Boneshaker

This one is for the discerning steampunk reader who loves a well-thought-out tale, great writing, and an interesting premise. Set in an alternative American Civil War, a son’s quest to clear his father’s wrongly maligned name, a mother’s quest to save her son, and zombies? This is the premise of Boneshaker, an all-out engrossing read and a thoughtfully human tale to boot. A machine (boneshaker) accidently destroyed part of Seattle during a gold rush when it tapped into a hidden vein of gas underground, which turned residents into the living dead. The affected area has been walled up for 15 years. Now, a young man seeks to reclaim his father and grandfather’s name, both having been linked to the Boneshaker event that caused such catastrophe. To do so, both he and his mother will travel into the walled city itself and meet a host of eclectic allies and horrific enemies, while making a frightful discovery… It’s the first book in a series and one that you shouldn’t miss if you want to read some quality steampunk that blends fantasy, alternate history, science fiction and horror. This is a book for those who want some real literary steampunk, not pulp steampunk.

Books in The Clockwork Century Series (5)

Booklists having this book

Best Steampunk Fantasy

What is Steampunk?Steampunk is a subgenre of sci-fi/fantasy that often juxtaposes the ultramodern with the antique; typically, the stereotypical steampunk features a mishmash of futuristic technology combined with Victorian-age mechanics... Read more

Other books by Priest, Cherie

Boneshaker

This one is for the discerning steampunk reader who loves a well-thought-out tale, great writing, and an interesting premise. Set in an alternative American Civil War, a son’s quest to... Read more

Dreadnought

A gripping chronicle of the personal and national rivalries that led to the twentieth century’s first great arms race, from Pulitzer Prize winner Robert K. Massie With the biographer’s rare... Read more

Ganymede

The air pirate Andan Cly is going straight. Well, straighter. Although he's happy to run alcohol guns wherever the money's good, he doesn't think the world needs more sap, or... Read more

The Inexplicables

The fifth book in the Clockwork Century steampunk adventure series that started with Cherie Priest's Boneshaker Read more

Fiddlehead

When the forces conspiring to keep the Civil War going come for him and his invention--a calculating engine called Fiddlehead--ex-slave Gideon Bardsley turns to his patron, former president Abraham Lincoln,... Read more

Jacaranda

Just before a hurricane makes landfall, a Texas Ranger, a nun, and a priest meet at Galveston, Texas's Jacaranda Hotel in order to break the curse that has killed over... Read more