Prehistoric Clock

Prehistoric Clock by Robert Appleton
Carina Press, 2012
189 pages
Romance; Steampunk; Time Travel
4/5 stars

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had read Appleton's previous novel The Mysterious Lady Law and was sufficiently entertained to want to check out this new story. I began the story confused as the characters burst onto the page with strong personalities and fully formed backgrounds. I was trying to figure out how everything went together in this alternative world as we jumped around three different perspectives: airship captain Verity Champlain who mourns the loss of her sister; Lord Garrett Embrey, whose father and uncle were executed as traitors and now finds himself on the chopping block; and Professor Cecil Reardon who is planning to travel back in time in order to be reunited with his deceased wife and son. I found it very jarring at first but soon all of those plus more converged on one spot and traveled back in time. Not the few years that Reardon had anticipated but back to prehistoric times with dinosaurs.  Needless to say this results in chaos as they scramble to return while battling an evil secret government agency.

Personally I'm not a big fan of the dinosaur ages so that was not a draw to me; it wasn't even something I thought about. Still it's not something featured often in books so the uniqueness did appeal to me. I was much more interested in the secret agency which is incredibly powerful and has a very hidden agenda that will presumably be unraveled in future books as this is a start to a series.

I am guessing that since we are at the beginning of series, that explains the lack of romance. I wanted much more in that regard and there is some sexual tension between Verity and Embrey but not as much as I would have liked. I am betting that more is to come though.

Overall: Interesting characters and a promising premise bode well for the future of this series!

The Mysterious Lady Law

The Mysterious Lady Law by Robert Appleton
Carina Press, 2011
104 pages
Steampunk
Ebook Challenge; British Books Challenge
3.5/5 stars

Source: Netgalley

Summary: Lady Harriet Law has solved over 600 cases so when she offers her services pro bono to Julia to investigate the murder of her sister, Julia eagerly accepts.  But the solution offered is suspiciously pat and Julia with the aid of new beau constable Al Grant will investigate for herself the mysterious Lady Law in this steampunk novella.

Thoughts: I have been very interested in steampunk after seeing loads of reviews of awesome books so I hoped this would serve as another step into the world of steampunk.  I enjoyed what I read but felt that something was lacking.  I'm not sure if it was the length or the mystery but I was not completely satisfied.

I did love Julia, a dancer and waitress trying to make do with her sister in London and hoping for love who is terrified when she arrives home to discover her sister murdered.  She is pleased to make the acquaintance of Al Grant of the police who seems interested and might finally fulfill that hope of hers but she also wants to know why her sister died.  Lady Law's offer seems too good to be true.  When Julia is attacked later, she becomes even more frightened.  The action in the scene where she was attacked was a bit confusing; there was various machinery that was beyond my ability to picture.

The other part of the puzzle is Horace Holly whose protege was friendly with Julia's sister and who was also murdered.  As his path and Julia's intersect, they begin to figure out Lady Law and her (I feel) nefarious movements.  She has a very steampunk answer behind her ability to solve all of those mysteries.  However I was hoping for a different ending so perhaps therein lies my dissatisfication.

Regardless I would still recommend this for people looking for a quick steampunk read although perhaps not as an introduction.

Cover: I really like the cover-I think it's very beautiful with the airships and what I believe is Big Ben.