strange and random happenstance

The Diamond Conspiracy by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
ARC Provided by the Publisher
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: March 31st, 2015
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Wellington Books and Eliza Braun are reveling in each other as they return home from the United States. They are finally as one, on the field and in the bedroom. Though their luxuriant revels come to an end when Eliza gets a ping from the distress beacon she left with her maid Alice and the street urchins that are under her protection, known as the Ministry Seven. They race to their rendezvous point in France to discover that their situation is dire. Queen Victoria has decided that The Ministry is a danger to her reign, and in particular to her plans for her Diamond Jubilee, and is using her other secret organization, the Department of Imperial Inconveniences to eliminate the Ministry. The Department in their signature tweed has been dispatching Ministry agents around the globe with alarming efficiency. Though the Ministry is far from beaten. Director Sound has enacted Shadow Protocol and the disparate agents from around the world are gathering, to regroup and figure out just why they were such a danger to the Queen and how they can stop her.

Half the fun of two strong leads is the will they won't they factor. More then one story has hinged on the sexual tension between the protagonists, or antagonists as it were. The problem that arises from this situation is that if you lead your audience on for too long they get frustrated. Likewise, if the relationship doesn't successfully gel after consummation, then you are in another dire situation, and sometimes go to drastic lengths to solve this problem, yes I'm looking at you Battlestar Galactica. An unsuccessful resolution has spelled the end for many franchises; it is what I like to call the Moonlighting factor, and yes, I know I'm not the only one to use this delightful eighties show as the case study for what not to do with a storyline. Moonlighting quite literally imploded when the leads, Maddie Hayes and David Addison, slept together at the end of the third season. The show spiraled out of control with a lame marriage plot and Maddie miscarrying her and David' child, till a show that was so bright ended with a whimper and the too appropriate epitaph "romance is a fragile thing." Therefore, while I have been delighting in the romance brewing between Books and Braun, I was also very wary.

Yet the time had more then come for Books and Braun to finally get their act together. The previous installment, Dawn's Early Light, was the tipping point with their antagonism and jealous acts. The Diamond Conspiracy opens up with the agents in full blissful coupledom. And here is where I say that thankfully they have avoided all the snares and dangers that were in their paths, huzzah! All gadgets and gizmos have been disarmed and dismantled and what has emerged is even sexier then before. Pip and Tee have managed to keep the tension between Welly and Eliza while simultaneously having their relationship develop into the next stage. Their blissful journey across the Atlantic and their stolen moments are what true sexual chemistry is all about. Yet, to me, the most romantic aspect is not their sexual chemistry, but the way they work as a team. They know the other one always has their back. They are a perfect unit and it is this connection that brings back the fresh dynamic of the first book in this series as it simultaneously sets a sturdier base for continued adventures.

With this consummation of their attraction and their developing relationship we have a very character driven story which spills out into the rest of the book. I think this is the best thing that could have happened for this series. The characters have always been the heart of the story, they have always shone while the plot flounders. The Diamond Conspiracy has stripped down this unwieldy universe that Pip and Tee have created and made it hinge on the human element. They have pulled in all the disparate elements and agents from around the globe that have featured in the Tales from the Archives and parred it down to a manageable amount. At times prior to reading this installment I have felt that their world with all it's tangential stories was almost too hard to hold onto, all the different threads of all these different stories turning to water in my hands and running away from me. This felt like a great spring cleaning, the house has been made new by brushing the cobwebs away. The Diamond Conspiracy feels like a new start for all our characters and it has invigorated me, in fact after finishing the book I felt so optimistic that I didn't want to pick up the next book I had ready to go and instead I started to clean my library, and yes, this is a very daunting task and perhaps shouldn't be started late on a Sunday night... what can I say, the book did it to me!

The feeling of this new beginning though needs to have follow through. The Big Bad of these books has gone a little blurg. While Doctor Jekyll does have a lot going for him as the ultimate puppet master, I seriously might go crazy if Sophia del Morte shows up yet again. In my mind she has never nor will never bring anything to these books. There comes a point when new evils need to be faced and the old evils put away. If there's one thing that I can't stand is the magical return of some long defeated foe. Pip and Tee have defeated quite a few, now let them all rest. Bring in a new villain to go with the new outlook on this series. Keep developing the villains just as Books and Braun's relationship has developed. But don't bring in new angles on old foes. Yes, that little twist that you end The Diamond Conspiracy with is interesting, but still, it's just the old with a twist of the new. The worst season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is easily season seven, because they brought back a villain who could also mimic every other villain ever seen on the show. Please. Move it along.

Despite my little rant there, the villains and their dirty deeds were really just a blip, they were part and parcel of the story and is more a warning rant then anything specific in this volume. The truth is this was a near perfect return to form if it hadn't been for the H.G. Wells factor. In previous volumes august personages have made appearances, as is logical for there are distinct people who unknowingly formed what we now know as Steampunk. From Edison to Tesla to Wells, their visions of the future formed the literature of the future, and the television shows, and the movies. The problem I have with Wells is that it comes too close to another Steampunk franchise I love, and that's Warehouse 13. There is no denying the similarities of The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences and Warehouse 13. With Wellington's archive and the Warehouse, we have two places that collect and store dangerous Steampunky artifacts, occasionally using them to solve their cases. One is present, one is past, I have no problem with them coexisting in my brain or in the world. What I do have a problem with is H.G. Wells being in both in such a similar manner. And H.G. was part of the Warehouse team over a year before the very first Ministry book came out. Just saying, even if Wells is so important to the Steampunk movement, perhaps Wells needs a little distance from the Ministry to not feel like a rip-off.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawn's Early Light, H.G. Wells, Moonlighting, Pip Ballantine, Steampunk, Tales from the Archives, Tee Morris, The Diamond Conspiracy, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, Warehouse 13

The Diamond Conspiracy by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: March 31st, 2015
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For years, the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences has enjoyed the favor of Her Majesty the Queen. But even the oldest loyalties can turn in a moment…

Having narrowly escaped the electrifying machinations of Thomas Edison, Books and Braun are looking forward to a relaxing and possibly romantic voyage home. But when Braun’s emergency signal goes off, all thoughts of recreation vanish. Braun’s street-wise team of child informants, the Ministry Seven, is in grave peril, and Books and Braun must return to England immediately.

But when the intrepid agents finally arrive in London, the situation is even more dire than they imagined. The Ministry has been disavowed, and the Department of Imperial Inconveniences has been called in to decommission its agents in a most deadly fashion. The plan reeks of the Maestro’s dastardly scheming. Only, this time, he has a dangerous new ally—a duplicitous doctor whose pernicious poisons have infected the highest levels of society, reaching even the Queen herself..."

So excited for this book, PLUS stop by next week, I'm an official stop on the blog tour!

At Water's Edge by Sara Gruen
Published by: Spiegel and Grau
Publication Date: March 31st, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this thrilling new novel from the author of Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen again demonstrates her talent for creating spellbinding period pieces. At the Water’s Edge is a gripping and poignant love story about a privileged young woman’s awakening as she experiences the devastation of World War II in a tiny village in the Scottish Highlands.

After disgracing themselves at a high society New Year’s Eve party in Philadelphia in 1944, Madeline Hyde and her husband, Ellis, are cut off financially by his father, a former army colonel who is already ashamed of his son’s inability to serve in the war. When Ellis and his best friend, Hank, decide that the only way to regain the Colonel’s favor is to succeed where the Colonel very publicly failed—by hunting down the famous Loch Ness monster—Maddie reluctantly follows them across the Atlantic, leaving her sheltered world behind.

The trio find themselves in a remote village in the Scottish Highlands, where the locals have nothing but contempt for the privileged interlopers. Maddie is left on her own at the isolated inn, where food is rationed, fuel is scarce, and a knock from the postman can bring tragic news. Yet she finds herself falling in love with the stark beauty and subtle magic of the Scottish countryside. Gradually she comes to know the villagers, and the friendships she forms with two young women open her up to a larger world than she knew existed. Maddie begins to see that nothing is as it first appears: the values she holds dear prove unsustainable, and monsters lurk where they are least expected.

As she embraces a fuller sense of who she might be, Maddie becomes aware not only of the dark forces around her, but of life’s beauty and surprising possibilities."

Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking? That Sara Gruen has to have "water" in all her book titles?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: At the Water's Edge, Blog Tour, Pip Ballantine, Queen Victoria, Sara Gruen, Tee Morris, The Diamond Conspiracy, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, Water for Elephants

Dawn's Early Light by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
ARC Provided by the Publisher
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: March 25th, 2014
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

While Wellington Brooks and Eliza Braun did pull off the impossible in their last adventure for The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, Doctor Sound has thought that it might be a good idea to get them out of the limelight for awhile and ship them off to the colonies to help their sister agency, The Office of the Supernatural and Metaphysical, which is attached to the US Marshals. In the United States Books and Braun meet their American counterparts, Felicity Lovelace the librarian, which is totally different then an archivist, and Wild Bill Wheatley, who Eliza has a grudge against from a previous mission in which their paths crossed. But the mission must come first, not revenge for past slights. Off the shores of North Carolina, known as the graveyard of the Atlantic, airships have been vanishing quite literally.

But Wellington and Felicity don't really care about the mission once they learn that Thomas Edison will be speaking at their hotel! After an eventful night it looks like Edison might be involved in their mission... he might be using a lighthouse as a death ray to cause all these wrecks! Seeing that Edison is their only real lead, the gaggle of agents decide to follow him. First they venture north, to Detroit, and the very hub of Edison's Empire. By the end of their mission they will have travelled coast to coast and hopefully staved of an international incident with the Prince of Wales. Yet questions remain, how involved was the nebulous House of Usher in this scheme? Did her majesty, the Queen, have ulterior motives with regard to her son? And does Wellington want to kiss Eliza again? Or will Eliza end up kissing Bill?

The thing that drew me to Steampunk in the first place was the essential Britishness of it. The fog bound streets, the pub brawls near the docks with a side of a cockney accent, a cup of tea after a day of daring do. This is what Steampunk means to me. So when at the end of the second book in this series, The Janus Affair, it became apparent that our esteemed agents Books and Braun were headed stateside, I wasn't that thrilled at the prospect. Yes, Steampunk isn't limited to Great Britain, yes Pip and Tee have done a good job to have this series, in particular the Tales from the Archives, show the worldwide scope of Steampunk, yes their are authors like Cherie Priest, whose Clockwork Century is very much ingrained in America, but despite all this precedent, Steampunk to me is British. I won't try to explain the logic of my mind, because I don't think I could. But I was seriously worried that Dawn's Early Light would have to overcome my own preconceptions. I should have had more faith in Pip and Tee. The book combined all the Britishness I love and added a Firefly vibe (fangirl sqwee) while also taking on the historical figures whose inventiveness fuels Steampunk, but are decidedly American.

The more I think on it, the American desire for invention, exploration, and looking forward is what drives Steampunk and the Steampunk community. So while my brain always goes "British British British" it is really a combination of the two that create the perfect balance in Steampunk, a perfect balance that was caught in this book. Writing a successful series of books itself is a balancing act. Round about book three is when you start to get bogged down with too much backstory and too many characters being on stage. By sending our beloved agents to the states, Pip and Tee were able to streamline the story and bring it down to the necessary few characters that were needed. While I did occasionally miss all the other agents and the archives, Dawn's Early Light had a cleanliness to it that made it a stronger book. Plus the introduction of Felicity and Bill (aka Jayne from Firefly), Books and Braun's counterparts and also romantic rivals, brought a breath of fresh air into the book. Having our hero and heroine not only trying to deal with their own feelings, but then having these two Americans continually throwing a wrench into any possible hookup brought a frisson of excitement and a worry that the delayed gratification to the inevitable hookup might never happen. Books and Braun belong together... but that doesn't mean temptation and distraction won't be a delicious plot device.

Another plot device that might have overplayed it's hand in this installment is the celebrity cameo. As I said before, everything is about balance. Celebrity cameos are always a fun narrative device in historical fiction, even if it's alternative history. Yet there can be one too many historical figures and this can upset the apple cart. The perfection of some of the cameos is marred by the superfluous ones. Back in undergrad I took film classes for fun. It's ironic that I thought art versus comm arts was a more viable career path. The history of film cannot be told without talking about Edison. Yes, he was brilliant, but yes, he was also a class A bastard. In fact, I had a friend play bastard on my Edison card to win a game of Apples to Apples once. And speaking of Apples, in describing Edison, I liked that Edison really sounded a lot like Steve Jobs and Apple's MO, ah the parallels. I reveled in the introduction of Edison, the asshole. He's a perfect villain, unlike the ill defined House of Usher. And his evilness is not just in his villainous death ray designed to level the competition, but in the slights to women scientists and his raging ego. It was the perfect cameo. To balance that we had Tesla, still surrounded with mystery, dubious morals, and pigeon jokes. Edison and Tesla, Tesla and Edison, the battle for the ages, and the perfect duo for this book. But Henry Ford? Ah Henry Ford, you were one cameo too many. It made me cringe a bit. You upset the apple cart.  

Though the pedant in me now has to put on the lecturing voice and say what I've been saying for two books now. I know this is an ARC, so there will be errors... but seeing as these errors have persisted in the finished copies of the first two books, I have a feeling they might remain. The grammar and the spelling needs a polish. I will seriously do this for free. Yes, I am serious. I love this series and it pains me when errors still abound making it a flawed text... at one point their own character's name is misspelt. Also, it's chaise lounge not chez lounge... unless it's the house of lounges and not a piece of furniture. Aside from the obvious errors, there were also a few anachronisms that got under my skin. Blackbeard's dates are off by a hundred years. Why would Edison being going through Wisconsin to get to Arizona? There's this lake that I've gone over between me and Michigan... plus, to get to Arizona aka, the southwest, you wouldn't go northwest now would you? The OSM seems a little too much like Victorian SHIELD with the reference to Thor's hammer... plus, can we sing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang when talking about Wellington's car? I know they are all nudge nudge wink wink, but they are just too modern, and like the typos, pull me out of a story I don't want to leave, like ever. In fact, can the next book be ready now?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Apples to Apples, Dawn's Early Light, Edison, Firefly, Henry Ford, House of Usher, Jayne, Ministry of Peculiar Occurances, Pip Ballantine, Steampunk, Tales from the Archives, Tee Morris, Telsa, Wisconsin

Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: April 26th, 2011
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Agent Eliza Braun lives for field work. Agent Wellington Books lives for his archives. Both working within The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, a secret agency within Queen Victoria's government, they never have had much time for each other. Eliza was always off on some dangerous mission, hopefully involving dynamite, while Books had his files and artifacts and tea, deep within the bowels of  "Miggins Antiquities." That all changed when one day, Books was Eliza's mission. He had been kidnapped by the enemy and whisked away to a secret base in Antarctica. Eliza arrived guns a blazing and rescued Books, returning the two of them to jolly old England. Only, she didn't follow directions, per se.  Doctor Sound had ordered Wellington to be decommissioned, in the most final way possible, in case he had let any secrets be spilled. Yet Eliza knew that Wellington hadn't been compromised, deep in her bones.

Her penance for such belief in Wellington? Being demoted from field agent to assist him in the archives. Both of them view this as the worst kind of hell imaginable. Wellington doesn't like interlopers in "his" archives. Early morning hours and the complete tedium of filing isn't what Eliza thinks of as a good time either. Though the archives do hold some interest for her... deep within the darkest reaches there are unsolved cases. One of those cases involves her ex partner, Harry. They had been investigating a series of gruesome murders together when Doctor Sound told them to abandon the case. Yet the files indicate that Harry kept working the case secretly, until his disappearance and subsequent reappearance in Bedlam.

Eliza will not let this rest. Slowly she convinces Books that it's in their best interest to continue Harry's investigation. She'll investigate it with or without him, so Books might as well come along. Soon there's buildings blowing up, high speed carriage chases, fights during the opera and secret societies. Working side by side, Books and Braun have to learn to trust each other and believe in their new partner. Yet for Eliza, relying on an agent, untrained in field ops, while being deep undercover could be the riskiest decision she ever made. For Books, leaving the archives was his riskiest decision.

I think I have quite probably found my new favorite series. The mystery, the chemistry, the humor are all perfectly balanced to create one of the best reads out there, Steampunk or otherwise. The polar opposites of toffy, British to the bone, Books and trigger happy, dynamite loving New Zealander Braun can easily go down as one of the best pairings since Mrs. Peel and Steed, Maddy and David, Sam and Diane, Castle and Beckett. They just fuel each other to new levels of ingenuity and snarky, witty banter. They are the chemical equivalent of dynamite, a comparison I know full well Eliza would love. There's a part of me that spent the entire book just hoping they'd get together, and another part of me just loving this long tease... I trust in the writers that everything will be worth my wait and the payoff will be sublime.

Almost a Victorian version of The Avengers, I find that with the artifact nature of many of the investigations, that the book can be favorably compared to one of my favorite series, Warehouse 13. I would not be surprised if at any moment HG Wells popped up and asked for a little help from Books and Braun, creating the best fan fic mash-up of the Victorian Era. Everything about the book just worked. The mystery changes directions many times throughout the lengthy story, yet I enjoyed every minute of the ride and the denouement brought everything back together. The Steampunk elements fit in the story and never once felt out of place or forced, which is a hard thing to do with techno babble. Just wonderful worldbuilding on the parts of Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris.

The authors where even able to take a trope that I've come to hate and make it fresh. The Hellfire Club. Anything Victorian or Regency, or really, any time they can in anything slightly period or historical in a British setting, or British Coloney, the Hellfire Club will rear it's head. Heck, they even did it in The Avengers. Yet the Phoenix Society, while having the debauchery of said predecessor, goes beyond just the wanton lust of what came before. They have a secondary agenda too, yet that isn't what made it work. What made the society work was that the way the authors set up the weekend of loose morals was by creating the perfect British Country House weekend and then skewing it. Like a very dark Gosford Park. Personally, I adore mysteries in a Country House setting. Therefore by adding this level of aristocratic sheen and typical behaviour over the atypical club, I never once was raising my fist going, "Damn you Francis Dashwood and your Monks! Damn you to a real, not intentional hell. Devils poking you... oh wait, you'd probably like that."

Also, as is my way, sometimes when reading a book I totally see one actor in my head immediately. Obviously, the agent Bruce Campbell, would be played by Bruce Campbell, that isn't up for negotiation. For Books I was trying to think of someone stuffy, but who could kick ass and be menacing when need be. The obvious choice is Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and later Angel. Can't you just picture his stammering and lecturing of Eliza? I sure can!

Here is "Books" in lecture mode, disgruntled lecture mode, hence the tie being loose, when he has had one too many problems with Eliza. Once again trying to explain the taxonomy of the filing and how work starts not near lunch or in the afternoon but in the morning.

Yet, he can totally bring the "dapper" for a night out at the opera to enjoy some Macbeth or to infiltrate a Country House Party that has nefarious undertones.

For Eliza, I wanted someone young and plucky, who looks like they are a little cherubic, until they pull a gun on you. While she is The Doctor's next companion, it was Jenna Louise Coleman's performance in the Titanic miniseries by Julian Fellowes that shows she has Eliza's competence, quick wit and sharp tongue.

Also, she can bring the glam, but that reinforced corset might need some adjustments...

Moste Importante Steampunkery:
While there are many great Steampunk inventions in the book, many designed by Books himself, the prize has to go the Mad McTighe's coin-operated Combobula Bar. Lord McTighe was a gallant nutter who disliked women having to be bar maids because "women shouldna be pawed by drunk patrons!" So he invented the Combobula Bar where you can listen to "Onward Christian Soldiers" while waiting for the machine to mix and serve you drink. Yet what makes this shiny brass-and-wooden bar stand out is that it can somehow sense a bar fight and close in on itself, protecting the machinery, but, more importantly, the booze.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bruce Campbell, Buffy, Eliza Braun, Hellfire Club, Jullian Fellowes, Ministry of Peculiar Occurances, New Zealand, Pip Ballantine, Tee Morris, The Avengers, Victorian, Warehouse 13, Welling Books

I know you have been patiently waiting... your breath held till you almost passed out, and than a nice person can along a gave you some interesting breathing apparatus, very chic and Steampunk, but that's another story for another day. I'm sure all you want to know is, who won what, so here goes!

The first name drawn was kara-karina (The Janus Affair), the second name drawn was Carrie (Steampunk Bible), the third name drawn was Denise Z (The Leagure of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and whichwaydidshego (Phoenix Rising) was forth. I will update the post later, once I hear from them, with what each of them chose.

Also, check out my newest giveaway, it's totally awesome... not that I'm biased or anything...

Here are the prizes they chose from as a reminder:
*The Steampunk Bible by Jeff Vandermeer
*The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen  by Alan Moore, illustrated by Kevin O'Neill
*The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Book 1: Phoenix Rising Signed and Inscribed to you, by the authors, Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris!
*The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Book 2: The Janus Affair Signed and Inscribed to you, by the authors, Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 11:59 PM 3 comments  

Labels: Alan Moore, Giveaway, Phoenix Rising, Pip Ballantine, Steampunk Summer, Tee Morris, The Janus Affair, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences

Last April I received an email from my book dealer (basically my drug dealer, because books are my crack), John, recommending a new series that everyone was raving about. John has very rarely been wrong so he sent me the first book in the new Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Series, Phoenix Rising. Needless to say I adored the first book as you probably noticed because it received one of my rare five stars... or at least, they seem rare to me these days. Instantly I had to read all the short stories and the second book and was very happy to read in my email that "we're hard at work on book three". When I was devising Steampunk Summer, Philipa (Pip) Ballantine and her husband, Tee Morris, where up there at the very top of a short list of dream authors I hoped would participate.

Thanks to their combined love of pioneering media, podcasts, blogs, epubs, I was lucky enough to friend them through goodreads and lure them into participating in my summer event. They also love cats, but that's a whole other level of awesome. Not only that, but two lucky winners have a chance to win signed and personalized copies of one of their two books! It goes without saying I'm more than a little jealous of my followers who have the chance to not only have these awesome books, but signed ones at that! So make sure you go and enter to win, and then come right back and read what Pip had to say to some of my silly questions! Or better yet, read and then go enter!

Question: What is the definitive Steampunk book for you?

Answer: Even though they weren't called steampunk, and don't actually involve steam, I would always go with Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. It has the sense of wonder and amazement that I feel is inherent in the genre.

Question: What drew you to this genre?

Answer: The style. The history. The people. The gadgets. There are so many wonderful things going on in steampunk, but if I had to pick one alone, it would be the history. I've always liked messing about with the past, and steampunk lets me wander far and wide. In the Janus Affair for example I take one of New Zealand's prominent suffragette and give her a steampunk make-over.

Question: How do you take your tea?

Answer: Milk and sugar- especially if it is Earl Grey. If not then as it comes.

Question: Must have sartorial accessory?

Answer: So hard to choose one! Personally I love to have a quirky, shiny, pretty necklace. No matter if you are wearing an evening gown or an engineer's overalls, a necklace makes a statement.

Question: Sartorial leaning: Street Urchin, Tinker, Explorer or Aesthete?

Answer: I tend to lean towards the Explorer. I love a good pith helmet, bandoleer, and ray-gun.

Question: Top hat or bowler hat?

Answer: I am definitely a bowler hat chick—when not wearing previously mentioned pith helmet.

Question: Subgenre you most identify with: Boilerpunk, Clockpunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Romance, Mannerspunk, Raygun Gothic or Stitchpunk?

Answer: It like to skip lightly over sub-genre. I just love adventure, exploration, and interesting characters to travel with me there.

Question: If there was one thing that could truly exist from the world of Steampunk what would it be?

Answer: I would love to have an automaton manservant. I hate housework, but realize it is important (with five cats, if we did not do it, we'd be buried in fur in mere weeks). The idea of someone else doing it and casting no judgement on my housekeeping skills is bliss!

Question: If there was one element in the Steampunk genre you could remove forever what would it be?

Answer: I don't think anything should be removed. Everyone has something to say about different aspects. Some folk like to explore the dark side (sexism, colonialism, and racism) while others like the adventure. I think there is plenty of room for everyone in the genre.

Question: Favorite movie or television series with Steampunk elements?

Answer: The Prestige. David Bowie as Tesla. I don't think I need to say more.*

*No she doesn't!

Question: Preferred mode of transport: celestial, aether, terra firma or aquatic?

Answer: Actually I am rather partial to train travel, but unfortunately transport by steam train is not as easy to come by these days...

Question: Favorite Queen to have had a diamond jubilee, Victoria or Elizabeth?

Answer: Victoria! No, insult to Elizabeth II. Mum is quite nice, but Victoria has so many interesting blips in her personality and reign.

Question: Victorian or Wild West?

Answer: Arghhhh....can't pick. In The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences we have done both—or are planning to.

Question: Would you like an automaton butler or ladies maid, considering that it might be the first step in the robotic apocalypse?

Answer: As I mentioned above, yes I want one. I would trade in the chance on the apocalypse for someone to scoop the kitty litter...

Question: If The Doctor showed up at your door, where would you go?

Answer: So many places! But I think I would pop in on some of my favourite writers and poets. I would love to meet Byron, Keats and Shelley. They'd probably freak me out, but it would be awesome and worth it!

*Ok, so technically, this picture is of Shelley, Byron, and Coleridge, but, I'll take every chance I get to showcase this picture from one of my favorite episodes of Blackadder!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 4 comments  

Labels: Blackadder, Cats, David Bowie, Earl Grey, Jules Verne, Ministry of Peculiar Occurances, Phoenix Rising, Pip Ballantine, Queen Victoria, Suffragettes, Tee Morris, Tesla, The Janus Affair, The Prestige

Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences: Tales from the Archives by Pip Ballantine, Tee Morris et al.
Published by: ImagineThat! Studios
Publication Date: August 23rd, 2011-June 17th, 2012
Format: Kindle
Rating: ★★★
To Buy Collection 1
To Buy Collection 2
To Buy Collection 3
To Buy Collection 4

Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris have been more willing than most authors to embrace the possibilities of new media. Not surprising when you look at their bios and realize how much they have done with podcasts, facebook, twitter, all of which Tee has spoken on. So short e-pub stories don't seem much of a stretch. Yet most authors don't bother to embrace something that could so easily get you new readers and make the returning ones giggle with glee. To find that in the dark hours while you are desperately waiting for the next installment of your favorite new book series that there's a short story to tide you over is a wondrous discovery. The world of The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences also lends itself to this expansion of its universe. While there are Books and Braun, who we love dearly, there are not only peripheral characters to be explored, but also characters that have never been mentioned. The Ministry is a world wide organization that has been around for quite a few years, their archives are easily full to bursting with stories to tell. Telling some of the stories themselves, or relying on other authors, the world that Pip and Tee have created is becoming more and more rich.

At last count there are sixteen short stories set within their world. You can buy them individually or in collections of four for your reading pleasure. As with any collection of stories written by a variety of authors, the quality varies from some of the best short stories I have ever read to ones that I just desperately wanted to end. Yet, they do a very good job of showing the scope of The Ministry's power, as they take place from South America to New Zealand, India to remotest Africa, Siam to the American West, and scary houses just over the road in Islington. We get old questions answered, like why did Eliza really leave New Zealand, what happened on the river in Paris between her and Harry, how hard was it to get all those seven vases that lead to El Dorado, before Eliza broke the last one, to how bad is the situation between Books and his father. We get back stories and side stories and the Ministry Seven, the Ministry's own Baker Street Irregulars, before they where the Ministry Seven. Tons of new questions to have answered, that one can only hope for in an upcoming tale.

The first collection seems to be centered on all the evil jewels can bring. You never want to get a cursed ruby or bauble... bad luck will surely befall you! While the second collection seems to be more action, adventure, daring-do, with men being men in far off places and saving the world for Queen and Country! Rider Haggard, eat your heart out! The third collection contains my very favorite stories of all. Some of the best ones I've read. If you have a desire to read some of the best spine tingling stories, this is where to find them. Collection four is a hodgepodge of stories that didn't really catch me due to tropes of Terracotta Warriors and masturbatory jokes that seemed to key into this year's movie Hysteria. I just think the jokes fell flat and I felt sorry for Books.

Yet of all these stories, there are two that I must single out as being sheer perfection. The first is Dust on the Davenport by O.M. Grey and the second is Hanuman's Gift by Helen E. H. Madden. It does not surprise me that Dust on the Davenport won the Steampunk Chronicle Reader’s Choice Award for Best Short Story. This little ghost story about a junior agent investigating what the other agents think is just another haunting false alarm starts out as a sweet little story about a grieving widow leaning on a green agent and slowly evolves into full on heebie-jeebies land. I don't think I've had this much spine tingling since the first time I watched The Legend of Hell House, which still gives me nightmares! Pure Victorian Ghost Story perfection! While I think Hanuman's Gift will easily be a contender for this year's Reader's Choice Award. Told by Eliza's old partner Harry to the sceptical and inept archivist before Books, it shows the horrors that face agents out in the field and that local myths and legends might best be followed or you could get some zombie monkey action going on that has overtones of Neil Gaiman's Coraline. Also, we learn a lesson that is best repeated, be careful what you wish for! World peace might mean a world devoid of humanity and spending you days relaxing in your pajamas, might just indicate Bedlam.

I look forward to more of the promised stories. I'll need them if I'm to be patient till the next book comes out!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Coraline, Dust on the Davenprot, H. Rider Haggard, Hanuman's Gift, Helen E. H. Madden, Kindle, O.M. Grey, Pip Ballantine, Tales from the Archives, Tee Morris, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences

Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: April 26th, 2011
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Agent Eliza Braun lives for field work. Agent Wellington Books lives for his archives. Both working within The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, a secret agency within Queen Victoria's government, they never have had much time for each other. Eliza was always off on some dangerous mission, hopefully involving dynamite, while Books had his files and artifacts and tea, deep within the bowels of  "Miggins Antiquities." That all changed when one day, Books was Eliza's mission. He had been kidnapped by the enemy and whisked away to a secret base in Antarctica. Eliza arrived guns a blazing and rescued Books, returning the two of them to jolly old England. Only, she didn't follow directions, per se.  Doctor Sound had ordered Wellington to be decommissioned, in the most final way possible, in case he had let any secrets be spilled. Yet Eliza knew that Wellington hadn't been compromised, deep in her bones.

Her penance for such belief in Wellington? Being demoted from field agent to assist him in the archives. Both of them view this as the worst kind of hell imaginable. Wellington doesn't like interlopers in "his" archives. Early morning hours and the complete tedium of filing isn't what Eliza thinks of as a good time either. Though the archives do hold some interest for her... deep within the darkest reaches there are unsolved cases. One of those cases involves her ex partner, Harry. They had been investigating a series of gruesome murders together when Doctor Sound told them to abandon the case. Yet the files indicate that Harry kept working the case secretly, until his disappearance and subsequent reappearance in Bedlam.

Eliza will not let this rest. Slowly she convinces Books that it's in their best interest to continue Harry's investigation. She'll investigate it with or without him, so Books might as well come along. Soon there's buildings blowing up, high speed carriage chases, fights during the opera and secret societies. Working side by side, Books and Braun have to learn to trust each other and believe in their new partner. Yet for Eliza, relying on an agent, untrained in field ops, while being deep undercover could be the riskiest decision she ever made. For Books, leaving the archives was his riskiest decision.

I think I have quite probably found my new favorite series. The mystery, the chemistry, the humor are all perfectly balanced to create one of the best reads out there, Steampunk or otherwise. The polar opposites of toffy, British to the bone, Books and trigger happy, dynamite loving New Zealander Braun can easily go down as one of the best pairings since Mrs. Peel and Steed, Maddy and David, Sam and Diane, Castle and Beckett. They just fuel each other to new levels of ingenuity and snarky, witty banter. They are the chemical equivalent of dynamite, a comparison I know full well Eliza would love. There's a part of me that spent the entire book just hoping they'd get together, and another part of me just loving this long tease... I trust in the writers that everything will be worth my wait and the payoff will be sublime.

Almost a Victorian version of The Avengers, I find that with the artifact nature of many of the investigations, that the book can be favorably compared to one of my favorite series, Warehouse 13. I would not be surprised if at any moment HG Wells popped up and asked for a little help from Books and Braun, creating the best fan fic mash-up of the Victorian Era. Everything about the book just worked. The mystery changes directions many times throughout the lengthy story, yet I enjoyed every minute of the ride and the denouement brought everything back together. The Steampunk elements fit in the story and never once felt out of place or forced, which is a hard thing to do with techno babble. Just wonderful worldbuilding on the parts of Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris.

The authors where even able to take a trope that I've come to hate and make it fresh. The Hellfire Club. Anything Victorian or Regency, or really, any time they can in anything slightly period or historical in a British setting, or British Coloney, the Hellfire Club will rear it's head. Heck, they even did it in The Avengers. Yet the Phoenix Society, while having the debauchery of said predecessor, goes beyond just the wanton lust of what came before. They have a secondary agenda too, yet that isn't what made it work. What made the society work was that the way the authors set up the weekend of loose morals was by creating the perfect British Country House weekend and then skewing it. Like a very dark Gosford Park. Personally, I adore mysteries in a Country House setting. Therefore by adding this level of aristocratic sheen and typical behaviour over the atypical club, I never once was raising my fist going, "Damn you Francis Dashwood and your Monks! Damn you to a real, not intentional hell. Devils poking you... oh wait, you'd probably like that."

Also, as is my way, sometimes when reading a book I totally see one actor in my head immediately. Obviously, the agent Bruce Campbell, would be played by Bruce Campbell, that isn't up for negotiation. For Books I was trying to think of someone stuffy, but who could kick ass and be menacing when need be. The obvious choice is Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and later Angel. Can't you just picture his stammering and lecturing of Eliza? I sure can!

Here is "Books" in lecture mode, disgruntled lecture mode, hence the tie being loose, when he has had one too many problems with Eliza. Once again trying to explain the taxonomy of the filing and how work starts not near lunch or in the afternoon but in the morning.

Yet, he can totally bring the "dapper" for a night out at the opera to enjoy some Macbeth or to infiltrate a Country House Party that has nefarious undertones.

For Eliza, I wanted someone young and plucky, who looks like they are a little cherubic, until they pull a gun on you. While she is The Doctor's next companion, it was Jenna Louise Coleman's performance in the Titanic miniseries by Julian Fellowes that shows she has Eliza's competence, quick wit and sharp tongue.

Also, she can bring the glam, but that reinforced corset might need some adjustments...

Moste Importante Steampunkery:
While there are many great Steampunk inventions in the book, many designed by Books himself, the prize has to go the Mad McTighe's coin-operated Combobula Bar. Lord McTighe was a gallant nutter who disliked women having to be bar maids because "women shouldna be pawed by drunk patrons!" So he invented the Combobula Bar where you can listen to "Onward Christian Soldiers" while waiting for the machine to mix and serve you drink. Yet what makes this shiny brass-and-wooden bar stand out is that it can somehow sense a bar fight and close in on itself, protecting the machinery, but, more importantly, the booze.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Bruce Campbell, Buffy, Eliza Braun, Hellfire Club, Jullian Fellowes, Ministry of Peculiar Occurances, New Zealand, Pip Ballantine, Tee Morris, The Avengers, Victorian, Warehouse 13, Welling Books

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ministry of Peculiar Occurances, Phoenix Rising, Pip Ballantine, Tee Morris

1) Lock 14 by Georges Simenon - I have always wanted to read the Maigret mysteries by Georges Simenon, mainly because my only knowledge of the currently is that Michael Gambon was in a tv series based on these books. So finding these six books was a wonderful find. Not to mention the are so cute and small, about the size of a paperback in height but a little wider. Also, gorgeous deco design by Penguin. Bought at Half Price Books.

2) A Man's Head by Georges Simenon - Ditto. Bought at Half Price Books.

3) The Bar of the Seine by Georges Simenon - Ditto. Bought at Half Price Books.

4) The Madman of Bergerac by George Simenon - Ditto. Bought at Half Price Books.

5) The Hotel Majestic by George Simenon - Ditto. Bought at Half Price Books.

6) The Friend of Madame Maigret by George Simenon - Ditto. Bought at Half Price Books.

7) The Native Star by M.K. Hobson - I picked up the second book in this series awhile back, doh, so now I want to read it and thought, best start at the beginning. If all goes to plan it will be a part of Steapmunk Summer! Bought at Amazon.com.

8-10)* A Ministry of Peculiar Occurances: Tales from the Archives Volumes 1-3 by Pip Ballatine, Tee Morris et al - Short epub Steampunk stories that will be reviewed this coming month for the continuation of Steampunk Summer! Also, totally awesome price because I got all the short stories for less than a paperback! Bought at Amazon.com

*Means it's already been read

11)* A Ministry of Peculiar Occurances: Tales from the Archives Sins of the Father by Tee Morris - Ditto above. Bought at Amazon.com.

12)* A Ministry of Peculiar Occurances: Tales from the Archives A Swan in Siam by PJ Schnyder - Ditto above. Bought at Amazon.com

13)*A Ministry of Peculiar Occurances: Tales from the Archives Women of the Empire by JR Blackwell - Ditto above. Bought at Amazon.com.

14)*A Ministry of Peculiar Occurances: Tales from the Archives The Emperor's Fist by J R Murdock - Ditto above. Bought at Amazon.com.

15) Tempest's Fury by Nicole Peeler - The most recent Jane True book. Bought at Barnes and Noble.

16) A Midsummer Tights Dream by Louise Rennison - I've been waiting what seems like forever for the fun new istallment in Rennison's new series, as an added yeah, I had a 20% off coupon to use. Bought at Barnes and Noble.

17) The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter - A year seems like a long time to wait for this one, but hopefully it will be worth it, I'm just about to start reading it as I type this. Bought at Amazon.com.

Note on the bookstores:

Amazon.com - because sometimes, more often that not, your local Barnes and Noble didn't stock that ONE book you where looking for, and having prime means everything shows up so fast!

Barnes and Noble - the last big chain in the Midwest that everyone knows and loves or loathes accordingly.

Half Price Books - chain store of used books where you can often get amazing deals, but whose prices are not quite half off anymore since they decided to raise their prices in a bad economy.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 1 comments  

Labels: Georges Simenon, Louise Rennison, M.K. Hobson, Maigret, Michael Gambon, Ministry of Peculiar Occurances, Nicole Peeler, Pip Ballantine, Stephen Baxter, Tee Morris, Terry Pratchett, The Long Earth

As you know, a theme month, or months as the case is, wouldn't be complete without a giveaway! Yet, the giveaway must be very appropriate... hence, this giveaway. Everyone needs a book to live by, a bible is such a thing. Of course, I'm not trying to be sacred or profane, but chose the lesser meaning of bible, which is any book, reference work, periodical, etc., accepted as authoritative, informative, or reliable. This is the definitive authority on Steampunk, which is what this summer is about! So enter away... also, the more people who enter to win, the more books I will add to the pot... as you can see, there is definitely more now!

Prizes (the person whose name is drawn first gets first choice, etc, etc.):

*The Steampunk Bible by Jeff Vandermeer
*The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen  by Alan Moore, illustrated by Kevin O'Neill
*The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Book 1: Phoenix Rising Signed and Inscribed to you, by the authors, Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris!
*The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Book 2: The Janus Affair Signed and Inscribed to you, by the authors, Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris!

The Rules:
1. Open to EVERYONE, just because you haven't been following me all along doesn't mean you don't matter, you just get more entries if you prove you love me by following.
2. Please make sure I have a way to contact you if your name is drawn, either your blogger profile or a link to your website/blog or you could even include your email address with your comment(s).
3. Giveaway ends Sunday, September 30th at 11:59PM CST 
4. How to enter:

Answer me this: What is your favorite Steampunk book?

• +1 for answering the question above
• +2 for becoming a follower
• +10 if you are already a follower
• +10 for each time you advertise this contest - blog post, sidebar, twitter (please @eliza_lefebvre), etc. (but you only get credit for the first post, so tweet all you like, and I thank you for it, but you'll only get the +10 once). Also please leave a link! There's a handy code on the side for your sidebars!
• +25 if you comment on any of the posts this summer, with something other than "I hope I win" or a variation thereof.

Good luck to all, may the odds be ever in your favor. Yeah... it's that kind of day.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 5 comments  

Labels: Giveaway, Jeff Vandermeer, Phoenix Rising, Pip Ballantine, Steampunk, Steampunk Bible, Steampunk Summer, Tee Morris, The Janus Affair, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences

Dreamless by Josephine Angelini
Published by: Harper Teen
Publication Date: May 29th, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 496 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Can true love be forgotten?

As the only scion who can descend into the Underworld, Helen Hamilton has been given a nearly impossible task. By night she wanders through Hades, trying to stop the endless cycle of revenge that has cursed her family. By day she struggles to overcome the fatigue that is rapidly eroding her sanity. Without Lucas by her side, Helen is not sure she has the strength to go on.

Just as Helen is pushed to her breaking point, a mysterious new Scion comes to her rescue. Funny and brave, Orion shields her from the dangers of the Underworld. But time is running out—a ruthless foe plots against them, and the Furies' cry for blood is growing louder.

As the ancient Greek world collides with the mortal one, Helen's sheltered life on Nantucket descends into chaos. But the hardest task of all will be forgetting Lucas Delos.

Josephine Angelini's compelling saga becomes ever more intricate and spellbinding as an unforgettable love triangle emerges and the eternal cycle of revenge intensifies. Eagerly awaited, this sequel to the internationally bestselling Starcrossed delivers a gritty, action-packed love story that exceeds all expectations."

I've been wanting to read this series for awhile, even more since the RT Convention... sigh, there are too many books!

Changeling by Philippa Gregory
Published by: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: May 29th, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Dark myths, medieval secrets, intrigue, and romance populate the pages of the first-ever teen series from #1 bestselling author of The Other Boleyn Girl.
Italy, 1453. Seventeen-year-old Luca Vero is brilliant, gorgeous—and accused of heresy. Cast out of his religious order for using the new science to question old superstitious beliefs, Luca is recruited into a secret sect: The Order of the Dragon, commissioned by Pope Nicholas V to investigate evil and danger in its many forms, and strange occurrences across Europe, in this year—the end of days.

Isolde is a seventeen-year-old girl shut up in a nunnery so she can’t inherit any of her father’s estate. As the nuns walk in their sleep and see strange visions, Isolde is accused of witchcraft—and Luca is sent to investigate her, but finds himself plotting her escape.

Despite their vows, despite themselves, love grows between Luca and Isolde as they travel across Europe with their faithful companions, Freize and Ishraq. The four young people encounter werewolves, alchemists, witches, and death-dancers as they head toward a real-life historical figure who holds the boundaries of Christendom and the secrets of the Order of the Dragon.

The first in a series, this epic and richly detailed drama is grounded in historical communities and their mythic beliefs. It includes a medieval map of Europe that will track their journey; and the interior will include relevant decorative elements as well as an interior line illustration. And look for a QR code that links to a note from the author with additional, detailed information about the setting and the history that informed the writing. With Philippa Gregory’s trademark touch, this novel deftly brings the past—and its salacious scandals—vividly and disturbingly to life."

I wonder how Gregory's bid to pry her way into the YA market will work... I'm betting on a fail.

The Janus Affair by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: May 29th, 2012
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Evildoers beware! Retribution is at hand, thanks to Britain's best-kept secret agents!!

Certainly no strangers to peculiar occurrences, agents Wellington Books and Eliza Braun are nonetheless stunned to observe a fellow passenger aboard Britain's latest hypersteam train suddenly vanish in a dazzling bolt of lightning. They soon discover this is not the only such disappearance . . . with each case going inexplicably unexamined by the Crown.

The fate of England is once again in the hands of an ingenious archivist paired with a beautiful, fearless lady of adventure. And though their foe be fiendishly clever, so then is Mr. Books . . . and Miss Braun still has a number of useful and unusual devices hidden beneath her petticoats."

Steampunk yeah! This new series was heartily endorsed by my friend John at Murder by the Book.

Blue-Blooded Vamp by Jaye Wells
Published by: Oribit
Publication Date: May 29th, 2012
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The epic conclusion to the amazing Sabina Kane urban fantasy series.

Sabina Kane is on the hunt. Her prey: Cain, the father of the vampire race and the one who murdered her family and her friends. Unfortunately, Cain is hunting Sabina, too.

The one man who holds the key to defeating Cain is, of course, Abel. A mage with secrets to spare and, hopefully, the power to match it. Unfortunately, for Sabina, he's in Rome and may not want to be found.

Sabina sets out for Italy with her friends, Giguhl and Adam Lazarus, to track down the only man who can get her the revenge she hungers for. But will he help her or oppose her? And just who is Abel, really? Worst of all, when Sabina figures out the goddess Lilith has a plan for her-she realizes this trip is getting deadlier by the minute. As they say: when in Rome-SURVIVE."

Yeah new Sabina Kane, boo last Sabina Kane.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Blue-Blodded Vamp, Changeling, Dreamless, Jaye Wells, Josephine Angelini, Murder by the Book, Philippa Gregory, Pip Ballantine, Sabina Kane, Steampunk, Tee Morris, The Janus Affair, Tuesday Tomorrow