I found i was paying more attention to the number of pages in a chapter then the story itself. To me not a good sign of a book. ( )

ZB9

S.M. Peters really impressed me with his weird first novel.

I’d picked this one up because I wanted to try a steampunk novel (and the cover really grabbed my eye). I think this is not really a steampunk novel (or at least not what I was expecting one to be). I guess if I had to categorize it as something I would say it's a Weird Tale.

Peters has created a unique world where the district of Whitechapel has been cut off from the rest of the world. A cancer-like disease (the clacks) is turning people into machines and steel girders seem to grow like trees.

His dialogue and narration worked pretty well. I thought he did a nice job of evoking his quasi-Victorian era of the story with just the right turn of phrase or bit of slang (or unusual character name). He was able to lace enough of this in to feel natural without hammering me over the head and breaking my suspension of disbelief.

His characters were also handled well. I thought for a first time author he did a good job at creating believable characters with some depth to them. His main characters were very well realized, three dimensional people. His secondary characters also came off as more than just sketches.

I would like to have a bit more description though. I admit I like description more than most. It wasn't bad, but his description was a little too vague for me. Especially when he was describing some of the more esoteric settings, creatures and devices in his world, things would be a little fuzzy around the edges. The setting was so outlandish that I think some real, detailed and concrete description was called for.

Also there are several threads and characters to follow and the novel jumps rapidly back and forth between them. None of the threads were dull or irrelevant to the plot. But I did lose track a couple of times of who was who, though was able to catch up. For a first time author to try something so out there, I give him a lot of credit.

I was also happy to see that the novel seems to stand alone I appreciate him putting so much creativity into his first novel without (as far as I know) intending to milk it forever in book after book.

I am very curious to see where S.M. Peters will go from here. ( )

This was an interesting book and my first real venture into a genre known as Steampunk. For those who do not know Steampunk is a backwards extrapolation of Cyberpunk; and like Cyberpunk there are usually humans with some sort of interface hook-up or implant with machinery. However, instead of circuitry of silicon and digital interactions, the machinery is primarily composed of cogs, wheels, gears, pulleys, et cetera. The other main difference is the setting in history: usually in the Victorian era of our (alternate) history.

The story itself takes place in London and the eponymous locale Whitechapel; which is more like a mechanized cancer in the city of London that has grown monstrous machines designed by these two mechanical "gods" Mama Engine and Grandfather Clock; the later representing logic and efficiency and the former being composed of emotion. Each is an offspring of a mad engineer that has turned his engineering genius into a mad philosophy and society ruled over by these so-called gods. Whitchapel itself has employed nearly everyone contain (imprisoned) into a state of slavery that builds the machinery of the two gods. And, of course, the protagonist of the story is a group of rebels making their attempts at bringing down the gods thus destroying their grip on the people within Whitchapel and allowing London to take back what was once theirs.

My views of the book are like that of another reviewer: it was all a good and gripping story that held my interest. However, I felt like when I started reading it as though I was dropped into the middle of a novel whose begging chapters and pages were missing (or never written). I would have liked to of know how this all came to be rather than the cryptic musings of an engineer gone mad. It makes me yearn for a prequel… Perhaps this is the author's design. Being that this book is relatively new on the market (and the author's only book) one cannot be certain of future intentions. Thankfully the ending was well executed and the last 100 or so pages started to get really interesting. ( )

(Amy) In a somewhat steampunk Victorian London gone very much awry, Whitechapel has been walled off from the world outside, presumably by the "gods" of the title, Mama Engine and Grandfather Clock, or their minions. The people of this sealed-off bit of London are kept quite firmly in their place by the gold cloaks (minions of Grandfather Clock), the black cloaks (minions of Mama Engine), and the Boiler Men, whose precise allegiance I did not determine, but are definitely not on the side of humanity. A disease is sweeping the people, infecting them with a machine plague entirely unlike those the term is usually used to describe by nanotech-era writers - this causes people to bleed oil, and grow gears, and become virtually unkillable. And eventually, they lose themselves in the machine...

The plot here follows an underground group, each with his own reasons for disliking the status quo, in their attempt to bring down the powerful creatures ruling Whitechapel. The plot is fast-paced and fairly gripping, and one does come to be fairly invested in the plucky rebels and their battles. The structure of the thing is a little flimsy, but I'm not so sure that really matters so much in this case, given that it's a fast read, and the pace doesn't really leave one much chance to dwell upon the possible plot holes. Recommended as a vacation book or for other circumstances in which entertainment is key. Not recommended for critical reading practice.
( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/ze... )

(Alistair) Well, now. This is an interesting pseudo-steambook book. I say pseudo-steampunk, because here the machines are not taking over society in the ordinary sense, but rather as extensions of rather more metaphysical entities - the "gods" of the title, Grandfather Clock and Mama Engine, representing cold logic and hot drives, respectively. Pushing their way into the reality of Victorian England via its technology as their bodies - and, in Grandfather Clock's case, thousands of slaved brains - they've sealed off the district of Whitechapel, effectively enslaved those living there to their will, through their steam-driven transhuman minions, and (a side effect of their presence, possibly?) inflicted upon them "the clacks", a disease causing mechanical parts to grow on and in those it infects, replacing their flesh.

Over several days, the book takes us through an attempt to overthrow these mechanical deities, orchestrated by a resistance group assisted by those outside, seeking to reclaim Whitechapel for England, and a local crime boss with his own plans.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot was fast-paced and pretty gripping - my one real complaint with the book, in fact, is that it sped up a little too much near the end, and ended rather abruptly for my taste - the characters well-drawn, and a very good job, I think, of capturing the feel and the language of the supposed era.

Recommended, I think. Hope to see more from this author.

( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/ce... ) ( )