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    Boneshaker: A Novel of the Clockwork Century
    Boneshaker: A Novel of the Clockwork Century
    Boneshaker: A Novel of the Clockwork Century
    Audiobook13 hours

    Boneshaker: A Novel of the Clockwork Century

    Written by Cherie Priest

    Narrated by Wil Wheaton and Kate Reading

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Cherie Priest's long-awaited steampunk debut, Boneshaker, opens in the early days of the Civil War when 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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateFeb 16, 2010
    ISBN9781427210845
    Boneshaker: A Novel of the Clockwork Century
    Author

    Cherie Priest

    Cherie Priest is a full-time novelist, perhaps most famous for the Clockwork Century series, starting with the highly-acclaimed and award-winning Boneshaker. She is also a member of the Wild Cards Consortium, George R. R. Martin’s superhero universe. She currently lives in Tennessee with her husband, and you can find out more at www.CheriePriest.com.

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    Reviews for Boneshaker

    3.5/5

    1,308 ratings153 reviews

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    • 4/5
      4.5

      I really quite enjoyed this. I liked that it wasn't all action and blowing stuff up. I liked that there was a 35-year-old, tired out mother as a heroine. I like that the son wasn't a sniveling baby, but also wasn't overly confident. I liked that people were smart and could read between lines and such. I enjoyed the alternative world and the basic story-line. I also just plain enjoyed the writing style.

      I did think it got a little slow at times and dragged a little here and there. I also would have liked to have known the fate of the City-crew after Briar and Zeke left and there did seem to be a number of convenient coincidences. But all-in-all an enjoyable read.
    • 2/5
      I expected to enjoy this book a lot more than I actually did. The Steampunk/Post Apocalypse/Zombie blend is a really great idea. I think the main problem I had was the simple fact that the characters didn’t mean anything to me and I didn’t care if they lived or died, also I do think the story droned on a little bit and could of been trimmed a little more to make the story more exciting.
    • 5/5
      This is very good. It's a fun premise, a fun story, and the narrators bring it to life. It's steampunk. It's alt history. It's zombies. It does all that very well. Cherie Priest did a great job with the Clockwork Century. It's so fresh and interesting
    • 3/5
      This is a steampunk zombie novel. The Boneshaker is a machine meant to drill deep into the frozen earth of the Kodiak to mine gold. Designed by Leviticus Blue, he went about testing it in his home-town of Seattle before the Russians came to claim their machine. The machine got loose and drilled deep into the city and released the blight from the ground. The blight is a poisonous gas, and it kills people and leaves them undead, rotters. Fast-forward about fifteen years from the day the Boneshaker took it's toll on the city and we find a wall has gone up in Seattle separating the clean part of the city from the blight-ridden territory. Briar is the widow of Leviticus Blue, but uses her maiden name Wilkes due to the infamy associated with the name of Blue. Her son Zeke was born the day the wall went up, and is dead curious about his father and grandfather. Briar doesn't tell him much, if anything, in order to protect him. In a foolish move of epic proportions, he decides to go on the other side of the wall to discover what he can about his father's role in the whole business. Several hours later, Briar notices her son's absence and goes in after him. It takes near to the end of the book before they finally reunite. Both encounter a wide variety of characters and have a few run-ins with rotters. Both hear rumors about a Dr. Minarecht who may or may not be Leviticus Blue. I listened to the audio version narrated by Wil Wheaton and Kate Reading. I love Wheaton, but I had a hard time enjoying Reading's narration. Ironic, because her part of the story (Briar's) was far more interesting than Wheaton's (Zeke's). I found Zeke pretty annoying, mostly because I don't have patience with completely irresponsible teenaged-boys. (Aside: Did I ever write a review of Salinger's A Catcher in the Rye? 'Cause, yeah. Same thing. That kid was annoying.)On the whole, I enjoyed the story, but I doubt I'll read any further books in the series. The world is definitely painted fantastically. The combination of steampunk and alternate-history and zombies, er, rotters, was wonderfully-wrought. If these are element you enjoy, take a dive into Seattle's Blight in Boneshaker. Just remember to wear your mask.
    • 5/5
      This was the first of Cherie Priest's book I read, and let me tell you, she hooked me. If you're interested in steampunk, zombies, pirates, adventures, horror, alternate history, strong women characters, post-apocalyptic/disaster, science fiction, or Seattle, this is the book for you. Did I mention zombies? Steampunk with zombies. I admit, I mainly picked up this book because 1) steampunk with zombies sounded like it could be spectacular 2) I'd read rave reviews from several sources 3) Scott Westerfeld's review on the front cover: "A steampunk-zombie-airship adventure of rollicking pace and sweeping proportions, full of wonderfully gnarly details. This book is made of irresistible." The book definitely lived up to my expectations, and surpassed them. It's certainly in my top 5 favorite books, and I have a new series to fall in love with. Thank you, Cherie Priest, for this marvelous gem.
    • 1/5
      I give up.

      With a few exceptions, public libraries did not exist in 1860.
      At that time, Seattle only had 302 people - not nearly enough to support a downtown 2 square miles in size.
      At age 15-16, Zeke would no longer be attending school, as high school as we know it did not exist.
      No one poor would have enough clothes to form piles of dirty ones on the floor.

      Nothing at all is proper to the time period - not even the way the characters interact with each other.

      This is a modern setting, just minus technology and adding candles and fireplaces. I'm only 50 pages into the book, and I give up. I'm not interested in the story or characters enough to manage another 400 pages or so of nonsense.
    • 2/5
      A generation after a terrible tragedy destroys a town, the descendants of the mad scientist who catalyzed the problem venture back into the town. One is desperate to prove his family's innocence; the other just wants to bring her son home. The world building is cool but I didn't care about either character and was impatient for plot to happen, so I gave up on it.
    • 2/5
      I wanted to like this book, but the pacing felt like it was deliberately slowed down in a way that was not complimentary (or complementary, for that matter) to the subject matter, or the chase scenes. The concept intrigued me, but I was just not happy with the execution.
    • 4/5
      Probably more of a 3.5 than a 4, but I'm rounding up because I liked Priest's Eden Moore trilogy so damn much. What makes me hesitate to give this a full 4 stars is that I felt like so much time was spent running and hiding and running and sneaking that there were big gaps between where the plot moved forward. The running and hiding that Briar does when she first enters the walled city is great - it's a very tense, very exhilarating scene that I could see playing out in my head quite vividly. But when I wanted to learn more about this walled Seattle, and about its occupants and their reasons for being there, there was just more running instead.I'd still recommend it to any steampunk fan. I found it a little less 'out there' than other steampunk books I've read - despite having zombies in it, it's far more grounded in reality. This alternate reality felt like it was only a small step sideways from our actual world.
    • 3/5
      This one was so many times almost a dnf for me. It took the author far too long to engage the audience as her characters wandered around meeting more and more characters, all the while tryinig to find others.But I liked the ending, and the promise of how it might end is what kept me reading.Briar Blue has a big secret- oh not that her husband and his dreaded machine known as the Boneshaker set off an explosion that caused a blight to occur which turns people into Zombies, whilst extending the American Civil War- everyone knows that. No, her secret is wrapped up in far more guilt and shame concerning her late husband. Because of this, she's told her son Ezekiel nothing of his father and his past. To clear his name, Zeke decides to go into the very heart of the blight- and into the heart of danger- and Briar must follow him and bring him out before he dies any number of deaths... not the least of which is getting turned into a Zombie.A little bit steampunk, a smidge of Mad Max, a whole heap of apocalyptic alternate reality and you get Boneshaker.(btw, for you romance readers- there's nil in this one. In the end, it's the boring cataloging of her world that killed it for me. Hopefully by the next book it'll be more about the story.)
    • 2/5
      This is one of those cases where I had a completely different reaction than the rest of the world, so take it with a grain of salt. However, I had a really hard time here--I didn't particularly care about any of the characters and didn't feel invested enough in the world of the story to make it work. [Feb. 2011]
    • 3/5
      Steampunk adventure set in a fictional Civil War era Seattle.
    • 4/5
      Now this is a steampunk novel that I liked! I loved that the world-building was not over the top and in your face - it developed over time, as you get to know the characters. I loved the zombies/rotters. I loved the unique technology and social problems.I did not understand how the two main characters, the mother & son, could have SUCH a strained relationship. It seems that she was a single mom for his entire life, and yet at the beginning of the book it is as though they have never spoken. Why would she not just answer his questions like a normal human being? (Then there would be no book.) So I thought that part was strained and a little contrived, but it served to get everyone into the old city, where the entire story was great.PLUS - I loved that it was published in brown ink. Very easy on the eyes and in character.
    • 4/5
      At first glance it seems that what this book was an idea in someone's brain what they did was sit down and come up with as many chiches as they could then cram them in sideways. We have an evil genius, a downtroden but plucky duo for the protaganists, a death-gas, zombies, airships, and pirates in the airships. Not to mention a post-apocalyptic city where people choose to live though there are perfectly valid other options. But, out of this hodge-podge of ideas, we get a good book. Ok, it has it's downsides. The zombies are badly explained and, frankly, unnecessary (in that they were the magical zombie type, but supposably made by a gas so they should still exist within the realms of biological possibility and not be able to sprint around the place when down to only bones) but the walled-up city was a nice idea, as was the underground, though I would have liked more idea why the people were still there though it was obviously horribly dangerous. The thing that really made this novel, though, is Briar Wilkes. We get two protagonists, Briar and her son. The son, Zeke, runs of to find his father and get a typical coming-of-age story with ludicrous plot twists and insight (I can't get over how he KNEW the guy claiming to be his dad wasn't, though he had no way of knowing. He did test it and that clued him in but I don't get how he knew before that). But his mother, who is a normal woman trying to get by in a world that hates her, goes after him. And Briar is awsome. She'd the most well developed character in the book by far. She'd interesting and compelling and shows real human fears that she bolsters behind the determination to find her son. She forms real connection and learns to operate in what is, esentially, hell, and she does it all realisticly. I loved how they didn't shoe-horn in a romantic plot for her as people tend to, but let her get on with doing her own thing and keeping her own priorities. So, a little rambly but, yes, I did enjoy this book, and a lot of the reason was the very believeable, very well drawn out protagonist.
    • 4/5
      I'm vacillating between giving Boneshaker three and four stars. It mostly fell down for me for very, very subjective reasons -- liberal use of a trope I'm not fond of -- although there's also a bit of a problem with the pacing. In places it worked very well: beautifully tense and exciting. But after a while, the sneaking and hiding wears on you. It's like watching a movie consisting of nothing but scenes in which the characters crawl through tunnels. No matter how well-shot those scenes are, it gets boring.

      The trope that irritated me was the trope of 'they just missed each other'. Briar and Zeke could have met several times before they actually do, and while that might have shortened the book if they hadn't missed each other, I'm not sure that would have been a bad thing. Still, that's one of my pet peeves. It always reminds me of romantic comedies, which invariably make me want to beat my head against whatever's convenient (and I got dragged to a fair number as a teenager).

      I also wasn't terribly pleased with Zeke. He ran when he should have stayed still, and stayed still when he should've been running. I know that he wasn't psychic and doesn't know what the reader knows, but even early on, Rudy is obviously not the kind of guy he should be running with. You take what you can get, I guess, but...

      I was much more impressed with Briar. An older, working class single mother, kicking so much ass. She doesn't make the same stupid decisions as Zeke, so she's a lot easier to sympathise with. She's not perfect, no, but she does what she thinks is right.

      The setting is well done -- quite vivid, and oddly realistic despite the fact that, yeah, it's full of zombies. It's not the most convincing explanation, I guess -- gas that creates the living dead? -- but it's not too necessary, either. The whole thing with Minnericht... I called it, to some extent: I guessed why Briar was so sure about who he was (or, rather, wasn't). I liked it, though.

      I enjoyed Boneshaker, yeah, but I'm not in a tearing hurry to read the other two books set in the same world.
    • 5/5
      I can honestly say that Cherie Priest's Boneshaker is one of the best books I've ever read. It fully embraces the steampunk style and runs off with it on a fantastic adventure. The combination of pirates, zombies, the setting of Seattle (and how Cherie alters it), and the quickly moving yet detailed plot all mesh together into a fabulous read. Boneshaker blew past all my expectations. I could picture the walled city in my mind and felt terror creep into my bones as the rotters relentlessly chased the characters through the deadly gas-filled streets. The twist at the end was an interesting reveal and Cherie wrote it in perfectly. The characters were vibrant, believable and really pulled the whole tale together. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
    • 4/5
      Zeke searches for his father’s true story is inside a walled city filled with poison gas and zombies. Can Mom find Zeke in time?I am finding that steampunk novels satisfy my craving for strong, intelligent characters who happen to be female. Briar Wilkes has been raising her son ever since the disaster that poisoned half of Seattle – a disaster caused by her inventor husband. Levi Blue created the ultimate machine of destruction, dubbed the Boneshaker, for the Russian government so they could mine for gold more efficiently. Blue decided to use the machine himself, to steal money from bank vaults. No one could have known what lurked under the Earth’s crust: a poisonous gas that turned people into zombies. Rotters started to overrun Seattle, and a wall to keep the zombies – and the gas that makes them – away from the population.Now fifteen years old, Zeke goes inside the walled section to find out about his father. Without hesitation, Briar follows him in, and meets a rag-tag bunch of humans who dare to live there. Because her own father was something of a local hero, she is offered help in finding Zeke. But can they find him before the questionable “Dr. Minnericht” does? Minnericht likes to think he runs the city, and whispers of his true identity keep everyone fearful enough to obey.This adventure was a lot of fun. Briar is a likeable heroine: strong-willed, intelligent, and not afraid to ask for help when she needed it. That’s not to say she can’t take care of herself! Inside the walled city, she meets two other women who are just as strong as she: Angeline and Lucy. These women fought the rotters alongside the men. In fact, in many instances, Lucy calls the shots. I might continue the series, just so I can see how Zeke grows up. He is intelligent and strong-willed like his mother, but never petulant. Towards the end of the book he is able to step back and think about the bigger picture, which is what adulthood is all about, really.
    • 5/5
      It took me a couple of tries to get this book started, but I sure was glad once I got going. A steampunk tale set in an alternate-history Seattle (with airships AND zombies!) Boneshaker turned out to be one of those books I couldn't wait to get back to...and during one of the busiest times in my schedule, too, so it was torture.
    • 4/5
      Much as I wanted to like it (zombies! Pseudo-Victoriana!) I was jsut never that engaged by this book. It is all undeniably skillfully executed, so perhaps the fault was mine...
    • 3/5
      Steampunk zombies! Some kind of explosion/accident/nefarious deed happened that caused a toxic fog, called The Blight, to cover Seattle. The townsfolk build a wall around it, but when Briar's son disappears behind the wall, she has to go in and find him. I wasn't that drawn in by this one. The characters were okay but I didn't buy the backstory of the Blight, or even of Briar's dark past. If you're absolutely obsessed with steampunk, you'll probably appreciate the clockwork and airships and other tropes, but otherwise it's pretty forgettable.A note on the audio: I was not too impressed with the readers on this one. Wil Wheaton was okay, but I think I expected better of his voice acting, and Kate Reading's stilted monotone has caused me to abandon otherwise promising books before. Listening to her read this was a bit of a chore.
    • 4/5
      It took me awhile to get into this book but after it got going, it was very good. I haven't read much steampunk before but this was enjoyable. With a crazy premise including zombies, a drilling machine, poison gas and airships, there is a little bit of everything here. My biggest issue seems to be regularly cited in reviews: it was hard to connect with the characters, especially Briar, for quite awhile. My advice: stick with it--the second half is much better.
    • 1/5
      There's just about nothing I liked about this. I know it's not the quirky steampunk setting that's the problem, I enjoyed Mortal Engines! The moment I realized my interest was completely gone was in chapter one where the main character asks a question, then the writing indicates that both characters were completely silent while the main character found her tobacco, rolled a cigarette, and started smoking it. Then the other character answered the question. Come on.
    • 3/5
      adult fiction; steampunk zombie adventure. Pretty exciting, once you get in the thick of it. I don't normally read from the zombie or steampunk genres, so I don't know what else to say here.
    • 3/5
      Cool premise but the pacing dragged it down and after awhile I wasn't super into/ supportive of the characters.
    • 2/5
      I definitely do not like steampunk. Interesting characters, though.
    • 1/5
      Didn't enjoy it and I'm just done with steam punk. Not for me. I tried with The Anubis Gates but I couldn't finish that one either.
    • 4/5
      So, this steampunk zombie book was a rollicking adventure and I enjoyed every minute of it. I kinda went in to it blind. I knew that it was a popular steampunk book and since I was wanting to read more steampunk, I just bought it. Imagine my surprise when zombies showed up in the story! But that's OK because it was a great story. I liked the alternative history. I loved Briar Wilkes. I thought she was a very strong woman and I'd like to see more of her story and what happened to her after this book. I'll definitely be picking up the rest of the series.
    • 4/5
      Good steampunk story. Fun read. Got a little draggy in the middle. Worth reading nonetheless.
    • 4/5
      This was my first experience with Priest's work, and it was a pleasure. I found it to be a brilliantly imagined steampunk novel set during an extended Civil War, and in Seattle, a catastrophic event has brought the Blight upon the city, which causes the dead to walk. The story focuses on a mother seeking to save her son, whom has charged off into the city to find out about his father. Along the way she encounters air pirates, zombie rotters, and the other people who choose to brave the Blight, living beneath the ground and in sealed vaults for protection. However, its also a mystery, for the son's quest will lead them both on a journey to answer the questions raised by the Blight, and to learn once and for all the real history of the experiment that started it all.

      The book is well written, the action is tight, and it's just a hell of a lot of fun to read. The only complaint I have is that the last chapter seemed a little flat to me, almost an unnecessary epilogue, that answers none of the questions that still remain, but without actually building any sort of wonderment or cliffhanger. This is the only reason that I'm only doing four stars.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. Great fun and a wonderful mashup of steampunk, zombies, and westerns. I can't wait to read the next book.