Customer Reviews

The Osiris Ritual (Newbury & Hobbes Investigations)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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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.

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.

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?

The Victorians were wild about mummies -- they even had "unwrapping" parties where everybody would gather and... well, unwrap the mummy.

So guess what leads to a gruesome string of murders in "The Osiris Ritual," George Mann's second steampunk thriller about special agents of Queen Victoria. Also present: a sinister magician and an undead cyborg agent. While cleverly plotted and well-written, Mann just doesn't draw us into the adventure -- it's a fun read, but leaves you wishing you felt closer to the characters.

London is thrilled by the unwrapping of a mysterious unnamed mummy in a black casket, who apparently was mummified alive. Meanwhile, Newbury has been sent to pick up Caspian, an agent in Russia who unexpectedly returned without warning; andHobbes has been investigating the magician Alfonso the Great, who is connected to the disappearance of several girls.

The Newbury finds out the true horror of "Caspian's" true identity -- it's his predecessor William Ashford, who was horribly killed and then "rebuilt."

And then the man who found the mystery mummy is found horribly butchered and placed in the sarcophagus. Newbury suspects that Ashford is the one responsible, but after an encounter with the man he begins to suspect that someone else is responsible -- someone very interested in the mummy's past.

There are three main subplots in "The Osiris Ritual," and while they seem to be totally unrelated at first, George Mann loosely links them together through Egyptian ritual, mad science, and a few gruesome murders. It's a solid steampunk thriller, neither REALLY AWESOMELY GOOD or HORRIBLY DISMALLY BAD. It's middling.

Mann has a flair for the horrific ("...a shocking assortment of flesh and brass, like a patchwork monster made real, a nightmare marriage of metal and blood") and he has a knack for bloody fight scenes and one wild chase involving a steam-powered tricycle. The scenes of detection aren't quite as gripping, mainly because they don't have that grimy, dank atmosphere -- it's more like reading a novelization for a movie script than a novel on its own.

I have to admit, Newbury is slowly evolving into a more rounded anti-hero -- his affection for a bright young reporter, his revulsion at what happened to Ashford, and his patriotism. I did get tired of the constant "he takes opium!" subplot, since it didn't add much. On the other hand, Hobbes feels like a generic Add-Water-For-Instant-Action-Chick character, and even adding the whole dying-sister thing doesn't make her feel less flat.

"The Osiris Ritual" is a somewhat less engaging adventure than George Mann's debut novel. People who adore Victorian steampunk will want to take a peek, but Mann's writing needs a little more refinement.

I simply love these books. While I don't so much enjoy the whole undead themes, this second book in the series stepped away from that (prominent in Book 1) and gave us a wonderful tale of intrigue and adventure.

Newbury is in top form in this tale that focuses on an ancient ritual that seems to be alive and kicking in his backyard. Heap on top of this new mystery the fact that the past has reared its ugly head (literally) and it may cost Newbury his life.

George Man is quite a storyteller and I admire how he can use the surroundings of the characters to enhance and develop their personalities. I also enjoyed how Mann allowed Veronica Hobbes to sparkle more in this story.

An excellent read all around.

The Osiris Ritual was an amazing book, I would highly recommend it to anyone that is a sci-fi/fantasy/mystery lover. I really think this whole series in general should some day be made into movies like the Harry Potter series, I think they would be incredible to see in movie form.

Egyptian artifacts, steampunk, and mystery together in one book? Yes, please. I was so excited to get my hands on this book. I'm an Egypt nut. And although I'm fairly new to the steampunk subgenre, it is definitely growing on me.

I was worried that I would be a little lost coming into the series in the middle, but this stands alone just fine. There are a few references to previous cases, but nothing that makes this book difficult to understand. In fact, the best parts of this book are the mystery aspects.



I really liked both Sir Maurice Newbury and his assistant Veronica Hobbes. I thought it a little odd that they seemed to be working two different cases instead of both working on one main case. That was jarring (although the cases tied together later on). The murder scenes are a bit gruesome, so those who dislike violence or gore might want to steer clear.

The steampunk was perhaps the weakest element of the book. There's passing mention of airships, a few automobile references, but the majority of the steampunk elements in this book were medical. I've read other books (like Meljean Brook's Iron Duke) that incorporated medical advances with steampunk engineering, but I don't know how common that is. The medical contraptions were the only steampunk devices described with any real detail. Everything else is scenery, mentioned in passing.

My biggest problem with this book was that it wasn't all that original. The Egyptian angle lent something fresh, but the steampunk elements weren't anything ground breaking, and the opium addicted investigator was downright derivative.

Despite those drawbacks, I am looking forward to the next book in the series. The book was a fun romp through a Sherlock Holmes meets Jules Verne type of adventure. Hopefully we'll get more emotional interaction between Newbury and Hobbes next time. And more detailed steampunk.

FTC: Review copy provided by the publisher

I've previously read The Affinity Bridge, the first in the series and I was impressed. While certainly not expecting a novel on par with War and Peace, I was given a novel that was well written, taut, and as adventurous as anything Sir Arthur Conan Doyle could have written in his prime. Being bored was certainly not an issue. Now I've never been too expectant on sequels, especially fantasy, science fiction, or alternate history ones, they seem to me written with money as a motivator and lack the fun of the first. However I was again surprised with this novel. The Osiris Ritual is thus far the best in the series. Where Mann failed in the first (specifically in the development of his characters Hobbes, and Newbury) he succeeds marvelously here. The Osiris Ritual is again a murder mystery set in an alternate history, steampunk Victorian era, as interestingly created as any world I've ever seen before. Mann further blends this with a supernatural element making this alternate dear dirty London a little more interesting (not that it was in any need of course). The plot itself deals with the murder of a Lord murdered after staging a mummy unwrapping that had gone awry, and its connection with the disappearance of several young woman not seen since attending a popular magic show touring the British Isles.
There were two problems with this novel however. The biggest problem was I could not put this book down. It was not difficult at all to knock back 70 or 80 pages at a time and still have an appetite for more, Mann's prose is very no-nonsense and carries along quickly without interruption or unwarranted digressions. The second problem is that while Mann's first novel heavily explored this alternate London, The Osiris Ritual does not. Details are skimmed as of course this is a sequel, however I would have enjoyed this novel more fully if a little bit more detail was included. But all in all a tremendously well written and enjoyable novel no fan of steampunk or alternate history should miss.

George Mann knows how to keep you turning the pages. I couldn't put this book down. He is able to really make you feel like you are there.

I would highly recommend this to anyone.

The book was a solid effort and a good yarn. Plenty of other (positive) reviewers have already given a good synopsis of the book, so I will instead concentrate on the book in the larger "Newbury & Hobbes Investigations" sense. In terms of it's placement within the burgeoning series, The Osiris Ritual broadens out the character of Sir Maurice very nicely (no longer in my mind a Holmesian pastiche character at all), but oddly did little for Miss Hobbes at all (at least for me). In fact, Miss Hobbes went a bit backward here in some ways, loosing much of the flavor she had in the first book. Still, as a book that is obviously only to be a part of a larger collection of "Newbury and Hobbes Investigations," there needs to be a little room for the other characters to be expanded upon in other books. Doubtless each will have their limelight. I noted the flatness of her character, but did not find it a huge failing. Another "flat Hobbes" story in a row however and I might get a lot more worried.

Sir Maurice's now expanded very bad habit is going to be a doozy of a problem when he finally crashes, and he will crash eventually (this will probably be when Victoria shines brightest as counterpoint). Sir Maurice just has to hit bottom before he can rebuild, and he isn't even properly falling just yet (dangling maybe, falling no). Again, grist for a mill yet-to-be and that is fine, Mann is laying the groundwork and I think he has the chops to pull it off.

Overall, I thought the Osiris Ritual did a very nice job of telling a solid tale of steampunk action. I look forward to more.