Jackelian universe London has become Middlesteel and I found myself ridiculously pleased with the Jackelian names for the River Thames and Big Ben, sad but true.
For those that are unfamiliar with Mr Hunt’s work there are currently five novels published in the Jackelian series, The Rise of The Iron Moon is number three and Jack Cloudie is number five. This is where I think I was most impressed. I have managed to successfully read two out of the five novels in an entirely random order and followed the individual narratives without any issue. I think anyone could easily pick up and quickly enjoy this novel as a standalone tale, but as soon as you start on another book in the series you’ll start to appreciate the larger overall chronology that the author is developing.
After reading The Rise of the Dark Moon I can guarantee you one thing – it will not take me six months until I read my next Stephen Hunt novel. I don’t just want to know what happens in books one, two and four; I need to know what happens. This is first class fiction that has effortlessly captured my imagination.
The Rise of the Iron Moon is available now from Harper Voyager. From the Deep of the Dark, the sixth book in the series, is due to be released in February 2012.
Born into captivity as a product of the Royal Breeding House, lonely orphan Purity Drake suddenly finds herself on the run with a foreign vagrant after accidentally killing one of her guards.
Her mysterious rescuer claims to have escaped from terrible forces who mean to enslave the Kingdom of Jackals as they conquered his own nation. Purity doubts the story, until reports begin to filter through from Jackals’ neighbours of a murderous Army of Shadows, marching across the continent and sweeping all before them.
But there’s more to Purity Drake than meets the eye. And as Jackals girds itself for war against a near-indestructible army, it soon becomes clear that the Kingdom’s only hope is a strange little orphan girl and the last, desperate plan of an escaped slave from a land far, far away.
Back in July, I picked up Jack Cloudie by Stephen Hunt. I had never read any of his books but I was sold on the premise by the cover alone. It was a lot of fun and afterwards, I mentally took note that I must try to pick up the other novels in the series. Jump forward a couple months to FantasyCon 2011 and I was given a copy of The Rise of The Iron Moon, reminding me once again how much I had enjoyed Jack Cloudie, and that I should really read more of this author’s work. Excuse my tardiness Mr Hunt but finally, nearly six months after the original thought, I’ve gotten around to doing just that.
With subtle nods to classic works such as War of The Worlds, and The Barsoom series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, it is incredibly easy to get caught up in this steampunk alien invasion story. The action is fast paced and builds nicely from the beginning right up until the epic conclusion. The battles described are vividly drawn visceral affairs and contain some spectacular individual moments.
There is a cavalcade of wonderful characters. Not only is there Purity Drake, you also get Jared Black, a cantankerous old u-boat captain; Molly Templar, author of science-fiction penny dreadfuls; and Coppertracks, a scientist and steam powered artificial humanoid. Each of these players gets moments to shine and I would happily read much more about any one of them. I was surprised to find how affected I was by the eventual fate of some of the novel’s key characters. The author is certainly not averse to highlighting the fact that there are always consequences to actions, and that sometimes in war, hard sacrifices have to be made.
The thing that really struck me about the writing is the exquisite attention to even the smallest of details. This novel, like the others in the series, is set on an alternate Earth where the Victorian-era British Empire is instead The Kingdom of Jackals. There is a sense of genuine delight when you spot the Jackelian equivalent to something that exists (or existed) in our world. It makes everything seem that much more alive when you catch one of these references. It doesn’t even have to be anything particularly relevant to the narrative. In the Jackelian universe London has become Middlesteel and I found myself ridiculously pleased with the Jackelian names for the River Thames and Big Ben, sad but true.
For those that are unfamiliar with Mr Hunt’s work there are currently five novels published in the Jackelian series, The Rise of The Iron Moon is number three and Jack Cloudie is number five. This is where I think I was most impressed. I have managed to successfully read two out of the five novels in an entirely random order and followed the individual narratives without any issue. I think anyone could easily pick up and quickly enjoy this novel as a standalone tale, but as soon as you start on another book in the series you’ll start to appreciate the larger overall chronology that the author is developing.
After reading The Rise of the Dark Moon I can guarantee you one thing – it will not take me six months until I read my next Stephen Hunt novel. I don’t just want to know what happens in books one, two and four; I need to know what happens. This is first class fiction that has effortlessly captured my imagination.
The Rise of the Iron Moon is available now from Harper Voyager. From the Deep of the Dark, the sixth book in the series, is due to be released in February 2012.
December 30, 2014
Fast-paced, complex, imaginative. Recommended.
September 10, 2018
The third in Hunt’s Jackals series has the kingdom of Jackals – the entire world! – threatened by alien invaders from the planet Kaliban, the equivalent of Mars, though that’s more of a H G Wells/Edgar Rice Burroughs Mars.
(Apologies for Wells and/or Burroughs fans for jamming the two together).
Molly Templar and Oliver Brooks return from the first in the series. Brooks, now the Hood o’ the Marsh, the personification of justice for the kingdom, relinquishes his role to allow the true queen, Purity Drake to rise. (Jackals overthrew it’s kings several hundred years ago, their monarch now a mutilated prisoner). She in turn reawakens some legendary heroes, but does she have enough belief in herself to turn back the invaders?
Templar meanwhile gets together with a bunch of scientists from Jackals, the Steamman Free State and even rival nation Quatèrshift, to mount an expedition across the deeps of space to the source (Kaliban). Obviously everything goes wrong.
As is usually the case, many characters, both admirable and despicable die, often in horrible ways. There’s a lot of people sacrificing themselves, not always for any good result. It feels more tragic than the previous novels which have never shied away from being gritty.
There’s a twist to do with time at the end, but it’s about context and history and motivation rather than the complete bizarre change out of nowhere that characterised Kingdom Beyond the Waves . Probably the best one so far, though relying a little on the knowledge from previous books.
Read This: For weird mind-bending celestial fiction
Don’t Read This: For light amusing reading.
December 1, 2020
Another good book in the series. Patterned on our own world, basically 19th century British empire, but very different in so many ways. In this world, the age of oil is long past, and electricity is uncontrollable.
There are some time travel aspects, and finding your ancestors may not always be good for your health.
There are some time travel aspects, and finding your ancestors may not always be good for your health.
February 14, 2010
A vast improvement over The Kingdom Beyond the Waves, The Rise of the Iron Moon is a fast-paced adventure with more twists and turns than you could shake a stick at. Many of the characters from The Court of the Air reappear to work against a new, dangerous foe in far more convincing fashion than in The Kingdom Beyond the Waves. I was particularly charmed by Hunt's use of intertextuality with some very old myths and some very 20th century SF.
Breakneck speed, an interesting plot, and if there was a touch of deus ex machina in the climax, it was so satisfying that it passed by without a flicker. A hugely enjoyable adventure romp with some of Hunt's most interesting characters - Duncan, for one - and a touching thematic resonance about fathers and daughters that is handled far better than in The Kingdom Beyond the Waves.
I'm looking forward to reading Secrets of the Fire Sea but I'm a little concerned that the blurb indicates that the novel takes place away from Jackals, Molly and Commodore Black where Hunt's affection and strongest imagination evidently lies.
Breakneck speed, an interesting plot, and if there was a touch of deus ex machina in the climax, it was so satisfying that it passed by without a flicker. A hugely enjoyable adventure romp with some of Hunt's most interesting characters - Duncan, for one - and a touching thematic resonance about fathers and daughters that is handled far better than in The Kingdom Beyond the Waves.
I'm looking forward to reading Secrets of the Fire Sea but I'm a little concerned that the blurb indicates that the novel takes place away from Jackals, Molly and Commodore Black where Hunt's affection and strongest imagination evidently lies.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 2, 2012
The sci-fi adventure book Rise of the Iron Moon was confusing and full of genre tropes and recycled imagination. The unlikable characters (namely and most regrettably the main character) were one dimensional, and the plot was hard to follow.
The multiple stories at once approach left me wading through page after page of uninteresting techno-babble just waiting for the next action scene to happen, or the story to take an interesting turn. Deus ex Machina is used heavily in the second half of the novel when the (I kid you not) Math Sword is given to the protagonist so she can “math” her problems away by changing the equations of the matter around her, thus manipulating the world to her liking. It’s a sort of heady conceit and difficult to understand or find interesting.
The book isn’t completely terrible. Despite all the hatin’ I just did, the writing is fair to good and some elements such as Coppertracks the robot were fun to read about. Ultimately it’s a book for steam-punk super fans who have already played through the game Bioshock ten times, already saw the movie Hugo in 3D, and desperately need a steamy, punky fix while they wait for the next re-make of Metropolis. You won’t necessarily go wrong picking up a copy of Rise of the Iron Moon but you won’t go right either. As for me: I’d rather just go play through Bioshock one more time.
The multiple stories at once approach left me wading through page after page of uninteresting techno-babble just waiting for the next action scene to happen, or the story to take an interesting turn. Deus ex Machina is used heavily in the second half of the novel when the (I kid you not) Math Sword is given to the protagonist so she can “math” her problems away by changing the equations of the matter around her, thus manipulating the world to her liking. It’s a sort of heady conceit and difficult to understand or find interesting.
The book isn’t completely terrible. Despite all the hatin’ I just did, the writing is fair to good and some elements such as Coppertracks the robot were fun to read about. Ultimately it’s a book for steam-punk super fans who have already played through the game Bioshock ten times, already saw the movie Hugo in 3D, and desperately need a steamy, punky fix while they wait for the next re-make of Metropolis. You won’t necessarily go wrong picking up a copy of Rise of the Iron Moon but you won’t go right either. As for me: I’d rather just go play through Bioshock one more time.
May 17, 2011
I love the concept of steampunk, but until the last year or so the only exposure I had to it was in movies such as Howl's Moving Castle and Hellboy II. To my chagrin, the first few books I read or attempted to read in this genre were poorly written, being filled with clunky dialogue and convoluted plots. I have so far read some decent steampunk novels, but nothing that I thought was exceptional or even worth a review. Indeed, thus far, I had found no steampunk Shakespeare.
This book has everything I like in a good novel: well-written prose, interesting and well-developed characters, a compelling pace and plot, and excellent dialogue. Even if you find this book confusing or the plot a bit far-fetched-, this book is a page turner. Just when you think the heroes have finally gotten the upper hand, things go wrong for them and you just want to read more to see how they get themselves out of an dire situation.
Unlike other steampunk writers, Stephen Hunt an author whose books I will pick up whenever they come out. So is he a steampunk Shakespeare? Well, he's the best I've found so far, so for the moment, yes.
This book has everything I like in a good novel: well-written prose, interesting and well-developed characters, a compelling pace and plot, and excellent dialogue. Even if you find this book confusing or the plot a bit far-fetched-, this book is a page turner. Just when you think the heroes have finally gotten the upper hand, things go wrong for them and you just want to read more to see how they get themselves out of an dire situation.
Unlike other steampunk writers, Stephen Hunt an author whose books I will pick up whenever they come out. So is he a steampunk Shakespeare? Well, he's the best I've found so far, so for the moment, yes.
February 14, 2010
I enjoyed the preceeding 2 books a great deal and ditto for this one however it did seem that Mr Hunt had written a larger 3rd volume and was asked to cut it down to size by the rather disconnected jumping from scenario to scenario towards the end. I find it hard to believe that a writer who conjures excellent scenes and links them to each other brilliantly would suddenly slip into almost precis mode and abruptly stop using well crafted prose to smoothly guide the storyline onwards in favour of a jerky popping from one set of characters to another for any other reason than being to told to shorten the book. I may be wrong but it did spoil the end somewhat for me. Nevertheless I'd recommend the series highly to anyone who likes steampunk.
January 31, 2011
I skipped series order, so maybe this review isn't fair, but I found this book, confusing, manic, and so stuffed with pseudoscientific hooey that it was distracting. There were too many characters, even though the author killed them off left and right. This is steampunk with no sense of history, a thousand cliffhangers with no real suspense ever built up because it was just hard to care what happened to any of the books. When the most likable character is the mechanical man, you know something is deficient in the personalities of the others.
March 14, 2018
I made it in about 100 pages before giving up. There's at least 5 plots going on, a bunch of random characters who I have no investment in and a huge mish-mash of worldbuilding that I don't have the patience to wade through any further.
To be fair to the book itself, it turns out it's the third of a series. To be fair to the reader, it says nowhere on the book that this is the third of a series. Might have been helpful of the publisher to mention that fact.
To be fair to the book itself, it turns out it's the third of a series. To be fair to the reader, it says nowhere on the book that this is the third of a series. Might have been helpful of the publisher to mention that fact.
February 3, 2013
Overall as a conclusion, even though I had slept through world basics 101 in the first two volumes, I give my two thumbs up for the book and a gun barrel pointing at a potential reader to get to the nearest book store and hoard copies of the three novels, because I think they are also as good as this one.
June 25, 2011
Once again, Stephen Hunt shows why he is one of my top 5 favorite authors. With a mix of characters that would make George R.R. Martin blush, he pushes the envelope in an amazing steampunk world, that you not only enjoy becoming a part of, relish being there, and hate having to leave. I would highly recommend these books for anyone who has even a sliver of imagination.
April 12, 2020
At risk of sounding cliche, this book was just so imaginative. It reminded me of the books I got lost in as a kid. And that's even on top of the fact that I (although I love Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) haven't fully embraced the Steampunk subculture...yet! Can't wait to catch up on the other books in the series!
July 19, 2012
Cracking good read.
January 26, 2014
Okay, so the rundown is as follows. There is a good book in Stephen Hunt's The Rise of the Iron Moon. Somewhere. When he isn't gleefully destroying the beautiful setting he spent two books building up, or borrowing liberally from Jules Verne and HG Wells. Said good book is hiding in a mass of strange narrative choices, long passages of debate and exposition, characters spending their time not fighting a superior force sweeping across the land, and some rather bizarre takes on Arthurian mythology. Also, as this is a concluding volume to the arc started in The Court of the Air, foreknowledge of which is required to read this book.
The good bits are that when the book is going, it really gets going, Stephen Hunt's usual attention to detail and worldbuilding do shine through in places, there is a genuine sense of urgency to some scenes, and I like the way some of the bits do come together. Also, there are some fantastic plot elements.
However, in the end, I cannot recommend this book to all but the most ardent of Hunt's fans, or those wondering about the ultimate fates of the characters from the first two books. Find it in the library, buy it if you find it used and plan on passing it off, but this one's for collectors and die-hard fans, and there are plenty of books that are time better spent.
More, as always, below.
"How much time do you need?"
"About five million years' worth."
"I'll buy it in the blood of our enemies."
- Purity Drake and Jackaby Mention
I'd been tracking this book for a long time. I'd even almost bought it no less than three times when I found it in stores. And probably because I'd been tracking it over a long period-- either never seeming to have the money at the right time, or never being in the right place but having all the money I'd need-- I probably inflated its worth to me and its quality by anticipating it so much. I mean, I'd liked the first two books, surely the third, a steampunk science fiction novel that actually had its characters go to space would be a brilliant read worthy of the legacy Stephen Hunt put forward. So finally, when I found it on the shelves at The Strand, Christmas money from a dear relative* burning a hole in my pocket, I did what any rational person would do and grabbed it.
And at first, I was willing to go with it. Sure, it started off slowly, but it eventually picked up! And the heroes from other books, like Commodore Black and Coppertracks were there! But...well, read on.
The Rise of the Iron Moon begins with Purity Drake. Purity is an inmate of the Royal Breeding House in the nation of Jackals, a large prison-cum-breeding facility used to house female Royalist prisoners so Parliament can breed them and have people to torture and humiliate through the ages. In Jackals, the royalty is more or less a symbolic scapegoat for all the ills the townspeople have, following a kind of fantasy-Cromwellian directive where Parliament and the House of Guardians have literally disarmed the king and turned him into a figurehead. When Purity suddenly receives a hallucination of fighting lizard-people with a silver trident, she accidentally kills one of her guards and escapes with the help of a young man named Kyorin who seems to talk without moving his lips.
Kyorin and Purity wind up taking refuge from a troop of evil ape-like hunters in the confines of a building known as Tock House, a fortresslike mansion owned by Molly Templar, best-selling author and former defender of Jackals; Commodore Jared Black, a former pirate always one adventure away from retirement; and their steamman companion Coppertracks. In the ensuing chaos, weapons are drawn and a massive eight-barreled deck-sweeper is used to clear the monsters, but Kyorin is mortally wounded. He passes on his memories to Molly, who is now tasked with trying to find some way to stop the advance of the sinister Army of Shadows, an alien force.
At the same time, Coppertracks uses an observatory to look upon Kaliban, the large red planet near Earth and finds that the hunter monsters are possibly coming from Mars, and that Kyorin is more than likely from there as well.
And then things get weird.
The Army of Shadows spreads across the land, and a large iron comet appears in the sky, orbiting around Earth. As nations are crushed and plans become desperate, it becomes clear that the Army of Shadows is more than likely going to be the clear victor of the war. But Molly, Purity, and their friends launch a desperate attempt-- one attempts to gain a weapon from the land, and the other attempts a dangerous voyage to Kaliban to strike at the heart of the Shadows. But even these might not be enough to quell the tide, and if the planet is destroyed by the unearthly Army at its doorstep, what will be left to reclaim?
So, first problem with the book: You see that description up there? Doesn't that sound cool? Doesn't that sound interesting? Now add about fifty to seventy pages of discourse and needless exposition into that story, as well as several-page descriptions of people who are going to be crushed, making it clear they're going to be crushed because, well, they're minor characters in a rehash of War of the Worlds with some From the Earth to the Moon mixed in. The first time I read of nations being crushed, it was wrenching. After that, though, it became sort of commonplace. The book has a few scenes that ramp up the tension, but lacks any sense of urgency or grace. It doesn't truly get going until about two hundred and twenty pages in, at which point the groundwork is laid and half the book is over. While some of those two hundred and twenty pages are setting information, most of them could be fairly streamlined. Describing what happens to the anarchist woman warriors of the Catosian free states really didn't need to be done, especially because they were overrun offscreen two pages later. The book progresses in fits and starts for the first half, and none of it particularly works.
Second, and I really hate that I have to get into this here, a lot of the characters are depowered or lacking in agency. Agency, for those who are not familiar with the term, is what happens when characters are allowed to make things happen instead of having things happen to them. Johannes Cabal from Johannes Cabal, for example, has a great deal of agency. Most of the things that happen to him are consequences from actions he's taken-- either direct consequences or indirect. He's not much of a "good guy", but he has initiative. And he definitely has agency. Hell, even some characters without agency can be interesting. Elijah Clearfather from Zanesville has a lot of things happen to him without him causing them directly or even understanding what's going on. He's also mainly come to the point he has because of the way he was born more than anything he does. But it's still a fairly intriguing journey with an interesting character**. But if the circumstances and the characters aren't interesting enough to sustain the journey, then lack of agency gets boring. It's like failing all your rolls during a roleplaying game. You might as well not do anything, because no matter what you do, the results will not matter. And when this happens in a book, the reader stops caring about the characters.
So when it's set up beforehand that the characters are going to fall over several more times in the attempts, and nothing they do seems to match up with stuff actually going on, and rampaging not-Martians are going to kill a lot of people no matter what, it gets boring. And to add to this, the characters seem to be depowered from previous versions. Molly Templar, as I said, is no longer a resourceful woman with a ton of fight, but kind of a middle-aged author who yearns for adventure. Commodore Black is largely unchanged, but somehow seems less useful. Purity Drake spends a lot of the book not being useful, and then suddenly gets a massive power upgrade...only to suddenly and ruthlessly (and perhaps a bit arbitrarily) have the goalposts moved solely for the purpose of giving Hunt a climax that brings everyone together. Which is kind of sloppy plotting.
But there are bright spots. Rise of the Iron Moon again brings Hunt's details and world into beautiful focus, and there are some rousing scenes that resonate simply by reading them. There are fight scenes and twists and narrow escapes and many chapters in the second half end with a cliffhanger that kept me hooked into the story enough to see what happened page after page. And I'd like to tell you that for these moments, for this stretch of time, it was completely worth it. I'd really like to. But Hunt's control, which is usually very tightly focused on two storylines, is preoccupied with tying up all his works and closing this "phase" of Jackals, it would seem. But the goodbye seems half-hearted at best, and not really worth the time.
So miss this one. It's got some good parts, and if you want to try it or you're a big fan of Hunt's other books, then by all means, find it. I'd suggest a library. Who knows, maybe I was just kind of unfair. But I can't recommend this. Read any of the other Court of the Air books instead. They're worth much more of your time.
NEXT WEEK:
- S. by JJ Abrams and Doug Dorst
AND THEN:
- Hell's Horizon by Darren Shan
- Nocturnal by Scott Sigler
- City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte
AND OTHERS
*Hi, Uncle Grunny. Nice to see you.
** See also several characters in A Song of Ice and Fire. The lacking of agency bit. Whether or not they're compelling is kind of a reader-by-reader argument.
The good bits are that when the book is going, it really gets going, Stephen Hunt's usual attention to detail and worldbuilding do shine through in places, there is a genuine sense of urgency to some scenes, and I like the way some of the bits do come together. Also, there are some fantastic plot elements.
However, in the end, I cannot recommend this book to all but the most ardent of Hunt's fans, or those wondering about the ultimate fates of the characters from the first two books. Find it in the library, buy it if you find it used and plan on passing it off, but this one's for collectors and die-hard fans, and there are plenty of books that are time better spent.
More, as always, below.
"How much time do you need?"
"About five million years' worth."
"I'll buy it in the blood of our enemies."
- Purity Drake and Jackaby Mention
I'd been tracking this book for a long time. I'd even almost bought it no less than three times when I found it in stores. And probably because I'd been tracking it over a long period-- either never seeming to have the money at the right time, or never being in the right place but having all the money I'd need-- I probably inflated its worth to me and its quality by anticipating it so much. I mean, I'd liked the first two books, surely the third, a steampunk science fiction novel that actually had its characters go to space would be a brilliant read worthy of the legacy Stephen Hunt put forward. So finally, when I found it on the shelves at The Strand, Christmas money from a dear relative* burning a hole in my pocket, I did what any rational person would do and grabbed it.
And at first, I was willing to go with it. Sure, it started off slowly, but it eventually picked up! And the heroes from other books, like Commodore Black and Coppertracks were there! But...well, read on.
The Rise of the Iron Moon begins with Purity Drake. Purity is an inmate of the Royal Breeding House in the nation of Jackals, a large prison-cum-breeding facility used to house female Royalist prisoners so Parliament can breed them and have people to torture and humiliate through the ages. In Jackals, the royalty is more or less a symbolic scapegoat for all the ills the townspeople have, following a kind of fantasy-Cromwellian directive where Parliament and the House of Guardians have literally disarmed the king and turned him into a figurehead. When Purity suddenly receives a hallucination of fighting lizard-people with a silver trident, she accidentally kills one of her guards and escapes with the help of a young man named Kyorin who seems to talk without moving his lips.
Kyorin and Purity wind up taking refuge from a troop of evil ape-like hunters in the confines of a building known as Tock House, a fortresslike mansion owned by Molly Templar, best-selling author and former defender of Jackals; Commodore Jared Black, a former pirate always one adventure away from retirement; and their steamman companion Coppertracks. In the ensuing chaos, weapons are drawn and a massive eight-barreled deck-sweeper is used to clear the monsters, but Kyorin is mortally wounded. He passes on his memories to Molly, who is now tasked with trying to find some way to stop the advance of the sinister Army of Shadows, an alien force.
At the same time, Coppertracks uses an observatory to look upon Kaliban, the large red planet near Earth and finds that the hunter monsters are possibly coming from Mars, and that Kyorin is more than likely from there as well.
And then things get weird.
The Army of Shadows spreads across the land, and a large iron comet appears in the sky, orbiting around Earth. As nations are crushed and plans become desperate, it becomes clear that the Army of Shadows is more than likely going to be the clear victor of the war. But Molly, Purity, and their friends launch a desperate attempt-- one attempts to gain a weapon from the land, and the other attempts a dangerous voyage to Kaliban to strike at the heart of the Shadows. But even these might not be enough to quell the tide, and if the planet is destroyed by the unearthly Army at its doorstep, what will be left to reclaim?
So, first problem with the book: You see that description up there? Doesn't that sound cool? Doesn't that sound interesting? Now add about fifty to seventy pages of discourse and needless exposition into that story, as well as several-page descriptions of people who are going to be crushed, making it clear they're going to be crushed because, well, they're minor characters in a rehash of War of the Worlds with some From the Earth to the Moon mixed in. The first time I read of nations being crushed, it was wrenching. After that, though, it became sort of commonplace. The book has a few scenes that ramp up the tension, but lacks any sense of urgency or grace. It doesn't truly get going until about two hundred and twenty pages in, at which point the groundwork is laid and half the book is over. While some of those two hundred and twenty pages are setting information, most of them could be fairly streamlined. Describing what happens to the anarchist woman warriors of the Catosian free states really didn't need to be done, especially because they were overrun offscreen two pages later. The book progresses in fits and starts for the first half, and none of it particularly works.
Second, and I really hate that I have to get into this here, a lot of the characters are depowered or lacking in agency. Agency, for those who are not familiar with the term, is what happens when characters are allowed to make things happen instead of having things happen to them. Johannes Cabal from Johannes Cabal, for example, has a great deal of agency. Most of the things that happen to him are consequences from actions he's taken-- either direct consequences or indirect. He's not much of a "good guy", but he has initiative. And he definitely has agency. Hell, even some characters without agency can be interesting. Elijah Clearfather from Zanesville has a lot of things happen to him without him causing them directly or even understanding what's going on. He's also mainly come to the point he has because of the way he was born more than anything he does. But it's still a fairly intriguing journey with an interesting character**. But if the circumstances and the characters aren't interesting enough to sustain the journey, then lack of agency gets boring. It's like failing all your rolls during a roleplaying game. You might as well not do anything, because no matter what you do, the results will not matter. And when this happens in a book, the reader stops caring about the characters.
So when it's set up beforehand that the characters are going to fall over several more times in the attempts, and nothing they do seems to match up with stuff actually going on, and rampaging not-Martians are going to kill a lot of people no matter what, it gets boring. And to add to this, the characters seem to be depowered from previous versions. Molly Templar, as I said, is no longer a resourceful woman with a ton of fight, but kind of a middle-aged author who yearns for adventure. Commodore Black is largely unchanged, but somehow seems less useful. Purity Drake spends a lot of the book not being useful, and then suddenly gets a massive power upgrade...only to suddenly and ruthlessly (and perhaps a bit arbitrarily) have the goalposts moved solely for the purpose of giving Hunt a climax that brings everyone together. Which is kind of sloppy plotting.
But there are bright spots. Rise of the Iron Moon again brings Hunt's details and world into beautiful focus, and there are some rousing scenes that resonate simply by reading them. There are fight scenes and twists and narrow escapes and many chapters in the second half end with a cliffhanger that kept me hooked into the story enough to see what happened page after page. And I'd like to tell you that for these moments, for this stretch of time, it was completely worth it. I'd really like to. But Hunt's control, which is usually very tightly focused on two storylines, is preoccupied with tying up all his works and closing this "phase" of Jackals, it would seem. But the goodbye seems half-hearted at best, and not really worth the time.
So miss this one. It's got some good parts, and if you want to try it or you're a big fan of Hunt's other books, then by all means, find it. I'd suggest a library. Who knows, maybe I was just kind of unfair. But I can't recommend this. Read any of the other Court of the Air books instead. They're worth much more of your time.
NEXT WEEK:
- S. by JJ Abrams and Doug Dorst
AND THEN:
- Hell's Horizon by Darren Shan
- Nocturnal by Scott Sigler
- City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte
AND OTHERS
*Hi, Uncle Grunny. Nice to see you.
** See also several characters in A Song of Ice and Fire. The lacking of agency bit. Whether or not they're compelling is kind of a reader-by-reader argument.
June 14, 2021
I hated this book. It's not often I give a book a one-star book. More often than not, I can say that maybe someone would like it and I can understand why, but this was a tragic mess.
To start, I'll say I have no clue how I ended up with this book. I don't recall. I had never heard of the author. Maybe I found it at a thrift store, maybe on the side of the road. Who the hell knows? I liked the cover and it sounded interesting from the description, but that was about all that was acceptable about this mess.
I'll be slightly positive in saying that the world here is massive and interesting. There's a TON of lore and even more settings to be explored, but I've never seen an author so brutally mishandle either. The settings aren't well described. Most paragraphs are filled with absolutely useless information in an attempt to seem poetic. Any world-building that is attempted isn't introduced properly and is done in such a flowery way that it doesn't help the reader understand. It's overwritten and lacks clarity. Less is more, Mr. Hunt. There's just so much going on in each sentence. This made the book an incredible chore to read. I'm sad I get dedicated to things I read, otherwise I would have burned this book.
The dialogue is wooden, which MAYBE could be acceptable if Hunt didn't feel the need to cram dialogue down our throats on every page. Seriously, there was an absurd amount of dialogue that was often just exposition. Most of the characters speak in this obtuse, over-the-top way that makes all of them indistinguishable from each other. This means that everything happens in the form of terrible dialogue.
There are an absurd amount of subplots that didn't really mean anything. Half of the characters die, but that barely matters because none of them are all that likable. It's just... meh. The characters travel to another planet at some point. It's just... a mess. There's way too much going on with the pretty poor explanation of everything. It needed to be streamlined. The way I see it is that if you have a book with this many elements colliding, you need to choose between writing super flowery and having an incredibly complex plot. It's a confusing mess. Read it, if you want. I can't imagine finding enjoyment in it.
To start, I'll say I have no clue how I ended up with this book. I don't recall. I had never heard of the author. Maybe I found it at a thrift store, maybe on the side of the road. Who the hell knows? I liked the cover and it sounded interesting from the description, but that was about all that was acceptable about this mess.
I'll be slightly positive in saying that the world here is massive and interesting. There's a TON of lore and even more settings to be explored, but I've never seen an author so brutally mishandle either. The settings aren't well described. Most paragraphs are filled with absolutely useless information in an attempt to seem poetic. Any world-building that is attempted isn't introduced properly and is done in such a flowery way that it doesn't help the reader understand. It's overwritten and lacks clarity. Less is more, Mr. Hunt. There's just so much going on in each sentence. This made the book an incredible chore to read. I'm sad I get dedicated to things I read, otherwise I would have burned this book.
The dialogue is wooden, which MAYBE could be acceptable if Hunt didn't feel the need to cram dialogue down our throats on every page. Seriously, there was an absurd amount of dialogue that was often just exposition. Most of the characters speak in this obtuse, over-the-top way that makes all of them indistinguishable from each other. This means that everything happens in the form of terrible dialogue.
There are an absurd amount of subplots that didn't really mean anything. Half of the characters die, but that barely matters because none of them are all that likable. It's just... meh. The characters travel to another planet at some point. It's just... a mess. There's way too much going on with the pretty poor explanation of everything. It needed to be streamlined. The way I see it is that if you have a book with this many elements colliding, you need to choose between writing super flowery and having an incredibly complex plot. It's a confusing mess. Read it, if you want. I can't imagine finding enjoyment in it.
October 15, 2012
Three stars – the average of five and one. If this is deliberately a mish-mash of every ridiculous idea that has ever been used in pulp SF, and some that haven’t, then it’s a roaring success. Edgar Rice Burroughs’ ghost is probably laughing himself silly. Five stars. If it isn’t a satire of the series, then one star. But no, anything this risible, this ludicrous, this just plain silly HAS to be intentional.
Let’s take a look at just how crapulous this farrago is.
This is long, and I don't want to be turning spoilers on and off.
If you haven't read the book, just stop reading, please.
*** Characters
Bandits of the Marsh – ah, a random bundle of superheroes, meaning that whatever you need to happen you can just pop up a magic character who can do it More on this later. .
Steammen – oh, reader softbody, if only you were as wise and patient as we (benevolent smile). Not once did any of the characters blow up and tell Coppertracks to stop being such a smug, patronizing prick.
Rooksby – yes, Hunt has also topped Jar Jar Binks as Most Annoying Character Ever.
Black – oh, except for Old Blacky, who is just a fat version of Captain Haddock from Tintin.
Keyspierre – oh, no, wait, HE is the most annoying. Made me think of the guy in the French castle in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," only completely humourless.
*** Magic and/or implausible powers
See above re the bandits.
Sandwalker casually pulls out a Magic Tent of Invisibility, heats it with a Magic Fuelless Brick, and then they have to walk across the desert. At this point there is no reason he shouldn’t have had a flying carpet or seven-league boots. We already know that he has a pocket full of thingies for taking over the security computer on a barge.
Lord Starhome – clever that it’s nearly insane – appears to be able to do almost anything imaginable. It gets ready to leave, discovers an anomaly, and ... is never mentioned again. Perhaps Hunt figured out that he had painted himself into a corner with an entity this powerful.
*** Give Hunt some credit
OK, not all the characters make it to the end. That's good. And I liked that Duncan is a simple Hero Mark II except that he's more than a little bent. And there are some good individual ideas, and a lot of pulp-fiction plot twists that actually work most of the time.
*** Laughable implausibility
It’s a time barrier! Well, sure it is. And it’s using a comet on a million-year orbit to keep things under control. And the people who built this and a space elevator with superb automated defences use …. brutal soldiers with swords and primitive pistols.
Shot out of a spiral cannon – sure. Suspend the laws of physics again. Why not just use Cavorite? I wonder if anyone has worked out the length of a spiral cannon that could accelerate a payload to escape velocity without ever applying more than, say, 1.5G to its occupants.
See above re Starhome.
The Maths Sword. Yeah, right. Comes with automatic training in how to use it. Can do anything, except it gets tired if you use it too much.
Hood o’the Marsh’s magic pistols – of which we never really learn what they do except that they make bad people dead, and have done so for a very long time.
Molly gets drowned. No, wait, it’s a breathable liquid. Phew!
Lancemaster’s brass knuckles that transform into a long spear – which he then hardly ever uses as a spear.
A small sphere with a single button that can destroy the Bad Guys entirely. But they haven’t tried to use it. And oops, it’s pretty easy to break. Totally unnecessary.
Lancemaster is described simply as tall and monk-like. He ends his story arc in a hail of bullets, but after being “nearly cut in half” he punches his fist into (what is for all practical purposes) a helicopter and throws it into the air. So is he the Incredible Hulk or something? Hunt gave us no clue of that before.
The big solution - I thought it was clever that a chap who can run really fast is going to have ice problems, until we see what he is really here to do. I never dreamed that anyone could top Superman’s dumb-ass trick of reversing time by spinning the earth backwards. Not to mention that in both cases the laws of physics are utterly repealed. OK, they are for The Flash, too, so I’ll let that go.
Not to mention that people from a planet where they use swords and airships have no trouble whatsoever figuring out that the answer to all their problems lies in advanced astrophysics.
*** Where have I seen this before?
Blue people who are deeply concerned about the environment. I see you, Stephen Hunt!
*** Cliches
Bad guys who have bred a race of nasty, mindless warriors.
Bad guys who gloat about how bad they are.
There’s an alcoholic drink called “jinn.” Didn’t see any morning drink called “kaffe” though. Tsk.
Young people who don’t yet know that Only You Can Save the World.
Purity, you have to believe in yourself! Yes, and unless we all clap, she won’t.
The Bad Guy From Our Team goes heroic in the end.
*** WTF?
Pages and pages go into describing how Watt made shoes for Purity. He goes to great lengths to follow her, gives her the shoes, and poof, the shoes are gone and then so are Watt and Purity.
Little Molly leads all these big-ass heroes into space, steamrollering all objections, but suddenly for the second half of the book she becomes the little slip of a girl who keeps fainting and going "Eeek!" and having to be rescued. Ptui.
There was no scene at an inn, with a worried barkeep, a mysterious stranger in the corner, stew, and a drunken fight. Calls itself a fantasy. Hah!
*** Summary
Well, I read it all, and I enjoyed howling at the ridiculousness of it all.
If that's what Stephen Hunt intended, then my hat's off to him.
Let’s take a look at just how crapulous this farrago is.
This is long, and I don't want to be turning spoilers on and off.
If you haven't read the book, just stop reading, please.
*** Characters
Bandits of the Marsh – ah, a random bundle of superheroes, meaning that whatever you need to happen you can just pop up a magic character who can do it More on this later. .
Steammen – oh, reader softbody, if only you were as wise and patient as we (benevolent smile). Not once did any of the characters blow up and tell Coppertracks to stop being such a smug, patronizing prick.
Rooksby – yes, Hunt has also topped Jar Jar Binks as Most Annoying Character Ever.
Black – oh, except for Old Blacky, who is just a fat version of Captain Haddock from Tintin.
Keyspierre – oh, no, wait, HE is the most annoying. Made me think of the guy in the French castle in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," only completely humourless.
*** Magic and/or implausible powers
See above re the bandits.
Sandwalker casually pulls out a Magic Tent of Invisibility, heats it with a Magic Fuelless Brick, and then they have to walk across the desert. At this point there is no reason he shouldn’t have had a flying carpet or seven-league boots. We already know that he has a pocket full of thingies for taking over the security computer on a barge.
Lord Starhome – clever that it’s nearly insane – appears to be able to do almost anything imaginable. It gets ready to leave, discovers an anomaly, and ... is never mentioned again. Perhaps Hunt figured out that he had painted himself into a corner with an entity this powerful.
*** Give Hunt some credit
OK, not all the characters make it to the end. That's good. And I liked that Duncan is a simple Hero Mark II except that he's more than a little bent. And there are some good individual ideas, and a lot of pulp-fiction plot twists that actually work most of the time.
*** Laughable implausibility
It’s a time barrier! Well, sure it is. And it’s using a comet on a million-year orbit to keep things under control. And the people who built this and a space elevator with superb automated defences use …. brutal soldiers with swords and primitive pistols.
Shot out of a spiral cannon – sure. Suspend the laws of physics again. Why not just use Cavorite? I wonder if anyone has worked out the length of a spiral cannon that could accelerate a payload to escape velocity without ever applying more than, say, 1.5G to its occupants.
See above re Starhome.
The Maths Sword. Yeah, right. Comes with automatic training in how to use it. Can do anything, except it gets tired if you use it too much.
Hood o’the Marsh’s magic pistols – of which we never really learn what they do except that they make bad people dead, and have done so for a very long time.
Molly gets drowned. No, wait, it’s a breathable liquid. Phew!
Lancemaster’s brass knuckles that transform into a long spear – which he then hardly ever uses as a spear.
A small sphere with a single button that can destroy the Bad Guys entirely. But they haven’t tried to use it. And oops, it’s pretty easy to break. Totally unnecessary.
Lancemaster is described simply as tall and monk-like. He ends his story arc in a hail of bullets, but after being “nearly cut in half” he punches his fist into (what is for all practical purposes) a helicopter and throws it into the air. So is he the Incredible Hulk or something? Hunt gave us no clue of that before.
The big solution - I thought it was clever that a chap who can run really fast is going to have ice problems, until we see what he is really here to do. I never dreamed that anyone could top Superman’s dumb-ass trick of reversing time by spinning the earth backwards. Not to mention that in both cases the laws of physics are utterly repealed. OK, they are for The Flash, too, so I’ll let that go.
Not to mention that people from a planet where they use swords and airships have no trouble whatsoever figuring out that the answer to all their problems lies in advanced astrophysics.
*** Where have I seen this before?
Blue people who are deeply concerned about the environment. I see you, Stephen Hunt!
*** Cliches
Bad guys who have bred a race of nasty, mindless warriors.
Bad guys who gloat about how bad they are.
There’s an alcoholic drink called “jinn.” Didn’t see any morning drink called “kaffe” though. Tsk.
Young people who don’t yet know that Only You Can Save the World.
Purity, you have to believe in yourself! Yes, and unless we all clap, she won’t.
The Bad Guy From Our Team goes heroic in the end.
*** WTF?
Pages and pages go into describing how Watt made shoes for Purity. He goes to great lengths to follow her, gives her the shoes, and poof, the shoes are gone and then so are Watt and Purity.
Little Molly leads all these big-ass heroes into space, steamrollering all objections, but suddenly for the second half of the book she becomes the little slip of a girl who keeps fainting and going "Eeek!" and having to be rescued. Ptui.
There was no scene at an inn, with a worried barkeep, a mysterious stranger in the corner, stew, and a drunken fight. Calls itself a fantasy. Hah!
*** Summary
Well, I read it all, and I enjoyed howling at the ridiculousness of it all.
If that's what Stephen Hunt intended, then my hat's off to him.
August 27, 2017
I LOVE this series, but I'm pretty sure this was my favorite one so far. I was always on the edge of my seat (toilet seat actually, because I read this in the bathroom). I liked the characters a lot, it was brutal and filled with cool ideas, and the "world-building" is awesome.
If you're a China Mieville fan, I would definitely recommend these books. Totally non-standard fantasy/sci-fi. Mr. Hunt does a lot less philosophizing and describing than Mieville but I think some people would like that.
If you're a China Mieville fan, I would definitely recommend these books. Totally non-standard fantasy/sci-fi. Mr. Hunt does a lot less philosophizing and describing than Mieville but I think some people would like that.
October 14, 2018
This is another in Hunt's amazing steampunk saga, set in the world he has created. This one borrows elements from War of the Worlds and From the Earth to the Moon, but crafts them into a nail-biting tale of invasion by a terrible species bent on total destruction of the earth. Only by banding together across national lines, political views, and even allying with another species can our heroes hope to survive. There is plenty of action, heroics, tragedy, and betrayal before you reach the end. Another great read!
June 8, 2017
Super fun and full of Easter-egg references to Edgar Rice Burroughs and Star Trek and cyberpunk and good old tabloid astronomy about faces on the surface of Mars. The premise is basically Pacific Rim, but in the completely screwball world of Jackals it immediately goes WAY WEIRDER.
Also, time travel and some creatures like the ones in Half Way Home. And dear Molly as a perspective character - I missed her in Kingdom Beyond the Waves.
Also, time travel and some creatures like the ones in Half Way Home. And dear Molly as a perspective character - I missed her in Kingdom Beyond the Waves.
September 11, 2020
Once again you enter this fertile imaginative world and take a dizzying trip with new and familiar characters. With each novel I read I can't help but wonder how this story can ever be finished with anyone left alive. Stephen Hunt does the impossible and resolve the crisis.
May 14, 2017
A good story, the steam men are definitely my favourites.
November 4, 2018
The series is getting tedious. I will take a break before considering reading #4.
January 6, 2019
There is a lot of repetition here which would be understandable if this had been published as a serial - every chapter had the same descriptions, which lessoned my enjoyment of it.
October 10, 2020
Really good book!
December 30, 2021
Fun steampunk romp
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