Gary's Reviews > Infernal Devices

I'd give this a 3.5 if it were possible because there is a lot to admire about this book - the first steampunk book literally (Jeter coined the term in an interview) and that fact alone is enough to get the stars rising. You can see where several authors got inspiration from this book - pseudo-Victorian language mixed with some far out ideas and mechanical devices both ahead of their time and unnaturally effective in their abilities. Plus fish folk and puritanical movements dedicated to rubbing out anything remotely blasphemous - yes I said fish folk! Icthyomorphic countenances and all! All in all a very enjoyable book to read. It lacks the depth of it's progeny - it's a short book compared to the steampunk offerings more recently, Hunt etc. but I'd recommend it to fans, plus their is a foreword from Jeter and an afterword from Jeff Vandermeer.