The Janus Affair by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris
Series: The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences
Publisher: Harper Voyager, 2012
Genre: Fantasy
Sub-genre: Steampunk/gaslamp
Rating: 3 1/2 pints of blood
I mentioned after having reviewed Phoenix Rising that I was eager to get my mitts on the sequel, so it should come as no surprise that here we are with a review of book #2.
I like the cover of this book much better than its predecessor. I think it offers us a much better sense of the story and the characters while holding to the concepts they were aiming for in the first cover. We've kept the sepia tones and the obvious steampunk shorthand (Dirigibles! Goggles! Corsets!), but this time around our characters look like they're occupying the same space and actually doing something. The action scene not only brings out their personalities more, but the book as a whole tells me it's about something, that there's, like, a plot and stuff instead of just being generically steampunky. I also appreciate putting Eliza in pants.
When an acquaintance and fellow suffragist vanishes in a burst of light right in front of her, there's no way Eliza can just let it go. Of course, she and her partner Wellington are supposed to be busy in the archives, not going out into the field and solving cases. But the woman she witnessed vanishing is not the first mysterious disappearance of its kind, and the others have all been dismissed after no more than a cursory investigation. Eliza is determined to get to the bottom of this, even if it means risking her career with the Ministry to do so. And naturally, she'll drag her partner along with her.
The Janus Affair does take a bit longer to get rolling than the first book does, as Eliza and Wellington first have to decide if they're going to get themselves involved when it means not only going against what their roles in the Ministry are supposed to be, but pointing out that a fellow agent is deliberately not doing their duty. Once the debate is resolved, the story begins to pick up, treating the reader to all the action, banter, and mystery of the first book, and a deeper look into the developping sexual tension when Eliza's ex-boyfriend shows up on the scene.
I found it really interesting that a book about suffragists had them disappearing without a trace, effectively silencing women who were fighting to be heard. The discovery of the villain created a sharp twist. I'm not sure how much of that twist was earned, since some of it came out of left field, but at least half of it had been set up previously.
Like its predecessor, The Janus Affair has a lot going on and a large cast of characters, several of whom carry the narration at various times. The series is building a larger arc, and so some of the secondary characters we check in with don't actually accomplish much in this particular book. They're mostly around to let us know they're still there and still scheming behind the scenes. A number of those parts aren't at all necessary for this book, at least not as a stand-alone, but whether they're necessary for the series at large remains to be seen.
There were some editing issues here, and if you're a stickler for correct use of homophones or if the occasional dropped word in a sentence aggravates you, you might have to work at enjoying your read. This isn't an e-book issue, either, as I had the mass market paperback, so you can't even blame it on formatting (not that formatting should ever be considered an acceptable excuse).
Even flawed as it was, though, I had a good time reading. The thing is, I love Eliza Braun and Wellington Books. These are the type of characters I want to spend time with. An impulsive, quick-witted adventure girl who tries (rather unsuccessfully) to hide her empathy for the people around her paired up with a bookish, clever-bordering-on-genius gentleman with a quiet strength that often gets overlooked? I'm not sure these two could cater more to my tastes if I'd special ordered them.
If you enjoyed the first book, you'll probably have no problems at all getting into this one. It probably could work as a standalone, if you were so inclined, although a newcomer to the series might be turned off by the slower start.
The Janus Affair is available in mass market paperback
or as an e-book
.
Publisher: Harper Voyager, 2012
Genre: Fantasy
Sub-genre: Steampunk/gaslamp
Rating: 3 1/2 pints of blood
I mentioned after having reviewed Phoenix Rising that I was eager to get my mitts on the sequel, so it should come as no surprise that here we are with a review of book #2.
I like the cover of this book much better than its predecessor. I think it offers us a much better sense of the story and the characters while holding to the concepts they were aiming for in the first cover. We've kept the sepia tones and the obvious steampunk shorthand (Dirigibles! Goggles! Corsets!), but this time around our characters look like they're occupying the same space and actually doing something. The action scene not only brings out their personalities more, but the book as a whole tells me it's about something, that there's, like, a plot and stuff instead of just being generically steampunky. I also appreciate putting Eliza in pants.
When an acquaintance and fellow suffragist vanishes in a burst of light right in front of her, there's no way Eliza can just let it go. Of course, she and her partner Wellington are supposed to be busy in the archives, not going out into the field and solving cases. But the woman she witnessed vanishing is not the first mysterious disappearance of its kind, and the others have all been dismissed after no more than a cursory investigation. Eliza is determined to get to the bottom of this, even if it means risking her career with the Ministry to do so. And naturally, she'll drag her partner along with her.
The Janus Affair does take a bit longer to get rolling than the first book does, as Eliza and Wellington first have to decide if they're going to get themselves involved when it means not only going against what their roles in the Ministry are supposed to be, but pointing out that a fellow agent is deliberately not doing their duty. Once the debate is resolved, the story begins to pick up, treating the reader to all the action, banter, and mystery of the first book, and a deeper look into the developping sexual tension when Eliza's ex-boyfriend shows up on the scene.
I found it really interesting that a book about suffragists had them disappearing without a trace, effectively silencing women who were fighting to be heard. The discovery of the villain created a sharp twist. I'm not sure how much of that twist was earned, since some of it came out of left field, but at least half of it had been set up previously.
Like its predecessor, The Janus Affair has a lot going on and a large cast of characters, several of whom carry the narration at various times. The series is building a larger arc, and so some of the secondary characters we check in with don't actually accomplish much in this particular book. They're mostly around to let us know they're still there and still scheming behind the scenes. A number of those parts aren't at all necessary for this book, at least not as a stand-alone, but whether they're necessary for the series at large remains to be seen.
There were some editing issues here, and if you're a stickler for correct use of homophones or if the occasional dropped word in a sentence aggravates you, you might have to work at enjoying your read. This isn't an e-book issue, either, as I had the mass market paperback, so you can't even blame it on formatting (not that formatting should ever be considered an acceptable excuse).
Even flawed as it was, though, I had a good time reading. The thing is, I love Eliza Braun and Wellington Books. These are the type of characters I want to spend time with. An impulsive, quick-witted adventure girl who tries (rather unsuccessfully) to hide her empathy for the people around her paired up with a bookish, clever-bordering-on-genius gentleman with a quiet strength that often gets overlooked? I'm not sure these two could cater more to my tastes if I'd special ordered them.
If you enjoyed the first book, you'll probably have no problems at all getting into this one. It probably could work as a standalone, if you were so inclined, although a newcomer to the series might be turned off by the slower start.
The Janus Affair is available in mass market paperback
or as an e-book
.