Disappointing. Evans can definitely write, and knows how to construct a narrative that pulls you in, but I felt as if she was trying to have her cake (anachronistic fantasy) and eat it (but it's not fantasy, really!!!)
I gave up on this, about half way through, because the good will that had been earned by a crackin' opening was rapidly being squandered in a silly tale of Dan Brown-style Victorian Illuminati, that seems to take itself 'way too seriously. I was giving Evans a lot of benefit of the doubt, assuming, from various clues in the text, that this was an Alternative 19th Century -- an 1881 in which the Chancellor of a United Germany is named Otto Von Rabenmarck, and the Vice-President of the United States is named Cornelius Tinbergen. This, for me, excused some of the clunky, anachronistic dialogue and details -- if this is an Alternative Victorian London, then perhaps people do talk like that.
But no -- based on Evans' notes at the end, she merely changed two historical names, (because ... I'm not sure ...) and invented other characters, based loosely on real life personalities but without really thinking through how those real-life personalities either thought, or behaved. or connected.
This is neither serious enough to achieve what the author hopes for, nor fun enough to achieve what I was hoping for. And that's a shame, because Evans can really write.
I gave up on this, about half way through, because the good will that had been earned by a crackin' opening was rapidly being squandered in a silly tale of Dan Brown-style Victorian Illuminati, that seems to take itself 'way too seriously. I was giving Evans a lot of benefit of the doubt, assuming, from various clues in the text, that this was an Alternative 19th Century -- an 1881 in which the Chancellor of a United Germany is named Otto Von Rabenmarck, and the Vice-President of the United States is named Cornelius Tinbergen. This, for me, excused some of the clunky, anachronistic dialogue and details -- if this is an Alternative Victorian London, then perhaps people do talk like that.
But no -- based on Evans' notes at the end, she merely changed two historical names, (because ... I'm not sure ...) and invented other characters, based loosely on real life personalities but without really thinking through how those real-life personalities either thought, or behaved. or connected.
This is neither serious enough to achieve what the author hopes for, nor fun enough to achieve what I was hoping for. And that's a shame, because Evans can really write.
