Bannon and Clare #1 The Iron Wyrm Affair

Steampunk at the most difficult difficult.... Presenting Bannon & Clare #1 The Iron Wyrm Affair by Lilith Saintcrow.

Here is the summary of the book:

Emma Bannon, forensic sorceress in the service of the Empire, has a mission: to protect Archibald Clare, a failed, unregistered mentath. His skills of deduction are legendary, and her own sorcery is not inconsiderable. It doesn't help much that they barely tolerate each other, or that Bannon's Shield, Mikal, might just be a traitor himself. Or that the conspiracy killing registered mentaths and sorcerers alike will just as likely kill them as seduce them into treachery toward their Queen. In an alternate London where illogical magic has turned the Industrial Revolution on its head, Bannon and Clare now face hostility, treason, cannon fire, black sorcery, and the problem of reliably finding hansom cabs. The game is afoot..

When I meant steampunk at the most difficult, I meant steampunk at its most messiest. This is another author I have wanted to check out for a long time and this boo was another one I wanted to read for a long time but.....this is disappointing. Alternative history yes....but steampunk? Didn't feel like it much.

Bannon & Clare. Out of this Archibald Clare is one part of the quota and Emma Bannon. One is the mentath and other one is the sorceress. One lives to solves the intellectual problems, finding mysteries everywhere and driving the closest of all insane and the sorceress just throws magic at everything every time. Then comes the steampunk element Steampunk is nothing but alternate history (based around steam based machinery as the people of the 19th century would have envisioned) and the setting London (preferably named Londinium to keep with the times) and absolutely nothing steampunk at all if you insist slight mentions of mechas, logic engines, automatons and such.

The whole book is divided with alternating chapters from Clare and Bannon. And I have to say Clare's part got petty overshadowed by Bannon's part of the tale. And if things weren't messier enough the author just throws in a verbose prose just to keep with the language of the era.....it just went on and on and one....sooner than later the reader gets bored of such long winding sentences. And if that wasn't enough.... well the characters as I specified were no good either. Clare just talked and talked and Bannon with the trust issues just went about flicking magic spells at the slightest sign of danger and pretty much acting unlady-like at all times... I want to rant more but i'll keep it short.... Totally expected more...

"Dark London and a messed up alternate London... not my cup of tea"

Genre :     Urban Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Paranormal


Publisher: Orbit


Rate:             2 /5 (It was Ok)