I’m never very enthusiastic about starting a series anymore, because I don’t want to commit to more than one book and so often they end in media res. But, I’ve really enjoyed Scott Westerfield’s PEEPS and the Pretties & Uglies series, so I decided to pick this up, just to see what it was like.
I got this as an audiobook, and the narrator did a great job with the voices. Even the female voices don’t sound like drag-queens, which is a plus. The accents were charming, the voices authentic, and only a few slip-ups with even fast character changes. However, I think the paper book might be even better because of the fantastic illustrations. (I looked them up online.)
The only critical thing I had about this book were that the darwinist fabricated beasts didn’t feel as plausible as the kerosene powered steampunk mechas. Maybe if I knew more about engineering than I did about biology I would have found them equally implausible. I got around this by telling myself “magic” and then was able to enjoy the story.
And what a great story! Both Alek and Deryn are flawed, charming, believable characters. They do heroic things, and also make mistakes, sometimes at the same time. Even the secondary characters have clear, believable motivations. Westerfield plots deftly, with every plan taking a left turn when you least expect it.
Not only do I plan on reading the second one, I went to my computer and bought it as soon as this book ended. I haven’t felt so hooked into a series since THE HUNGER GAMES. I recommend this for all fantasy and steampunk fans, and for people who have the potential to become such.
