The Lady Astronomer

I received this book from the author, in exchange for an honest review.

Lucretia shares her time between hat making and star gazing, living with her equally inventive and talented brothers. When they are tasked with the building of a huge telescope by none other than the king, Lucretia finds herself spirited away at the royal court, where intrigue and danger await her…

It's a delightful story that stands on the dividing line between YA and something younger children would love very much: not my cup of tea - not by a long way - but I must say up front that the feather-like hand with which the story is written, and the amused smile that peeks out of the lines will not fail to reach the book's younger audience and at the same time show more captivate the soul of any adult reading it to them, because both elements will speak clearly to the child still lurking inside.

My own "inner child" seems to have gone AWOL some time ago, unfortunately, so I could not appreciate the story as it deserved: nonetheless I believe I can recommend it for its intended audience, because it will deliver all of its promises.

The tone and narrative voice, coupled with the presence of sentient animals and interacting mechanical toys, give The Lady Astronomer the distinct flavor of a bedtime story, one that's full of wonders like mechanical pigs, suits of armor that act as royal butlers and a set of working dwarves that offer a more than passing wink to the Snow White legend.

Unfortunately, the same reasons that make this book a perfect fairytale are the same ones that prevented me from fully enjoying it: first, it's more like a series of sketches than an organically developed story, and characters are pictured through dialogue rather than examined in depth - and it's often a dialogue carried in breathless, overlapping sentences, that leave little room to delve to a satisfactory depth into characters, and what makes them tick, so that it was quite difficult for me to form a connection with them as a reader.

And then there was my major nitpick, i.e. the author's choice of using a surname's initial when mentioning a person: it felt just quirky at first, but then the excessive use of it skirted the middle ground between bothersome and annoying. I understand it might have been the norm for that time period, but to my ears it sounded contrived - and a bit too much.

Nonetheless, the story is pleasant and - of course - in the end good triumphs and the evil-doers get their rightful punishment, so if you are looking for a story to read to your kids, one that will leave them with a good feeling, this will be the right choice.


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Lucretia makes hats. She also assists her brother, a noted astronomer. Her other brother is an inventor. Their lives change when they are summoned to build a large telescope for the king. There are setbacks. There is some rather nasty court intrigue. There is a bit of romance. There are also a couple of far too clever animals, impossible clockwork automatons, seven hardworking short guys and their giant of a boss, and, well, a supporting cast of characters, all with exaggerated quirkiness, which lets you know that this story is not to be taken seriously — at least not on the surface. It is supposed to be fun, and it is.

The characters and the prose style of this charming little book give it the feel of a children’s story from early show more in the last century, something along the lines of Alice in Wonderland or Winnie the Pooh. Today, I think it would be appropriately categorized as Young Adult Steampunk with a touch of fantasy. The steampunk element is provided by the quasi-Victorian tech, such as clockwork automatons and Lucretia’s eyepiece. The fantasy bit comes from the use of living things as ‘animators’ for clockwork mechanisms and from the unbelievable intelligence of Lucretia’s animal companions. It all works together well in the story, though.

It does commit the one, single most unforgivable transgression that I’ve seen now in a few steampunk novels. At one point, it has one of the mechanisms wind itself. I admit that I may be being inconsistent in my capacity for suspending disbelief. For the sake of a good, humorous story, I’m perfectly willing to accept that a potted plant can animate a mechanical butler, but a clockwork bird CANNOT wind itself by flapping its wings. Sorry, but that just crosses my credulity line. I’m willing to overlook it this time, but please don’t let it happen again.

The scenes, especially at the beginning, were sparsely sketched, making it difficult to visualize or even be sure what was happening or why much of the time. There were also a few minor technical issues with word usage and punctuation, I think, but I only noticed one obvious typo (‘smiled’ instead of ‘smile’).

On the whole, I found this book well-written, adequately edited, and quite enjoyable. I recommend it readers of all ages. It is the kind of light and charming story that is perfect to fill a rainy afternoon. show less

Whimsical and enjoyable steampunk read, April 1, 2014

This review is from: The Lady Astronomer (Kindle Edition)
The Lady Astronomer is a fairytale for parents and children alike. You will find yourself transported into the strange life of Lucretia who is an astronomer with a crazy family consisting of a lemur, an owl and her two brothers Al and Freddie who are called to the city of Bath by Royal appointment to construct the largest telescope in the land. Lucretia finds herself held hostage and man mishaps delay construction, some funny and some not. Lucretia learns who her real friends are, finds a bit of love, overcomes tragedy and braves it all.
The dialogue the dialogue is fast paced and there is plenty of action. It is a cute Pipi show more Longstocking type of read that I as an adult enjoyed immensely. There is a good sense of humor, especially in the letter to the king where he was referred to as ‘Your Maj’.
Ms. O'Dowd based the story on some actual events but an explanation follows. There are references to fairy tale characters and bad guys are done well as is the steampunk machinery throughout the short fast read. I think any age group who likes fantasy will enjoy this book.
I would have given the book 5 stars except for a few mild distractions: grammar such as lie/lay where used incorrectly enough to catch my attention and the cast of characters was very large with initials for some of the names. Overall the book is enjoyable and a suggested read. show less

What would it be like to fulfill a King’s request? Lucretia‘s brother, Freddie, was determined to find out as the King has commanded he build the largest and grandest telescope in all the land. Before the King will fund said telescope, they need to move from their home in Bath in Somerset, South West England to Slough, England to be nearer to the King. But Freddie deals with one calamity after another in the creation of his forty-foot telescope. The King becomes impatient and demands that Lucretia stay at the King’s palace. She will only get to return to her brothers once the telescope is completed. She takes her beloved animals — Leibniz her lemur and Orion her European eagle owl – on her adventure to the King’s palace. But show more things progressively get a little worse before they get better.

Is this novel Science Fiction; Teen & Young Adult; Steampunk; or Fantasy? The answer is ‘all of the above.’ It is very loosely inspired by the life of German astronomer Caroline Herschel (1750-1848). Most of the characters names are simplified as mere letters, i.e., Mrs. W; Mr. B; etc. I found it hard to relate to any of the characters. Other than their dialogue, the characterization seems obscure. It’s not really for younger readers but it is told in a ‘fairy tale’ style that older readers may not embrace. It makes me question the desired audience the author was seeking. However, I will state I’m in the minority as there are many readers that gave this novel 5 stars (the current rating stands at 4.3 on Amazon). I have rated it at 2.5 out of 5.

http://www.fictionzeal.com/lady-astronomer-katy-odowd/ show less

DNF 12/4/2018 @ 5%

I didn't read enough of this to review or rate it. I did read enough to comment on it. I love the concept. The execution didn't interest me, though. First off, I think starting the story with a flea in search of a meal was intended to be an amusing way to introduce the lemur sidekick. I found it distracting instead of amusing. Ditto the antics in the hat shop. Probably supposed to be funny, but I found them annoying.

Fairy tale type story with wondrous like but not interesting characters. Repetitious plot which did not sustain interest. Happy ending good for age group.