The Glass Books of the Dreameaters - G.W. Dahlquist

Miss Temple is just a high-class woman making her way in Victorian-era London, but when her fiancee Roger suddenly severs their engagement, she takes it upon herself to find out exactly why. The story starts off a little slow, but soon it turns into a complex and thrilling plot which is full of intrigue, and all of it links back to Roger and the mysterious glass books in the title.

Phew! What a read! The book lasts for a marathon-like 800(ish) pages, switching between the viewpoints of our three protagonists; Miss Temple, Dr Svenson (a German officer initially trying to keep a wayward Prince out of trouble) and Cardinal Chang (a mercenary hired to kill an influential man, only to find him already dead). These three unsuspecting heroes eventually team up and together take a stand against the group whose sinister 'process' seems to have stolen people's souls, including Roger's.

As you can already fathom, there are a lot of characters to get your head around in this book. Not only are you trying to piece together which members of the Cabal are really in charge, but which ones the protagonists have each encountered and who has allegiances to whom. The result is that it takes a long time to fully grasp what on earth is happening and it can create confusion when names or situations are mentioned but you cannot place them.

The idea of inadvertent heroes facing off against an evil group isn't all that new. In fact, the general story is quite reminiscent of Nick Harkaway's Angelmaker, yet another steampunk novel, but the complexity of the plot and the idea of the indigo clay and its' properties were  impressive. A few questions remain as to how the glass and the alchemical equipment works during the processes and how the clay is made into glass and gas. Maybe the next two books will offer better explanations and descriptions of both of these aspects.

As for the characters, they are extremely well drawn; each of the cabal members have their own reasons for acting as they do and how they choose their alliances. Even some characters that seem harmless throughout have secret agendas. Out heroes also each have interesting back-stories, some more in depth than others, and they go through differing character arcs. Miss Temple, being someone who is not used to action or adventure, let alone wielding weapons against strong enemies, goes through the biggest transformation and yet somehow retains the sense of self that we see in the first chapter.

The writing style is very like most Victorian books, where every element of what happens is described in detail and the plot moves slowly and steadily. Some of you may find this a bit demanding and even slightly dull. I felt I needed events to move more quickly to keep my attention up.

Expect a lot of action, and lot of things going on at the same time and a fair amount of confusion in places. Also, as a disclaimer, this book is also quite provocative and some may feel uncomfortable reading those parts in public. All in all, the book is a good one, a long adventure and an excellent idea, though you may find yourself drifting off if you are reading to late at night. Despite the fact that the book could have done with some editing, I am looking forward to reading the next two books in the series (pictured below).

7 out of 10.

Image from gaskella.wordpress

This book is available as a serial on your kindle, but I would recommend buying the whole book as you can then flick through to parts you can't recall properly. It is a little bit daunting, but it is much easier to keep the plot in your mind this way.

Thank you to Penguin for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Angelmaker - Nick Harkaway

Joe Spork is a normal guy. He fixes clocks for a living, he stays out of trouble, he's nice to everyone. Then he fixes something for a client, something he really shouldn't have fixed, and his whole world goes to pot. He soon finds himself in the middle of a worldwide crisis, having unwittingly turned on a device, named the Apprehension Engine, that could devastate the planet. It doesn't end there, either, the plot actually starts years earlier.

Nick Harkaway is a genius. He has created a plot that intertwines beautifully, like a Dan Brown novel, only a little bit more intricate. His protagonist is easy to understand, easy to like and you can place yourself almost entirely in his shoes. His growth throughout the book is brilliant, and you end up really rooting for him by the end. The other main characters are great too, showing multi-faceted personalities and having interesting back-stories. Perhaps the best character is Edie Bannister, a feisty old lady who owns an ugly dog and a few guns. I found the flashbacks to her younger days very entertaining and highly intriguing. The way that the plot then blends all this in in expertly done.

The only down point is that it took a while to really get into it. However, as soon as Edie's flashbacks started, I was hooked. The verbose language and the complexity of the sentences may make your head ache at first, but give it time, keep a dictionary on hand and keep reading. The best is yet to come. And the finale? Well, lets just say that Joe Spork isn't such a normal guy after all.

This is a tiny review, but if too much of the plot is revealed, the story will get ruined for all of you, and no-one wants that! The book is a fairly long read, especially if you have to keep looking up words (thank god for Kindle dictionary, is all I can say), but it's worth it! 8 out of 10.