Booklog 48/2017 Richard Ellis Preston Jr: Romulus Buckle and the City of the Founders – Pneumatic Ze

[jacey]

My second steampunky airship novel in under a month and my brain is still comparing the two. Set in postapocalyptic (snowy) Southern California, after a repulsed alien invasion, Buckell and his ragtag crew of the Pneumatic Zeppelin must rescue their kidnapped leader/clan chief, Balthazar Crankshaft, from the City of the Founders. Beset by human enemies, alien beasties and geography itself, Buckell and his crew must brave poisoned wastelands, forgewalkers and steampipers. 

The Pneumatic Zeppelin is a complex machine, fourteen stories high, yet Robyn Bennis’ The Guns Above had more technical detail. (I’m not saying that’s necessarily an advantage.) There’s still a lot (and I mean a LOT) of lush description in here, which makes it a great intro to the series, but the plot is a single strand rescue mission, albeit with twists and turns. There’s a lot of potential in this world, though the description of the ship’s bells and whistles slows the pace a bit, especially in the beginning. It’s setting-driven, so the characters didn’t grab me as much as I hoped they might. (Romulus Buckle, Balthazar Crankshaft, Katzenjammer Smelt are a bitt OTT as far as names go, aren’t they? Very Cartoony) However I think this is a series that will grow if the author can invest as much in his characters as he can in his tech.