Boneshaker, a Review (spoiler-free)

Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest, is the first steampunk novel I’ve ever read.  The book received critical acclaim and promised to be a good read by the endorsement on the cover: “A steampunk-zombie-airship adventure of rollicking pace and sweeping proportions, full of wonderfully, gnarly details…”  Plus the cover looked cool.  Plus I’ve wanted to try out steampunk, too.  The novel presents an alternate history, and I thoroughly enjoyed my last adventure into alternate history, so I thought I’d give it a chance.

The book takes place in the late 19th century, twenty years after Seattle fell to ruins.  The Civil War still burns across the eastern half of the States.  Airships are used in battle and transport.  The Klondike gold rush happened years earlier, driving many to the great Northwest.

Leviticus Blue, an inventor from the city before it was wasted, was hired by the Russians to create a machine that could dig through the Alaskan ice and mine for gold.  This machine—the Boneshaker—went awry when Levi took it for a test drive, digging massive holes and tunnels all through the city.  Buildings fell.  Banks caved in.  And a strange gas started leaking through the cracks in the ground.  The gas exposure was lethal, and if it didn’t kill you, it would make you into something far worse.  Seattle was evacuated and the massive walls were built to keep the heavy gas sealed in, as well as the other things.

All of this was presented before Chapter One even started.  The novel has two POV characters: hardworking Briar Wilkes, the mid-thirty year old widow of Leviticus Blue, and Ezekiel Wilkes, the young and curious teen without a father.  Zeke is fascinated with his families history, but his mother refuses to tell him mostly everything he wants to know.  As a young boy, he gets in into his mind that there’s only one way to uncover the truth, and that’s by going to the source…

This book was a wonderful read because of many different elements.  One thing I really enjoyed was Priest’s voice in the story.  The way she worded things was simple and descriptive, not wordy and tedious.  The dialogue was often fantastic and realistic, something completely believable.  The action scenes were intense things, providing enough description to have a clue at what’s happening but not being completely open, either.  Imagination was vital.  I felt my head spinning in the confusion of riding an airship for the first time.  I felt my heart beating upon witnessing my first rotter.  The danger of the dark city never left me, and I was constantly wary of threats.  Yes, Cherie Priest’s style was beautiful and perfectly executed for this book.

A second piece of joy was the story itself.  Mostly the book is about the relationship between a mother and a son.  Briar has understandable guilt at keeping secrets from Zeke and she’ll do anything to get him back home safely.  Zeke wants to learn about his mysterious father and what really happened to him.  Did he cause the fall of Seattle or was it something more sinister?  If he could only prove his father’s innocence then things wouldn’t be so bad.  The character development and relationships were at the forefront of the plot while the ruined city always lurked in the background.

I also loved the imagination that was evident throughout these pages.  Machines and possibilities for the future (from a mind of the 1880s) were amazing and slightly funny (from a mind of the 2010s).  The rotters were like typical zombies, but tweaked slightly.  The thick, omnipresent gas was well described and well thought out.  All of the gadgets were great works of the imagination.

Overall, I really enjoyed Boneshaker.  My first adventure into the steampunk genre was exciting, entertaining, mysterious, and thought-provoking.  The book was fast paced and strong.  I can easily recommend Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker to anyone that’s interested in trying out something new, or to someone wanting to read a great What If… tale, or to someone who’s geographically attached to the Northwest/Seattle region, or to anyone just looking for an excellent story.  You can find the book at your local library (like I did), online, or at a nearby bookstore.