The Bookman

August 16, 2010
Tidhar (HebrewPunk) sets this ingenious but oddly uninvolving steampunk novel in a particularly strange alternate 19th century. Queen Victoria is a bipedal, intelligent lizard, one of many such aliens controlling the British empire. The sinister Bookman commits terrorist outrages, perhaps on behalf of humankind. Young would-be poet Orphan adores the lovely Lucy, but when she is incinerated by one of the Bookman’s bombs, he stumbles off on a confusing quest through London, France, and the Caribbean. Orphan interacts—sometimes helpfully, often not—with notables such as Tom Thumb, Jules Verne, Karl Marx, and Sherlock Holmes; plays chess with lifelike automata; and gets the clearest explanation of what’s happening from a one-eyed, swashbuckling lizard pirate captain. The hapless hero and his story are far less interesting than his surroundings and companions, but readers will enjoy watching Tidhar’s imagination throwing off sparks like a Roman candle.