The Doomsday Vault by Steven Harper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Author Steven Harper has done a bang-up job creating a very interesting steampunk world with a clockworker virus being the cause of the Victorian technological accomplishments. It is a fascinating conceit. The only quibble I have is that for the first 1/3 of the book it really feels like it is two separate stories. It is hard to see the link up and the change between them is distinct. When they finally come together it is great!

What I especially liked about this novel was its unconventionality. There were gay characters in steampunk! The automatons have quirky personalities and the villians do as well. One is never quite sure what is what in this crazy, turned upside world. Just when you think you have a handle on what will happen, the rug is pulled out from underneath you. It is intricately plotted, just like the automatons are intricately created and it shows. I stayed up late many a night to get to the end because I could not put it down. At nearly 400 pages, it is a long, satisfying read!


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