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In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska's ice. Thus was Dr. Blue's Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born. But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that show more turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead. Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue's widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history. His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
iamiam "Boneshaker" precedes "Dreadnought" in the series by this author, plus their time-lines follow this order, but neither is dependent upon the other for comprehension of story.
50
reconditereader Similar setting, similar level of butt-kicking awesomeness.
20
PghDragonMan A very creepy Seattle is home to may people . . . and things.
20
AlanPoulter Both are first series novels, set in alternate America's, with conflicts involving mixes of old/new technologies.
10
sturlington Steampunk
sturlington Alternate history in which monsters are real--demons in one case, zombies in the other.
yarmando Steampunk + zombies
AlanPoulter Both are rattling adventure yarns but with a common flaw of poorly developed 'worlds'
g33kgrrl Alternate history zombies.
Member Reviews
Straightforward description: Steampunk and zombies.
Dr. Leviticus Blue designed his Boneshaker machine to compete in the Klondike gold rush by digging deep through the frozen earth. Instead, on its test run the machine tore a gouge through downtown Seattle, exposing a vein of gas that sickened the populace and turned some into flesh-eating zombies. Fifteen years later, the ruins of Seattle are encased behind 200-foot high walls to hold back the toxic Blight gas and undead hordes. In the outskirts, Leviticus Blue's widow struggles to raise her teenage son under the heavy legacy of what her husband caused. Then, the unthinkable happens - her son finds a way into the city, determined to clear his father's name. Briar goes in after her boy, show more willing to risk it all to bring him out alive.
Wow. I love the very concept of this book, and it lived up to its promise. Boneshaker is a fantastic romp through an alternate history Seattle. The world building is believable, complete in steampunk glory; the Civil War rages on, airships rule the skies, and incredible inventions help keep "rotters" at bay. Briar Wilkes is a wonderful heroine. She's not some skinny sexy girl. No, she's a thirty-five-year-old mother treated as an outcast for what her husband did, and her son Zeke is all she has left. Since I lived near Seattle and loved the area, this book felt somewhat personal. I could really see it in my head.
Loved it, loved it, loved it. Definitely among my top ten for the year. show less
Dr. Leviticus Blue designed his Boneshaker machine to compete in the Klondike gold rush by digging deep through the frozen earth. Instead, on its test run the machine tore a gouge through downtown Seattle, exposing a vein of gas that sickened the populace and turned some into flesh-eating zombies. Fifteen years later, the ruins of Seattle are encased behind 200-foot high walls to hold back the toxic Blight gas and undead hordes. In the outskirts, Leviticus Blue's widow struggles to raise her teenage son under the heavy legacy of what her husband caused. Then, the unthinkable happens - her son finds a way into the city, determined to clear his father's name. Briar goes in after her boy, show more willing to risk it all to bring him out alive.
Wow. I love the very concept of this book, and it lived up to its promise. Boneshaker is a fantastic romp through an alternate history Seattle. The world building is believable, complete in steampunk glory; the Civil War rages on, airships rule the skies, and incredible inventions help keep "rotters" at bay. Briar Wilkes is a wonderful heroine. She's not some skinny sexy girl. No, she's a thirty-five-year-old mother treated as an outcast for what her husband did, and her son Zeke is all she has left. Since I lived near Seattle and loved the area, this book felt somewhat personal. I could really see it in my head.
Loved it, loved it, loved it. Definitely among my top ten for the year. show less
One of the main things I enjoyed about this book was how Cherie Priest paints an intriguing picture with just enough detail that you can really get into her steampunky, zombie-infested world, but leaves out just enough that your imagination can run with it. I'm not a particular fan of authors who languish in every last detail of every last leaf on every last tree. I need space to make it my own in order to connect with any sort of fanciful world.
Boneshaker, I will admit, had me doubtful at first. It’s a book about a city taken over by zombies, which is a genre I have not previously explored much, and the beginning is slow. Once the story picks up, however, it becomes far more interesting and exponentially harder to put down. I will admit that this came at the point that the main characters had to shoot zombies in the face, but hey, that’s just me. There is also a steampunk feel to it, which I was dubious about but now I think I could get pretty into it. It’s an interesting genre to read about.
The main story revolves around a boy trying to find the truth behind the creation of the zombies, which many people blame his father for. At the beginning I was mentally shrugging show more and going along with this, but as the story progressed I grew more and more interested in the truth. The story and the characters are so well fleshed out and three-dimensional that it’s hard to believe the events didn’t happen in reality. Speaking of, I am impressed by the amount of realism in this book—the author had obviously done her research. It is set in the era of the Civil War, on the west coast away from the action. There are several strays from history, but they are small and only done for the purpose of, for example, increasing the population of the town. There is also the matter that several questions go unanswered, as is so often the case in real life. The zombification of the town, for example, is attributed to a volcanic gas released by a drill. What this gas is or why it turns people into zombies is never addressed, and this doesn’t matter in the reader’s mind because none of the characters care either. Everyone in the town has given up on trying to cure the Blight, as they call it, and some of them have in fact begun to make drugs out of it. This seems to me a particularly well thought-out point, as people have always searched for ways to make money from other’s hardships. Along the same line is that the drug, called lemon sap, causes people to develop gangrene and rot over time and yet people keep taking it. It is their only escape from their world, which honestly gave me goosebumps. The village would honestly be a dark place to live, but it never struck me as a particularly depressing place. It was more like people had gotten used to their world and, in their way, did what they had to do. There was little to no feeling of despair or apathy in the book because the people had no time to do either—they had to work day and night to get by. Because of that, I sympathized more with them than I would have if they were just depressed. All in all, this book was definitely one I would put in my favorites, given the development and realism involved. show less
The main story revolves around a boy trying to find the truth behind the creation of the zombies, which many people blame his father for. At the beginning I was mentally shrugging show more and going along with this, but as the story progressed I grew more and more interested in the truth. The story and the characters are so well fleshed out and three-dimensional that it’s hard to believe the events didn’t happen in reality. Speaking of, I am impressed by the amount of realism in this book—the author had obviously done her research. It is set in the era of the Civil War, on the west coast away from the action. There are several strays from history, but they are small and only done for the purpose of, for example, increasing the population of the town. There is also the matter that several questions go unanswered, as is so often the case in real life. The zombification of the town, for example, is attributed to a volcanic gas released by a drill. What this gas is or why it turns people into zombies is never addressed, and this doesn’t matter in the reader’s mind because none of the characters care either. Everyone in the town has given up on trying to cure the Blight, as they call it, and some of them have in fact begun to make drugs out of it. This seems to me a particularly well thought-out point, as people have always searched for ways to make money from other’s hardships. Along the same line is that the drug, called lemon sap, causes people to develop gangrene and rot over time and yet people keep taking it. It is their only escape from their world, which honestly gave me goosebumps. The village would honestly be a dark place to live, but it never struck me as a particularly depressing place. It was more like people had gotten used to their world and, in their way, did what they had to do. There was little to no feeling of despair or apathy in the book because the people had no time to do either—they had to work day and night to get by. Because of that, I sympathized more with them than I would have if they were just depressed. All in all, this book was definitely one I would put in my favorites, given the development and realism involved. show less
By all that is steampunk, I swear I loved this book. I'm not saying it's perfect, but I loved it just the same. Really, the only issue I had with it was that the end lacked the drama that one expected, given the set up, but it still made sense with the novel as a whole... and that's all I will say about that.
As to the good stuff, Priest's 'Boneshaker' gives you airships, goggles, a half-abandoned walled city, zombies, boiler-driven machines, an antagonist reminiscent of Dr. Loveless -- and I mean that in a good way -- a heroine with sense in her head (refreshing) and a young man's coming-of-age-style adventure. What more could you possibly want? What more could you possibly fit in here?
Priest is one of the best of the newer fantasy show more authors on the scene anyway, but every tight detail of this adventure further convinced me of her wicked coolness. The descriptions here are taut and satisfying -- the reader can practically feel the sluggish stickiness of the Blight gas, the annoying rub of mask straps, the gloom of the sun-starved city. The characters are, if you will forgive me, real characters, and each one is more badass or more endearing (as appropriate) than the last. The story moves along at a solid clip, neither rushed nor strained. The best part, though, is that when you break away from reading the novel, you find yourself glancing over your shoulder, opening windows, and otherwise feeling haunted. I didn't have to go to bed with a flashlight -- this was no mere creep-factor, but a genuine sense that this adventuresome book clings to you, as only the best reads can.
I'm not sure what "rollicking" really means, but I think this is it. Read it. show less
As to the good stuff, Priest's 'Boneshaker' gives you airships, goggles, a half-abandoned walled city, zombies, boiler-driven machines, an antagonist reminiscent of Dr. Loveless -- and I mean that in a good way -- a heroine with sense in her head (refreshing) and a young man's coming-of-age-style adventure. What more could you possibly want? What more could you possibly fit in here?
Priest is one of the best of the newer fantasy show more authors on the scene anyway, but every tight detail of this adventure further convinced me of her wicked coolness. The descriptions here are taut and satisfying -- the reader can practically feel the sluggish stickiness of the Blight gas, the annoying rub of mask straps, the gloom of the sun-starved city. The characters are, if you will forgive me, real characters, and each one is more badass or more endearing (as appropriate) than the last. The story moves along at a solid clip, neither rushed nor strained. The best part, though, is that when you break away from reading the novel, you find yourself glancing over your shoulder, opening windows, and otherwise feeling haunted. I didn't have to go to bed with a flashlight -- this was no mere creep-factor, but a genuine sense that this adventuresome book clings to you, as only the best reads can.
I'm not sure what "rollicking" really means, but I think this is it. Read it. show less
Having really enjoyed Wings to the Kingdom and Dreadful Skin (though I couldn't get into Fathom), I was very eager to read Priest's first foray into the steampunk genre. Boneshaker fully lived up to my expectations.
Zeke, being a teenage boy, makes one very foolish decision, to go into a devastated, zombie-ridden 1880s Seattle to clear his father's name, but after that, he proves to be fairly intelligent and likeable. The real star of the story, though, is Blair, his mother, who goes after him to rescue him. She is just trudging through life at the beginning, suppressing her former life as much as possible, but finds a reservoir of strength and courage from her mother-love. Minor characters are also interesting, although I felt that a show more revelation about a criminal overlord came from out of the Blue, so to speak.
The setting is rich with detail, and it was easy to feel the hardships of daily life, and the huge difficulties of underlife in Seattle, with gas masks, etc., along with the mad-science-style engineering. I was also intrigued by side issues such as the decades-long Civil War and racial/ethnic tensions over Chinese immigrants, and the airship scenes were fun without taking over the story.
I see from cmpriest.livejournal.com that Priest is planning several more books in this Clockwork Century world-setting. I will definitely be checking them out, too. show less
Zeke, being a teenage boy, makes one very foolish decision, to go into a devastated, zombie-ridden 1880s Seattle to clear his father's name, but after that, he proves to be fairly intelligent and likeable. The real star of the story, though, is Blair, his mother, who goes after him to rescue him. She is just trudging through life at the beginning, suppressing her former life as much as possible, but finds a reservoir of strength and courage from her mother-love. Minor characters are also interesting, although I felt that a show more revelation about a criminal overlord came from out of the Blue, so to speak.
The setting is rich with detail, and it was easy to feel the hardships of daily life, and the huge difficulties of underlife in Seattle, with gas masks, etc., along with the mad-science-style engineering. I was also intrigued by side issues such as the decades-long Civil War and racial/ethnic tensions over Chinese immigrants, and the airship scenes were fun without taking over the story.
I see from cmpriest.livejournal.com that Priest is planning several more books in this Clockwork Century world-setting. I will definitely be checking them out, too. show less
This is a fun blend of steampunk and the typical zombie-novel antics. A woman and her son venture separately into the walled-off, zombie-infested city, each in search of something. The boy wants to clear his father’s name from the accusation of having started the zombie plague and the woman wants to save her son from near-certain death, blaming herself for not having told him the truth about his father. It’s a coming-of-age of sorts for both characters, told through the lens of fairly typical zombie tropes. There are teeming hordes of zombies, scrappy survivors making a life amidst the ruins, and an evil scientist exploiting the situation for profit.
What makes this novel stand out are the quality of the writing, which is quite a show more bit above average for the genre, and the intermixture of a steampunk, alternate history setting. The steampunk elements are nicely handled-not overpowering and smoothly blended into the tale to give it an intriguing twist.
I listened to parts of the book and found Wil Wheaton’s and Kate Reading’s narrations to be excellent. show less
What makes this novel stand out are the quality of the writing, which is quite a show more bit above average for the genre, and the intermixture of a steampunk, alternate history setting. The steampunk elements are nicely handled-not overpowering and smoothly blended into the tale to give it an intriguing twist.
I listened to parts of the book and found Wil Wheaton’s and Kate Reading’s narrations to be excellent. show less
Back in the 1860s with the prospect of Gold in Northern California firmly established, rumors of an untapped source of more gold in the Klondike region lured people even farther into the Pacific Northwest. However, the frozen ground made reaching the hidden gold almost a pipe dream until the Russians held a contest to see who could come up with a way to reach the gold. Leviticus Blue was just such a person, an inventor of fantastic machines, and his idea for a huge, earth-boring drill known as the Boneshaker caught the Russians' attention. They contracted him to create the Boneshaker, but during one of its early test beneath Seattle, something went wrong, the machine burrowed beneath the buildings, sinking them, creating tunnels that show more weakened the ground's integrity, and unleashing a pocket of natural gas, known as the Blight, that killed whoever came in contact with it. Sometimes, it even brought them back from the dead, faster and hungrier than anyone thought possible. The government erected a wall around Seattle to contain both the gas and the undead Rotters, and blame was laid on Leviticus' doorstep.
15 years later, Blue's widow Briar Wilkes remains the sole scapegoat for the townsfolk to persecute. She takes it in stride, doing whatever she can to make some kind of living for her and her son Zeke. To protect him, she doesn't talk much about his father, but rumors that Leviticus actually saved lives before the Blight could consume everything, trigger a desire inside Zeke that pushes him to find a way beneath the Wall in search of anything to exonerate his father.
When Briar discovers her son missing, she knows of only one place he would go and sets off to find him. From the tunnels of underground Seattle and with the help of an odd assortment of folks still living behind the Wall, she fights her way through Rotters and a mysterious overlord named Dr. Minnericht -- who seems to have a knack for building fantastic machines -- to save her son.
I never questioned any of it -- the lure of gold, a huge drill run amok, underground tunnels, a community of refugees living beneath Seattle, the Blight gas and the government's reaction, an array of Jules Vernian gadgets. There's always a risk involved when re-inventing bits of history to fit a fictional premise, but Cherie Priest did a fine job of immediately setting up the back story of what happened to Seattle so that it became believable. And using the nation's fascination with gold, especially around that time, was the perfect catalyst. Also, the descriptions of Seattle itself were amazing: the poorly lit underground maze of tunnels and pockets of fresh air matched the conditions above ground, where crumbling streets and buildings were almost indistinguishable in the thick brownish-yellow gas and a wrong turn could lead you into a pack of ravenous Rotters.
I liked the characters, from the strong-willed and protective Briar Wilkes and her rebellious and questioning son Zeke to Lucy the barkeep at Maynard's (one of the underground hangouts) with a mechanical arm and the mysterious Dr. Minnericht. I was never quite sure about who Minnericht was, and Priest kept me guessing until the very end.
My only gripe had to do with something very, very minor -- the birds. Much is made about them at the beginning of Briar's adventure, about how they seem to be watching and the question of how they survive living in the Blight. I expected something to happen with them, such as them not being real but creations of Dr. Minnericht or them actually having succumbed to the Blight and attempting to swoop down on Briar while she was above ground. The story never mentions them after those first few instances.
But what it comes down to is the story, and Priest's tale of a mother trying to protect her son, doing whatever it takes without a second thought, really keeps the tale going. "Boneshaker"'s a true roller-coaster ride, an adventure story filled with zombies, air pirates, an underground city, and fantastic machines. We need more books like this! Highly recommended!! show less
15 years later, Blue's widow Briar Wilkes remains the sole scapegoat for the townsfolk to persecute. She takes it in stride, doing whatever she can to make some kind of living for her and her son Zeke. To protect him, she doesn't talk much about his father, but rumors that Leviticus actually saved lives before the Blight could consume everything, trigger a desire inside Zeke that pushes him to find a way beneath the Wall in search of anything to exonerate his father.
When Briar discovers her son missing, she knows of only one place he would go and sets off to find him. From the tunnels of underground Seattle and with the help of an odd assortment of folks still living behind the Wall, she fights her way through Rotters and a mysterious overlord named Dr. Minnericht -- who seems to have a knack for building fantastic machines -- to save her son.
I never questioned any of it -- the lure of gold, a huge drill run amok, underground tunnels, a community of refugees living beneath Seattle, the Blight gas and the government's reaction, an array of Jules Vernian gadgets. There's always a risk involved when re-inventing bits of history to fit a fictional premise, but Cherie Priest did a fine job of immediately setting up the back story of what happened to Seattle so that it became believable. And using the nation's fascination with gold, especially around that time, was the perfect catalyst. Also, the descriptions of Seattle itself were amazing: the poorly lit underground maze of tunnels and pockets of fresh air matched the conditions above ground, where crumbling streets and buildings were almost indistinguishable in the thick brownish-yellow gas and a wrong turn could lead you into a pack of ravenous Rotters.
I liked the characters, from the strong-willed and protective Briar Wilkes and her rebellious and questioning son Zeke to Lucy the barkeep at Maynard's (one of the underground hangouts) with a mechanical arm and the mysterious Dr. Minnericht. I was never quite sure about who Minnericht was, and Priest kept me guessing until the very end.
My only gripe had to do with something very, very minor -- the birds. Much is made about them at the beginning of Briar's adventure, about how they seem to be watching and the question of how they survive living in the Blight. I expected something to happen with them, such as them not being real but creations of Dr. Minnericht or them actually having succumbed to the Blight and attempting to swoop down on Briar while she was above ground. The story never mentions them after those first few instances.
But what it comes down to is the story, and Priest's tale of a mother trying to protect her son, doing whatever it takes without a second thought, really keeps the tale going. "Boneshaker"'s a true roller-coaster ride, an adventure story filled with zombies, air pirates, an underground city, and fantastic machines. We need more books like this! Highly recommended!! show less
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ThingScore 83
Overall, Priest has created a terrific story that will please endless science fiction fans in search of a thrill.
added by sdobie
Priest’s latest, very simply rocks: It’s not only the steampunk adventure you’ve been waiting for, it’s the steampunk adventure you can give to friends of yours who wonder what the hell’s up with all those Victorian overcoats and goggles.
added by lampbane
It's full of buckle and has swash to spare, and the characters are likable and the prose is fun. This is a hoot from start to finish, pure mad adventure.
added by lampbane
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Author Information
48+ Works 14,828 Members
Cherie Priest was born in Tampa, Florida on July 30, 1975. She received a B.A. from Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tennessee in 1998 and an M.A. in rhetoric/professional writing from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2002. She is the author of the Eden Moore series, The Clockwork Century series, and Borden Dispatches series. show more She won the PNBA Award and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel for Boneshaker. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Awards
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Boneshaker
- Original publication date
- 2009-09-29
- People/Characters
- Ezekiel "Zeke" Wilkes; Briar Wilkes; Hale Quarter; Rector Sherman; Andan Cly; Croggon Hainey (show all 10); Jerimiah Swakhammer; Lucy O'Gunning; Joe Foster; Alastair Osterude
- Important places
- Seattle, Washington Territory; Washington Territory; Pioneer Square, Seattle, Washington, USA; First Hill, Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle, Washington, USA
- Important events
- American Civil War (1861 | 1865)
- Epigraph
- In this age of invention the science of arms has made great progress. In fact, the most remarkable inventions have been made since the prolonged wars of Europe in the early part of the century, and the short Italian campaign ... (show all)of France in 1859 served to illustrate how great a power the engines of destruction can exert.
-- Thomas P. Kettell, History of the Great Rebellion. From its commencement its close, giving an account of its origin, The Secession of the Southern States, and the Formation of the Confederate Government, the concentration of the Military and Financial resources of the federal government, the development of its vast power, the raising, organizing, and equipping of the contending armies and navies; lucid, vivid, and accurate descriptions of battles and bombardments, sieges and surrender of forts, captured batteries, etc., etc.; the immense financial resources and comprehensive measures of the government, the enthusiasm and patriotic contributions of the people, together with sketches of the lives of all the eminent statesmen and military and naval commanders, with a full and complete index. From Official Sources (1862) - Dedication
- This one's for Team Seattle --
Mark Henry, Caitlin Kittredge,
Richelle Mead, and Kat Richardson--
for they are the heart and soul of this place. - First words
- Unpaved, uneven trails pretended to be roads; they tied the nation's coasts together like laces holding a boot, binding it with crossed strings and crossed fingers.
She saw him, and she stopped a few feet from the stairs. (Chapter 1) - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)I'll tell you the whole story." (Final chapter)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Hale Quarter jabbed a pen against his tongue to moisten it, and he began to write. (Epilogue) - Publisher's editor
- Gorinsky, Liz
- Blurbers
- Clare, Cassandra; Ellis, Warren; Link, Kelly; Mignola, Mike; Westerfeld, Scott; Acevedo, Mario (show all 11); Doctorow, Cory; Henry, Mark; Kittredge, Caitlin; Richardson, Kat; Wheaton, Wil
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