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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Mummy, A Magician, and a Mechanical Monster, September 1, 2009
Following up after the first episode of this creative new series, the Affinity Bridge, George Mann returns us to the curious steam-punk London world with another action packed mystery, The Osiris Ritual. Excitement and wonder dazzle the Victorian elite as we burst open the first pages of this novel and we the readers attend a grand unveiling of an unusual mummy just off the boat from Egypt. Mysterious color schemes decorate the sarcophagus, and unfamiliar symbols embellish the outer façade of the mummy causing curiosity in the mind of Sir Maurice Newbury, investigator for the Crown and curator at the British Museum. Newbury stands watching in awe as the mummy is unwrapped slowly and when the last linen bandage is peeled off, he gasps in horror as a terrified screaming skeleton stares up to reveal that it was buried alive.
When theft and murder of the Egyptian expedition's leader occur the following night, Sir Maurice and his beautiful assistant Veronica Hobbes are once again led on a merry chase to unravel the clues that will unwrap the mystery of the importance of the mummy's existence, and other relics that were found with it. While Newbury delves into researching the meaning of the ancient symbols, Veronica heads off on her own working on another London crime puzzle, the disappearance of several young local women. Veronica puts a few leads together and arrives at the assumption that because these women have all been attending a traveling magic show, that the magician must be the culprit. Separately, the two investigators creep through the fog and miasma of the lowliest warrens of London's shadiest neighborhoods, each of them avoiding danger at every turn with their own agendas and criminals to apprehend. Egyptian mummies, a magician gone mad, and a mechanical monster once an agent for the Crown, all concoct one hell of a fun and fanciful murder mystery cocktail. Lots of action, battles of wit and bloodshed, high speed chase scenes, an abundance of dead bodies, added with the continual question of whether there will be a romance between Hobbes and Newbury, make this installment a roller coaster ride of nothing but pure entertainment.
The author is slowly building the characters of Victoria and Maurice as we learn of their weaknesses and strengths, their fears and their secrets, and whether or not they will become the greatest fictional Victorian sleuths since Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. This series is very enjoyable, the characters are very human and endearing, and the action scenes riveting enough to keep the pages flying past your eyes rapidly enough for this to be a one sitting read. Fun is the only one word that comes to mind for describing The Osiris Ritual, and anticipation for book three, The Immorality Engine coming next September is high. Fans of authors Justin Richards and Will Thomas would surely enjoy these works by George Mann as well, as the author shows his incredible talent for evoking a vivid feel for the Victorian world both grand and grotesque.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
mildly pleasing, November 30, 2009
George Mann's The Osiris Ritual is the sequel to his Victorian-era fantasy-mystery, The Affinity Bridge. It shares the same setting and characters, as well as the same positives and, unfortunately, minuses as its predecessor.
We're back at the start with Sir Maurice, one of her Majesty's agents and a specialist in the occult, as he attends the unwrapping (literally) of a newly-discovered mummy, who turns out to have been mummified alive. The mystery deepens when those associated with finding the mummy start to turn up dead and soon Sir Maurice is caught up in web of violence involving the contemporary murderer, an old Egyptian myth (the basis for the title), and a rogue English agent who allegedly died years ago. Meanwhile, his assistant Veronica is caught up in her own mystery: a group of young women who have gone missing and all of whom seem to have been in attendance at a particular magician's traveling show.
As with the first book, The Osiris Ritual has its fun moments and the plot moves quickly apace, with bodies piling up faster than clues (though not much faster), several chase scenes, a couple fight scenes, and a climactic showdown with the villain, without a lot of downtime in between. The scenes vary from tense/exciting to a bit too much been-there-done-that, a problem with the first book as well (and one scene is just a bit too implausible for my liking). To be honest, I'm not always sure if Mann is playing on the clichéd adventure-type scenes (train fights, fencing battles, etc.) or is just showing a lack of originality.
As a whole, the plot was a bit predictable, with red herrings pretty clearly so and it comes as no surprise (not is it much of a spoiler) that Maurice and Veronica's cases should eventually dovetail. One area this book seemed to weaken in comparison to book one is in the chemistry between the two, which was just much more vibrant in book one and here it seems a bit perfunctory, as if Mann is simply going through the obvious motions. Veronica's sister, whose subplot in book one didn't add much, is clearly being set up for a major role in book three, though here again her story adds little.
The books have some charm to them, but it's of a lesser sort, a kind of "you're flipping the channels and end up on a show you wouldn't have chosen to watch but it has just enough going on that inertia keeps you there, though if someone suggested getting pizza you'd be happy to go" sort of experience. As such, I can't recommend buying either, but for checking out of the library to fill in a lull between stronger books, you could do worse. I realize that's faint praise, but I can't justify stronger based on the first two.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
George Mann proves that Steampunk works as a genre!, September 18, 2011
I found this book to be very engaging. The first book started off slow, while this one went right for the throat. The fight scenes were fun. My only comment on the characters, other than how well rounded they are, is: why doesn't the main protagonist carry a weapon?
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