Reflection's Edge

Book Review: Whitechapel Gods, by S.M. Peters

Reviewer: Kyle White

In London, there is a hell - a steam-driven one, ruled by two mechanical gods, Grandfather Clock and Mama Engine. The humans failed to overthrow them before, but this time, a rebellion is brewing, and they just might have the weapon to win.

No matter what genre they write, authors should follow one cardinal rule: Don't confuse your reader. Had S.M. Peters' novel employed this simple tenet, it would be a much better work.

The premise is intriguing. In Victorian London, the Whitechapel section has been isolated and is now ruled by two mysterious mechanical gods. Mama Engine is the goddess of sentiment. Grandfather Clock represents logic and precision.

A few brave humans, remnants of a past uprising, strive to form a new resistance. They find a secret weapon that may free them of the gods' clutches, or kill them all.

As early as the prologue, the reader is left scratching his head. Peters does not attempt to explain his alternative universe. That would have been acceptable if he had woven bits of information throughout the story. Instead, the reader is exposed to repetitive descriptions of a mysterious world with no discernible ground rules.

Speculative fiction thrives on tweaking accepted reality beyond the expected. Peters does a good job of describing a world covered with ash, buildings that seem to grow organically, and a strange disease called the clacks that literally turns humans into machines from the inside out. However, about the third time Peters goes into excruciating detail about how difficult it is to breath the Whitechapel smog, the reader wants to scream, "I got that part already. Please give me something new."

To make matters even worse, Peters has populated his world with so many characters (several with similar names) that the reader quickly looses track of who is doing what to whom. Had the writer focused on a consistent narrator, the work would have been much easier to follow. As it is, one stops caring about the outcome long before the end of the book. In fact, readers may find themselves rooting for Mama Engine and Grandfather Clock just because they are the most consistently recognizable characters.

If you enjoy steampunk that lacks focus, then you might enjoy this book. For all others, browse elsewhere on the bookstore's shelves.

To buy a copy of this book, click here.

If you liked this book, check out:

Whitechapel Gods, by S.M. Peters

Steampunk, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

God's Demon, by Wayne Barlowe

Dead Travel Fast, by Kim Newman