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Nineteenth century London is the center of a vast British Empire. Airships ply the skies and Queen Victoria presides over three-quarters of the known world—including the East Coast of America, following the failed revolution of 1775.
London might as well be a world away from Sandsend, a tiny village on the Yorkshire coast. Gideon Smith dreams of the adventure promised him by the lurid tales of Captain Lucian Trigger, the Hero of the Empire, told in Gideon's favorite "penny dreadful." When Gideon's father is lost at sea in highly mysterious circumstances Gideon is convinced that supernatural forces are at work. Deciding only Captain Lucian Trigger himself can aid him, Gideon sets off for London. On the way he rescues the mysterious mechanical girl Maria from a tumbledown house of shadows and iniquities. Together they make for London, where Gideon finally meets Captain Trigger.
But Trigger is little more than an aging fraud, providing cover for the covert activities of his lover, Dr. John Reed, a privateer and sometime agent of the British Crown. Looking for heroes but finding only frauds and crooks, it falls to Gideon to step up to the plate and attempt to save the day...but can a humble fisherman really become the true Hero of the Empire?
David Barnett's Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl is a fantastical steampunk fable set against an alternate historical backdrop: the ultimate Victoriana/steampunk mash-up!
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
- Sales Rank: #1337834 in eBooks
- Published on: 2013-09-10
- Released on: 2013-09-10
- Format: Kindle eBook
From Booklist
The year is 1889. The place is an alternative world where the U.S. has lost the Revolutionary War; the East Coast is controlled by Great Britain and the West Coast by Spain. The characters are searching for answers to a dangerous mystery. Gideon Smith is a young, grief-stricken, and incredibly naive man who will stop at nothing to find the mysterious being that dragged his father, a fisherman, and his father’s crew into the dark sea one foggy morning. Bram Stoker is seeking material for his first book (yes, the Bram Stoker), only to discover several corpses completely drained of blood. Wondering how both horrific encounters are connected keeps the reader turning page after page. Although some early parts of the story are not well developed and some characters are flat, the latter half of the book more than makes up for the story’s rocky start with twists, turns, humor, and adventure. In the end, Barnett’s new book proves to be a worthy addition to the steampunk genre. --Alison Downs
Review
“A triumph of the modern pulp genre. Funny, clever and superbly executed…I guarantee you'll have fun as you breeze through this first adventure of Gideon Smith, and I commend it to you all. I'm already anxious for the next one.” ―George Mann, author of The Immortality Engine
“A great-hearted, rollicking romp through the many worlds of classic pulp--loads of fun.” ―Nick Harkaway, author of The Gone-Away World and Angelmaker
About the Author
DAVID BARNETT is an award-winning journalist, currently multimedia content manager of the Telegraph & Argus, cultural reviewer for The Guardian and the Independent on Sunday, and he has done features for The Independent and Wired. He is the author of Angelglass (described by The Guardian as "stunning"), Hinterland, and popCULT!
Most helpful customer reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
Exciting, adventurous, and exceptionally well-told
By Bob Milne
Next to perhaps River of Stars and The Marching Dead, both of which I went into with high expectations, I don't think I've enjoyed a book this year as much as I did Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl. From the concept to the characters, I enjoyed every aspect of it and came away wanting more . . . much more.
David Barnett's novel has been called "the ultimate Victoriana / steampunk mash-up" but that doesn't begin to describe it. It's also an old-fashioned horror story, a penny dreadful romp around the world, and an adventure worthy of Indiana Jones. Barnett takes us from the streets of London to the sands of Egypt, and from the dizzying heights of battling dirigibles to the claustrophobic depths of ancient pyramids, all with vampires, mummies, devil dogs, and monstrous frogs along for the ride.
More than anything, however, this is a tale of heroes. It's a story about heroes lost and found, made and unmade. It's a story about what makes a hero, why we worship them, and why the world needs them. It's also a story about how heroes can be found in the unlikeliest of places. Gideon Smith starts the novel as a shy young man in search of a hero to delve into the mystery hidden below the cliffs; a mystery that he is certain claimed the life of his father's crew. It's a search that brings him into contact with the likes of Bram Stoker and Elizabeth Bathory, as well as the mechanical girl who captures his heart. Ultimately, it's also a journey that brings him to the realization of his own innocent brand of heroism.
As for the mechanical girl who makes up the other half of the title, Maria is a fascinating creation who doesn't get nearly the page time she deserves. She's a fully fledged character, as likable as she is sympathetic, but she's more of a catalyst than a character. It's a search for answers and a desire for vengeance that takes Gideon Smith through the first half of the novel, and a love for Maria that carries him through to the end. She does have a pivotal role to play in the story, both as a peril and a power in the climactic showdown. I won't spoil the adventure with details, but it's safe to say a mechanical girl pales in comparison to what rises from the depths of the pyramid at the end.
In the end, there's not just room for a sequel here, but a cliffhanger that demands it. That's not to say Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl isn't a complete story on its own, because it is, but like the best of the penny dreadfuls it leaves us with us with the start of a whole other adventure. Exciting, adventurous, and exceptionally well-told, filled with equal parts amusement and astonishment, this is sure to be a fixture of best-of lists come the end of the year.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful.
Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Plot
By MLB
The late nineteenth century holds a particular fascination for us, as it saw the awakening of modern technological culture, while at the same time much of the world still lay shrouded in mystery. The popular imagination soared and thrilled to stories of adventurers unlocking the secrets of the deepest jungles and the most remote mountaintops. There was still much left to explore.
A rich tradition of literature exists from the time, and the modern steampunk genre seeks to tap this to flesh out a world just at the edges of our collective memory. David Barnett takes this a step further. Rather than evoke the memory of cultural memes about the time, Barnett takes the rather unusual expedient of simply lifting characters and situations directly from the creative minds of the the authors who originated them. Are you a Sherlock Holmes fan? Why, here's Inspector Lestrade trotting up to a crime scene! Why do the work of inventing backstory when you can pull in a rich history by reference? Are you a fan of H.P. Lovecraft's groundbreaking Mythos? Barnett cherry-picks Arkham (cleverly disguised as Arkhamville) and apes characters of "The Shadow over Innsmouth." Do you have fond memories of Indiana Jones? Look no further! Barnett pulls in the Jones clan. (Why re-invent the wheel when it's already been done so well?) Fascinated by genius? Let's trot out Einstein! It's not Albert Einstein, with all the tricky licensing issues to work out for the use of that name, but I think we can all share a knowing wink and move on. Ah, vampires. Vampires have gripped the popular imagination for some time now, and who is the most famous vampire of all? Dracula! So let's throw him in, along with Bram Stoker. Finally, a nod to one of the most engaging authors of the time, Rudyard Kipling. Barnett manages to ape Kim's Hurree Babu just well enough for us to recognize the character, albeit in the cartoonishly simplified form of Barnett's Okoth, whose gimmick is absurdly frequent repetition of the word "astonishingly."
This book isn't all about theft of characters, though. Barnett accurately portrays the background racism of the time:
Quote: "The Negroes are in the hold, Mr. Savior. Be careful, though. They're savages."
Barnett does emerge from this rather unfortunate picture by presenting us with some of the wittiest, most imaginative dialog ever to see print:
Quote: "Rule number one, kid," said Cocayne. "Be prepared. Rule number two, if you can't be prepared, be lucky."
Pure genius. And lest you feel you'll be left cold by the propriety and formality of Victorian speech in England, Barnett keeps us grounded in his base realism:
Quote: Bent let loose a long, wet fart. "Eff to a plan, does anybody have a gun?"
If you slipped briefly and thought you were reading Kipling, Barnett brings you right back.
In his introduction to this tour de force, Barnett talks about reading excerpts of his mental exudate to his children. I can picture the cute little Barnett fry clustered around Daddy as he reads to them:
Quote: Aloysius Bent writhed and moaned in the tangled pit of the grey bedsheets, surfacing from the black void of unconsciousness with much farting and belching. A steam-hammer was banging like a two-shilling tart, the sound of a woodpecker ferreting for grubs, offering a fainter, yet no less annoying, counterpoint. He arranged his morning erection in his sagging underwear and tried to separate the two sounds. The steam-hammer was the thudding hell of a hangover, evidenced by the stale gin sweat clinging to his tongue. The woodpecker was the ceaseless rapping on the door.
David Barnett is, in his quiet, humble, way, offering two gleaming rays of hope to aspiring authors and fans of steampunk. First, don't despair of getting published! Clearly they'll publish anything nowadays! Second, don't feel it's beyond you to finish your novel. Hell, if you haven't written a word, you've already done Barnett one better.
Barnett has left the door open for a sequel - perhaps, even, affixed a pulsing neon sign to said door, complete with buzzing, blinking arrows and a carnival barker shouting at you from the last pages of this week-old literary goulash. Don't walk through it.
Now, I gave this book one star, and that star is for its editors. They managed to slog through it, and the result of their work is a book wholly lacking in typos, grammatical flaws, and other such unsightly errors. Barnett's... message... is presented unmarred.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
In Which We Are Introduced To An Unforgettable Steampunk World
By London Fog
When Gideon Smith's fisherman father is mysteriously killed at sea, his son vows to avenge the death, which he is convinced was not accidental. Intent on enlisting the assistance of his penny dreadful hero, Captain Lucian Trigger, he crosses paths with an aspiring author researching for his new novel - one Bram Stoker - who at first is more interested in the local reports of a large black dog that appears to be the only survivor of a shipwreck than Gideon's claims that monsters were responsible for the death of his father. It seems at first their interests are at cross purposes, but Gideon's monsters and Stoker's vampires turn out to be one in the same - though neither are what they appear to be. Several different story lines then come to the forefront, only to converge in the most unexpected ways, so what seemed like a hodgepodge of unrelated scenes and characters eventually blend seamlessly (and ingeniously) into one.
We are thus introduced to an amusing array of fictional, historical and original characters alike - sky pirates, archaeologists, vampires, assorted adventurers, clockwork automatons, Jack the Ripper - and follow along almost rapturously as we are led through this richly described steampunk world. As each layer of the story is peeled back, Gideon uncovers government conspiracies, ancient Egyptian curses and mummies straight out of the pages of his favorite magazine, World Marvels and Wonders. And learns some disappointing truths about his hero, Captain Trigger, in the process.
Blending elements of Victoriana, pulp fiction, sci-fi and mystery, Gideon Smith was a fantastically enjoyable and intricately plotted adventure set in an alternate universe London powered by gears and gadgetry. This elaborately contrived world, in fact, practically takes center stage, contributing as much to the story as do the actual characters, and was possibly one of the most imaginative renderings of a steampunk setting I've read to date. This would make for an excellent movie, one that I would actually spend the price of a ticket to see.
I did have a few quibbles regarding the overuse of foul language - this may be an instance of the pot calling the kettle black, but I feel strongly that it should be kept out of literature with the exception that it might contribute to the story. Show, don't tell us with one expletive after the next, that the character is a boor. Also, frequent instances of modern turns of phrase did tend to jerk me out of the story.
Minor nitpicks aside, I have not enjoyed a story this much in quite a while, and my technical rating would be 4.5 stars for the aforementioned nitpicks and some character development issues in the first few chapters. Overall, though, it reminded me of a Victorian Indiana Jones (with vampires... who do not sparkle) and if this is to be continued into a series, I would read the next one without reservation.
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