Brightstorm - Vashti Hardy

Twins Arthur and Maudie receive word in Lontown that their famous explorer father died in a failed attempt to reach South Polaris. Not only that, but he has been accused of trying to steal fuel from his competitors before he died! The twins don't believe the news, and they answer an ad to help crew a new exploration attempt in the hope of learning the truth and salvaging their family's reputation. As the winged ship Aurora sets sail, the twins must keep their wits about them and prove themselves worthy of the rest of the crew. But will Arthur and Maudie find the answers they seek?

If you're looking for a fast-paced, steampunk-ish, middle-grade adventure story, then look no further. Brightstorm by debut author Vashti Hardy is all that and more. Featuring twins Arthur and Maudie, grieving for their father who has been accused of a crime he didn't commit and evicted from their family home,  who join Harriet Culpepper and her crew on the sky-ship Aurora, heading for South Polaris, from whence nobody has ever successfully returned to civilization before.

Desperate to clear their father's name Arthur and Maudie decide to join a new expedition heading to the last place he was seen alive, on an unknown sky-ship that has been ridiculed by the Geographical Society. Maudie is ecstatic, she has always loved all thing engineering and mechanical (including the iron arm she made for Arthur) but Arthur is quieter, more sensitive, a bookworm and just about the only male character who features prominently. The captain of the Aurora is Harriet Culpepper, aided and abetted by Felicity Wiggety and Welby, her butler. Harriet is like Maudie, highly inventive, and where other ships might fail to reach South Polaris, Harriet has devised a new type of engine, one which might mean they are the first crew to discover the unknown reaches of South Polaris.

Vashti Hardy has created a stunning new world, one which is easy to get lost in, and one in which I would love to join them on an expedition. There are whales and kings, sapient animals (Parthena, the Brightstorm's white hawk, and Queenie, Harriet's cat) which are no doubt a nod to Philip Pullman and his daemons. There are talking wolves (my favorites) and bandits, and villains trying to stop them reaching South Polaris by any way necessary. The writing is a sheer delight to read and for a debut novel was almost perfection, Brightstorm is going on to the 'keeper's' shelf and I can't wait for the eight-year-olds to read it. The books itself is gorgeous with a foldout flap featuring the map of the Great Wide and the cog & compass illustrations at the start of each chapter are a wonderful addition.

Brightstorm is a fresh, amazing debut about friendship and family, and I can't wait to read more, whether it's more adventures with Arthur, Maudie and the rest of the crew or something completely different. Huge thanks to Scholastic for sending me a copy of the book and inviting me to take part in the blog tour! If you want to read more reviews, guest posts and interviews with Vashti, then do check out all the blogs taking part.

Brightstorm - Vashti Hardy

ISBN - 9781407181707

Publisher - Scholastic

Release date - March 1st, 2018

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

About The Author

Vashti Hardy lives near Brighton and was a primary school teacher before moving into digital marketing. She is an alumni member and buddy at the Golden Egg Academy. Brightstorm is her debut novel published by Scholastic.

The Transference Engine - Julia Verne St John

Madame Magdala has settled comfortably into her new life in London, as the proprietress of the Book View Café, a coffee shop and extensive library. Her silent partner is Ada Lovelace, who will one day become the world’s first computer programmer - but who now is simply the young woman for whom Madame Magdala was a nursery maid.

Ten years ago, Ada’s father, Lord Bryon, was known as a great writer. But few knew of his powers as a necromancer. Upon his death, his devoted followers tried to repair the Transference Engine - a device that would allow Byron’s soul to claim the body of its choice. Magadala, along with Mary Godwin - a.k.a. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - had to stop them.

While the original Transference Engine was destroyed, they were unsure whether they truly stopped Bryon and his followers. Together, they fled to safety in London, and built new futures for themselves.

Now, Magdala and Mary care for the Book View Café’s community, leading fashion, following gossip, and reading the latest periodicals. But when members of the café’s community mysteriously disappear, and rumors of a threat of royal assassination grow, Magdala finds herself with new mysteries to solve. The more she learns, the clearer it becomes that this is the same mystery returned - the Transference Engine is back with a vengeance.

As soon as I read the synopsis for The Transference Engine I knew I had to read it! Victorian Steampunk, Byron & Shelley, a mechanical library in a coffee shop - all things that I love, especially together in a book! Julia Verne St John is probably better known to most as Irene Radford and here's where the only problem I had with the book comes into play - more on that later though.

The book kicks off with our intrepid heroine being interviewed under another name by the widow of the late poet Lord Byron. Thanks to an invention known as the Transference Engine Byron is not actually dead, nor is his good friend Percy Shelley. He is after a body and what could be better than that of his young daughter Augusta Ada Byron, better known as Ada Lovelace. Thanks to previous adventures with Mary Godwin and others Miss Elise Vollans (better known as Madame Magdala for almost the entirety of the book) is quite possibly the best person to be entrusted as Ada's governess/protectoress and forms a close relationship with her.

Fast forward several years and Madame Magdala is now the proprietor of the Book View Cafe, Ada is newly married and Victoria is about to ascend to the British throne. Not only serving coffee and pastries the Book View Cafe is also home to quite possibly the first steam powered library, most of which is hidden away and patrons have to ask to borrow from a huge selection of esoteric texts. But there's trouble afoot, is it an assassination attempt on Victoria or something more sinister? Using her street urchin informants, a police inspector with dubious policing techniques, a priest and various assorted other characters it's up to Madame Magdala to get to the heart of the problem and stop whatever catastrophe is looming.

The Transference Engine is a great Victorian steampunk mystery with steam powered libraries, great balloons floating over London shooting mysterious beams of light, necromancy and two of Britain's finest poets recast as the bad guys. I thoroughly enjoyed it and read it in one afternoon, easy to do when you're on a train and have nothing else to do! It's a fairly interesting take on the steampunk genre and having read quite a few of the author's books under her Irene Radford name I knew I enjoyed her writing.

 Apart from a bit of a slow start The Transference Engine is a great read and I loved the characters but here is the one problem with the book. I was constantly flipping back through the pages thinking I'd missed something, especially when it came to references to the destroyed Transference Engine itself. Very confusing but the answer lies in Steampunk Voyages, written as Irene Radford, and where Madame Magdala's previous adventures actually start. I've just bought Steampunk Voyages (book buying ban? Pfft, don't know anything about that...) so I'm looking forward to reading her earlier adventures and I sincerely hope that the Book View Cafe becomes a series as I loved the world Julia Verne St John has created and would quite happily read more!

The Transference Engine - Julia Verne St. John

ISBN - 9780756409531

Publisher - DAW Books

Release date - July 5 2016

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

Huge thanks to DAW Books for providing me with a review copy! 

Book Haul #126, Or The One Where I Realise I Haven't Posted A Book Haul Since March...

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly event hosted on Tynga's Reviews where we can share what new books we've picked up this past week be they bought, borrowed or downloaded. There are also lots of other 'book haul' memes out there for you to choose from!

So, looking back through my posts I haven't posted a haul since March. Ooops? Instead of bombarding you with all the books I've received over the last 3 months here's what I got over the last week. I have to say I've been pretty good, I've only bought a handful of books and until last weekend had avoided Netgalley and Edelweiss! Thanks to DAW Books, Rebellion Publishing and Tachyon for these copies!

For Review

The new novel from the author of The Last Unicorn, can't wait to read this!

Sherlock Holmes versus the Cenobites from Hellraiser? Yes please! Favorite detective and favorite movie...

Victorian Steampunk, books and coffee? Sold! Review coming next week and, hopefully, a guest post from the author!

Waiting On Wednesday #161 - The Transference Engine

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

The Transference Engine - Julia Verne-St. John

ISBN - 9780756409531

Publisher - DAW

Release date - July 6 2016 

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

A fantastical steampunk novel of magic and machines set in an alternate 1830s London.

Madame Magdala has settled comfortably into her new life in London, as the proprietress of the Book View Café, a coffee shop and extensive library. Her silent partner is Ada Lovelace, who will one day become the world’s first computer programmer - but who now is simply the young woman for whom Madame Magdala was a nursery maid.

Ten years ago, Ada’s father, Lord Bryon, was known as a great writer. But few knew of his powers as a necromancer. Upon his death, his devoted followers tried to repair the Transference Engine - a device that would allow Byron’s soul to claim the body of its choice. Magdala, along with Mary Godwin - a.k.a. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - had to stop them.

While the original Transference Engine was destroyed, they were unsure whether they truly stopped Bryon and his followers. Together, they fled to safety in London, and built new futures for themselves.

Now, Magdala and Mary care for the Book View Café’s community, leading fashion, following gossip, and reading the latest periodicals. But when members of the café’s community mysteriously disappear, and rumors of a threat of royal assassination grow, Magdala finds herself with new mysteries to solve. The more she learns, the clearer it becomes that this is the same mystery returned - the Transference Engine is back with a vengeance.

Umm, yes please! Steampunk, a coffee shop that is also a library, Byron, Shelley... What more could you ask for?!

Waiting On Wednesday #140 - The Custodian Of Marvels

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

The Custodian Of Marvels (Fall Of The Gas-Lit Empire #3) - Rod Duncan

ISBN - 9780857665010

Publisher - Angry Robot

Release date - February 4 2016

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository 

*Proceed with caution if you have not read the first two books in the trilogy*


You’d have to be mad to steal from the feared International Patent Office. But that’s what Elizabeth Barnabus is about to try. A one-time enemy from the circus has persuaded her to attempt a heist that will be the ultimate conjuring trick.

Hidden in the vaults of the Patent Court in London lie secrets that could shake the very pillars of the Gas-Lit Empire. All that stands in Elizabeth’s way are the agents of the Patent Office, a Duke’s private army and the mysterious Custodian of Marvels.

Rod Duncan returns with the climactic volume of the Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire, the breathtaking alternate history series that began with the Philip K Dick Award-nominated The Bullet-Catcher’s Daughter.

One of my favorite series from Angry Robot! And look at that cover! Nothing to say except I can't wait to read it.

Waiting On Wednesday #114 - The Aeronaut's Windlass

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

The Aeronaut's Windlass (The Cinder Spires #1) - Jim Butcher

ISBN (US) 9780451466808

          (UK) 9780356503653

Publisher (US) Roc

              (UK) Orbit

Release date (US) September 29 2015

                    (UK) September 14 2015

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

Since time immemorial, the Spires have sheltered humanity, towering for miles over the mist-shrouded surface of the world. Within their halls, aristocratic houses have ruled for generations, developing scientific marvels, fostering trade alliances, and building fleets of airships to keep the peace.

Captain Grimm commands the merchant ship, Predator. Fiercely loyal to Spire Albion, he has taken their side in the cold war with Spire Aurora, disrupting the enemy's shipping lines by attacking their cargo vessels. But when the Predator is severely damaged in combat, leaving captain and crew grounded, Grimm is offered a proposition from the Spirearch of Albion—to join a team of agents on a vital mission in exchange for fully restoring Predator to its fighting glory.

And even as Grimm undertakes this dangerous task, he will learn that the conflict between the Spires is merely a premonition of things to come. Humanity's ancient enemy, silent for more than ten thousand years, has begun to stir once more. And death will follow in its wake...

I have been waiting for The Aeronaut's Windlass for what feels like forever. I have had it pre-ordered since the beginning of June 2014 and looking at the ever changing date used to depress me. But look! We have a cover and, if my eyes don't deceive me, the UK edition is available two weeks before the US!!! How did that happen?! If that actually is the case then I'm happy!

I had to feature this today as I've just finished my Harry Dresden re-read/read and now I'm wondering what to read next. I've ordered the whole Codex Alera series from the library but in true library fashion every copy of the second book is out on loan so I have to wait. Aeronaut's Windlass can't come soon enough for me!

Waiting On Wednesday #87 - Ticker

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

Ticker - Lisa Mantchev

ISBN - 9781477825280

Publisher - Skyscape

Expected release date - December 1st 2014

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

'A girl with a clockwork heart makes every second count.

When Penny Farthing nearly died, the brilliant surgeon Calvin Warwick managed to implant a brass “Ticker,” transforming her into “the first of the Augmented!” But soon it was discovered that Warwick kidnapped and killed dozens of people striving to perfect another Ticker for Penny.

The last day of Warwick’s trial, the Farthing factory is bombed, Warwick disappears, and Penny and her brother, Nic, receive a ransom demand for all of their Augmentation notes if they want to see their parents again. Who is trying to stop their work? Or to control it? Or is the motive more sinister?

Determined to solve the mystery and reunite their family, the Farthings recruit their closest friends: fiery baker Violet Nesselrode and gentleman-about-town Sebastian Stirling. Unexpectedly leading the charge is Marcus Kingsley, the young army general who has his own reasons for wanting to lift the veil between this world and the next. Wagers are placed, friends are lost, romance stages an ambush, and time is running out for the girl with the clockwork heart.' - Goodreads

I absolutely adored the Theatre Illuminata trilogy and Lisa Mantchev's writing so I've been patiently waiting for her to write something else. I can't wait to get my hands on this, I love the cover and the premise sounds like it was written for me. Roll on December!

Review & Giveaway: Strange & Ever After by Susan Dennard

Strange and Ever After (Something Strange and Deadly #3)
by Susan Dennard
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: July 22nd 2014

Synopsis:

In the conclusion to the trilogy that Publishers Weekly called “a roaring—and addictive—gothic world,” Eleanor Fitt must control her growing power, face her feelings for Daniel, and confront the evil necromancer Marcus...all before it’s too late.

He took her brother, he took her mother, and now, Marcus has taken her good friend Jie. With more determination than ever to bring this sinister man to justice, Eleanor heads to the hot desert streets of nineteenth-century Egypt in hopes of ending this nightmare. But in addition to her increasingly tense relationships with Daniel, Joseph, and her demon, Oliver, Eleanor must also deal with her former friend, Allison, who has curiously entangled herself in Eleanor’s mission.

With the rising dead chomping at her every move and Jie’s life hanging in the balance, Eleanor is convinced that her black magic will see her through to the bitter end. But there will be a price. Though she and the Spirit Hunters have weathered every battle thus far, there will be consequences to suffer this time—the effects of which will be irreversible. And when it’s over, only some will be able to live a strange and ever after.

Susan Dennard will leave readers breathless and forever changed in the concluding pages of this riveting ride.

Warning: If you have not read Something Strange & Deadly, A Darkness Strange & Lovely and A Dawn Most Wicked then proceed with caution as there may be spoilers below!

From Philadelphia to Paris, Marseilles to Egypt, the Something Strange & Deadly series has been a whirlwind of magic, mayhem and the walking dead. Add in the perfect amount of romance and you have a rollercoaster ride that keeps you turning the page until the very last word! I originally read the first two books - and the novella, as they came out but I wanted to reread them altogether so when reading the final book in the trilogy everything was fresh in my mind. And oh what a wonderful thing that was! Reading them back to back totally immersed me in Ms Dennard's beautiful writing and made me feel like I was there, with Eleanor, Daniel, Oliver, Allison, Joseph and Jie. Even Marcus/Elijah... and that's saying something!

After facing the Dead in Philadelphia and Paris the Spirit Hunters are heading to Marseilles, with Allison Wilcox in tow after she arrives with news for Eleanor and refuses to leave. From then on it's a never-ending, fast paced journey to finally stop Marcus once and forever. There are tender moments between Daniel & Eleanor and also Eleanor & Oliver as she finally begins to see who he is. I was hooked and didn't stop reading until I turned the last page, there were mummies, Pharaohs, the Pyramids of Giza and all manner of creepy reanimated creatures and it was good to finally discover what the Black Pullet actually was. Not everything in Eleanor's life is good though, there are some gut-wrenching moments in this book where you know what's coming and you're powerless to do anything about it. More than one character makes a huge personal sacrifice which just about broke my heart and I'm not ashamed to say I finished reading with tears in my eyes.

From the very beginning Eleanor Fitt has been one of my favorite characters, I have alternately either wanted to slap her or hug her. She's stubborn, strong-minded, rebellious and vulnerable all at the same time and will stick in my mind for a long time. This series has been one of my favorites, one that I will more than likely reread and recommend! If you like your steampunk, zombie romance novels with a slightly darker outlook then the Something Strange & Deadly books are perfect, I absolutely love Ms Dennard's writing and I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of Truthwitch!

Follow the FFBC Strange And Ever After Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

I am a writer, reader, lover of animals, and eater of cookies. I used to be a marine biologist, but now I write novels. And not novels about fish either, but novels about kick-butt heroines and swoon-worthy rogues (I reallylike swoon-worthy rogues).

I live in the Midwest with my husband and two dogs (Asimov and Princess Leia), and you can learn more about my crazy thoughts and crippling cookie-addiction on my blog or twitter.

My debut, SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY is now available from HarperTeen along with the prequel, A DAWN MOST WICKED, and the sequel A DARKNESS STRANGE & LOVELY.

Look for STRANGE & EVER AFTER in summer 2014 and TRUTHWITCH in fall 2015!

Note: I am on Goodreads to READ. So, if you want to discuss books and the joys of literature, add me as a friend!

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Cover Reveal & Giveaway: The Perilous Journey of the Not-So-Innocuous Girl by Leigh Statham

Welcome to the Cover Reveal for

The Perilous Journey of the Not-So-Innocuous
Girl by Leigh Statham

presented by Month9Books!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

Lady Marguerite lives a life most 17th century French girls can only dream of: Money, designer dresses, suitors and a secure future. Except, she suspects her heart may be falling for her best friend Claude, a common smithie in the family's steam forge. When Claude leaves for New France in search of a better life, Marguerite decides to follow him and test her suspicions of love. Only the trip proves to be more harrowing than she anticipated. Love, adventure and restitution await her, if she can survive the voyage.

Title: THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF
THE NOT-SO-INNOCUOUS GIRL
Publication date: 2015
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.
Author: Leigh Statham

Leigh Statham was raised in the wilds of rural Idaho, but found her heart in New York City. She worked as a waitress, maid, artist, math teacher, nurse, web designer, art director, thirty-foot inflatable pig and mule wrangler before she settled down in the semi-quiet role of wife, mother and writer. She resides in North Carolina with her husband, four children, five chickens and two suspected serial killer cats. If the air is cool and the sun is just coming up over the horizon, you can find her running the streets of her small town, plotting her next novel with the sort of intensity that will one day get her hit by a car.

Connect with the Author: Website |Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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