Reddit reviews Boneshaker

The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. And more.

In the steampunk genre, there's the Leviathan series (alternate WWI with mechas and genetic engineering), which heavily features genetically-engineered whale blimps.

There are more "traditional" zeppelins in Boneshaker (zombies in Civil War-era Portland), but the book is terrible.

I think there are a couple of approaches to steampunk with varying levels of real-world believability. On one side you've got the "What if technology advanced as rapidly as computers, but the internal combustion engine and transistors were never invented?" and on the other you have spirit-infused clockworks that are effectively magic taking the place of more standard fantasy fare like talking animals or outright spirits. And plenty of stuff in between. I'd say it's more of a visual aesthetic than a pseudo-philosophy within the books like grimdark or cozy mystery or anything.

So far, the vaguely steampunk books I've read are rather limited. And often for kids. Some examples:

• His Dark Materials, where Lyra's world is arguably steampunk (of the type without widely-used transistors)
  
• Leviathan trilogy - an alternate WWI where the British have genetic engineering and the Austro-Hungarian empire has mechas
  
• Boneshaker - zombies and zeppelins in frontier Portland but urgh
  
• A weak argument for A Series of Unfortunate Events, which has a Victorian aesthetic and plenty of improbable inventions everywhere
  
• Currently in the middle of Etiquette & Espionage, which is taking an Artemis Fowl-like approach towards gleeful evil geniuses and definitely on the magical side of things since werewolves and vampires are present and inventions seem to work so readily.

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. Strong, badass female lead, no bullshit-tacked-on love story. Steampunky goodness that reads real.

This reminds me of a book I read called Boneshaker.

Read Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century series,
Read Verne,
Keep your gears functional,
Never stop researching,
Never stop making

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. Western zombie mystery action!

Maybe the [Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld](Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld.) - scifi with good action and the main character has a highly curious streak.

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

My Life as a White Trash Zombie

Ex-Heroes

The Last Bastion of the Living

Boneshaker

Patient Zero: A Joe Ledger Novel

I have read all but two of these. Have not read Boneshaker or The Last Bastion of the Living but on my to-do list because they look promising.

edit: I Am Legend is actually about vampires. Not sure if you just wanted exclusively zombie books. I have not read it in a few years, but the vibes that it puts off in the book makes it easy to get it confused with a zombie type world. My fault.

This is the coverart for this book by Cherie Priest. $10 on kindle, $14 in paperback. I haven't read it, but it has a 3.5/5 star rating with 300+ reviews.

The teaser:

>In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.



>But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.



>Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.



>His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.

I just finished Boneshaker a few weeks back. I'd happily recommend that, though it's a tad localized on the apocalyptic end of things.

For some steampunk/alt history fun, try the Clockwork Century books by Cherie Priest.


Start with Boneshaker

Edit: formatting

So, Boneshaker then?

I have no idea what that book is, but I'm going to keep an eye on this thread in case someone comes up with an answer, because that sounds awesome. You might also want to try r/books, if you haven't already.

You also might enjoy Boneshaker. I just started it and so far it's good.

> A mother in Joel's role wouldn't really be believable.

The novel Boneshaker is proof that a mom fighting zombies for her son can be completely believable, not to mention exciting, thrilling, and moving.

Boneshaker?

A little off-topic, but anyone who likes Steampunk probably would like the novel Boneshaker.

It also has zombies!

Actually the steampunk and zombie elements are kind of background...well, not really. It's kind of hard to explain. But.

http://www.amazon.de/Boneshaker-Sci-Fi-Essential-Books/dp/0765318415 BONESHAKER!

I think Boneshaker would make a great movie.

Cherie Priest
She writes a great steampunk series (starting with Boneshaker Steampunk airships AND zombies! What not to like.
She also writes a good series involving an OCD vampire.

Agatha H. and the Airship City by Phil & Kaja Foglio, or any of their "Girl Genius" Graphic Novels.

Mainspring, Escapement, and Pinion by Jay Lake

The Short story "Zeppelin City" by Eileen Gunn & Michael Swanwick.

The Clockwork Century series by Cherie Priest, set during the American Civil War as opposed to Victorian London: Boneshaker, Dreadnought , Ganymede, and Clementine.

Boneshaker
Zombies, airships, steampunk - hooray!

Hmm....I'm going to interpret that question as '10 Books in No Particular Order that Weren't Massive Bestsellers that I Loved*'

• The Good Women of China An amazing book about the struggles of women in China from 1950s-1980s.
  
  
• Ode to Kirihito The book that got me hooked on Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy)'s classic manga.
  
  
• Shades of Milk and Honey A Regency Romance with a touch of fantasy, and the writing is a pleasure.
  
  
• Ender's Game Hardly indie anymore, but I found this near the bottom of a pile of books in middle school, thus launching my love of SF/F
  
  
• A Man with No Talents An anonymous account of a man who dropped out of the Salaryman life and became free to live his life as he wanted.
  
  
• The Dancing girls of Lahore A brutal, honest account of the underworld of courtesans in Pakistan.
  
  
• The Legend of Eli Monpress Escapist fantasy with amazing characters and a plot that keeps the reader up well past bedtime.
  
  
• Off to Be the Wizard Probably the closest to 'indie' on here, hardly a deep book but a hilarious geeky romp.
  
  
• Live Free or Die This one surprised me a bit, but my Libertarian SF-loving self just fell head-over-heels for this series.
  
  
• Boneshaker Because dammit, this is the one that sent me down the Steampunk rabbit hole.
  
  /* Ebooksgirl reserves the right at any time to change, amend, add or delete this list.

Has anyone read The Boneshaker? I was reading this years ago and never finished.

“Cherie Priest wove a story so convincing, so evocative, so terrifying that I read this book with the doors locked and a gun on my lap. Boneshaker is a steampunk menagerie of thrills and horror.”

—Mario Acevedo, bestselling author of Jailbait Zombie



Edit: I thought I read steampunk. This is not the book you're looking for.

A lot of good zombie books in here already. I also enjoyed Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. Steampunk and zombies.

Lord of Snow and Shadows by Sarah Ash pretty good fantasy novel to start a series.
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest, Steampunk with zombies, good so far, only a third through it.

Home by Bill Byrson, on audiobook. Can't recommend his stuff enough. Great mental travels through the history of a number of different things.

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. It's zombies and steam punk so how could you go wrong? I just started it and so far I like it.