Boneshaker was the first novel I read that could be considered "Steampunk." This is a genre that has captured my imagination and caused me to get more excited about reading than I have been in a long time. Every week my "to be read" pile grows by two or three books, and I can honestly say that I make trips to the bookstore about every other day as the result of my new Steampunk obsession! After having read a dozen books in this genre I now also know how lucky I am that this was where I started, with a gem I am convinced will become a defining text for those who will follow.
Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker takes place in a world in which the American Civil War has never ended, with the consequence that the states added after 1865—and the development of territories into states in the Pacific Northwest—are delayed as the country’s resources become increasingly depleted. This Washington Territory is part of a forgotten frontier in which life is a challenge and there is little hope that conditions will improve in the foreseeable future. Seattle, however, has suffered a catastrophic event that forced the inhabitants to wall off the city and form a non-city they refer to as Outskirts. Within the city is Blight, a toxic gas that kills; this in itself is horrific enough, but the gas also animates the corpses into zombie-like beings that need sustenance but are no longer conscious. The wall serves the double purpose of both keeping the gas and the ‘rotters’ contained within the city and protecting those who live outside its walls until such time as a central government can finally be established to deal with the problem. It isn’t a perfect or perhaps even long term solution, but it is the best the remaining residents can do when there is no additional aid available.
It is widely held by the survivors that the source of the Seattle explosion is inventor Leviticus Blue, Briar Wilkes’ husband, but little is known about how the events of that fateful day unfolded. As the book opens the reader quickly learns that there is still a great deal of mystery well over a decade later, and one of the reasons for this is that Leviticus hasn’t been seen since Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine went for its fateful test run. Were the events of the day a tragic accident and did Leviticus die after his machine completed its rampage and the toxic gas began to kill off Seattleites? Or did he purposely set out on a crime spree and then disappear with the proceeds, discarding his family in the process? While this is matter of curiosity to the general populace, it is a source of profound distress to Briar and Leviticus’ son Ezekiel. Born more than six months after Leviticus’ disappearance, all Zeke knows about his father comes from the small amount of information his mother is willing to give him. He grows into young adult hood being taunted and ostracized by peers who view him as a tangible reminder of the living conditions they must endure, and this causes him to become obsessed with discovering everything he can to contradict the rumors and speculation that paint his father as a villain who destroyed his community and threw away his family.
It seems fitting that Zeke’s need to learn about his past and the circumstances around his father’s disappearance prompt him to plan an excursion into Seattle. He discovers a passage known only to the drug dealers who trade in lemon sap, a drug made from the toxic gas. He also learns that there are a dwindling number of Seattleites who never left the old city; they make and exchange the drug for the supplies they need to survive within its walls. Zeke gathers the supplies he needs to be in the city for less than a day: An old gas mask and some replacement filters, a lantern, an old map of the city, some food, an old gun and ammunition, and some random items he can trade for more food or information. But what begins as a simple day-long excursion goes horribly wrong when there is an earthquake that collapses the tunnel, trapping Zeke within the old city. Now Zeke must use his best judgment to determine who he can trust within the walls. Although Zeke has endured great hardship during his life, he is only fifteen and naïve, and the old city is a place where even small mistakes can be fatal.
Briar is nearly overcome by panic when she discovers where her son has gone. Already sensitive to her failings as a mother and the hard choices she has had to make, she feels like Zeke’s search for answers is her fault and immediately sets out to bring him back. Life has made Briar strong and determined and she will do whatever it takes to rescue Zeke, including making a bargain with air pirates to fly over the old city in a dirigible from which she can make an extremely risky descent. Her plan is desperate, but she knows that Zeke’s filters can only last him for a brief amount of time. She realizes now that, although she may not owe the truth to the world, she owes it to the young man she has raised. She also realizes that she is Zeke’s best advocate and, if she becomes overwhelmed by fear and unable to rescue him, his chances for survival become extremely limited. She may feel like the worst mother in the world, but he’s the most precious and important part of her life, the only good part of what was a terrible episode. She will rescue him or die in the attempt.
I found, as I read, that I closely identified with Briar: We’re both in our mid-to-late thirties and parent to a teenager. She’s not a perfect parent; as a single mother she works long hours at a terrible job to take care of her son. She knows that she doesn’t spend enough time with him, and that his hours spent wandering the streets of their neighborhood are putting him in harm’s way, but she doesn’t have a choice—the alternative is absolute poverty. Further complicating the situation is the mystery surrounding the accident in Seattle in 1863 and the subsequent death of her father, the disappearance of her husband, as well as the deaths of a large percentage of the people in the area. Briar knows the truth of what caused these events and decides that it is in everyone’s best interests if the past remains a mystery. Her determination to protect her son from the truth, and to then to rescue him when her efforts backfire, resonates with me and how I would react given a similar situation. In other words, Briar felt ‘real’ to me, and as I read the story I felt her sense of urgency and willingness to do whatever it takes in a way that added quality and depth to the overall story. Yes, there are airships, and air pirates, and machines, and many of the traits that make a Steampunk story exciting, but at the core this is a powerful story about a mother, her child, and the complicated family history that has brought them to this crisis point.
I appreciate how Priest resisted the urge to write a romance into her story. Captain Cly, who helps Briar with getting into and out of the city, is a strong and worthy contender for the position of romantic interest, but this story is about Briar and Ezekiel. She is a woman on a mission and no one—not even a man with whom she has meaningful history—is going to come between her and finding her son. I will admit, however, that I liked this character so much that I really didn’t want her to be alone; she is so beautifully written that, as a woman, I wanted her to have someone to lean on and partner with. That being said, I understand that Briar’s focus is absolute and it just doesn’t make sense that anything of a romantic nature that might distract her from her mission should happen. I felt that Priest’s refusal to venture into romance was a masterful touch that lends strength to the text as a whole and helps transform it from simply a work within the genre to a future Steampunk classic.
This novel is well-written and both the people and technology are described in a way that makes them plausible and consistent within the story Priest has written. The descriptions of living spaces and general environment are vivid, and played out in my imagination as though I were watching a film; in fact, this is a book I would love to see made into a film. Although I sometimes became lost in the descriptions of the machines used to bring fresh air into the spaces where the surviving humans live, this didn’t detract from the enjoyment of the story, which I inhaled because of my concern for both Briar and Zeke. This is simply an extremely well written text that used Steampunk elements in a clever and interesting way without overwhelming the story of the city of Seattle, its fictional demise, and the effect of these events on a cast of survivors.
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