I didn't expect zombies.

I've just spent most of today reading through a fairly interesting book written by Mark Hodder. "The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man" I guess comes under alternate history, with hints of steampunk and horror (hence my zombie title), but is classed under Science Fiction. The 'Clockwork Man' is actually the second book in a series that follows Kings agent Sir Richard Burton and his accomplice Algernon Swinburne, and their Watson and Holmes type roles in 19th century England. Plenty of historical names are dropped, such as Florence Nightingale and Charles Babbage, as parodied characters and the appendix at the end of the book even tells you a bit about what the actual people got up to in their time. The book has time travel, supernatural elements, a bloody good mystery and such a good twist in the story, I really enjoyed it. (It's the whole history nerd thing flaring up in me)

         The characters are wonderfully complex and fallable, for example, Burton's assistant Swinburne is boarding on alcoholism and seems to get worse as the story continues. Some characters are downright grotesque, such as the claimant in the 'Tichborne Affair', which is the central plot line throughout the story. Even little details, like the messenger parakeets that insult everyone they come across, or the description of the clockwork man, just add to the overall story for me. Hodder describes a Victorian era London with Eugenically 'enhanced' insects and plants that act like machinery, or are used by Technologists and combined with steam powered machines. He describes this Victorian era London being thrown into disarray and rioting, then plagued with some very polite zombies and smogged by wraiths, and he describes it very well.

         I loved reading this book and getting lost in the world it created. I'm a bit sorry I didn't start with the first book in this series, "Spring Heeled Jack", but I know it's something I'll read in the future. The book appealed to me on a number of different levels- steampunk, alt. history, and genetic experiments- and did it with humour and a compelling story. I have to quote a review on the book cover and say that it is, "steam opera at it's finest." So if you like a good mystery, or a little bit of the strange and the wonderful, I'd suggest you check out the 'Burton & Swinburne' series by Mark Hodder, it's certainly a series of books I'll be keeping my eye on.

If you've read it, or just want to suggest good books, I'm happy to accept any suggestions/criticisms, even if I don't have much time to read these days. You can leave a comment below or tweet me. Thanks for reading!