I wild ride of a steampunk adventure. Blaylock rose to the heights on this adventure of St Ives and company. ( )

I haven't really read much steampunk, though in principle I like the idea. This was labelled "steampunk legend" on the front, so I had hopes of a good read. In fact I found it slightly underwhelming. It's very Gothic, somewhat gory, and involves an airship and some other time-appropriate technology, along with some semi-occult jiggery-pokery about using skulls as spiritualist magic lanterns. There were some nice characters (Finn Conrad the resourceful urchin, Mother Laswell the clairvoyant, Bill Kraken the dependable handyman), and some decent description, but I found the grim setting and the relentlessly fortune-switching plot somewhat tiring. I'm not rushing to read more. MB 2-xii-2021 ( )

Well, I’m sure you can see I’ve had this book in my possession for a while, but it was intentional not to review it until now. You see, I wanted to read the other books in the series, which were republished by Titan Books, before I delved into reviewing this baby. The reason for that is simple, I’m not a steampunk reader in general and it would have been completely unfair of me to judge the book without some background knowledge. When I first read the book (back in February), I immediately noticed how well constructed the book was, how beautifully written it was and what imaginative creativity had gone into creating it. However, I still feel it was important to read Homunculus and Lord Kelvin’s Machine before embarking on writing this review. So, let’s get to it, shall we?

First off, this book is an exceptional read. I mean, once you’ve got the background story of Professor Langdon St. Ives, you are going to enjoy the hell out of The Aylesford Skull – and even more the second time around! The story will make you think long after you’ve finished the book, but best of all is that you won’t get enough of the adventures of Professor Langdon St. Ives. It’s even darker than Lord Kelvin’s Machine though, and there is once again something terrible at stake, but in my opinion, it’s a must-have in every home library. What I liked the most about The Aylesford Skull though is how beautiful the descriptions are, it’s like you’re right there, in Victorian London with steam-powered stuff all around you. It’s magic! James P. Blaylock is just a master at writing.

So, yes I loved the book and I will advise every reader to get their hands on all of Blaylock’s books. Oh, and if you’re really daring, you might like to get your hands on the Limited Edition that’s published by Titan Books…

(Review originally posted on www.killeraphrodite.com ) ( )

The first steampunk novel I have read. Like others I was slightly confused. Is this the first book? Have we not got the full series here in the UK? Some questions that need answering then. All in all this was an interesting read and a good adventure story. I will probably read another one. Did it blow me away though? no - and after a recommendation by Philip K. Dick as well! ( )

I was first intrigued by the description, and the fact that it was a steampunk novel (I like steampunk). The book started out strong, with action almost from the first page. I liked the writing style, and I liked most of the characters that were introduced.

The book is a good adventure story, and aside from the adventure of it, there's also ghosts and necromancy, which is right up my alley, and I liked the way the supernatural elements of the story were weaved into the plot. I also liked that we got different perspectives from the different characters.

However, I felt that I was missing some backstory behind some of the characters, specifically between St. Ives and Narbondo. I understand that they are nemeses, and I know that without that aspect of their relationship in place there would be no plot (there would be no point in the kidnapping if there wasn't the drive for revenge on Narbondo's part), but the reason WHY they were nemeses was never really explained. It was touched on, and hinted at, but I didn't feel as though I got a really good explanation or history and that bothered me. I don't think it's a crucial aspect of it, and you don't really need it to enjoy the story, but I just kind of wished that I knew more about them.

While there were a lot of good scenes (and some scenes and lines that actually made me laugh-mostly involving St. Ives's friend Tubby, who was actually one of my favorite characters) I also felt that it dragged in places. I actually felt that quite a few scenes with St. Ives were the draggiest bits (except towards the end), and I enjoyed the scenes with Tubby and his comrades and Finn Conrad much more than the ones with St. Ives himself, which was a little disappointing considering that St. Ives is the main character.

All that being said though, I did really enjoy the book. It's a good book if you want something quick and fun to read-a "popcorn book" if you will. It's got good adventure elements and I think Blaylock did a good job with keeping the suspense and there were a lot of moments where I was on the edge of my seat wondering how it was going to turn out. The characters were well developed and I liked that there were some scenes from Narbondo's point of view.

So overall, I enjoyed the book, I think it's a fun adventure. ( )