Ganymede is the fourth book in Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century series, following Boneshaker, Dreadnought, and Clementine. While the first book took place in and around a ruined Seattle, filled with poisoned air and zombies, and the second book followed the journey of Civil War nurse Mercy Lynch as she travels across the country, avoiding attacks from both soldiers and zombies, Ganymede takes place primarily in New Orleans. Characters from earlier books make cameo appearances, including Briar Wilkes and Mercy Lynch, but Ganymede is very much a distinct novel set within Priest's Steampunk universe.
The interminable Civil War keeps dragging on, and the independent republic of Texas, while nominally neutral between South and North, has taken control of New Orleans. Josie Early, a black woman who runs a brothel in the Big Easy, contacts Andan Cly, an airship pilot in Seattle and former lover, for a lucrative but dangerous job: extracting a Confederate submersible from under Lake Pontchartrain and delivering the ship to a waiting Union warship in the Gulf of Mexico. Earlier efforts to steer the Ganymede have cost many lives; Josie hopes that an airship pilot would be better-skilled to operate the submersible than someone whose skills are on surface ships.
Providing a thorn in the side of the Texians are the pirates, whose base in Barataria dates from the time of Jean Lafitte. When two Texian officers go missing, the Texians take the opportunity to clear out the pirates' base of operation.
In addition to the danger from both the Texians and the Confederates, Josie must contend with the growing danger from the zombie population of New Orleans. She connects the zombies with sap, the drug that has become increasingly popular, though she is unaware that sap is made from the poisonous gas in Seattle.
Although this novel stands alone from the others in the Clockwork Century series, sap is clearly part of the connective tissue among the three books. I presume that this will be resolved in a future book in the series.
Priest knows how to draw interesting characters: Josie herself, operating a shadowy business despite the twin handicaps of being a black woman in the 19th century South; Ruthie, one of Josie's "girls," with a secret of her own; and Andan, a former sap runner who wants to go straight and fly legitimate cargo, but who is drawn back to New Orleans in large part because of Josie. New Orleans is almost a character in its own right, a place of intrigue, of voodoo, of oppressive humidity and uninhibited behavior. I found the story in Ganymede to be a more interesting one than that of Dreadnought (even though Mercy Lynch is another intriguing character), and look forward to the next book in the series, The Inexplicables (which just came out), which returns the series to Seattle.
Showing posts with label boats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boats. Show all posts
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
A Trip on the Caledonian Ferry Line
Having read of the new Caledon ferry service, from Kittiwickshire to Cape Wrath, I decided that some bracing sea air was in order. I had no particular place to go. Instead, I took the ferry the length of its route.
I had just missed the previous ferry, so I waited for the next one. (Though the card from Guvnah Shang says they run every 15 minutes, the truth is that they seem to run every 30. One departed Kittiwickshire at ten of the hour, and the next arrived at twenty past.) The ship, the S.S. Deckard, was small but looked seaworthy. I hoped the seas would not be rough, however. I climbed aboard. For the first leg, I was joined by Mr. Philipp Oldrich.
The first stop was in Caledon Sound (not pictured), where we sliced through the ice that coated the Sound. From there, we journeyed to Port Caledon...
...and through the Firth to Caledon-on-Sea.
After a brief stop in Morgaine...
...the final destination was Cape Wrath. After providing some notice, the brave boat self-destructed.
The entire trip was about a half-hour, and quite scenic. Mr. Dominic Webb, proprietor of the Caledon Ferry Line and developer of the ferry and its route, should be commended for providing another means to travel about our fair land. I might suggest that Mr. Webb reprogram the ship to save itself at Cape Wrath, thereby making the venture more economical (and, dare I say, profitable? Perhaps not, as the service is free.). Return service to Kittiwickshire may also be useful at some future date.
I had just missed the previous ferry, so I waited for the next one. (Though the card from Guvnah Shang says they run every 15 minutes, the truth is that they seem to run every 30. One departed Kittiwickshire at ten of the hour, and the next arrived at twenty past.) The ship, the S.S. Deckard, was small but looked seaworthy. I hoped the seas would not be rough, however. I climbed aboard. For the first leg, I was joined by Mr. Philipp Oldrich.
The first stop was in Caledon Sound (not pictured), where we sliced through the ice that coated the Sound. From there, we journeyed to Port Caledon...
...and through the Firth to Caledon-on-Sea.
After a brief stop in Morgaine...
...the final destination was Cape Wrath. After providing some notice, the brave boat self-destructed.
The entire trip was about a half-hour, and quite scenic. Mr. Dominic Webb, proprietor of the Caledon Ferry Line and developer of the ferry and its route, should be commended for providing another means to travel about our fair land. I might suggest that Mr. Webb reprogram the ship to save itself at Cape Wrath, thereby making the venture more economical (and, dare I say, profitable? Perhaps not, as the service is free.). Return service to Kittiwickshire may also be useful at some future date.
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