Everyone knows about Sherlock Holmes even if you’ve never
read any of the stories. There have been
t.v. series and movies made based on the original tales of this iconic private
investigator. Personally, my experience
goes back to a couple of original stories read a few decades ago.
Plus Star Trek The Next Generation. http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes
Oh, yes, Trekkies are very well read and the Next Gen
especially interwove a lot of classic literature. Commander Data, the android, was especially
fond of Sherlock Holmes.
But, this isn’t a review of Next Gen.
A Study in Ashes is the third book in a series, the first
two of which I have not read. This is
good though, because it gives me and you, a potential reader, a fresh look and
a hint at how easily it is to pick up a story that’s already going on.
Evalina, the heroine, starts the story a student at a
prestigious English college, frustrated with the limits put on her because she
is female. That’s the cover story. The real story is that, plus the fact that
she is imprisoned on the school campus by magic. In frustration, she breaks into the men’s
laboratory because they have much better equipment. She wants to learn how magic and science are
related.
The Professor who discovers her there is not at all
amused. I suspect she could have talked
herself out of this trouble, but that doesn’t appear to be her style. Instead, she outright resists and, in her
fury, accidently sets the whole dang place on fire.
Normally, Evalina would have been expelled. Instead, she’s shuffled away in what I can
best describe as “You naughty, naughty little girl, now you go to your room and
just think about what you’ve done!”
Anyway…then we have a Point of View switch, but it starts a
new chapter and it’s male so it’s not hard to keep up. Tobias remembers the last battle of the last
book, catching you up on important details.
This is an excellent way to reintroduce the story for those who haven’t
already been in on it. He’s watching
over his magically comatose sister, Imogene, who, in turn, is being pined for
by her fiancé, Bucky. She’s been a
sleeping beauty for a year and the two blokes are not hopeful.
Remember, this is set in the late 1800’s England, so you
gotta recall the social restrictions and styles of the time, plus it’s Steampunk,
so you’ve got cool airships and such going on.
The appeal of Steampunk, for me, is similar to Time Travel. It combines history with techno-geekiness,
love that.
This book is not written in First Person Point of View. I should clear that up. It’s Third Person Limited. But, it’s done so well that I felt like I was
right inside the characters, the same feeling you get from First Person POV.
Okay, so enough wallowing, dudes, a large group of
troublemakers arrive on the scene and start howling. Huh?
Do we got werewolves here?
And romance? Well,
apparently, Evaline’s boyfriend, Nick, died in the last book, because she’s in
mourning at first.
Then, the professors assign someone to escort her back to
the ladies’ college and he’s very intriguing, but his last name is also
Moriarity. Now, if you know anything
about Sherlock Holmes, you know Professor Moriarity was his archenemy.
Further on, the Point of View switches again, to Poppy who
is Imogene’s younger sister. She’s
fifteen years old and expertly portrayed as such, fierce in her friendships
(she adores Imogene), impatient with her family. Seems like every fifteen year old thinks her
family is dysfunctional, barely tolerable, the mother’s a wicked queen, the
father doesn’t give a dang about his children, the brother is totally screwed
up, and she’s bored out of her mind. All
normal fifteen year old girl stuff, but in this case the fifteen year old is
right, as is occasionally true in real life too.
Bigger problems that bored teenagers have arisen
though. At some point, somebody crashed
an airship into Big Ben. Oh, yes, and
Queen Victoria’s children have been dying off and now the Crown Prince is
mysteriously ill. Getting swept up into
this mess will certainly dispel Poppy’s boredom.
With another POV shift into Imogen’s head, you’ll wonder how
the author is going to bring this ensemble cast together. Clearly, loose ends are being expertly tied
up.
Verdict: Good book,
get it. Even if you haven’t read the
first two. You won’t get lost. Trust me.
;)
Much love, Buds.
