Stephen Hunt - The Court of the Air

[mirrorshard]

Steampunkish YA one-volume quest fantasy. It took me a while to twig that this was actually supposed to be a YA book, since that wasn't mentioned anywhere on the dustjacket (apart from the detail of our heroes being early teenage orphans), but once I shifted gears to that I could enjoy it.

He has some amazing ideas, but he's too clumsy about executing a lot of them - the 'clever' similarities to Victorian history look more like lazy copying, and his characterization doesn't live up to his worldbuilding. The world is filled with fun, amusing one-note characters.

Comments

[fjm.livejournal.com]

It isn't a YA book. At least not by intention.

[mirrorshard.livejournal.com]

I did wonder, and as I said that didn't originally occur to me, but after about half an hour I worked out that that was why it felt wrong to me - treating it as YA felt better.

I saw a review that described it as such earlier, let's see if I can dig it up... aha, here we are, from the Guardian (http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2061341,00.html).

The Court of the Air is aimed at young adults, but the depth and complexity of Hunt's vision makes it compulsive reading for all ages.

I'm quite willing to believe he didn't write a YA book deliberately, but it looks like I'm not the only one who took it for that.

[angelislington.livejournal.com]

I was considering buying this for my adorably steampunk obsessed trukkle, but now I'm not so sure. Perhaps I shall just have him get it from the library. ;-)