CAN'T FIND A RATIONAL EXPLANATION TO A MYSTERY? CALL IN THE QUIET COUNCIL. The mysterious and glamorous Lady De Winter is one of their most valuable agents. A despicable murder inside a locked and bolted room on the Rue Morgue in Paris is just the start. This whirlwind adventure will take Milady to the highest and lowest parts of that great city - and cause her to question the very nature of reality itself.
Camera Obscura (Angry Robot)
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Review
"Lavie Tidhar’s Camera Obscura is not so much a sequel to his generally impressive steampunk novel, The Bookman, as it is a continuation of events in the world presented in that debut. While the locale is different and no characters brought forward, this work retains all the nuances of the first novel and improves upon most of them."
- Alan Cranis, www.bookgasm.com
"Although I recommend reading The Bookman first (simply because it is one great Steampunk novel), it is not essential for understanding Camera Obscura. Lavie Tidhar’s latest novel is highly enjoyable on its own." -www.daily-steampunk.com
"Camera Obscura raised the Lesards series to a must for me... I am truly curious where Lavie Tidhar will take it next." - Liviu Suciu, Fantasy Book Critic
- Alan Cranis, www.bookgasm.com
"Although I recommend reading The Bookman first (simply because it is one great Steampunk novel), it is not essential for understanding Camera Obscura. Lavie Tidhar’s latest novel is highly enjoyable on its own." -www.daily-steampunk.com
"Camera Obscura raised the Lesards series to a must for me... I am truly curious where Lavie Tidhar will take it next." - Liviu Suciu, Fantasy Book Critic
About the Author
Lavie Tidhar has quickly established a name for himself as a short fiction writer of note, and he's now moved to writing novels, debuting with The Bookman. He has travelled widely, living variously in South Africa, the UK, and the remote island-nation of Vanuatu in the South Pacific, but is currently resident in Israel. The author lives in Tel Aviv, Israel.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent novel that raises the series that debuted in The Bookman to the next level
April 26, 2011
Format:Mass Market Paperback
INTRODUCTION: Before reading The Bookman, I have heard of Lavie Tidhar in connection with his short fiction published in various places, so the fact that I enjoyed quite a lot his debut novel of last year was not surprising. When the second novel in his steampunk alt-history milieu was announced with totally different characters and set mostly in France this time, I was a bit apprehensive since I really liked Orphan and the cast of The Bookman.
"How will the books connect, will the series keep cohesiveness, will the milieu stand expansion?" - were several of the questions I was thinking about when I read the blurb below:
"CAN'T FIND A RATIONAL EXPLANATION TO A MYSTERY? CALL IN THE QUIET COUNCIL. The mysterious and glamorous Lady De Winter is one of their most valuable agents. A despicable murder inside a locked and bolted room on the Rue Morgue in Paris is just the start. This whirlwind adventure will take Milady to the highest and lowest parts of that great city - and cause her to question the very nature of reality itself. "
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: I liked the author's debut The Bookman for its many references to popular 19th century culture, the imaginative steampunk setting and the main character Orphan, though I found it lacking balance on occasion. Camera Obscura which is set in the same milieu some 3 years later but features mostly completely different characters and takes place largely in France's sort-of republican society as opposed to the Imperial Britain of Les Lesards - sort-of since AI's as embodied in the Council lead there after the Quiet Revolution.
The references naturally are Dumas first and foremost - Milady as agent of the Council, the Gascon - aka D'Artagnan as police officer of all things - the Monsignor aka the Cardinal as a Council AI - but also Poe's Rue Morgue locked room mystery and oddly enough, Winnetou makes an unexpected appearance later as agent of the Vespuccian state whose president is Sitting Bull.
The Island of Dr. Moreau - though the doctor is in retirement for now - and the (in)famous Marquis de Sade - sort of but with all his parts intact as he points out to Milady - are among other attractions as is the Chicagoland fair in Vespuccia and much more.
Camera Obscura is much tighter than The Bookman and has the essential structure of a steampunk thriller with its McGuffin - the object that will change the world as the heroes know it, etc, etc - and for which brutal murders are committed and agents from everyone who is anyone in the world compete.
So we have the Chinese Imperial court represented by polite Colonel Xing and striking Madame Linlin, Les Lezards represented by Mycroft Holmes, rogue Council agents, Vespuccian agents, mystic Chinese triads, though of course our heroine, the Dahomey former circus girl that is now known as Milady de Winter - after her last sadly deceased husband - and who is a rough and tough agent of the Council is leading the charge to get to the magic piece of jade that is our McGuffin here and she is mostly irresistible.
While starting as a murder investigation - of course a locked room mystery as the Rue Morgue hint makes it clear, and to top it all for those who read the original Poe, the ape possibility is mentioned too here - Camera Obscura picks up speed soon and becomes a really thrilling adventure in which you got to buckle up and enjoy the ride with the occasional over the top moments just adding to the fun. Sade at Charenton and Ampere's "toys" are among other highlights of the first half beside the ones mentioned earlier.
The context above which fits very well the story the author tells and the characters he uses for it, took the novel one level above the usual fast and fun adventure and the flamboyant Milady made as great a lead as Orphan in The Bookman.
Overall, Camera Obscura (A+/A++) was quite a positive surprise in some ways - I hoped for an entertaining volume on par with The Bookman or at least one that was not too repetitive or with too much "middle volume" syndrome - and instead I got a superb more-or-less standalone volume that expands the inventiveness of the debut while keeping the story better focused and having as great a character cast as there. Camera Obscura raised the Lesards series to a must for me since now with more backstory and higher stakes I am truly curious where Lavie Tidhar will take it next.
Note: this review has been originally published on Fantasy Book Critic and all the links are found there
"How will the books connect, will the series keep cohesiveness, will the milieu stand expansion?" - were several of the questions I was thinking about when I read the blurb below:
"CAN'T FIND A RATIONAL EXPLANATION TO A MYSTERY? CALL IN THE QUIET COUNCIL. The mysterious and glamorous Lady De Winter is one of their most valuable agents. A despicable murder inside a locked and bolted room on the Rue Morgue in Paris is just the start. This whirlwind adventure will take Milady to the highest and lowest parts of that great city - and cause her to question the very nature of reality itself. "
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: I liked the author's debut The Bookman for its many references to popular 19th century culture, the imaginative steampunk setting and the main character Orphan, though I found it lacking balance on occasion. Camera Obscura which is set in the same milieu some 3 years later but features mostly completely different characters and takes place largely in France's sort-of republican society as opposed to the Imperial Britain of Les Lesards - sort-of since AI's as embodied in the Council lead there after the Quiet Revolution.
The references naturally are Dumas first and foremost - Milady as agent of the Council, the Gascon - aka D'Artagnan as police officer of all things - the Monsignor aka the Cardinal as a Council AI - but also Poe's Rue Morgue locked room mystery and oddly enough, Winnetou makes an unexpected appearance later as agent of the Vespuccian state whose president is Sitting Bull.
The Island of Dr. Moreau - though the doctor is in retirement for now - and the (in)famous Marquis de Sade - sort of but with all his parts intact as he points out to Milady - are among other attractions as is the Chicagoland fair in Vespuccia and much more.
Camera Obscura is much tighter than The Bookman and has the essential structure of a steampunk thriller with its McGuffin - the object that will change the world as the heroes know it, etc, etc - and for which brutal murders are committed and agents from everyone who is anyone in the world compete.
So we have the Chinese Imperial court represented by polite Colonel Xing and striking Madame Linlin, Les Lezards represented by Mycroft Holmes, rogue Council agents, Vespuccian agents, mystic Chinese triads, though of course our heroine, the Dahomey former circus girl that is now known as Milady de Winter - after her last sadly deceased husband - and who is a rough and tough agent of the Council is leading the charge to get to the magic piece of jade that is our McGuffin here and she is mostly irresistible.
While starting as a murder investigation - of course a locked room mystery as the Rue Morgue hint makes it clear, and to top it all for those who read the original Poe, the ape possibility is mentioned too here - Camera Obscura picks up speed soon and becomes a really thrilling adventure in which you got to buckle up and enjoy the ride with the occasional over the top moments just adding to the fun. Sade at Charenton and Ampere's "toys" are among other highlights of the first half beside the ones mentioned earlier.
The context above which fits very well the story the author tells and the characters he uses for it, took the novel one level above the usual fast and fun adventure and the flamboyant Milady made as great a lead as Orphan in The Bookman.
Overall, Camera Obscura (A+/A++) was quite a positive surprise in some ways - I hoped for an entertaining volume on par with The Bookman or at least one that was not too repetitive or with too much "middle volume" syndrome - and instead I got a superb more-or-less standalone volume that expands the inventiveness of the debut while keeping the story better focused and having as great a character cast as there. Camera Obscura raised the Lesards series to a must for me since now with more backstory and higher stakes I am truly curious where Lavie Tidhar will take it next.
Note: this review has been originally published on Fantasy Book Critic and all the links are found there
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By J.C. Hart
Format:Kindle Edition
It's hard to give this book a clear genre. I think you'd have to call it steampunk, through there is so much else going on as well that it could be any number of other things: science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller.
I was drawn in by the blurb, and the cover, which I just adore. The opening scene is really intriguing, and I was really interested to see where it would go. We're presented with a problematic crime scene, and intensely interesting character (Milady), and some some kind of clockwork bug companion (Grimm), as well as information about the world - but not a lot. The first time the lizard queen was mentioned I raised an eyebrow and wondered if I had read incorrectly.
But that is one of the good things about this novel - you are never given all the information. You are dragged along on this journey, learning things about the world, left in the dark about the details and history. And I liked that.
After the beginning, I thought it was just a murder mystery, waiting to be resolved. Over time, you find that this is not the case, in fact the mystery is much bigger, much deeper than you imagined. Some amazing world building has been done here, it draws from so many cultures and backgrounds, and lumps it all into the same novel. I loved the worldly feel this achieved, as if anyone, from anywhere, might crop up in the novel - ranging from actual historical figures, to invented ones.
The writing style was a little different, and took some adjusting to, but I enjoyed the story more as it went on - in fact, it's not until a fair way into the book that I felt like I MUST read on. There are so many interesting characters, with interesting pasts, all converging eventually into the main story line. Until you get to that point, it seems a little disjointed at times, but in my opinion, worth pushing on until you get to the good parts.
It's a big story, breathtaking at times, truly an epic adventure, rich in details and keeping you on the edge of your seat once it gets going. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating, and I would definitely be interested in picking up another book from this author.
I was drawn in by the blurb, and the cover, which I just adore. The opening scene is really intriguing, and I was really interested to see where it would go. We're presented with a problematic crime scene, and intensely interesting character (Milady), and some some kind of clockwork bug companion (Grimm), as well as information about the world - but not a lot. The first time the lizard queen was mentioned I raised an eyebrow and wondered if I had read incorrectly.
But that is one of the good things about this novel - you are never given all the information. You are dragged along on this journey, learning things about the world, left in the dark about the details and history. And I liked that.
After the beginning, I thought it was just a murder mystery, waiting to be resolved. Over time, you find that this is not the case, in fact the mystery is much bigger, much deeper than you imagined. Some amazing world building has been done here, it draws from so many cultures and backgrounds, and lumps it all into the same novel. I loved the worldly feel this achieved, as if anyone, from anywhere, might crop up in the novel - ranging from actual historical figures, to invented ones.
The writing style was a little different, and took some adjusting to, but I enjoyed the story more as it went on - in fact, it's not until a fair way into the book that I felt like I MUST read on. There are so many interesting characters, with interesting pasts, all converging eventually into the main story line. Until you get to that point, it seems a little disjointed at times, but in my opinion, worth pushing on until you get to the good parts.
It's a big story, breathtaking at times, truly an epic adventure, rich in details and keeping you on the edge of your seat once it gets going. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating, and I would definitely be interested in picking up another book from this author.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Camera Obscura by Lavie Tidhar is a fascinating steampunk novel. I read this novel as an e-galley without having read the previous novel, Bookman. The book stood well on its own; however, I am sure that I missed some finer points of the story for having missed the previous book. Camera Obscura is a story of individuals, and the larger world, under siege from something that most people are unaware of even existing.
Lady de Winters works for an underground government, the Council, doing their dirty work. On the job investigating a murder, she discovers a strange grey infection that is reanimating the dead. No one is telling anyone else everything they know about the infection, the murders or the missing object. However, everyone wants to find a special object that is at the heart of the infection. But just what is the object? Is it a living creature, machine, key, or something no one can imagine? Why does everyone what it so badly and what are their plans for it? In addition, what are the plans of that object or those that made it? There is also the murderous former agent the Phantom who is torturing and killing women, who De Winter is compelled to stop despite it being outside her orders.
The characters in Camera Obscura are engaging and well explored, with hints of characters that you might think you now. Because of se new flavors to old names, there was the occasional feel of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which was made even stronger by the steampunk elements. There was a little bit of a Doctor Who feel to the story as well mainly found in the combination of the fantastic accepted with a practicality that is often present in that series . References to nineteenth century literature and culture abound, which made the story that much more interesting to me.
Camera Obscura is a fast-paced story is full of action, adventure and mystery. However, it is not for everyone. The story is told from a couple different viewpoints, which might confuse some readers. I found that it work well to explain the complexity of how the world came to the vortex of activity and danger that we witness in the story. I need to go back, read Bookman, which is about different characters in the same world, and then will likely re read Camera Obscura. Then I can only hope that another book follows so that I can further explore Tidhar's world.
Lady de Winters works for an underground government, the Council, doing their dirty work. On the job investigating a murder, she discovers a strange grey infection that is reanimating the dead. No one is telling anyone else everything they know about the infection, the murders or the missing object. However, everyone wants to find a special object that is at the heart of the infection. But just what is the object? Is it a living creature, machine, key, or something no one can imagine? Why does everyone what it so badly and what are their plans for it? In addition, what are the plans of that object or those that made it? There is also the murderous former agent the Phantom who is torturing and killing women, who De Winter is compelled to stop despite it being outside her orders.
The characters in Camera Obscura are engaging and well explored, with hints of characters that you might think you now. Because of se new flavors to old names, there was the occasional feel of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which was made even stronger by the steampunk elements. There was a little bit of a Doctor Who feel to the story as well mainly found in the combination of the fantastic accepted with a practicality that is often present in that series . References to nineteenth century literature and culture abound, which made the story that much more interesting to me.
Camera Obscura is a fast-paced story is full of action, adventure and mystery. However, it is not for everyone. The story is told from a couple different viewpoints, which might confuse some readers. I found that it work well to explain the complexity of how the world came to the vortex of activity and danger that we witness in the story. I need to go back, read Bookman, which is about different characters in the same world, and then will likely re read Camera Obscura. Then I can only hope that another book follows so that I can further explore Tidhar's world.
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