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| Dreadnought |
I somehow managed to miss the second novel* in Cherie Priest’s Clockwork Century series, but Dreadnought stands very well on its own. Unlike Boneshaker, Dreadnought begins in Virginia, during a civil war that has been going on for over twenty years with no end in site. Priest continues to twist history by introducing steampunk and zombies (always a fun mix), to create the nail-bitingly tense travels of nurse Mercy Swakhammer Lynch.
We meet Mercy in the middle of rounds at a hospital that takes care of wounded Confederate soldiers. Soon after this grim opening, Mercy receives the news that her Yankee husband died in Andersonville and that her wayward father has been terribly wounded in far-off Seattle. Most of the action in this story takes place once Mercy starts her journey west. She must be the most unlucky traveler in the history of her alternate America because in short order, her dirigible is shot down by Union forces, she is chased across a battlefield, her train is attacked by jayhawkers, the Confederate Army, and zombies. In spite of all this, Mercy finds the time to join forces with a reluctant Texas Ranger in investigating why the train, the Dreadnought, is the target of so much pursuit.
Dreadnought (the book) is a curious blend of mystery and travel novel. On the one hand, most of the narrator’s attention (and perforce the reader’s) is devoted to getting from northern Virginia to Seattle in one piece. Mercy spends a lot of time ducking and covering, and then attending to the wounds of the injured men around her. But in the (few) quieter moments, a mystery develops. There are two cars on the train that are off limits to the civilian passengers. The last car especially is forbidden, under the charge of a very unpleasant scientist who refuses to take orders from anyone. When the contents of that last car are confirmed (anyone who’s read Boneshaker will have a pretty good idea of what’s going on), it’s like the last touch of something that makes the whole book an utterly ripping yarn.
Dreadnought is a very fun read, and I highly recommend it to fans of steampunk novels. I’d also recommend it to fans of adventure novels and alternate history readers. There’s a lot to enjoy in this book, and I very much look forward to the new book in the series that’s coming out this fall.
* The second novel, Clementine, appears to be available only as an ebook.