Steam-Powered Apocalypse

    Hello again everyone, happy hump day. If you are not a fan of that video, happy Wednesday. If you do not enjoy Wednesdays, it has been cancelled due to a scheduling error. I am gonna review a book today. Although I haven't finished it, I think I am far enough in to review it accurately.
     So these past few... two weeks? Maybe? I have been reading a novel called Romulus Buckle and the City of Founders by Richard Ellis Preston. It's a pretty good novel all and all, the concept is interesting--it's about a bunch of aliens destroying the Earth, putting the remaining human population into a steam-powered apocalypse where feuds between clan leaders ravage the frosted landscape--the characters are dynamic, the imagery is nice, and the plot is good. I can say that this is a good book, but I also kinda disliked it... But I believe that is due to the similarity to another book series.

  

     Just last year I read a series called the Edge Chronicles, which was a steampunk/fantasy hybrid. The characters, plot, setting, backgrounds, and everything else was amazing. To top it all off, one of the authors of the book, Chris Riddell, also illustrated the novel. This led to drawings every couple of pages to give the reader a better image of what was happening. The picture on the right is just one example of what the art looked like. I really loved this idea, because although the books were more based towards kids (hence why they were pictures, I think) it really created the image in my mind of what was happening in the book, how the the characters interacted, and key locations. It also made some great drawing references.


     Back to the main point, I think the Edge Chronicles book series kind of tainted my view for the Romulus Buckle book. It is almost the same in main aspects; there are giant floating skyships, the characters dress in a certain manner, the plotline of Romulus Buckle could easily be a plotline in the Edge Chronicles, and many other things. So while I am reading this, I keep reading all this great description of what the characters are dressed like and what the airship is like and the likes of such. I keep expecting a picture to go along with it, but then I remember that it's a whole other book series. It's still good, don't get me wrong. It was slow reading at first, but I am really getting into it.

     I guess what I am trying to say is that I miss the Edge Chronicles. The final book of the series was released just over three years ago, and it hasn't been the same since. I have read and reread each book to try and fill the void, but it simply won't go away. The good news is that the authors announced another book to be released next spring, even though they said they'd stop. Pretty excited for that. Book-wise, my patience is being tested this year. So here's to being able to enjoy all the books to come in my future.
     Hobey ho.

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