read: Fiddlehead (4 stars)

Fiddlehead by Cherie Priest
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cherie Priest takes her Clockwork Century series out with a bang with Fiddlehead. She gives us a crazy scientist predicting the end of the world, spies, counter-spies, corrupt politicians, and plenty of wacky steampunk technology that has no business existing in the mid-nineteenth century.

The writing, as usual, is crisp and clear and fun. It takes things just seriously enough to keep the reader in the story, but adds the dash of fun that's needed to propel things past the preposterous. On the other hand, I was a bit disappointed by the kitchen sink approach to this entry in the series. Especially toward the end, there were callbacks to characters and situations from previous books that felt a bit forced and rushed. Sort of, 'Hi there. Remember me?', over and over to wrap things up in a neat package. Some of the connections could have used more elaboration (but without belaboring them).

The bottom line is that I enjoyed the ride and am sad that it's over (for now, at least). I'm looking forward to future offerings from Cherie.

View all my reviews on Goodreads