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64 of 69 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Yeah, I'm Steamed.., February 10, 2010
This review is from: Steamed: A Steampunk Romance (Paranormal Romance (Signet)) (Mass Market Paperback)
First, I should say that I am probably not the target audience for this book. I'm a male and I mainly read science-fiction and urban fantasy. That said, if I think I will like the underlying story, I am willing to meet a romance half-way. I don't mind if I know on page two who is going to end up with who and if there's more obsessing than I care for over "the relationship", well I understand that comes with the territory -- the trip through the territory is the thing. In movie terms, I am quite prepared to like a clever, funny, romance adventure like "Romancing The Stone".
I ordered this book because I like pulp adventure and the whole steampunk concept so the idea of a spunky airship captain falling for a traveller from our world in a light-hearted adventure sounded promising. In the actual execution... not so much.
SURELY SOME SPOILERS FOLLOW
First, all of the characters aside from the two leads are one trait exemplified. This one is salty. That one is a comic-opera latin. The other is mysterious. The hero's sister is a plot-mover only.
Second, the two leads are not much better. Jack is a horny, two fisted, Quaker scientist. Octavia is a horny airship captain and revolutionary. Is Jack morose about being stranded in a strange world, does he think about parents left behind, pets going unfed, *anything* about his old life? No, he's in wuv. Does Octavia worry at all about winning the loyalty of her new crew, of taking her responsibilities seriously? Is she anything more than mildly annoyed at losing the ship she worked her whole life to win? Nope, she's in wuv too. With Jack's sister's life on the line will the couple resist the temptation to have a wildly inapprropriate and mistimed sex session in the secret passage of the castle? Nope, they're in wuv.
Third, the political situation that forms the whole background for the "plot" is very thin. So there's an Anglo Prussian empire. Well, OK, I guess, but why is Octavia plotting with the Black Hand to bring it down? We see that war refugees live a difficult existence, but as far as we can tell from what we see of the rest of the empire and its citizens, it seems reasonably nice. We even meet the emperor and he's not a bad sort, if a bit overfond of hangings. There's some hint that the Black Hand is working for Prussian independance, but we never hear what the grievances are or why Octavia throws her lot in with them. Then there are the Moguhls running around without any logistical support, trying to do, um, something.
Fourth, the ending is very odd. Yes, I see the setup for future books, but the decision to become non-lethal air pirates is ridiculous and the idea that the crew, who never knew Octavia before she got them all shot down (not to mention lying to them for most of their first voyage together) opt to stay with her from loyalty is totally unconvincing.
I guess the worst thing about this book is that all the elements to make a good book are there, but this wasn't it.
If you want a GOOD steam-punk romance adventure, read _Clockwork Heart_ by Dru Pagliassotti: Great characters, great world-building and plot and convincingly developed romance.
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not a fan of this one, February 4, 2010
This review is from: Steamed: A Steampunk Romance (Paranormal Romance (Signet)) (Mass Market Paperback)
I've been a long time fan of Katie MacAlister and enjoyed all of her previous books. I was excited to hear she had a new series different from the dragons and vampires but the execution of this one left me disappointed. The jumping of perspective from Jack to Octavia, back and forth chapter after chapter left me bumfuzzled. An extremely heavy hand was used to justify the genre and rather than letting me enjoy and immerse myself in the alternate reality the characters constantly had to remind me it was "steampunk". Rather than an enjoyable read this was an effort and was the first Katie MacAlister book that I've put down without finishing.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Steamless romantic flop, July 5, 2010
This review is from: Steamed: A Steampunk Romance (Paranormal Romance (Signet)) (Mass Market Paperback)
Let me start this review off by saying I was warned before reading this book that it wasn`t very good, but I was interested because well it is Katie MacAlister (whose other books I've enjoyed) and it was steampunk.
You can create a world and spend all your time giving details of that world, such as putting a table/chart in the back of the book that tells you how to interpret the time given in this world, but if the story isn't that good, then the ideas behind the story fails.
This is what happens in Steamed. Ms. MacAlister falls very short in this genre, and I for one hopes she 1) never goes back to this world, or 2) in the future, she actually researches better.
Where to start? There are so many disappointments for me as a reader. I was thrown out so many times of the story, that I found it very difficult to get through this story. It has taken a little over two weeks and I finally came to the conclusion that this book will never be a finished read.
Here is what the story is about. Jack Fletcher and his sister, though she is a minor character, are sucked into an alternate steampunk universe where he meets the captain, Octavia Pye, of an airship. They are transported to the ship by "mysterious" means. Octavia believes Jack and his sister are spies, but realizes they are not. He, Jack, repeatedly references things as "steampunk" much to the chagrin of the captain who does not know what he is talking about. So begins the beginning of my annoyance with this book.
I could go on but I got to about page 214 of a 352 page book. It was such a brutal read for me. There were just too many characters to keep up with, and so many little annoying characteristics about the characters that I was continuously thrown out of the story.
There were two minor characters I hated in particular, a Mr. Francisco and a Mr. Llama. I could not understand why the author thought these two were even worthy to write, from Mr. Francisco's irritating, clichéd flowery speech every time he addressed the captain to when Mr. Llama seemly appeared and disappeared at random and how the captain kept on remarking on this.
Captain Octavia Pye. She was a very irritating character and she is the heroine. From the "voice" to her mannerisms I so wanted to punch the captain in the face. Instead I opted to throw the book across the room. I even hated Jack. I mean really hated him. Why? Because he kept on talking about his world and the technology and it just irked me in general. These two characters really made no sense to me and the fact that they supposedly fall in love, well I just didn't buy it.
And before I forget, the biggest offense of all. The viewpoint is told in first person point of view. Which would be fine except that she (the author) goes back and forth between Jack and Octavia as the narrator of the story. Talk about an awful experience for the reader because it is hard to actually get into the story with all the head-hopping. I honestly wish she would have picked a character and stuck with that character throughout the story. Or better yet, maybe she should have opted for third person.
Bottom line, the book gets a 1. By the time the sex happened I was so no longer invested in the story. This could have been an awesome story, especially from the blurb, but I feel as if the author put too many characters in the book, which made for busy reading. When reading, I kept forgetting who was who until my eyes crossed in frustration. Not everyone should try to write in this genre and I believe Ms. MacAlister should really leave steampunk alone, well, unless she could actually go back and really research, read or watch other steampunk and see what works. If you still want to read this and see for yourself, well good luck. I for one need a Men in Black Neuralyzer to erase the memory of this book and replace the memory with say the Wild Wild West movie.
[...]
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