The Lazarus Machine

The Lazarus Machine
4 Stars

In an alternate London of 1895, Babbage machines and steam powered computers, automatons and airships are all part of daily life. In this strange and mysterious world, 17 year old Sebastian Tweed and his conman father are about to fall prey to a murderous gang with far-retching government ties that seeks to bring about the end of the British Empire and plunge the world into a terrible war. Can Sebastian and his friends stop this catastrophe before its too late?

Detailed world building, likable characters and some solid twists and turns makes this a fun read.

Crilley has created an engaging Steampunk world with intriguing concepts, such as automatons powered by human souls similar to Kristin Callihan’s GIMs in show more her Darkest London series. That said, there is a need for more information on how this alternate world came into being and how society perceives the technological developments that have had such a profound effect on their lives.

The characters are the real highlight of the story. The endearingly awkward and geeky Sebastian Tweed, and his spirited sidekick, Octavia Nightingale, head up a wonderful cast of eccentric and ethically challenged personalities who add charm and life to the story.

Although the villains are quite one-dimensional and the twist at the end is rather clichéd, the caper-like plot revolving around Sebastian and Octavia’s investigation into a secretive government agency makes for exciting and entertaining reading.

While The Lazarus Machine is not all that original, the story is well-written and fast paced with just the right amount of action and a hint at romance. Definitely one of the better YA books on offer these days. show less

Set in an alternate 1895, Paul Crilley's steampunk actioner, The Lazarus Machine: a Tweed & Nightingale Adventure has a Victorian London filled with steam-powered omnibuses, automatons with human souls, and a paranoid government agency calling itself the Ministry. Sebastian Tweed earns a living through faking encounters from the afterlife, aiding his conman father Barnaby Tweed. When Moriarty's gang abducts his father, he needs to find help. He eventually meets up with Octavia Nightingale, aka Songbird, a savvy information broker whose mother, a London Times reporter was abducted a year ago. Crilley creates an inventive steampunk setting, rife with conspiracies, medical experiments gone awry, and a potentially explosive international show more incident involving the possible assassination of Queen Victoria. The repartee between Sebastian and Octavia is smart and funny, reminiscent of dialogue in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the back-and-forth Pete and Myka have in Warehouse 13. A humorist once said how steampunk was like "cyberpunk minus the social relevance." The Lazarus Machine deals with issues like soul harvesting, human cloning, abuse of political power, and class divisions. Luckily Crilley, while writing for a younger audience, makes the whole affair rather fun and without needing to resort to using the mallet of moralizing preferred by afterschool specials.

Out of 10/8.0 or 9.0 for Steampunk fans.

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I don't read a lot of steampunk. Not because I don't like it but because it's generally not as appealing to me as other types of fantasy novels. However, I am VERY happy that I picked this book up. It was fun without being silly, the action was nicely paced and kept pulling you along toward the end (without being overdone -- nothing is worse than overdone action!), the characters were engaging and kept my interest and I quite enjoyed the twist! I liked this book enough that I went straight out and bought the sequel as soon as I was finished (and I already have a too-read pile that has about 4 dozen books (or more!) in it!). Mystery, action, adventure, fantasy and steampunk all in one -- definitely worth checking out if you like any of show more those genres! show less

Love these types of books. Adventure and unexpected discoveries that leave you wanting more...

The plot of the book starts off great. Tweed goes around the country conning people. They pretend they can speak with dead. Right off the bat, their relationship is strange. It's not your normal father/son relationship but rather a friendship. It's odd to see how they regard each other and that;s why I'm so intrigued. Why are they like this in the first place? What is the father hiding?

Of course, my suspicions were correct when the father goes missing and off Tweed goes trying to piece together the lies that his father told him. Twee ends up meeting Octavia who feisty attitude catches Tweed. I can tell that these two bickering will make me show more laugh more. There both adoringly cute together and I hope that they will fall for each other. For now, the friend do the best they can, relying on each other piecing whatever they can to solve the mystery.

In the end, this book certainly caught my eye and I look forward to reading the next book. A fine story with a fresh plot, The Lazarus Machine is great! show less

Originally Reviewed At: Mother/Gamer/Writer
Rating 4 out of 5 Controllers
Review Source: Publisher
Reviewer: AimeeKay


The Lazarus Machine is a very interesting Steampunk mystery.

Overall the book was filled with fun and excitement, as well as mystery. It drew me in and definitely had some parts I didn’t see coming.

I liked the world that Crilley has built. I think it is a great set up for future novels. Not only more about the main characters, Tweed and Nightingale, but for other characters that were introduced as well. As for the steampunk creations that populate his world they are intriguing without being overly complicated.

I loved the characters. Sebastian and Octavia are a great pair. They come from two different levels of society show more and it is interesting to see how they work together. Also while the opportunity for romance is surely there, this is not a romance novel, and I think the story benefited from not delving to deep into that part of their relationship. The supporting characters are a treat as well. They story doesn’t delve too deeply into some of the other characters past but they are still hold their own within the lives of the main characters. I would hope that they appear in more books about Sebastian and Octavia.


***Spoiler Alert***Even while the technology wasn’t too complicated there were a few things that I wondered about. The main thing was about Sebastian himself. (This is where the spoilerage comes in so don’t say I didn’t warn you.) In the beginning of the story Sebastian has memories of when he was younger, yet later on things come to light that make it impossible for him to have had those memories. It bothered me a bit because it was never explained. Maybe it is something that will happen in later novels? ***End Spoiler Alert***


The other items that bothered me where along similar lines, but nothing nearly as major and could easily be written off or outright ignored.

Even with the issues I had with the book I still really enjoyed it. Not only was there the mystery of Octavia and Tweed’s missing parents, but there were other mysteries as well that the author was able to weave into his story that made it that much more interesting. I would definitely recommend The Lazarus Machine as a great new summer mystery to pick up and I’m giving it 4 out of 5 controllers. show less