Boneshaker

The book I was most reminded of, as I was reading Boneshaker, was one of my picks for the 2012 Grand Master Reading Challenge: Forerunner by Andre Norton. That might not be an obvious parallel to draw, but like the Norton, Cherie Priest's book seems to be a straightforward adventure tale, told quite plainly and with no deeper purpose. I blasted through it in just three days, "helped" by spending some extra time in bed with a cold.

I enjoyed it enough. It ticks along at a decent pace and has enough incident to keep things lively, but I don't really feel like it's going to stick in my mind for too long, and I don't feel tremendously compelled to seek out the rest of the series.

It's a steampunk zombie thriller. Briar Wilkes and her son Zeke live in the shadow of a ruined Seattle, walled off and filled with toxic gas and zombies. They also live in the shadow of their own past, Wilkes' husband having possibly caused the catastrophe, and her father being another renowned and controversial figure. Zeke decides to venture into the city to try to find out the truth, and Briar follows him in. They meet some colourful characters and get into lots of scrapes. The end.

I remain to be convinced that steampunk is anything other than a coat of paint.