Customer Reviews

The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack (Burton & Swinburne in)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Mark Hodder, please write more, ASAP!

Okay, moving on. The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack is currently my absolute favorite book of the year and is going to be a tough one to unseat. This mystery steampunk action/adventure alternate history story is tight. Hodder's writing style is crisp and even and easily navigated. Other than a few sections where I bogged down in the science-y alt. history stuff, I blew threw this like it was air. Burton and Swinburne feel authentic as characters and every surrounding aspect is put together in such a way that nothing seems totally out of place even if it obviously is.

What's even more impressive is how Hodder takes a cadre of authentic Victorian personas and blends them so well together, even if they never/rarely met in real life. I learned a lot about the characters both their real selves and alternate fictional selves, as well as the era since we see the diverging paths as one thing after another is affected by the decisions of others. Because decisions matter in this book so it's not just pulp fiction. There is a point to it, but I'll leave that for you to find out as you read. But other than there being a point, the book is all grand fun. Burton is swarthy enough to appeal to action/adventure types while also being a human being. And Swinburne, whom I now poetically seem to have developed a crush on, is a nice balancing character. He needs to live unlike Burton who seems to not need to live as much as he is throughout the book.

As far as plot goes, I could barely believe how well the loose ends were tied up in the end. Even some of the smaller details in the plotting and characterisation come to be important for the climax which is at times utterly surprising. As a standalone title, The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack is outstanding. I can only hope it serves as a platform for more Burton and Swinburne in the future. A Must Read book for any steampunk or alternate history reader.

First-time author Mark Hodder pulls out all the stops in his revisioning of a Victorian England cursed with mysterious attacks by the quasi-supernatural creature known as Spring Heeled Jack. Based on the real tales of the mysterious assailant known to bound away from his crimes, and featuring a host of famed Victorians as well as the history of Jack's assaults, this ambitious novel will either tickle your fancy or mangle your suspension of disbelief.

Hodder imagines Spring Heeled Jack as a future historian/scientist who attempts to undo his family's sullied reputation by "fixing" the past. That historian/scientist, Edward Oxford, journeys back through time via a sophisticated time-travel suit to convince his ancestor of the same name to forgo a failed attempt to assassinate the young Queen Victoria. Wishing his lineage something better than being known for their own John Hinckley, Oxford instead creates a far worse outcome that alters all of history and traps him in the past. His many attempts to undo the damage to time prove more and more disastrous, his sanity slipping away even as the authorities attempt his capture.

Commissioned by King Albert to be his age's version of Agent Fox Mulder of _The X-Files_, former African explorer Richard Francis Burton pursues Jack. In the course of unwinding Jack's mysterious story, Burton encounters man-beasts created by the new breed of geneticists, robots with human brains, flying ships, and a timeline that he senses has gone awry. Poet Algernon Swinburne joins the creature hunt, and the story hurtles through mayhem, mystery, and one bizarre historical and technological re-imagining after another.

It's good--if highly unlikely--stuff.

PROS:

* Inventive. A more creative and ambitious novel would be hard to find.

* If you're a fan of steampunk--a science fiction subgenre that reimagines a more technologically advanced 19th century, with modern tech devices driven by steam power--this is your new favorite novel. Best of all, unlike some novels in the genre, this book makes steampunk less of an a priori assumption, with the author giving us reasons for its existence.

* Author Hodder shows complete mastery of both timeline manipulation (always tricky) and history. The book's appendix supplies backgrounds on the real Victorians who comprise the books characters, which also include Charles Darwin, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the Marquess of Waterford, Florence Nightingale, Oscar Wilde, and the original police officers who worked on the real cases depicted in the novel. Adding an explanation for what Spring Heeled Jack was only reinforces the fun.

* The cover art of Spring Heeled Jack / Edward Oxford in his time suit, electricity arcing around him as Burton and Swinburne pursue, is top notch. In fact, the publisher's production values for the trade paper version of this book are outstanding from cover to cover.

CONS:

* That this is a first novel shows in the author's attempt at piling it all on. Is he writing for the reader or to impress the publisher?

* The book consists of two sections broken into 240-page and 120-page chunks. The initial, larger section could use serious trimming, as it is too long by at least 80 pages and features excess dialog that exists only to show off the author's skill with Britishisms of the era. The story bogs down several times in that section and could use a jolt from Jack's solar-powered time suit and an editor's red pen. (In stark contrast, the second section is almost perfect in pacing and length.)

* Suspension of disbelief runs to absurd levels. When Charles Darwin and his gang arrive in the narrative, readers will be left to wonder if illicit drugs were consumed in the course of writing the book.

* The foul-talking parakeets used to deliver messages were grating and unfunny. As was the use of the F-word, even if it mostly came out of the mouth of Jack / Oxford.

Overall, an interesting diversion, if mostly for science fiction fans or those who appreciate alternate histories. Hodder shows some fine skills that make up for some of his excesses. One can only hope that subsequent books featuring Burton and Swinburne will continue to build off this promising start.

The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack takes the more traditional definition of Steampunk with a Victorian setting, an altering of history, and the use of historical characters as stars and supporting cast. In fact, Hodder makes use of historical characters more than any other Steampunk novel I've read using everyone from famous explorers of the Victorian era to its Scientific geniuses and even poets of only low note and a spate of references to people, places, and events of the time. There is also an index which covers the true historical happenings of many of the people mentioned, which was a nice touch.

At its core The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack is a time travel mind bender mashed up with a pulp. The beginning was a bit all over the place, but it quickly turned into a very entertaining romp with adventurer extraordinaire Sir Richard Francis Burton and de Sade follower and poet Algernon Swinburne. Like Westerfeld Hodder chooses to innovate with not only technological wonders, but also genetic using Darwin as a keystone. Everything from giant swans, coal-driven horses, odd chimney sweeps, and broomcats come into the fold in this well realized alternative England. And not since Dicken's have chimney sweeps been so well used. The Spring Heeled Jack mythos is used to great effect as Hodder unveils this mysterious hopping bogey monster. There are many groups all vying for power. Nearly too many with political, technological, and anti-tech groups all jumping into the fray as well as their offshoots.

Despite some quibbles with the first quarter of the story Hodder brings it all home and clearly shows how much fun he had writing this tale. The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack pays homage to many of the forebears to Steampunk with a healthy nod to Tim Powers' The Anubis Gates. Hodder brings plenty of his own style to the table in terms of intricate plotting. There are some very complex happenings that he goes to great lengths to explain. In fact in the big reveal section it goes a little too far for me. After the first couple of examples we get the point, but that is probably a better way to go than leaving too much open. Burton comes off too distant, too perfect, and needed some sort of major flaw to make you feel he was in true danger. And the women of the story might as well not have been there given how marginalized they became. It is Algeron Swinburne that truly takes the show away when he eventually comes in to the fold. He turns out to be quite an odd and kinky fellow.

This was definitely one of those books where I connected more with the world than the characters who felt a bit distant although quite amusing and witty. Still Sir Richard Francis Burton comes out of the history books to become more than he ever was and historical figures become some very odd villains, but it was the Spring Heeled Jack storyline that will keep you vested. If you like time travel and alternative history this would definitely be worth your attention and if you are just a plain-old fan of Steampunk this is another must to add to the to-read pile. There are many good twists and some very weird ones that will give you pause. The cover is one of my favorites this year and if you haven't seen it in person go to a bookstore and check it out. It just may seal the deal with all the finishing details. This is a planned series with the sequel The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man scheduled from a release in March 2011 from Pyr. I'll definitely be back for more and hope Hodder can improve some of the pacing issues.

This was an interestingly plotted book. Sir Richard Burton and Algernon Swinburne play detectives in a Steampunk mixture with some alternate history thrown in for kicks. Plus, there's Spring Heeled Jack. Amazingly, most of it comes off quite well.

Hodder writes well. His word skills are way beyond the norm for the author of a first novel. The story line is well thought out. I didn't analyze the rigor of how he handled some typical paradoxes in the book - I read it for the fun. I do, though, think he dealt with things sufficiently well.

If you click on 'See all Editorial Reviews' above you'll get to what the publisher wanted you to know of the plot. There are elements that should not be given away in reviews.

Hodder's departure from the norm in the genre is Spring Heeled Jack's affect on the steam era and, of course, werewolves are always a welcome addition to any story. Unfortunately, there was a seemingly endless section of back story late in the book that brought things to a halt (and cost the book a star - but only one).

The title beginning with 'Burton & Swinburne in' is obviously a tip-off that this is the first in a planned series. When that comes about I'm always concerned with two things: is the current book complete enough in itself to read as a stand-alone; and am I wanting more and will I probably will read the next one?

In this instance, the answer to both is 'yes'. I didn't feel cheated by there being unresolved issues and I am interested enough in those issues to buy number two in the series (if it comes out in a reasonable amount of time).

The use of real historical characters and a fun story line is coupled with very good writing. So, if you are a fan of Steampunk, you'll enjoy this. If you like historical mysteries and want to venture into a new genre, you might be surprised by how easily you get caught up in the story.

Richard Burton turned sleuth and crime fighter in a steam punked London - a London filled with rotocopters and steam driven mechanical horses? I brought this book purely on it's premise - that and I am an admirer of Burton. I am pleased to report that it's a great read and the author carefully skirts the line between the fantastical and the outright silly with aplomb. I can't give away the plot as that's part of the fun, but suffice say to it's an alternate history sort of novel where Burton is pressed into being an agent for the crown instead of being sent out to pasture at various english embassies around the world. My only complaint - too short! When I turned the page and saw the end was looming, I wanted more!

Also, this novel - unlike so many these days it seems - does not end on a cliffhanger but is completely self contained. There is room for a sequel or two of course and I would welcome that.

The Victorian Era is no longer! Events in this crazy, mind-bender of a time-travel-paradox mystery, adventure spin so wildly out of control that even the participants sense that things are not even remotely as they ought to be.

Victoria is assassinated. But that is old news. As are parakeets bred to be talking messengers and the BroomCat! bred to sweep up dust with their tails and lick themselves clean (an asset to every modern house-hold), not to mention motorized pennyfarthings and personal flying machines.

Just as there are turning points in history, they also occur in individual lives. Sir Richard Burton is walking home one night when he's accosted by a bizarre creature that is called Spring heeled Jack. And then comes a call from the PM, offering him a chance to look into reports of werewolves in Whitechapel... and consult with the Police about this Spring Heeled Jack. Or... he could continue with his plans to marry and go into the diplomatic core at some obscure posting and quietly write his books. Burton is tired of Exploring (his last expeditions had led to unsatisfactory outcomes), but is not quite ready to retire into a quiet life, he decides. His new vocation is too dangerous for a wife or for ordinary friends. But, unlikely as he seems, his friend Swinburne needs distraction from a tendency towards destructive drinking and drugs... And so history is changed.

While the adventures are non-stop and intricately involved--with historical figures galore, talking apes, extenuated life-spans, mechanoid-humans, and bizarre movements led by the Rakes and the Libertines and the Engineers... Aside from a slightly slow and diverging beginning, the author maintains a firm control of the mind-boggling plot and keeps it spinning, with action and fun, but with intent and not a little method behind the madness. There are large and small acts that we come to see that there were some reasons behind the altering of history. Beyond all that, the tale is worth reading just for the foul-mouthed parakeets!

This is one of the best Steampunk novels I've read. The author seems comfortably at home in the Era he is playing so freely with, and the characters all feel real, even against such strange doings as the affair of Spring Heeled Jack. I hear there are more adventures to come, which I will definitely look forward to reading.

This book desperately needed an editor. Preferably one with an ear for period dialogue, because the author's own efforts come out sounding like the worst possible caricatures of an attempt at period British English possible, particularly the "lower classes." "Blimey!" his characters exclaim. And "She'll have me guts for garters!" This passes for character development.

There are many traps steampunk can fall into, and this book misses none of them. A stilted, fawning view of the British upper class? Check. Excessive, fetishistic explanation of the cleverness of one's invented devices? Check. Wholesale acceptance of the exploitation and marginalization of women and people of color (Queen Victoria - possibly the ultimate "woman in the refrigerator")? Check. A "Renaissance Fair" like approach that miraculously brings together all the "greats" of a particular age? Check. An inability to say "enough is enough" when the urge to start dabbling in multiple genres strikes, so the end result resembles the aftermath of a Mack truck hitting a storefront full of RPG modules?

The embarrassing choice to suddenly deviate from the established narrative, and spend endless pages EXPLAINING THE PLOT (conveniently delivered as a monologue by a character who otherwise only exists as a hastily-drawn sketch), only adds to the bitter taste of regret in the mouth of the reader.

The only thing that kept me reading this book was sheer, cussed determination. I am horrified to learn that it has a sequel. I cannot think of anything I less want to read, than another equally badly-written pastiche making a buck by hopping the steampunk train.

I've had some mixed success with the steampunk trend the past few years, thoroughly enjoying it when the authors pay as much attention to story and character as they do in coming up with new ways to mash-up old and new technologies, but finding it dully disappointing when the basic steampunk premise was the high point of creativity (Look--airships flying over horse-drawn carriages while Dickens is walking through the streets!). Mark Hodder's new book, The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack, I'm happy to say, did not disappoint, despite some awkward moments and a less-than-adequate ending.
Being steampunk, the novel is set in an alternate-history England during the late-1800s. The major political change is that this isn't technically a "Victorian" Age as Queen Victoria was assassinated decades earlier (an act that the book returns to again and again, no matter that it took place so long ago). Socially and culturally, there are far larger changes, as the new English Empire finds itself at odds between two warring camps. In one camp are the Engineers/Eugenicists rapidly transforming England with their new machines (steam vehicles, ornithopters) and biological creations (dogs that deliver mail, birds that deliver messages). In the other camp are the Libertines, who oppose the technologists' "destruction" of society and aim to form one based on beauty and art, and the Rakes, an offshoot of the Libertines who want to free themselves (and society) from all constraints: moral or otherwise.
Bounding about amidst all this rampant disorder is the veritable symbol of chaos: Spring-Heeled Jack--a frightening creature of folklore who is reputed to appear suddenly out of nowhere, attack a young girl, then disappear. And whom at least one policeman swears was present at the Queen's assassination.
Stepping into this maelstrom is Richard Burton, the famed Victorian explore, linguist, translator, and all-around bad-boy. At the start of Spring Heeled Jack he is newly commissioned by the Prime Minister to become what is a new position: a sort-of freelance agent in the King's service with the full power of the throne at his back. His several tasks include investigating Spring-Heeled Jack, the two warring social groups, as well as reports of strange disappearances and the possibility of werewolves. He is aided by the aforementioned policeman, as well as his young friend, the poet Algernon Charles Swinburne.
The setting is more original than many I've come across in the genre, especially in the Darwinists' creations (the engineered ones are more predictably familiar), which add a nice sense of weirdness as well as humor, due to the dismaying formula that for every good "tweak" the biologists make in a creature, there's a bad tweak as well (the parrots' flaw is particularly funny). One problem, though, is that the introduction of some of these elements can be noticeably clunky at times. Hodder does a good job of portraying the more seedy side of London, especially during Burton's trips into the poorer parts of town; we get a more honest sense of how much of the population lives, it seems to me, than we often do in these sort of novels.
Burton was an excellent choice as a main character, as his actual life is so fascinating and replete with adventure that one needn't fictionalize much to make him a compelling figure. He's certainly the best part of the novel, though Swinburne makes a nice match, especially as he begins to come into his own as a character in the latter part of the story. Spring-Heeled Jack evolves nicely throughout the story until we finally start to get a handle on him a bit more than halfway through. He's certainly one of the more original characters I've come across. Another strong secondary character is the highly literate head of the Chimney Sweep League, a mysteriously intriguing figure. The other characters aren't as fully realized and some are a bit one-dimensional. Burton's fiancée for instance never really comes alive. The policeman isn't a particularly memorable character. And a pair of government "fixers" have some rich potential that goes oddly unused. But Burton's personality and the quick moving plot mostly make up for such problems.
The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack moves toward a big showdown at the end, but the book also manages to bog down somewhat while doing so. One problem is we fall into a dreaded monologue sequence, which while interesting, does slow things down while also feeling a bit forced (though Hodder, perhaps in recognition of this, does try to build in some rationalization for the scene).
We're clearly set up for further books involving Burton and Swinburne as an investigating team and despite some of this book's awkward or clunky moments, and a somewhat disappointing close, I look forward to the next one. Recommended.

I did not know it, but evidently England of 1837 was a seething cauldron of pent-up creativity and stupendous and incipient scientific invention, and had not Queen Victoria come along and spoiled it for everyone with her repressive ways, London would otherwise have been flooded with steam-powered bicycles, one-seater helicopters, trash-picking robots, clockwork cyborgs, and genetically-altered humanimals. Sure, a drunken marquess might've had to drop an extremely vague word or two about the technology of 2200 as very briefly alluded to by a demented time traveler, but simply uttering the phrase "geothermal energy" to Isambard Kingdom Brunel would've been enough to kick off a sweeping wave of technological innovation. And also to transform both Charles Darwin and Florence Nightingale into criminal scum. Well, you only ever had to look at photos from the time--you could see in their eyes that they were shifty amoral monsters.

My essential problem with the novel is that it is predicated on the antagonist acting in supremely stupid ways and embarking on plans that no rational person would attempt, primarily to clear his family's name of a 350-year-old stain that perhaps .00001% of anyone at all would know about. Of course, he does appear to come from a society of neurasthenic wusses who are wholly incapable of dealing with any culture that deviates in the slightest degree from their own. His elaborate precautions to literally avoid seeing the completely alien milieu of Victorian London make me think that his folk would be well-advised to never attend a Renaissance Festival, lest their minds be completely shattered.

I was also not prepared to see Darwin depicted basically as the crudest possible caricature of a scientist, some weird fusion of a bullying adolescent Vulcan and Dr. Moreau.

In addition, this book made me read up a bit on Algernon Charles Swinburne, and fostered a strong urge to find him and slap him.

Also: exploding werewolves. And their hair was NOT perfect.

The cover is pretty neat, though.

This is certainly not your everyday read, although it's certainly a good one. Set in 1861, the protagonist is Sir Richard Francis Burton, the explorer, not the actor. The first fifty or so pages feel like engaging historical fiction.

Then all hell breaks loose. In a good way. This version of 1861 isn't what we read in the history books. It includes steam powered flying chairs, insulting messenger parakeets, genetically engineered werewolves, robotic street cleaners and all sorts of goodies. Most of the characters are famous Victorians, or in this world Albertians given that Victoria was shot to death in 1840 (a real life attempt that was fatal in this alternate history).

The voice of the novel is third person, medium tight and usually riding with Burton. It does, however, jump over to some others occasionally like his side kick the Marquis-de-Sade-loving poet Algernon Swinburne and the title character. The tone is slightly flip, as the inventions and wackiness is just left of possible. Yet things remain consistently period and the characters are well researched and full of era-appropriate dialog, but also clever and engaging.

About midway, the book, already getting weird, goes totally off the the deep end. Enter Spring-Heeled Jack, crazy time traveler, and a host of steampunk altered villains including a double-brain grafted Charles Darwin and an Iron Golemized Isambard Kingdom Brunel. But this zaniness only makes the novel better. I'm reminded of one of my all time favorites, The Anubis Gates, but TSAOSHJ is less magical, more grounded in technology.

Bravo! This book really shows off tremendous world building and research while remaining fast paced and easy to read. If it has anything that holds it back from being a complete classic, it's that the characters, while well developed, don't really illicit any significant pathos. Things are just a little too distant and weird for that. It's not a huge book, and Hodder crams in an enormously distinct world, so it's no surprise this isn't a character study. Still, I do feel that the complex character of Burton was well profiled, almost like in a good biography. Impressive.

I read this right after putting down another steampunk book, Clockwork Angel, just 20% in. Wow, what a difference. Both are set in alternate 19th century Londons, but other than a couple random "period words," CA feels exactly the same as the author's contemporary paranormal YA, with all its forced faux-romance. TSAOSHJ, on the other hand, is an adult book, and makes use of one's babbage augmented, steam-powered, glass jar encased, cybernetic brain.

Andy Gavin, author of The Darkening Dream