...I wrote about Lucy Saxon's Take Back the Skies:
A couple of weeks back, I put together a list of stories about airships. Included on the list was Lucy Saxon’s Take Back the Skies, which is one I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time. It’s about a girl who disguises herself as a boy and stows away on a smuggler’s airship to escape her abusive father and avoid an arranged marriage. Romance, steampunk adventure, and SAVING THE COUNTRY all figure in. Sounds fun, right?
Well.
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What with the popularity of steampunk, there are a WHOLE LOT of books that feature airships. As there are SO MANY, I've tried to focus on stories in which the majority of the action takes place ON AN ACTUAL SHIP.
Here are a very few of them!
Emilie and the Sky World, by Martha Wells:
In Emilie and the Hollow World, which I wrote about over at Kirkus, Emilie stows away on a MAGICAL SUBMARINE and has a very Jules Verne-y adventure. It is an AWESOME book, perfect for readers who're always looking for old fashioned adventure stories. Shipwrecks, sunken cities, action, adventure, different cultures and species, politics and family drama, a plucky heroine (who, by the way, is described as having "brown skin and dark eyes," as are most of the other people from her region), a super blend of fantasy and science fiction elements, a strong emotional core, humor, heartache, and even a smidge of romance.
In Emilie and the Sky World, our heroine—who is now employed by the folks she stowed away with in the last installment—heads into the sky (duh), where she has ANOTHER adventure, this time involving a patchwork planet, a missing expedition, an intelligent plant-based lifeform, and yes, there's another stowaway. Like the first book, it's super-fun in every way, and this one has the added excellence of multiple storylines about trust, friendship, and family dysfunction that play off of and complement each other really nicely.
I LOVE THIS SERIES, AND WANT MORE PEOPLE TO READ IT.
SO READ IT, MORE PEOPLE.
Etiquette and Espionage, by Gail Carriger:
In this book—I still haven't read Curtsies & Conspiracies, so I can't speak for that one—Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality is located on a bunch of connected dirigibles. Which adds even more entertainment value to a world and plot that is already bursting with it.
Mortal Engines, Predator's Gold, Infernal Devices, and A Darkling Plain, by Philip Reeve:
How have I not written about these? Traction cities! Pirates! And yes, LOTS OF AIRSHIP ACTION! Just looking at the cover art makes me want to read them all over again.
BONUS: Philip Reeve's vision of the airships.
The Iron Duke and Heart of Steel, by Meljean Brook:
Okay, these were actually published for the adult market, but there were some sexytimes that OCCURRED on an airship in the first book, and one of the main characters in the second one is an airship captain, so I'm including them.
And, now for a bunch I haven't read:
Take Back the Skies, by Lucy Saxon
Girl stows away on an airship to avoid an arranged marriage, but it turns out to be a smugglers' ship; adventures and romance ensue. This one is due out next week, and is the first in a SIX-BOOK SERIES.
Airborn, Skybreaker, and Starclimber, by Kenneth Oppel and
Leviathan, Behemoth, and Goliath, by Scott Westerfeld:
I know, I KNOW. I'll get to them! (Especially the Oppel series, as the comparisons to Verne and Stevenson are PULLING ME IN. I think I might even have Airborn on my Kindle. But then again, Josh loved Leviathan, so I should probably buy the other two so that we have them in the house...)
Planesrunner, Be My Enemy, and Empress of the Sun, by Ian McDonald
Multiverse story about a boy from our world who hooks up with the crew of the airship Everness (and gets romantically involved with the captain, I think?) and proceeds to have lots of adventures. The cover art of the first one, especially, doesn't do much for me, but the book itself sounds SUPER, so I'm bumping this one right up the list.
Weather Witch and Stormbringer, by Shannon Delany
A society girl is accused of unlawful magic and is headed for a live of slavery as an airship battery... or something like that. Every description I've read has been slightly different.
Charmed Vengeance, by Suzanne Lazear
This is actually the sequel to Innocent Darkness, which appears to be a futuristic-steampunk-faerie-reform-school mashup. After the events of the first book (which, based on the descriptions I've read, sounds ridiculously fun), the heroine joins the crew of an airship. SO ONTO THE LIST IT GOES.
Girl Genius, by Phil & Kaja Foglio
Steampunk comics that take place (in part) on/in an airship city! I AM SO THERE.
Quillblade, by Ben Chandler
Twin slaves on an airship that gets hijacked by a guy on an altruistic (OR IS IT??) mission.
Uncrashable Dakota, by Andy Marino
ANOTHER airship hijacking, this one was apparently at least partly inspired by A Night to Remember. It's had pretty mixed reviews, but I'm curious enough that I'm planning on giving it a try.
Did I miss your favorite? Let me know in the comments!
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The prize went to The Madman's Daughter, by Megan Shepherd.
Which I LOOOOOOVED:
I really, really enjoyed this one: it works as historical fiction, as science fiction, as a horror story, a romance, a coming of age, and as a retelling of H.G. Wells' original. The changes that Shepherd makes, the twists she introduces, they all feel organic and they play off the original and change it, but in ways that complement the Wells, if that makes sense. It changes it without trying to replace it or diminish it, maybe? Whatever it is I'm trying to say (YEESH), it's TOTALLY engrossing, and I TOTALLY DUG IT.
Click on through for the middle grade winner, both full lists of nominees, AND a list of the 2014-15 contenders (<--you'll have to scroll down at that last link).
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...I wrote about Shannon Hale's Dangerous:
Shannon Hale has written nuanced, complex re-imaginings of fairy tales, she has written hilarious adult romance, she has written original fantasy, and with Dangerous, she has proved that she’s perfectly capable of writing a cracking SF yarn as well. It’s funny, it’s smart, it’s emotionally complex, it’s super-ultra-action-packed, and it features a cast of characters that is diverse ethnically, culturally, physically, experientially, and economically.
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The Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy went to:
Sister Mine, by Nalo Hopkinson
I haven't read this one, but it sounds so awesome that I just ordered myself a copy. It's about twin sisters, born conjoined, now separated. One of them who has magical abilities, one of them who doesn't.
From an excerpt at Tor:
“Abby, I’d swear it really did talk. A crab apple tree in that park at Queen and Sherbourne. I think it asked me where Dad was. Said it hadn’t seen him in a long time.”
Abby whipped her head around from the window to glare at me. “Stop it. Just stop it. Why are you always saying things like this? You’re embarrassing yourself. And me.”
“But—” Why did I say things like that? Because I couldn’t help myself. Because I craved more than anything else to have a little mojo of my own.
Click on through for the other category winners and nominees.
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Want.
NAY, NEED:
From the campaign description:
I like drawings that make me laugh. When I inherited a traditional Blue Willow-pattern plate, I just had to redraw it and add a dinosaur. As I drew more plates and added more calamities—UFOs, Sasquatch, and volcanoes—folks urged me to produce real dinner plates. A Kickstarter project was born.
The first two Kickstarter projects went well (flying monkeys and giant robot), so here is the third project in what might turn out to be a long series. This design includes a hungry sea monster who appears to have escaped from the wild areas of an early Renaissance map.Imagine finding that bad boy behind your fish sticks!
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The Young Adult list is:
Zombie Baseball Beatdown, by Paolo Bacigalupi (I'm currently reading this one!)
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, by Holly Black
Homeland, by Cory Doctorow
The Summer Prince, by Alaya Dawn Johnson
The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two, by Catherynne M. Valente
Click on through for the other categories!
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