A Matter of Temperance
by Ichabod Temperance
In 1869, the Earth experiences the close pass of a new comet. In its wake, thousands of Terra's inhabitants find themselves strangely changed. Among humanity, many find that any talent they may naturally possess has been elevated to an astounding degree. Likewise, a number of animals become self-aware and intelligent. A young “comet prodigy” from humble beginnings, Ichabod Temperance, has become one of the world's foremost inventors in this age of prolific genius. Traveling to England to deliver his latest brilliant device to a famous explorer, the young tinker is unexpectedly struck by the fearsome hand of fate. Meanwhile, a lovely young aristocrat, Miss Persephone Plumtartt, survives an experimental accident only to find herself imbued with a power she can neither understand nor control, while dark forces and malevolent creatures pursue her, leaving a gruesome wake of death.
Yet, worse is to come. The naïve young inventor and the lovely intellectual find themselves fighting not only to save their own lives, while concurrently coming to terms with their own budding romance, but to prevent the destruction of all life on Earth in this humorously told and poignant steampunk adventure!
This is the first book in the series, 'The Adventures of Ichabod Temperance'. There are six books. Though in a series, each book is a stand-alone adventure.
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Fire Fairy Review
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
A Matter of Temperance is the first steampunk book I've read. I actually avoided this genre because I had a feeling that I wouldn't enjoy it.
Imagine my surprise when I read this delightful novel. It may not be my comfort genre but I was really entertained by Ichabod and Persephone's adventures.
A Matter Of Temperance is a story set in the late 1800s, where the Revelatory Comet has just passed Earth, leaving behind enhanced talents to prodigies in all fields. One of them is our hero,Ichabod Temperance. He travelled to England to meet with a famous explorer who's about to purchase his prized invented goggles. But things didn't go well between him and the vile explorer so the deal was off. One night he sees the beautiful Persephone Plumtartt being chased by an invisible monster and he came to her rescue. Using his goggles he sees the abomination and saves Ms. Plumtartt. And the rest is a history of adventures across the globe.
I like the fact that the story is on dual POV. I especially enjoy reading Ichabod's thoughts. He was such a nice gentleman and I can't help but like his charming personality. I also enjoy the humorous bits added by the author, especially the use of sound effects (!plinck!) inside his mind. It was just funny.
Persephone's POV is darker and gives the story a more serious side. Persephone's character is a strong woman, who knows when to use her brain and beauty to their advantage, even if Ichabod doesn't like it. Yep, she uses her charming beauty for some small favors (nothing scandalous, mind you).
The overall story was good. I especially enjoyed their travels from one country to another. The author's style made the gore scenes less terrifying. If the book had a more serious tone in it, the story would have been in the horror genre. Really, some scenes should have been disgusting and scary but it wasn't.
As much as I enjoyed most parts of the book, I had a hard time reading through some pages because of too many technical terms. The book was so wordy that it became tedious to read through some pages. I'm not sure I even understand them myself. Other than that, this is a good book all in all.
If you haven't tried reading Steampunk yet, this is a good book to start with. Just make sure you have some dictionary handy beside you. I'm giving A Matter of Temperance 4 stars for the wonderful adventure and the new world it has shown me. I definitely recommend this to Steampunk fans and to those who want to try the said genre. It's a book worth reading!
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The prize is for 3 ecopies of the book.
Thank you for reading and reviewing 'Matter', Fire Fairy!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words!
Cheers, and Happy reading, my friends!
Your pal,
~Icky.