I really enjoyed this book. A little steampunk. A little mystery. A great alternate earth to dive into. I will be reading the next one for sure. ( )

'Meh' is the feeling I'm left with after this book. ( )

A delight of a story well told. Supposedly of the steampunk genre, it seemed to me to be more of an alternative history. But the classification isn't important - the author has crafted an engaging lead character and an entertaining plot.
There are other books in the series. I'll be back to read more of Rod Duncan. ( )

The story was interesting, and I definitely liked the protagonist and hope she's around in the next one. However, I have to admit that the pervasive typographical errors in the book were incredibly distracting. This is obviously not a comment on the story itself, but if Angry Robot (the publisher) expects to be taken seriously in the industry they really need to step up their editing game. ( )

Elizabeth Barnabus grew up in a travelling circus and now leads a double life: by day she is herself, living on a canal boat in the divided city of Leicester, by night she earns her living as a private intelligence gatherer while impersonating her fictitious twin brother, since women aren't allowed to run a business in the Anglo-Scottish Republic. Because money is scarce, she accepts the Duchess of Bletchley's request to search for her brother, who has joined the troupe of the famous impresario Harry Timpson. Little does she know that the investigation will not only bring her into conflict with an agent of the International Patent Office, but that she will also need to run for her life and fight to preserve her freedom.

I loved the highly original premise of an alternate Britain divided after a second civil war in the eighteenth century, with the International Patent Office acting as a supranational organisation that has limited invention and innovation. Though the story is set in the modern day, this limitation has resulted in a society more akin to the Victorian age – with women's emancipation and suffrage at a similar level.

There is much to admire in the novel's central character Elizabeth Barnabus, who acts as the story's narrator: a strong female character, she's independent, intelligent and resourceful. Contrary to one reviewer's opinion, I thought her voice with the (to our ears) dated expressions worked very well, and helped to set the tone.

The plot is relatively fast-paced and unpredictable for the most part, with unique and interesting characters. I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel, Unseemly Science, which is luckily already on my shelf. ( )