Dreadnought (Clockwork Century)

My first experience with Cherie Priest was Boneshaker and having found that to be an enjoyable, though at times slow read, I looked forward to Dreadnaught with some minor uncertainty. Other reviews seemed to also indicate this book had a slow progress which agreed with my earlier expectations, but despite this I could not have been more wrong. This book was a real page turner for me from start to finish.This book begins out in an alternate world which Priest already described in the first book in the series with an American civil war lasting over twenty years. You can almost stop right there with the first book and start with this one and in fact I have been recommending this book instead of the first book to introduce people to the series because for the vast majority you really do not need to know anything about boneshaker to enjoy dreadnought.The characters and story is told entirely from the point of view of the main character, Mercy, who injects her thoughts and opinions on just about everything. This really helped me get into her mindset and to see the supporting case in a similar way as her. The story does have a lot of slow moments where you can feel her trudge along which fits well into the atmosphere of the book. I could not overstate how vivid the author writes and descriptions seem to come to life right out of the pages. Some of the other reviews I’ve read about this book complain about the pacing and dry spells and though I know what they mean, I disagree that this is truly a point against the story. While not every part is action packed, the bits that are not do a terrific job of immersion into the experience the characters are feeling. You may be tempted to skim past them, but do not! You will rob yourself of some truly excellent imagery. I also especially love how the author plays with other senses, describing sound and smells in ways that bring them to life.This is not to say the book has no flaws, but the flaws are vastly shadowed by the immense talent in which the fascinating tale is told. My first complaint comes with the level of comfort all of the characters seem to have with shooting other people without truly being explained. Mercy doesn’t flinch at the thought of shooting someone and I did not feel this was established. Generally I would not pick at such a minor complaint, but because this book is so good in virtually every other aspect, this tiny thing kind of stuck me. Next up there is a ‘rescue’ that happens rather late in the story that I found a touch implausible, some explanation for why that particular group was in that particular area might have been nice. Finally the reason I gave this book four instead of five stars is because of the extended epilogue. This is the part where the book really ties in with Boneshaker and I found it excessive and not necessary. There is over a hundred pages devoted to the tie in and none of it really applies to the book you’ve just read and when the entire rest of the story can be enjoyed without reading Boneshaker I would have liked if the epilogue was drastically shorter. In fact it isn’t called an epilogue in the book, rather I am referring to it as such due to the extreme departure it brings from the earlier story.Needless to say I still enjoyed this book a great deal and it is quickly becoming one of my most recommended. That it did not manage complete perfection is a shame, but that shouldn’t stop anyone from reading it. I will look forward to reading more from this talented author and I suggest you do too.

This is the second book or third story (Clementine, Boneshaker) of four (with Ganymede so far) in Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century. While not a direct sequel to Boneshaker, it is set in the same storyline of an alternate history with a 20 year U.S. Civil War. The main character, Nurse "Mercy" Lynch, has broken from her recent past, as a leading floor nurse in military hospital in Virginia, and is traveling westward through an eastern war zone towards a half-formed destination in Washington state. The story is primarily a woman's journey across a different America. While I enjoyed the book it seems that, Mercy is almost a side character in a story of side characters. The main character seems to be the setting, the Clockwork Century itself. Mercy's physical journey allows the reader to learn about the world and its relationships through her interactions with the other travelers she encounters. With each interaction, fellow travelers' perspectives add another dimension to this version of steampunk history. Mercy also uncovers a few pieces of a larger puzzle that interweaves through the all stories. Personally, I think this is one of the reasons for the popularity of the series so far. Each book adds a little to the reader's knowledge of the presumably upcoming Zombie outbreak.Mercy's journey isn't one of self discovery, flight from some sort of nefarious threat or an attempt to complete a desperate mission. It's more like she has just exhausted her reasons to stay on in one location at a particular stage of her life and utilized a halfhearted excuse to find her father as a mechanism to move on, seek a fresh start. The fact that Mercy is a trained Nurse allows her greater access to the side characters of various social classes and standings. It also is a device that assists Cherie Priest's in the build up towards what appears to be the focus of the Clockwork Century, as Mercy connects various pieces of information along her travels that tie into the issues and events described in previous stories. The character relationships are sometimes fleeting, sometimes superfluous and certainly unromantic, but seemingly typical for interactions various people travel together with various agendas.The only real weakness is the lack of character friction in Cherie Priest's writing. Predominately Mercy's fellow travelers have a tendency to cooperate and behave rationality in trying situations and despite identified regional and class conflicts between Confederates, Union, Texan, Mexican, high society and low brow characters. There is never that strong of a feeling of cheering for the good guy or anticipation for the fall of the bad guy. I think that a little more character friction would tighten the storytelling. Still, the story had crashing dirigibles, racing super-powered locomotives, walking tanks, fighting soldiers, hidden spies, bandit attacks, Texas Rangers, Mexican Federals and flesh-eating zombies tied together by effective wordsmithing by Cherie Priest. I feel that enough detail is given to flesh out a character, location or device without being overdone or seriously lacking in effect. It's really entertaining American western/steampunk/dieselpunk story writing. I've read all these stories to date will pick up the next ones.

I've given all three of Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century novels 4 out of 5 - although 7 out of 10 is probably more accurate. They're all cut from the same cloth: civil-war era steampunk adventures populated by amusingly-named characters who walk and talk with authenticity, but they're also all subtly different enough to not feel overly familiar. There's also a strong helping of spunky female leads and a smattering of zombies to keep you interested. The real downfall with all three novels is their tendancy to take a while to get going and 'Dreadnought' is no different. The build-up is lovingly and carefully written, it just makes the scenes set on the Dreadnought itself come across a little rushed. It's not a bad read (and the Sci-Fi Essential prints are also very thoughtfully produced) - just not perfect.

This is the 7th Cherie Priest book I've read and by far the best. I nearly did not carry on with this series because I thought Boneshaker was about 100 pages too long, largely because there was too much dialogue. That is not a fault here. The worldbuilding for the Clockwork Century really opens up now. Despite Airships, Mechanical Men and an army of Zombie Mexicans this still has a recognizable Western feel to it and should be enjoyed by any Western fans, the highpoint being a chase of locomotives. Recommended.

A great continuation of the Clockwork Century series. The way that Priest expands the world in such a natural fashion is a joy to read. It's fantastic to read a series of novels with such strong female characters. Recommended to anyone who has a passing interest in the American Civil War or steampunk.

1879: Seit zwanzig Jahren tobt in Amerika der Bürgerkrieg. Vinita "Mercy" Lynch arbeitet in Virginia als Krankenschwester in einem Militärhospital. Ihr Mann ist in einem Kriegsgefangenenlager gestorben und nun erhält sie auch noch die Nachricht, dass ihr Vater in Seattle im Sterben liegt. Obwohl Mercy jahrelang keinen Kontakt zu ihm hatte, macht sie sich dennoch auf die lange Reise durch das kriegsverwüstete Amerika. Per Luftschiff, Dampfer und Zug kämpft sie sich unter Schwierigkeiten bis nach St. Louis durch, nur um dort auf ein weiteres Problem zu stoßen. Der einzige Zug Richtung Seattle wird von der berühmt-berüchtigten Unions-Lok Dreadnought gezogen. Die mächtige Kriegsmaschine jagt Mercy Angst ein, trotzdem bleibt ihr keine andere Wahl, als den Zug zu besteigen.Die Reise beginnt zunächst recht harmlos, schnell wird aber klar, dass Dreadnought eine geheime Fracht geladen hat. Rebellen heften sich an ihre Fersen und versuchen den Zug zu kapern. Mercy will mit all den Intrigen und Kämpfen nichts zu tun haben, trotzdem findet sie sich immer mitten im Geschehen wieder. Kann sie das Rätsel Dreadnoughts lösen und wird sie die Reise zu ihrem Vater unbeschadet überstehen?DREADNOUGHT ist die lose Fortsetzung von BONESHAKER. "Lose" deshalb, da man BONESHAKER grundsätzlich nicht gelesen haben muss, um die Handlung des Romans verstehen zu können, und auch die Verbindungen zum Vorgängerband sind eher oberflächlich.DREADNOUGHT hat mir insgesamt gut gefallen, obwohl sich der Einstieg in den Roman sehr langatmig gestaltet. Wir bekommen Infos zur Lage Amerikas und zu Mercy, die Action kommt im Grunde auch nicht zu kurz, trotzdem fand ich das erste Drittel des Buchs eher langweilig. Erst als Mercy St. Louis und Dreadnought erreicht, geht es bergauf. Die Zugfahrt, das Rätsel um die geheimnisvolle Ladung und die Übergriffe durch die Rebellen sind wirklich spannend und anschaulich geschildert und haben mir sehr gut gefallen.Die Figuren in DREADNOUGHT sind ebenfalls sehr ordentlich gezeichnet. Mercy ist eine starke Frau, die durchsetzungsfähig ist und unbeirrt durchs Leben geht. Als Krankenschwester hat sie eine Menge gesehen und mitgemacht, also ist sie nicht leicht aus der Bahn zu werfen. Auch die Nebenfiguren konnten mich überzeugen, von denen es eine ganze Reihe gibt. Besser ausgearbeitet ist aber nur eine Handvoll von Mercys Mitpassagieren, die mir eigentlich alle recht gut gefallen haben.In DREADNOUGHT liegt der Fokus anders als in BONESHAKER eher auf den Steampunk-Elementen als auf den Zombies, obwohl sie auch in diesem Buch ihren Auftritt haben und vor allem gegen Ende wichtiger für die Handlung werden. Der Weltenbau mit all den skurrilen Erfindungen und dem alternativen Geschichtsverlauf hat mir persönlich sehr gut gefallen und ist wie schon in BONESHAKER sehr überzeugend.Alles in allem ist DREADNOUGHT ein spannendes und actionreiches Buch, das mir trotz des schwachen Anfangs gut gefallen hat. Für alle Freunde von Zombies, Steampunk und Alternate History auf jeden Fall zu empfehlen.

I can't get enough of Cherie Priest novels.. started with this series - love her Steampunk. Cherie Priest is my favourite​ author and this one is awesome. Love them all IN the Clockwork Century series.