Applied Natural Magic

     Applied Natural Magic is a perfect hybrid of Steam Punk, Mystery, and a touch of Fantasy.  Eric James Spannerman does a wonderful job creating a world where all of these genres can mesh as if they belonged together.  If you would have told me before-hand that Mr. Spannerman was trying to combine all of these genres I would have laughed, and even more tragically, I might have passed on reading the book.  I was oh so surprised to see how well he was able to make the three come together, creating a great read.

     Charles Woodridge, the protagonist, is a junior professor at the Royal Academy.  He lives in a world which is inundated with pollution.  To go outside people need to put on protective clothing, and wear a respirator mask.  Because of the pollution, there is a shortage of food.  The major growers can't grow enough to feed the population, so there are periodic riots.  Charles hopes to solve the problem of rampant hunger by creating a special breed of potatoes which can grow quickly indoors.  

     Being an up and coming businessman, Charles wants to marry well, make a lot of money, gain fame for his work, and live on the nice side of town.  He is well on his way to accomplishing all four of these goals.  He is courting Camilla Mills, the daughter of Sir Anthony Mills.  Sir Anthony is willing to overlook Charles lack of a title if his project does well and becomes a lucrative business.  Sir Anthony is hurting financially, though he doesn't let on to anyone, even his daughter.

     Charles is being evaluated to gain tenure at the academy.  His work is very promising, but he is having difficulty finding an investor among the large growers.  Most of them want to continue doing things the way they've always been done because they know that those methods work.  Charles has peddled his work to many prospects, which becomes a problem later on in the book.  His potential to earn a lot of money is almost guaranteed...  Then tragedy strikes.  There is a break-in at his lab, and all of his research, equipment, and potato breeds are stolen.  To make matters worse, the backup research in the academy vaults is also stolen.  The whole incident wreaks of conspiracy and cover-up, and the list of suspects is almost insurmountable.  

     Charles feels that the police are doing little or nothing to help, the academy won't back him, he may lose his prospective wife, and his whole life is being torn apart.  The only help he has is his strange assistant, Mira Trevarias.  However, Charles even suspects her as a culprit for the theft .  There is something strange about her that everyone suspects, but nobody can quite put their finger on.

     Mr. Spannerman is an incredible author.  I've been reading a lot of Indie and small publisher books lately, and this is the first one I've truly enjoyed.  The characters were rich, intelligent, and real.  The writing was smooth and consistent.  The story was amazing.  The mix of genres was more than impressive.  I was thoroughly impressed.  I was also saddened by the lack of sales Mr. Spannerman has recieved on Amazon.  Perhaps he is selling well elsewhere, but he's well past the one millionth place in sales on Amazon.  This is a tragedy of poor advertising because Mr. Spannerman is as good, if not better, than a lot of the well-published authors I've read recently.  I wish I had the means to advertise for him because this is an incredible read.

     I fully recommend Applied Natural Magic to any reader.  The Fantasy aspect is not corny.  The Steam Punk is not winded and boring like most I've read.  And the mystery is realistic and keeps you guessing.  It's an incredible story.  Read it, and then tell your friends.  If Mr. Spannerman had proper advertising, he'd easily be on the best seller's list.

     I give this book 

     

Dawn of Steam: First Light

     Dawn of Steam: First Light is a Steampunk series set in the early 1800's.  For those unfamiliar with Steampunk it's a sub-genre of sci-fi usually set in the early industrialization era focusing on steam-powered machinery.  The fun part about Steampunk is they create an alternate reality where steam-powered machinery is altered to do creative things like mechanized body parts, robots, airships (as is the case with First Light), and just about any other mechanical application you could think of.  A popular Steampunk movie example would be Wild Wild West with Will Smith and Kevin Kline.  I just mention this because I talked with a few people about this book, and none of them knew what Steampunk is, so I figured I'd clear that up before I reviewed the book.

     I have not read a lot of Steampunk, nor is it my favorite sub-genre in the sci-fi world, so I'll try to be as objective as I can here.  I've read The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling which I hated, and Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld which I rather liked.  So I'm not well versed in the genre, but I've been exposed to it.

     Jeffery Cook co-authored this book with Sarah Symonds.  I have only had contact with Mr. Cook, and could not find an author's page for Mrs. Symonds, so we'll just address Mr. Cook in this review.  

    The book is set up as if an editor is compiling the letters, journals, and other correspondences of a significant event.  The story is set in the aftermath of the War of 1812 and the Napoleonic War. Gregory Conan Watts, the protagonists, is a poor man of little or no station who is in love with a somewhat wealthy woman (Cordelia Bentham).  He asks for her hand in marriage, and her father refuses because he wants his daughter to marry well.  The father actually likes Watts, but doesn't want his daughter to do without.  As a result, Watts takes up a job to settle a bet by investigating the outrageous stories of a Dr. Bowe who claimed to have charted the American West, vast reaches of Africa, crossed the Blue Mountains of Australia, found lost cities in South America, crossed Europe and India, found numerous islands, scaled numerous mountains, crossed innumerable waterways, and so on.  It was considered impossible that one man could do all of these things in a lifetime, so Mr. Watts was to take up the journey on a dirigible airship to see if it was possible.  With the money from the bet Watts would have the means to marry his Cordelia, so he sets off on an adventure to see what this dirigible airship could do.

     The story is not a narrative or conjoined story because of the premise.  Instead it is a series of letters written to Mr. Watts' employers, letters Mr. Watts writes to his love, journal entries, and occasionally a letter from one of the other characters to different parties.  I rather liked the set up because you got to see the poor Mr. Watts' ignorance to the world around him, outside of British society of propriety. Hints are given throughout the book of alternative motives.  Occasionally, a letter from one of the other shipmates is thrown into the mix of Mr. Watts' writings to give the reader a wider perspective.

     The brother and sister duo, who are chartered to lead the expedition, are Sir James, and Jillian Coltrane.  Sir James is a war hero of some repute, and Mr.Watts quickly notices that Mrs. Coltrane is just as sharp.  She's well read and versed in several languages, and knows much more about the world than Mr. Watts does.  The duo have a reputation for their airship.  They are quite proper, as is Mr. Watts, and that seems to be what Mr. Watts focuses on in his correspondences.  To me, it came across rather pompous and boring.  Even writing about the story after reading it over the last week, I've noticed, has made my tone in this review sound so much more sophisticated than I usually write.  However, I believe that this was done to a purpose because it is hinted, almost from the beginning, that a lot more is going on than what Mr. Watts knows.  Mrs. Coltrane writes a letter to an unknown party, right at the beginning, which hints that there is worry over the mission.  Since the story is told mostly from Mr. Watts' point of view, however, the reader gets to hear his critique of everyone's social graces instead.  To me, this made the book's beginning excruciatingly slow.  If you like the PBS television series Downton Abby, you may love this.  Mr. Watts prattles on and on about everyone's manners and social prowess.  Jillian Coltrane has a cousin from Virginia named Harriet Wright, and Mr. Watts gets a kick out of the little social disgraces Mrs. Wright suffers from, being a "poor American colonist."

     Several war heroes are brought on-board for the mission, chosen by the Coltranes because they are trusted companions from the wars.  There are also some people the other interested parties insist on coming.  This is where you start to get an inkling that something is amiss.  It would seem that the war between Spain, France, and the European Alliance might not be over.  (Oh, and by the way, in this alternate reality, the US is not independent.  The European powers are still vying for control.  It wasn't completely clear, however, and the US did not gain complete independence until this Treaty of Ghent, so it could be that I just misread because I read through only once, and it was at a fast pace.  The book alludes to America being the Daughterland and England the Motherland, as well as stating that the treaty gave France back the land south of the Great Lakes, instead of America, so I'm still a little fuzzy on the subject.  It is not addressed directly, though, because the editorial is written from he limited view of Mr. Watts.)

     About two-thirds of the way through the book, the entire exploration party is assembled, and after hearing Mr. Watts' lengthy opinion about each shipmate, the journey begins.  However, it's not the journey they set out to accomplish because the war over the colonies begins, and the heroic party has to intervene. The action starts with an attempted assassination on French royalty.

     With about 70 pages left in the book, after introductions, a war interrupting, and a storm, the journey begins.  They make it across America, leaving the series way open to expand as so much of Dr. Bowe's claims had yet to be tested.  

     Getting through the first 150 pages of this book was almost painful for me because it was not my kind of story, however, it was exceptionally well written, and I can see how many would enjoy it if they were in to this type of story.  The tone is consistent, even through the exciting parts Mr. Watts is a solid English gentleman.  I was expecting him to fall apart, or lose his demeanor when things got rough, but he did not.  The story held very true to the era, and the characters were consistent (something most Indie writers have a difficult time doing.)  I was actually quite impressed with Mr. Cooks work.

     Even with this book not being among my favorite genres, I would freely recommend it to those who like the civilized British era.  I believe there are a lot of people out there who do, mainly because of the hugely successful Downton Abby.  In all, I give the book