The Bookman

This was such an odd tale, by turns strange, chock-full of literary references, and compelling. The setting is an alternative Victorian London in which sentient lizards from a mysterious island have taken over the crown, automatons are commonplace, and the title character is a terrorist using books as bombs. The protagonist is the oddly named Orphan who loses his lover to one of the Bookman's bombs and sets off to find the elusive character. It's a strange trip filled with characters borrowed from other literary works. Moriarty is the Prime Minister, Irene Adler runs Scotland Yard, and Jules Verne, Karl Marx and others also show up. It's nearly a game to see how many references you can spot. But Orphan is not the most compelling protagonist. He is more like a focal point around which the bizarre story plays out and often seems little more than a pawn in the various plot machinations. It gets confusing at times but remains oddly compelling. The writing style is also unique (in a good way). I kept reading just to find out where the whole crazy story was leading. It's not a typical steampunk adventure, yet that is where you'd file this under. I'm very curious to see where the author goes with the next book set in this world (Camera Obscura) which has an entirely new set of characters (for the most part) and occurs three years after the events in this tale. (I'd really give this 3 1/2 stars if possible.)