A masked terrorist has brought London to its knees -- there are bombs inside books, and nobody knows which ones. On the day of the launch of the first expedition to Mars, by giant cannon, he outdoes himself with an audacious attack. For young poet Orphan, trapped in the screaming audience, it seems his destiny is entwined with that of the shadowy terrorist, but how? Like a steam-powered take on V for Vendetta, rich with satire and slashed through with automatons, giant lizards, pirates, airships and wild adventure, The Bookman is the first of a series. File under: Steampunk [Serial killer | Alternate Victorian London | Exploding Books | Historical Crime]
Bookman, The (Angry Robot)
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"An emerging master" -- LOCUS Magazine Praise for Lavie's short fiction: "Tidhar beautifully evokes the power of technology " - The Fix, reviewing The Dying World (Clarkesworld Magazine) "richly detailed characters in a well paced and well thought out story" - Tangent reviewing The Pattern Makers of Zanzibar (Murky Depths) "Tidhar's story reads like a drug-infused John Le Carre novel, if Le Carre wrote science fiction and dropped LSD as he pounded on the typewriter... an amazing accomplishment, and highly recommended." - The Fix, reviewing The Shangri-La Affair (Strange Horizons) "Sultry and crackling, Lavie Tidhar's prose intimately evokes Ethiopian [?] weather and the high-running emotions of his characters." - Tangent, reviewing What The Thunder Said (Strange Horizons) "It's stomach churning and very sweet at the same time, bizarreness and beauty like most of Tidhar's stories." - The Fix, reviewing The Butcher and The Flykeeper - A Christmas Love Story (Murky Depths) "The strength of this work is the setting. It is incredibly inventive and fun... a wonderful story, especially for those who enjoy the more surreal edges of speculative fiction." - Tangent, reviewing High Noon in Clown Town (Postscripts "Tidhar's story is classic noir, but with its tongue firmly in its cheek from beginning to end. A very enjoyable read." - The Fix, reviewing Hard Rain at the Fortean Cafe (Aeon)
About the Author
Currently based in Laos, in South-East Asia, Lavie is an Israeli who has lived in places as exotic as Vanuatu, South Africa and Britain. As well as a clutch of highly regarded short stories and novellas, his website World SF has attracted much attention for focussing specifically on the SF and fantasy produced in non-English speaking countries of the world.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Amber Marie
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I first started this book with rather low expectations. It had several mixed reviews on Amazon, and I wasn't so sure about some of the concepts, such as lizards as the current royalty. However, I ended up really enjoying this book!
It was an strangely absorbing take on a revolution, complete with robots fighting for independence and equal rights, alien invaders, a love story, and strange but enjoyable appearances of well known people and characters. Jules Verne, Karl Marx, and Moriarty all show up, to name a few. The plot is, to put it bluntly, extraordinarily weird at parts, but somehow that doesn't get in the way of the story (which, by the way, is wonderfully full of twists and turns). Plus, Tidhar writes beautifully, with a distinct and very refreshing style. I disagree with another reviewer who said that Bookman was 'nothing new'. I thought it was very original. I read a lot a books, and I've never read one like this. While that's normally a bad thing, it was a great thing here.
I'd recommend it to steampunk fans and fantasy fans alike.
It was an strangely absorbing take on a revolution, complete with robots fighting for independence and equal rights, alien invaders, a love story, and strange but enjoyable appearances of well known people and characters. Jules Verne, Karl Marx, and Moriarty all show up, to name a few. The plot is, to put it bluntly, extraordinarily weird at parts, but somehow that doesn't get in the way of the story (which, by the way, is wonderfully full of twists and turns). Plus, Tidhar writes beautifully, with a distinct and very refreshing style. I disagree with another reviewer who said that Bookman was 'nothing new'. I thought it was very original. I read a lot a books, and I've never read one like this. While that's normally a bad thing, it was a great thing here.
I'd recommend it to steampunk fans and fantasy fans alike.
16 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I really have difficulty reviewing this book. It was a struggle for me to read The Bookman all the way through, only having spent money on it persuaded me to continue. Let me say that I don't think this is a bad book by any means, in fact it might be a good book. The Bookman just isn't the book for me. I didn't much care for Orphan, he never seemed to be his own man, as a character he was just a pawn in everyone else's game. He undertakes the adventure to save his beloved but the path from beginning to end is so convoluted that I found it hard to follow. There are a lot of literary references and historical figures which would probably be of great enjoyment to some readers. I personally felt like The Bookman tried to be too clever for its own good. The whole book felt really superfluous, the pseudo-steampunk setting was intriguing at first but it never really developed into a fully realized idea.
I feel like I should have more to say about this book after giving it a 2 star rating but I'm at a loss for words. The Bookman probably offers a unique experience to a different type of reader but to me reading it felt like a hassle.
I feel like I should have more to say about this book after giving it a 2 star rating but I'm at a loss for words. The Bookman probably offers a unique experience to a different type of reader but to me reading it felt like a hassle.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Tex leChien
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Poorly constructed metaphors and similies, purple prose, reminds me of entries to the Bulwer-Lytton contest. The story picks up somewhat in the latter part of the book, but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
one short story would have been fine
This book felt like a collection of unrelated short stories all thrown together in a mish-mash. Each one may have been fun alone - (a) the Lizards rule the earth and humans... Read more
Published 3 months ago by JKM
3.0 out of 5 stars
Creative but wandering
I read the 2nd book in the Bookman Histories, Camera Obscura, last year and really enjoyed it. I was excited to go back and read the book that started it all. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Karissa Eckert
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Bookman Review
Original creative well written science fiction book.. His short stories are better . He tends to be a ittle vorbose. If you like science fiction buy this book.
Published 12 months ago by Arthur T. Altman
5.0 out of 5 stars
The New Steampunk Measuring Stick!
Just minutes before a space cannon launches a probe to Mars, a terrorist called The Bookman kills poet Orphan's love in an explosion. Read more
Published 14 months ago by D. Schwent
4.0 out of 5 stars
Review of The Bookman Chronicles
This is a series of three novels set in a "Steampunk" Universe that includes a large population of Nineteenth Century fictional and historical characters. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Philip K. Jones
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable read, but no need for namedropping
The concept and storyline behind this book were fantastic. Other reviewers have pointed out the likelihood (or lack thereof) that all of these famous historical figures would be... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Bou_Te
3.0 out of 5 stars
Unique ideas, but two issues kept me from truly enjoying the story
Read enough steampunk and you'll notice authors tend to recycle the same ideas - dirigibles, steam power, etc. - to the point that the genre risks becoming stale. Read more
Published 16 months ago by LoneStarReader
5.0 out of 5 stars
Myth in the Time of Victoria
The Bookman, a mesmerizing tour-de-force, refreshes Steampunk, while adhering to its basic elements and demonstrating the author's encyclopedic knowledge of the genre and his... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Keith W. Harvey
4.0 out of 5 stars
Steampunk Lives!
This is a type of book I'm beginning to refer to as a Dog's Breakfast Novel; it's messy, there's a little bit of everything, and hopefully it's palatable to the tongue and not... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Stone Junction
2.0 out of 5 stars
Strange & Not Rewarding
I had high hopes that I would enjoy this book when I began reading it but at the end I can not give it more than two stars. Read more
Published 21 months ago by John J. Browne
