Dragonfly Warrior

Dragonfly Warrior
by Jay Noel
(5/5 stars)

A caveat here:  this is the first steampunk book I've read.  I'm not a fan of the genre by any stretch.  I guess my main problem is it relies so much on hindsight, people taking stuff we have now and reverse engineering it to 19th Century technology.  I tend to think if they could have made a giant walking spider back then someone probably would have.

My point then is I was prepared not to like this book, but I did.  Since I haven't read any steampunk before what it actually reminded me of is Star Wars.  Zen is like a Jedi in that he has a sword and a mystical ability that helps him fight.  When he goes in search of the "Sky Sword" he meets a scoundrel who also happens to own a very fast ship--sound familiar?  And then they meet a a woman who's very tough and capable--but does not turn out to be Zen's sister.

Thinking of it that way probably helped and also I don't think it took the steampunk to ridiculous extremes.  Not like for instance "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" where they had a fleet of SHIELD helicarriers in the mid-30s.  Say whaaaat?  Although there was (briefly) a mechanical spider thing most of the technology like airships and cars were plausible in the late 19th Century as there were already hot air balloons, rudimentary cars, and even at least one crude submarine in the Civil War.

Besides Star Wars I suppose it plays out like one of those fantasy books where there's a party on a quest.  It just so happens instead of fighting dragons and wizards they're after the "Machine Boy" who to use another Star Wars reference reminded me of young Anakin Skywalker, though less annoying because he didn't go around asking teenage girls if they were angels.

Anyway, it's a fast-paced, action-packed read that's written very well.  There's nothing to dislike, even for someone who doesn't like steampunk.  I'm looking forward to the next book.

That is all.