Richard Harland (1)Critiques

Ferren and the Angel Richard Harland



I received an Early Review copy of the book.

Life is change. To some degree, most people do not like it. Each of us is, however, defined by how we respond to change when faced with it.



War between Humen and Celestials has been waged for centuries. Ferren, Miriael and Zonda are caught up in events which begin with separation from the home each has always known. From here, Harland weaves a story of the unknown, in all its wonder and horror.



Recommended





‘The curtain fell back as the adult males retreated outside. Zonda

arranged her father in a more comfortable position, then brought her

ear up close to his lips. He was no longer making noises in his throat,

but his breathing was faint and fluttery.

“You’ll get better,” she whispered. “Your bones will knit back together,

and you’ll—”

She spun around. The curtain had opened again, and half a dozen

faces peered in.

##########

Zonda jumped to her feet in a temper. “Old Ways, Old Ways, Old

Ways! I’m sick of the Old Ways!” She pointed to her father. “What have

the Old Ways done for him?”’

Set far in the future, humans and angels are at war. Residuals exist in the space in between the fighting and wish it would end, although the Humens drag them in. Set in a contrastingly primitive and technological future Australia, we follow a cast of interesting characters as they explore their world and learn how the current state came to be. As the title suggest, the book focuses on Ferren (a residual) and a fallen angel (called Miriael), although there are definitely also other important characters! They were all a little frustrating at the start, but I did come to like (most of) them by the end.

I had a fun time with this book. While there seem to be some religious influences when it comes to heaven, I greatly appreciate that the book doesn't become preachy. I loved the world building and how mundane objects (I'm a little surprised that they're still in such good condition considering the passage of time and what's been going on on earth) have gained such importance to a society that has lost the comforts of modern civilisation, which as largely become a thing of legends. Although maybe a bit expositiony, I greatly enjoyed the segment where we were provided with the history f what happened between heaven and earth to put humans and angels at war.

While I loved the world building, there are a lot of "classes" of people and it takes a while to wrap your head around it. I think I get it but it took a while. Some of them are rather horrifying! I also think that the relationships between Miriael and various other characters developed a bit too quickly, especially since she is a massive enemy, being on the other side of the war. My last major piece of critisism is the too frequent onomatopoeia. While I know it's often used in books for younger readers, I feel like the target audience is a little above this age.

I think that fans of YA dystopian novels will have a good time with this book. While the short, fast-paced chapters lend themselves to younger readers, it is a good idea to be aware of the content warnings as it may be a bit dark for some (although I think I would have loved it at that age!).

Brilliant book. The setting and characters are different and interesting.

While published ten years ago, this story hasn't shown any sign of aging. I don't read a lot of steampunk, but this really appealed to me. I like the cast of characters, the subtle nastiness exhibited by many in Col's social circle, how he and Riff meet and are drawn to each other, the way the ship is constructed and, best of all, the action that takes place. I will look for more by this author.

Interesting book. I'm not sure if this really gets four stars. Four is too much, but three are not enough.
It's obvious while reading that this book is adressed to young readers, some bits are pretty predictable. This didn't lessen my enjoyment of the book. And there are issues adressed that will keep me thinking about it for a few days.

I read this when I was quite young but I did really enjoy it.

It's Young Adult, and it's about two kids who are living on a huge airship, and it's presented as a microcosm of the United Kingdom.

I really liked it because this author actually presented issues of class and gender and those relationships in quite a thoughtful way. It felt like a mature book to me, and I appreciated the idea that just because it's a Young Adult novel, doesn't mean it can't be serious or present big ideas.

This was my first real steampunk novel and I absolutely love the setting. The airship becomes a character as well and it's just cool to see how the environment interacts with and informs the characters.

The sci-fi element of this book wasn't too unfamiliar to me and it had a historical element that I was familiar with. Overall if you like sci-fi, steampunk, YA historical novels with a little bit of seriousness, you might really like this book. c:

Col Porpentine is the heir apparent for Worldshaker, a massive steamship ruled over by his grandfather and figureheads Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Built 150 years ago in 1845, Worldshaker is a massive ship, powered by steam engines run by the lowest of the low – the Filthies. Read the rest of the review on my blog: http://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/worldshaker-richard-harland/

Col and Riff have survived the takeover of the steamship Worldshaker, and have renamed it Liberator. Col is expecting things will run smoother between them now that they’re all on the same side, but it doesn’t take long for things to go wrong. Read the rest of the review on my blog: http://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/liberator-richard-harland/

Brilliant, this book had me hooked from start to finish, While some of the plot was predictable other parts made me gasp. Well worth reading if you like dystopian novels. This is set aboard a juggernaut (huge zeppelin type craft) a huge ship in which the elites live on the top decks while the Filthies toil below. The elites have menials (servants ) who tend to their every need as they go about life living aboard this oversize cruise ship. They are oblivious to the havoc that they are creating to the environment outside of the juggernaut as well as below decks. Then it all changes as the Filthies begin to revolt, led by Riff who is accompanied by Col, the grandson of the elite Supreme Commander. Brilliant vivid writing that is relevant to today's world and the havoc that humans are creating upon earth.

I'll admit I was wary when I opened the package from Allen & Unwin and found this book inside. I'd never heard of it, and although I love steampunk and alternate history, I worried about how much I could enjoy a book so centrally focussed on music - after all, I know next to nothing about music. I shouldn't have worried: Song of the Slums is a delightful read, rhythmic and romantic at the same time.

The book begins with Astor, who thinks she's about to wed the handsome plutocrat Lorrain Swale. To her horror (and mine), she's abandoned by her mother and step-father and forced to become a governess for the Swale children - petulant, stubborn and disagreeable creatures, all three of them. I sympathised with Astor's plight, and admired her tenacity as she continued teach the children every day, despite their hostility. When the children turn on her and she's forced out of the household, Astor relies heavily on her servant Verrol, who, it turns out, has secrets of his own. Their only hope for survival is to join a street gang. It's a far cry from the luxury Astor is accustomed to, but she adapts remarkably well, and I liked witnessing the vibrant, smoky atmosphere through her eyes.

The camaraderie between members of the slum gangs is endearing, and I liked the relationships between the members of the band, The Rowdies. The band coalesces wonderfully, and they grew to love and respect one another, and I relished the attachment between the only two girls in the band, Mave and Astor. The Song of the Slums explores their friendships and bonds, and also allows love to blossom in the unlikeliest of places, and I laughed a lot reading about the characters bumble over their romances.

Behind the basic plot-line of survival is another story, one of poverty, courage, politics and war, which the slum gangs get involved in because of the influence of their music. Song of the Slums cleverly explores the consequences of war, the ex-soldiers and heavy industrialisation that have no place in a world of peace, the plight of the slum children who were press-ganged into service, and the power music has over all our souls. The book isn't heavy-handed with these concepts, but they allow for a richer plot, filled with nuance and intrigue.

Readers with a soft spot for steampunk will appreciate the gaslight fantasy of The Song of the Slums, and readers looking for quick, absorbing read will not go wrong by picking it up. I am very glad I read this, and I think you will be too.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for review.
You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic.

I had not previously read any of Richard Harland's other books prior to picking up WORLDSHAKER. I had no expectations beyond a great steampunk adventure and WORLDSHAKER delivered.

Col, the Upper Deck privileged grandson of the Supreme Commander, has just been named as his grandfather's successor. When his grandfather gives him a tour of the juggernaut, Col sees for the first time the Filthies, the labor class living and working in the bottom decks of the ship. Later, when he encounters a Filthy girl named Riff, he realizes that everything he has been taught about the Filthies is not true, that they are just as human as he is and not the animals he was led to believe. By helping Riff, Col sets in motion a series of events that lead to him questioning his whole upbringing. In the end, Col has to decide which side to choose, helping the Filthies or returning to his Upper Deck life and assuming the mantle of Supreme Commander.

Harland has written a great steampunk novel with dystopian themes, and is a master world builder that leaves a reader wanting more. He skillfully sets the stage for future books involving the characters of Worldshaker. My only complaint is that though this book is considered young adult, the language, sentence structure and grammar are more suited to middle grade readers. Young adults, as well as adults who read in the young adult genre, may find the storyline too simplistic and may be frustrated with the naiveté of Col.

I enjoyed Worldshaker and am looking forward to seeing if Harland will develop this story into a series. I would love to read a second book from Riff's point of view in order to get more character development of her and the other Filthies.

This book gets one star for having an interesting premise (a juggernaut on wheels that travels the earth after Europe is devastated in an alternate version of the Napoleonic Wars). Beyond that, though, this book is terrible.

Every author is faced with the question of how to convey needed information to the reader. After all, the reader must somehow learn the background of the characters and something of the world in which the book is set. Some authors choose to do this through the voice of the narrator, others use dialogue and allow one or more characters to explain what's needed to another. Both choices can work if done properly, and each has inherent narrative pitfalls that must be avoided.

The biggest problem that an author who chooses the dialogue approach must overcome is that of the ignorant character. This character must be believably ignorant (so that the explanations come in the natural course of the narrative), but not so ignorant as to become unsympathetic. This is the trap into which Harland falls. His main character (Colbert) is the grandson of the Supreme Commander of the Worldshaker (a person second in significance of the juggernaut only to the queen and her consort). The book opens with the announcement that Colbert is to be his grandfather's successor. Colbert is 16, and so ignorant as not to be believable He's never met any of his peers in his relatively small social class (even though it's clear they've all met each other) and has clearly never received any kind of instruction in social skills, let alone in how to run a city-sized juggernaut. If Colbert were actually written to be an idiot, I might have found this easier to believe, but he's not. It turns out that he's a smart, thoughtful boy, who, if he were better-written, would have asked the questions that come up in the book long ago.

Harland would have done better to have a little more faith in his reader and not assumed that his readers are as forcibly ignorant as he makes his main character be.

Earlier this year I read a YA steampunk affair by Australian author Richard Harland called Worldshaker. As these things go it wasn't bad at all, it told the story of an alternate future where the bulk of the great civilisations of Europe had been forced onto world travelling ships called juggernauts and how a young man from the Upper Deck ruling class; Col Porpentine, had teemed with a determined Lower Deck member of the working class, commonly known as Filthies, to overthrow the order of things and turn Worldshaker into a democratic society with equal rights for all.

Liberator picks up a few months after the end of Worldshaker. The juggernaut has been renamed with something more fitting to its new status and all are adjusting to the new society. Unfortunately generations of mistreatment and poor behaviour from both sides have created divisions that may never be healed. The Filthies call the Upper Decks people Swanks and relish their new position of power...some of them relish it a little too much.

Col is trying to help his family adjust to the change, without a lot of success in some cases, and at the same time come to terms with his feelings for his friend and fellow revolutionary the Filthie known as Riff. That's when a saboteur strikes and threatens to unsettle everything.

As things come unglued on the Liberator, Riff fades into the background, Col finds himself fighting for his life and the zealot Lye takes over.

There's a very clear message in the book that you can't simply unsettle an old order without something viable to take it's place. There are echoes of the Russian Revolution, the French Revolution and in some cases Hitler's rise to power and the formation of the Third Reich.

Liberator is attacked by juggernauts from other Imperial powers and eventually does to a Russian juggernaut what happened on Liberator, freeing the Russian Filthies and giving them the power to decide their own destiny. Col has to also sort out things with Riff, not easy when your former wife is still alive and largely insane.

It ends up happily enough, with scope for more should the author go on, although I'd advise against it. The idea has legs, but not enough to support another book. He has learned from Worldshaker and given things time to happen, I felt they were a little rushed in the first one. He also let violent situations play out that way, many YA authors don't like to cross certain boundaries. It's a good followup and deserves an audience, if only for Col's amazing baby brother Antrobus.

Worldshaker by Richard Harland is a steampunk YA novel. There must be something about Australian authors and YA steampunk, one of the others I know is Michael Pryor's marvelous The Laws of Magic series.

Worldshaker is set in an alternate world where a fifty year war between the large European imperial powers of the 18th and 19th century has devastated the landscape to make it unliveable. The imperial powers have abandoned their colonies and taken to giant ships that travel over land and sea, known as juggernauts.

The book is set on the Worldshaker, Britain's great juggernaut. There are 3 distinct classes of people aboard Worldshaker; the Upper Deck, representing the upper class, the Menials who are the servants and working class and then below decks are the Filthies, they would have been factory fodder in the old world. There are also sub classes amongst the Upper Deck. The whole thing is overseen by the ship's Supreme Comander who is under the rubber stamp authority of Queen Victoria III and her consort Prince Albert.

The two central characters are Colbert Porpentine, the grandson of the Supreme Comannder; Sir Mormus Porpentine, and Sir Mormus' chosen successor. The other main character is Riff, a fiery young Filthy, who is part of the Revolutionary Council, and determined to overthrow the current ruling class.

Col and Riff meet and she forces Col to investigate his life and history of the world. He finds out that the Filthies are not a separate species of subhuman as everyone has been told. The Menials are people who have been lobotomised to make them more obedient and his family are as guilty if not more so of abusing their servants. Circumstances force Col into action and he and Riff are at the forefront of the new order, it turns out that they are the only ones who can prevent Sir Mormus from blowing up the ship in order to preserve his own legend.

For a YA story it's not too bad, interesting idea and settings. There are echoes of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World in the Menials and the Filthies put me in mind of those below the cities in David Williamson's Chung Kuo. In fact the themes of class were present in both of those novels and in Chung Kuo civilisation had been forced into giant domed cities.

The book was a little uneven in terms of pacing and characterisation. I became convinced that Col and Riff were about 12 or 13 only to be told that Col was in fact 16 and Riff was 15, they both often seemed, especially Col, so much younger, he was also a very passive protagonist for most of the narrative, springing into action in the last section, the sub story with his sister; Gillabeth, was also never satisfactorily resolved. The last section was all action, which was rather at odds with all the setup that had taken place throughout the majority of the story. For the YA set it was an involving and interesting story with sympathetic protagonists and a rather novel idea and setting. I did enjoy it, although I accept that I'm not the intended audience. The fact that it's standalone is another point in it's favour.

Not bad, just not that interesting. Minor details of the setting aside, I've read this story before.½

On catalpgue: http://ipac.citylibrary.pncc.govt.nz/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&menu=search&index=...

I enjoyed this one. Read it based on a list of recommended reads from independent booksellers. I enjoyed the book. The characters are teens, but the story itself reads younger.

This isn't a bad book, per se - it's just a little oversimple.

The basic premise is similar to that of the Mortal Engines trilogy, with an AU British Empire (and all the important nations, it seems) constantly traveling the world on their worldshaking, groundchurning machines.

It doesn't take long in the book - spoiler alert! - to find out that the good people are good and the bad people are very, very bad. Our hero's own family and society has very little to recommend them. They've enslaved their own poor people, whom they deliberately treat brutally, scalding them for fun and kidnapping them from their general slavery for more personal drudgery (deliberately weakening their minds in the process, by some medical procedure that's not fully explained), they're misogynistic, the upper classes have their own entrenched class structure (fat luck breaking out of it), the school is full of rampant bullying, they destroy the cities and villages they run over (not that they care) - it just goes on. For heaven's sake, the hero's grandmother starves her servants to death for fun, and nobody minds! This is supposed to be a shocking revelation, but it's... kinda not. They already do everything else evil they can, right?

Some people like this sort of thing, and they can have it. Me, I like my morality a little less black-and-white. It does no good for the hero to have to break free of his upbringing if there's nothing calling him back, no compunction about betraying everything he was raised to believe in. In real life, people and societies are mixed. They have some good things, and some bad things. They do good things in some situations, and bad things in others. Not so here...!

There's a lot of action in this book, and the plot does manage to hang together, but it just could've been a better book.

Award-winning Australian author Richard Harland is perhaps better known for his young adult fiction, some of which I have enjoyed a great deal. This is the final in a series of three science fiction novels with both mystery and supernatural elements by The books are stand alone – and this is the only one I have read.
The first volume, The Dark Edge, was a finalist for the 1997 Aurealis Award in both the Horror Novel and Science Fiction Novel categories and that Hidden from View was nominated for the 1999 Ditmar Award in the Best Novel category.
The series is set against the background of the colonial hegemony of the planet Terra, whose influence has spread across the cosmos, but is increasingly threatened by the Anti-Human, an unknown menace, which follows a steady path from the boundaries of the universe towards the core, consuming Terran colonies as it advances. Inspector Eddon Brac, a male detective with traditional sleuth leanings, is partnered with assistant Vail ev Vessintor, a female goth noble with expertise in the psychic sciences. Each novel presents the pair with a murder mystery with an unorthodox and surprising origin and also explores the tension between them.
In Hidden from View Eddon and Vail are not working together. Eddon has returned to ordinary police-work, while Vail is up on High Sphere, explaining about the Anti-Human to the elite members of the upper class. Eddon's new place of work is in Urban Disposal Site Number One - or 'the Uds' for short. The Uds is the lowest sleaziest area in the entire Metropolitan Zone. Its inhabitants are eccentric drop-outs well known for their strange obsessions and addictions.
Eddon doesn't want to have anything more to do with Vail. He has a new romantic interest in his life: a woman with violet eyes and skin the colour of apricots. But Vail isn't so easily excluded. When the murders begin, Eddon takes charge of the investigation. Still he doesn't want to call upon Vail for parapsychic assistance. But as the murders become more terrifying and more inexplicable, he finds himself desperate for any kind of lead. At the same time, he's also coming under increasing personal pressure. Dark events from his own past life return to haunt him. Meanwhile, Vail is running into family troubles of her own.
Harland has created a moderately interesting world. I might go back and read the earlier ones to get some more background. However, the contrived sexual tension, unconvincing plotline and absurd characterisations made this an only average read.

Worldshaker is an easily enjoyable young-adult book by one of Australia's best speculative fiction Authors.

A Filthy has escaped from down below on the British juggernaut Worldshaker. The Captain's grandson is learning to fit his role in life on board the juggernaut.

The seemingly simple plot is enjoyable and the imagery of class struggle and learning that there are different ways to think are clevery portrayed.

Definitely recommended.

Review by Crisetta MacLeod:

This is a steampunk story told by a master of his craft, and supreme master of his genre. The Worldshaker is a juggernaut, a world in itself. It and the juggernauts of other nations were created after the Industrial Revolution, which has turned out very differently (France conquered England!) Worldshaker trundles greedily around the world seeking coal to keep itself fed and mobile.
The upper decks enjoy a life of decadence, while degraded “Filthies” slave in darkness in the bowels. Even worse, the upper class dredges up a Filthy at will, to be converted into a Menial, a servant for their lavish lifestyle.
The protagonists are Col, heir to the controlling family, and Riff, a fourteen-year-old girl who’s plotting a Filthy Revolution. At Col’s school, social class is more important than intelligence, and bullying is trenchantly described. But Col is also learning to fight, trained by Riff. Col’s struggle is between accepting his heritage of power and wealth, or rejecting it as he realises it is based on shocking human rights violations. You want horror? Read about how a Filthy is changed into a Menial! And Col’s sweet old strawberry-scented granny…

An absorbing, page-turning story about fame, changing fortunes and music, set in an alternative Victorian world, from the brilliant creator of Worldshaker...

Set in an alternative nineteenth-century England, Harland's lively novel finds 17-year-old Astor Vance thinking she has been engaged to a scion of the fabulously wealthy Swale family. Imagine her horror when she learns that, instead, she has been pressed into service as a governess to the odious Swale children. Discovering a dangerous family secret, Astor must then flee for her life, accompanied by her manservant, the mysterious Verrol. To survive, the two join a Slumtown street gang and, using their musical talents, become a member of the group's band, the Rowdies, whose music smacks suspiciously of rock and roll! Improbably, the group becomes a sensation, its fame attracting the Swale brothers, who propose a partnership that will profit both them and the band. It sounds plausible, but Astor is suspicious and wonders if the plutocrats have a deeper, more nefarious purpose in mind. What might it be, and how will the troubled relationship between Astor and Verrol play out? Though riddled with improbabilities, Australian author Harland's gaslight romance remains engaging and will hold readers' attention to its suspenseful end.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2014 Booklist