Steven C. (SteveTheDM) - , reviewed on 12/3/2010 + 204 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

"Dreadnought" is, at it's core, the story of Mercy Lynch and her journey from a field hospital in an alternate-history Civil War to her far-off estranged father dying in Seattle, and the adventures she had along the way. (Which include the Steampunk standard airships and massive battle machines, along with other stuff.)

So in essence, this is a travel adventure. Now, I've read a number of travel adventures, and except for a small few (The Lord of the Rings comes to mind), they've been pretty lousy. That's because they're a collection of nearly unrelated episodes, which works all right for a television show, but not generally for a novel. Priest avoids that gimmick, and actually gives us an exciting journey.

The protagonist, Mercy Lynch, a confederate nurse, is smart, capable, and fun to learn about. The war machines and people she meets are all compelling and interesting. Her goal, reaching the west coast, is neither a Union or Confederate goal, and so who the "bad guys" are keeps changing, which is an neat twist.

Much of the difficulty I had with Priest's earlier novel in this world, "Boneshaker", which basically amounted to confusion in the chaos of battle, is much reduced in "Dreadnought". When the action gets heaviest, it's still a bit difficult to follow the action, but the less chaotic stuff is much better this time around.

This was a fun read, and if you're at all interested in the growing Steampunk mini-genre, you should give this book a shot.

4.5 of 5 stars.

Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details