Unnatural History by Jonathan GreenMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Set in a steampunk England that rules the world with its airships and inventions, an England that has colonies on Mars and the moon, this is a colorful and creative action story. Ulysses Quicksilver, a wealthy investigator and adventurer, is a fun if uninspiring main character who barrels into danger without a lot of thought for survival, assisted by his reliable man Nimrod. Somebody has discovered a way to de-evolve humans, regressing them through apes and reptiles, and this becomes a threat to Queen Victoria's 160th jubilee that Quicksilver has to take care of...
It's strange and funny and sometimes great fun, though much of the novel feels bloodless and distant. Without connecting with the MC, who I liked but didn't quite *get*, it's hard to care a lot about what happens. For good or bad, it feels like a comic book without the pictures. I bet it'd make a great graphic novel...
This is the first novel in an omnibus, and I like it well enough to plow into the the second and presumably the third--eventually. Not today. But I nearly gave it 3 stars instead of 4; maybe 3.5 is closest to my actual rating. Translated into words: this is rather fun, worth finishing once you start, but if you have any misgivings going in you probably won't care for it. I'm sort of into steampunk right now (probably a decade behind at least) and so it's still worth for me to give it a go.
As always, YMMV.
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