Customer Reviews

Infernal Devices

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For the first chapter or so, I really wasn't sure that I was going to like this book, but then suddenly the story grabbed hold of me and I was completely entranced.

There is plenty of action in this fast paced novel and the main character is extremely likeable and well-rounded, which helps draw the reader in.

Jeter was the one who coined the term 'steampunk' and there are so many great elements in this tale: historical setting, mechnical devises, glimpses of the future, supernatural creatures. It is packed full of wonderful visions and excitement.

I liked how the style of the prose was very old-fashioned and Victorian as it really helped to set the scene and establish the time period. It also added a certain weight to the events as they unfolded.

Another excellent feature of this book is the way Jeter lulls the reader into a sense of security - thinking they know what is happening and who is who - then shocks with a sudden plot twist that you didn't see coming.

This is a great read for any steampunk fans as well as anyone who enjoys a good adventure story with a hint of mystery.

I received this book as a free ebook ARC from NetGalley.

I was so excited to see that this book is once again available, both for Kindle and, soon, in paperback. If you're into steampunk as it is now, you must read this book, as it's one of the foundations of that subgenre.

I particularly love the darkness of the mystery plot, and its interesting thematic implications revolving around clockwork automatons.

When I started reading this novel, I did not really know what to expect other than a Steampunk novel by Jeter. I was pleasantly surprised by a plot that twists in unexpected ways. George Dower is the son of a renowned (and infamous) watchmaker who was the Victorian version of Leonardo da Vinci.

An usual visitor, the Brown Leather Man asks George to repair a device made by his father. This seeming simple request leads him on an adventure where he encounters clockwork men, unsavory companions and secret societies. There are conspiracies, double crosses, triple crosses and chases galore. It is an unpredictable ride that gets better as the book progresses.

The book has a slow beginning, the book quickly picked up pace and became a rousing adventure. It was a fun read that was much more than I expected. I would highly recommend it, even if you are not a Steampunk fan.

I very much enjoyed this novel (I knew from the first sentence that I would) -- for one thing, the author's vocabulary is perfect for this genre. Each character speaks with his or her own voice, and the voice of the narrator is that of a somewhat stuffy Victorian Brit. Jeter never puts in a word that doesn't fit.

Which just made me that much more distressed by the poor editing of this book. I don't mind the occasional slip-up, mind you, but toward the end of Infernal Devices the editing what so sloppy that several sentences or even paragraphs became almost incomprehensible. Punctuation was either omitted or added randomly in the middle of sentences; this is obviously not the writer's fault, but if I hadn't been enjoying other aspects of the book so much I would just have given up on it midway.

That said, the book itself was a solid 4 out of 5 stars for me; the plot was all over the place, but the characters were interesting enough that I didn't mind the chaos of the storyline. If I had read this book with no background on the author I would have assumed that it was written as a Steampunk farce. This book has everything: robots, half-fish prostitutes (admittedly not a staple of the genre, but suitably bizarre), flying machines, exposition that borders on jibberish, clockwork, hallucinogens, time-travel, and pretty much whatever else you can think of. Sadly, lackadaisical editing sometimes eclipsed my appreciation for these madcap Steampunk hijinks.

The ideas in this book gave birth to the enjoyable Steampunk genre of books and maybe even comics, cartoons, and the the odd Broadway musical set. This book was a fun read, but contained too much of the fantasy elements in the wrong places for my tastes. Granted, this genre is not founded on a tremendous amount of reality, but rooted in enough to make it about "what if." At least, that's the type of story I tend to enjoy more. I found the exposition passages in Infernal Devices to be entirely fantastical and almost made me stop reading (whereas, I eat up the exposition passages in a story like The Lord of the Rings).

However, the dialog is absolutely masterful and heightened by the play between the modern (or at least 60's -ish) lingo and the Victorian. Overall the story was very enjoyable and I'm glad I read it, but I'm also glad I'm done with it. I am eying Jeter's other works for reading in the near future.

This was my first foray into the steampunk genre and I have to say that when I first started this book I was very confused as to what was going on. However, as I progressed through the book I started to get more and more into the plot and the characters.

Jeter does a phenomenal job of painting a scene and developing his characters. I could actually picture myself walking through the dank streets of London at night along with the main character. The main character in this book is Mr. Dower and he is one of the most unassuming main characters that I have come across in a long time. He just seems to be a plain old guy that gets caught up in one mess after another. If I had his luck then I would never leave my home ever again. It is interesting to watch how he gets himself into trouble and then subsequently gets himself back out of that same trouble (with a little help from time to time). I believe that many of you will really enjoy his character.


As far as the plot goes, as I have said, I was confused at first about where I was heading in this book. But, as I read on the plot pulled me in and made me want to keep reading long into the night. Jeter spun a fantastic tail of science fiction set in old London. If your are a science fiction fan then I suggest that you pick this book up as an interesting alternative to what you may be used to reading.

Infernal Devices is an account told by George Dower of Clerkenwell, London in the hopes of repairing his ruined reputation as a result of the events he lays out in full description and detail. A wild adventure complete with sea creatures, people who've seen the future and now speak the lingo, secret societies for science, and a robot (automata) that takes on a life of its own. It's a truly fantastical journey that requires a suspension of disbelief - but makes you all the happier for it.

At first I had a hard time getting into the story because of the classic style of writing - which fits with the Victorian era setting and the narrator penning the tale, but had me rereading sentences in order to make sure I grasped their meaning. However, I'm glad I persisted because at some point I realized I wasn't having any problems stumbling over sentences and was fully immersed in the story. There are a lot of funny elements in the book and even though most of them weren't laugh out loud funny (which is rare for me anyways), I did fine myself smiling a lot while reading. However, the ending came together in a rush and some of the surprises left me going "huh?" I won't give any spoilers but it would've made a fine book without some of the surprises at the end, it was just too much. The ending did make me laugh; Dower is just such a stodgy fellow and all this stuff happens to rock his world - the ending did make me laugh!

Before the novel there is a forward by the author where I learned he coined the term "steampunk" to describe a genre that he and a few of his friends were writing. Little did he realize the word would take on a life of its own (much like his robot in Infernal Devices). I found the history of steampunk's beginning very interesting - especially since I had no idea it began as a fiction genre; I usually see it expressed as jewelry since that's another hobby of mine.

I am quite mystified at the newish subtitle. 'Angry Robots' just doesn't work. The original subtitle of 'A Mad Victorian Fantasy' pretty much nails it on the head. Why mess with a good thing? Then again maybe Jeter or someone is trying to connect this up with 'Morlock Nights', which is a really tough thing to find. Oh well, I live next to the University of Texas and they are bound to have a copy. They've got damn near everything else. Europeans grumble because they have to come to Texas to look at their original manuscripts. :)

This book had the potential to be one of my favorite books in the first 50 pages - but then it got to be more funny than scary. I still enjoyed it, but it just wasn't 'dark' enough. The use of slang from the future made it kind of ridiculous and the fact that the book is really just one continuous chase scene with a helpless hero is pretty absurd too.

You'll need to stretch your imagination quite a bit on some of the ideas but all in all it was fun. Jeter is very creative and original, this is kind of a funny version of _The Anubis Gates_ and also similar to Gaiman's _Neverwhere_ and _The Physiognomy_ from Jeffrey Ford.

This is a great book. Very fun to read. If you like James P. Blaylock, this is way better than Homuculus. Just read it. Dane