At DarkoverCon last November, I met author Kevin M. Houghton, and bought a copy of his book, A Curse on the Cygnus. It’s the subject of today’s book review.
This steampunk novel follows Royal Defence Service agents Colonel Ian Grey and Lady Victoria Dallas on a trip aboard a British Imperial Airways airship called the Cygnus. A murder occurs onboard, and the protagonists become involved in the investigation. The question is whether this is a straightforward, naturally explainable crime, or whether it has something to do with the airship’s cargo of ancient Egyptian treasures and an associated, rumored curse.
I found the story engaging and exciting; it’s high adventure in a wonderful steampunk setting. The novel gives the reader a good feel of being in an airship, conveying a sense of being confined. Lady Victoria Dallas is a strong character, well able to defend herself. The author does a fine job of making clear the motivations of all the major characters so their actions are believable. Tension builds nicely through the story to a dramatic conclusion. Moreover, the book is short and written in an easy-to-read style.
However, most of the characters seemed rather stock steampunk characters to me. I would have liked Ian and Victoria to each have an endearing character flaw to make them seem more human and compelling. I found I didn’t care about them as much as I like to care about protagonists. There were a lot of characters to keep track of, but the author did a pretty good job of giving the reader little reminding clues to keep them straight.
The story’s beginning was slow, it seemed to me. I was confused by the Point of View throughout. Third person POV is most common these days, but this novel seemed to either employ third person POV that flipped frequently within scenes (and once within a paragraph), or else employed omniscient POV. I was never quite sure whose head I was in. A large number of grammatical and editorial errors also detracted from my reading enjoyment.
Using my seahorse rating system, I give this novel three seahorses. If you enjoy steampunk and like a good murder mystery with a touch of the supernatural, then I recommend you read A Curse on the Cygnus. If you do so, and come away with a different impression, please leave a comment for–
Poseidon’s Scribe
