By 

E. Brajdic “gundammon” –

  

Now I know by giving 3 stars, many readers will question “did you despise it?” No, I didn’t despise this book, but I must say I was unimpressed by it. Steampunk designs, airships, and zombies…how can one go incorrect? Well, the answer is to make the plot wandering and the font not that fascinating.

I won’t offer a summary of the book, because nearly every other reviewer has done the same. I’ll start by saying that the synopsis on the back cover is kind of misleading, especially about the part regarding “rewrite description.” It’s a shame that part is nowhere to be found in the novel. By that token, I was expecting the font to come to some certain uncovering of secret description, and also come to some inner realization about themselves. Sadly, they don’t. Zeke’s request to clear his father’s name unfortunately falls into a simple tale of “overthrow the terrible guy.” And as the tale ends, the world they inhabit isn’t changed in the slightest between the beginning and the end of the tale.

The font of Briar and Zeke aren’t that compelling, either. Their only purpose in the tale seems to be transitioning the reader from Plot Point A to B to C–which is *part* of the reason font exist, but it shouldn’t be the main part of who they are. Why do they do what they do? What drives them? We don’t get much internal dialogue or conflict, everything they feel is spoken.

In the same vein, they don’t affect change within the tale at all; everything seems to happen lacking them doing anything or contributing to the goings-on, like they’re part of the scenery as opposed to full-fledged font. So if they don’t really *do* anything except go around as per the author’s information, then are they even really empathetic at all? And as I mentioned higher than, if they don’t have an impact on the world they inhabit, then what’s the point of telling the tale about them in the first place?

Then here’s the Steampunk aesthetic. And I use the word “aesthetic” because that’s what Steampunk is…visual. It’s an fascinating concept, the “retro-futuristic” vision, but I’ve yet to see it done effectively. I’ll commence the comparison to another “punk” style, cyberpunk. Cyberpunk is more than the visual style that we see or imagine. To quote wikipedia on cyberpunk: “It features advanced science, such as information technology and cybernetics, coupled with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order…Cyberpunk plots often center on a conflict among hackers, reproduction intelligences, and megacorporations, and tend to be set in a near-future Earth.”

The tale does have steampunk elements, but they are all visual, and unfortunately don’t go beyond that in terms of what they’re using the style to *try* to say. What is the author trying to use steampunk to reveal about society, and about ourselves? What morality play is in effect that ONLY steampunk can tell? (And also, what morals are we also to inquiry by using the Steampunk genre?) It’s not like “The Difference Engine,” wherein the style reaches to the conclusion that the rapid development of technology is a terrible thing. Steampunk shouldn’t just be here for its own sake, it needs to DO something and serve a deeper purpose than just as what we see.

I would chalk this up to the notion that here is no “originator” steampunk title that “Neuromancer” serves as for cyberpunk, nothing that first sets the frame of reference and “rules” for how that world works. But that’s not necessarily a fault with Boneshaker, but it doesn’t help its case.

This is by no means a terrible book. If you’re a sci-fi and/or steampunk afficionado, this is probably for you. It’s not overloaded with a lot of exposition or heavy sci-fi gibberish. Even as it didn’t pull me in and hit me over the head with an Awesome Stick, your experience may vary. It’s kind of a popcorn book, or a Saturday day movie. If you’re looking for lighter faire, you could do of poorer quality than Boneshaker.

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