Name: Thunderer
ISBN: 9780553591101

Felix Gilman

When an innocent wandering monk accidentally unleashes a dark power, the city of Ararat will be forever changed, as will the lives of two powerful men--Captain Arlandes, the troubled commander of Thunderer, the airship patrolling the skies over Ararat, and his nemesis, Jack Silk, a god-touched rebel leader. A first novel. Reprint.

Thunderer

One man embarks on a thrilling and treacherous quest for his people's lost god--in an elaborate Dickensian city that is either blessed or haunted.--From publisher description.

Kayla Ndife

I was wary when starting to read this novel. I'd read China Mieville's Perdido Street Station about a year ago and, while I had been able to recognize the man's talent, there was something about the novel that just did not work with me. Thunderer looked like it was about to head down that road that I really didn't want to follow it down. I didn't want to read something brutal, gritty, and depressing, the only message of which was despair, although those things wouldn't have ncessarily made Thunderer a BAD novel.

While there is loss of hope, however, permeating most of the novel, and very CLEAR similarities to China Mieville (if Gilman hasn't read Perdido Street Station then I'm the queen of England), I didn't have to FORCE myself to finish this novel. The characters are compelling, easy to love, and complex in tragic ways that make you truly care abou them and want the best for them.

Like a previous reviewer said, Gilman avoids all of the things that Thunderer did wrong. While the story takes a little bti to get going, the writing is pretty tight, the language accesible. I didn't get lost in the narrative and feel like I had to go back and figure out what was going on. And there's hope throughout - never despair - something that I was not expecting but am certainly pleased to find.

Would definitely reommend this.

Thunderer

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