Jeffrey CookReseñas

Bruce Goff is one of the most provocative architects of the twentieth century - yet his work is not sufficiently known. An early advocate of Frank Lloyd Wright's ideas on architecture, Goff quickly developed a more pluralistic approach in which each building was regarded as unique. Building his reputation on a series of unconventional house designs, Goff came to express an extraordinary range of interests. His scope is shown by a comparison of the stunning crystalline roof of the Religious Center at the University of Oklahoma and the economic use of standard I-beams in the famous "dream house" at Aurora. Goff's theatrical contribution to architecture through his use of color is evidenced by his own paintings and his decorative, architectural ornamentation. By synthesizing his personal development and architectural achievements, this book makes an important contribution to the appraisal of Goff's work.

You can find my full review on my Goodreads blog!

https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/13550092-foul-is-fair-review

Book Review ~ First Light
Author: Jeffrey Cook
By Carol Ann King
Rating 4 stars

Steampunk - A term I have heard in many circles, but never actually given any thought to. When Jeffrey Cook provided me with a free eBook copy of First Light in exchange for an honest review, I couldn't refuse. Expanding knowledge is what reading is about so I forged forward. I decided to look up what I was getting into before starting to read. As it turns out, I was way over-my-head and outside my norm for reading choices.

In a nutshell, steampunk is a subcategory of the science fiction genre, but rather than being based on future technology, it is based on 19th century industrial steam-powered machinery. First Light is also historical fiction.

The story takes place in 1815 just after the Napoleonic War. A gentleman's bet between wealthy englishmen sets afoot a plot of exploration. The end game - to prove if information contained in a series of writings by Dr. Bowe are fact or fiction. First Light is the beginning of this journey and introduces readers to the characters who are brought together to be the crew, some of whom are quite unusual. Journals and letters are used to chronicle the events aboard an airship as it sets out to follow Dr. Bowe's path around the world.

I found there were a few slow places in the novel, but not dry enough to make me put the book down.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read and a good way to enter into the steampunk genre. My concerns about being overwhelmed were quickly dismissed. I look forward to reading the rest of the adventures.

Rating 4 out of 5 stars. Recommended read for anyone looking to try the steampunk genre.

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

This book throws you in at the deep end of a surreal world until you’re not sure what’s real and what are hallucinations thanks to the main character having some form of an attention disorder. We are first introduced to Megan through her pill regime and her best friend’s concerns about the side effects. We can see the deadening of her personality ourselves, even though we just met her.

That’s not where things get strange, however. No, it’s Lani, her BFF, who gives us the hint things are more complex than it appears when she goes off and talks to a pixie.

Turns out the fantastical elements are not hallucinations at all, which is the start of a wild adventure through human and faerie lands. They are trying to rescue the father who left Megan when she was only two years old. Before you think he’s a human caught up in a fae game, though, we quickly learn he’s the king of the unseelie and the crisis is more than only court politics.

This is a personal story of a band of unlikely friends (Megan and Lani pick up a few on the way) going on an adventure to save the world. The characters are well described by both action and narrative, coming alive in distinct ways. They represent a few cultures, human and not, as well as gender politics and abilities. But before you think this is a politically charged book, one aspect I enjoyed was how their differences came up in context and were normalized even when, for example, a satyress had to explain what pansexual meant to Megan. Humor is also used to make the characters come alive, especially in demonstrating the strength of Megan and Lani’s friendship, a tough task considering Lani has hidden the truth from Megan the whole time they knew each other because of Restrictions.

Beyond the strong characterizations, the world is grounded in the personal backstory of Megan’s mother and Celtic myth, along with mention of other beings connected to different cultures as well. Lani is half menehune, a Hawaiian fae with magic that reminds me of steampunkesque engineering. The fate of both worlds, fae and human, rests on the transfer of power between the sidhe and unseelie (only one of many critical balancing transfers) as the book draws on more than just names from the mythologies. The story also reveals the weight of promises and debts for the fae while hinting at the vast differences between the various types in everything from skills to eating habits.

There are many aspects I enjoyed from the occasional moments of philosophy to the creative solutions to traditional fantasy challenges. Several drawn out battles full of enthusiasm and chaos offer fast-paced action sequences. The backstory is so rich it sometimes felt I had jumped into the middle instead of book one. Then there’s how some traits in the fae mirrored ones from our world, like the brownies who want to work in the background and struggle under the weight of being noticed.

Speaking of creativity, I loved how it was valued by the teens and parents/teachers alike, as well as how it tied into magic. One caution, though. To let Megan reengage with the fantastic, she stops taking the latest pills added to her regime and later ends up in the fae lands with no medication. She is largely more functional on that side of the portal, a common motif but a little sad considering the strength of her portrayal in the beginning. They keep Megan’s mother in the dark about all of this until I still don’t know if she was aware of just who or what Megan’s father was.

The writing style is a bit rough in places, but not enough to hinder my read, and the book ends on a solid note. The end is seeded, so I suspected something coming, but still didn’t anticipate the details. I can’t say more to avoid spoilers, but I really appreciated the layers revealed in the events after the climax.

There’s so much more I marked as worthy of including in the review, but it can’t all fit without making this too chaotic to follow. Bottom line, I enjoyed this tween novel. It is written in a similar style to Tamora Pierce’s Alanna books, and for a similar age group or reading inclination. This would work well in the hopepunk category because it lacks the despair and gruesome nature of much of the young adult novels targeting older teens. The main characters are sixteen but read younger because of their sense of wonder and willingness to believe.

“Dawn of Steam: First Light” is the first of a series of books set in an alternate past. The Napoleonic Wars have been won by England (with help from the USA and others). Dirigibles already exist; some were used in the war. The USA is still largely unexplored by Europeans, as are most parts of the world. But a book exists, written by an explorer, wherein he tells of his journeys across the North American continent (there is a Northwest Passage, he claims), to Australia, China, Japan, South America, and Antarctica- basically, the whole world. Two men make a bet in a club; one believes the book is the truth, one doesn’t. Therefore, two teams will set out to duplicate the author’s travels, to see if they are even possible. We follow the course of one of the teams; the good guys. Told through letters and a diary, it is almost all in first person by an ex-soldier who knows how to work a camera. He writes to his fiancé and to the gentleman who has made the bet and is financing the journey.

The first almost half of the novel is spent gathering the team. They assemble a group that has the skills needed to make the expedition a success. While this part of the book may be necessary to introducing the cast to us, it’s overly long. With so little action, I nearly gave up. When they get to North America (via one member’s family airship), they have a couple of events that, while full of action, do not move the story forward. They do finally start across the continent, but the plot never really works out; there is no build up and climax- it’s just sort of “and then we did this and then we did that”.

I didn’t care much about the characters. The basics were there and could have been great (and maybe they are in the later books in the series), but there was nothing built around “sharp shooter”, “lady engineer”, or “daughter of the explorer who passes as a man most of the time and can do damn near anything”.

I was sadly disappointed, especially because I’d enjoyed the first book in the other series these authors have written. Only three out of five stars.

I won my free copy of this book through a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.

I had a hard time getting into this book. I love the steampunk aesthetic, which this book definitely is trying to channel, but the characters and story in this book weren't very engaging. The characters were flat, and while the plot could have been interesting, it was poorly paced. The general story, a race between two fancy dirigibles and their daredevil crews, got lost pretty quickly in a mire of boringness, and the storytelling was not pretty enough to make up the difference (so much of steampunk is aesthetics, after all, and internal consistency). I'd had high hopes for this book, but was disappointed.

From the very beginning of hearing about this book, it has had me intrigued. Each piece has been wonderfully crafted around their own ideas, yet stayed true to the basic essence of Shakespeare. Once I started each piece the author held my attention and I never wanted to put it down. As a first timer to this genre, this book has given me a chance to open my eyes to a whole new world of reading.

‘Foul is Fair’ has some of the common tropes of young adult fantasy: the teenager who finds that she is not completely human, but a fairy princess; being thrown suddenly into another world full of dangers; the main conflict revolves around the Sidhe, Irish fairies. But this novel is different from most. Megan has ADD, and her mother has her medicated into a state where she can concentrate on her schoolwork- which sadly removes the artistic part of her personality. There are more magical beings than just the Sidhe; Hawaiian magic is also present, as is a pixie (originally a Cornish being), some golems, and a being who is most likely from Greek mythology- or not. This made it a lot more interesting for me; I enjoyed seeing the different traditions working with each other and refusing to be pigeon holed.

The action starts almost immediately; we have no backstory at the beginning. We only learn about Megan’s mother and father as the story goes on. Megan and her best friend Lani- who has grown up knowing about the other worlds and magic- work together very well, each using her strengths. Megan’s long absent father is being held prisoner; Megan, Lani, and Megan’s new friends must rescue him. No one ever stands still for more than an instant; the story moved so fast I read it in a day. Given the age of the protagonists, I’d say this book is marketed to young adults, but I had no problem getting pulled into the story. There is no ‘heroine is smart; adults are dumb’ line in this book; everyone is pretty equal (except that Megan’s mother keeps such close tabs on her it’s suffocating). At the end of the story, Megan is back in her mundane, medicated life with her OCD mother. I can’t wait until the next volume comes out- Cook and Perkins has to get that poor girl off all those pills permanently!