Guns of Liberty by Jamie Mauchline
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I received a review copy of this from Book Sirens.
I find the older I get, the less forgiving I am of fantasies that take a long time, if they ever do, to provide the context and framework of the universes in which the fantasies take place. That’s one reason I still have not finished Neuromancer…(that and sometimes neologisms annoy me.) Despite the breakneck pace of this debut novel, the pretty much nonstop action needed quite a bit of description, but Mauchline doesn’t really provide that framework and context of that universe. Hints are teased and spread over that action. Just what is an Inquisitor in this world? What is the religion, and the dynamic of the Liberty Empire? Oh, some things are clear – flintlocks (and revolvers), cannons, airships, and…radio? Airships captained like a Hornblower novel or a Sabatini novel, with excellent sailing details that are nonetheless a wee distorted because …well, no ocean. Mauchline has a grasp of what it takes to man a cannon, and the damage balls can do, but the (anti)hero ship gets repaired rather quickly.
I don’t think the characters develop enough, nor that world. Nor the backstory, but… it is still quite engaging and I understand there will be at least another book. I look forward to more background next time, and appreciate the opportunity to read a review copy of this one.
Random (and not) Musings 