My Afflation

The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher My rating: 4 of 5 stars Bridget Tagwynn is my new (YA) hero. From the prologue, I honestly thought the book was going to be a coming of age story about Gwendolyn Lancaster -- a better entitled spoiled brat has never been written. In my eyes, she quickly became a secondary character to Bridget, Folly, and Grimm -- all of whom show more maturity and character development throughout the book. Bridget steals the show, with a little help from Rowl. Though, if you know anything about cats, the entire story is all about Rowl. According to the book blurb, the story is supposed to be about "the grim captain" and his ship Predator , and I suppose that may become the case as the series unfolds, but this first book is definitely an introduction to the characters and war between the Spires. To be honest, I'm picky about my steampunk and I wasn't sure what to expect from Butcher's foray into the genre. Much like Bujold, it do...

New Zealand is at it again ... new steampunk anthology with Philippa Ballantine as a contributor. I'm excited and might be reading works from the other authors as I wait for this one to come out. Angels and Automatons is a shared-world steampunk anthology set in the town of Angelston on New Zealand’s rugged and remote West Coast. The team of authors contributing to the project includes established names as well as those at the early stages of their careers, with folks from New Zealand and around the world. They will all be collaborating on the creation of a shared world in which their interconnected stories will be set – all of the authors will play an equal role, and the world will be unique to this anthology. The resulting book will be approximately 300 pages (longer, if our stretch goals are met) and together, the stories will tell a thrilling and distinctly New Zealand tale of exploration, invention, and destruction. Be aware that the NZD has a higher value than USD. ...

Aladdin and His Wonderfully Infernal Device by Tee Morris My rating: 2 of 5 stars I've been reading and listening to Tee Morris since he podcasted Morevi: The Chronicles of Rafe and Askana . I've really enjoyed Phoenix Rising , The Janus Affair , and all of the MoPo podcasts , so much so that I automatically buy the printed collections on Nook and Kindle to support the authors (the podcasts are better though). I avoided reading all of the other reviews of this story so I could approach it with an open mind. I am a huge fan of fairy tales--Grimm, Anderson, Arabian Nights, etc. I am also a huge Disney fan. I think this treatment of the story needs more fleshing out and a little more originality to separate it from its predecessors. If I wasn't aware of (or maybe because I was aware of them) the slight pop-culture references, mixed with steampunk and a retelling of Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp was a very disconcerting experience. It didn't flow. I wasn't tr...