I've got a special update for you... special insomuch as I don't use this blog nearly as often as perhaps I should, but this is an update of sorts, and in any case, I present to you a book for your perusal and future entertainment. Generally nowadays I would post about it over at LAAAADIES (and books) but since the Ladies have taken something of a break from reviewing to catch up on actual reading, I thought I'd continue broadcasting here, lest I forget all my thoughts about this book I just read before I get a chance to actually review it.
I've said it before: social media is a strange and sometimes wonderful thing. The steampunk community is particularly active on Twitter, as I've experienced before, and it was through Twitter that I found two authors I'd previously not heard of, one Pip Ballantine and one Tee Morris, whose joint venture was released in May and bears the title "Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel."
There, isn't that lovely?
I've also said before: I'm a sucker for a good title and great cover art. Insta-purchase.
The tale presents us with a unique view of later Victorian London, wherein a very hush-hush government agency called the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences works to track down the strange and mysterious all across the Empire in a kind of Torchwood-meets-the-League-of-Extraordinary-Gentleman kind of way. The first chapter finds us racing along with rebellious agent Eliza D. Braun, from New Zealand, rescuing agent Wellington Thornhill Books, Esq., from an enemy base in... Antarctica. With much aplomb and dynamite, Eliza succeeds, and upon returning to England, is demoted from field agent to work with Wellington in the Archives. Yes, friends: Braun loves explosions, and Books loves books. Well, cataloguing. Well, archiving things. Well, you get the idea. What an odd couple! Not to mention Eliza's colonial personality clashes with Wellington (soon firmly referred to as Welly) and his bookish sensibilities. (I'll stop with the puns, shall I? They aren't getting me very far.)
It soon comes to light that Eliza's last partner was someone very important to her, and he's currently residing in Bedlam among the undesirables. A few clues are discovered here, a few names dropped there, and before Welly knows what's hit him, he's helping Eliza uncover the tracks of her former partner's last case, one which remains unsolved by the Ministry. It's very much against regulation, but Welly and Eliza make a deuced good team, each bringing out more from the other than either one realizes at first.
Phoenix Rising is full of action, delicious witty banter, and fascinating twists and turns. The characterization of Eliza and Wellington is deeply detailed and utterly entertaining; I do wish I knew more about the rest of the Ministry, and hope to see more from Morris and Ballantine regarding the other agents as well as the future of Eliza and Welly. I recommend Phoenix Rising for a rush of steampunk fun that's more on the action film side of things than the steamy romance side, though it's undeniable there's chemistry between Welly and Eliza at some points....
Not to mention, Tee Morris and Pip Ballantine are delightful people (as far as I can tell from Twitter, anyhow!) and I highly recommend you pick up the book to show a little love for the steampunk community. It's extremely inexpensive and it's paperback, so you've really got no excuse, have you?
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to submit my application to work for the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences...
Purchase the book from Amazon!
Purchase the book from Barnes & Noble!
Check out the Ministry's website!
