Stephen Hunt has written four novels in the Steampunk universe first described in The Court of the the Air. All of his novels are loud, exuberant affairs, with a self-conscious complexity that echoes Victorian literature and an unselfconscious love of stuff and spectacle that echoes-absolutely nothing else I’ve ever read. In The Court of the Air, you’ll find giant, punch-card driven computing machines capable of DNA analysis, a race of steam-powered robots that practice a mixture of Buddhism and Vodoo, a sentient war machine from an ancient age, airships, an insectoid race of Lovecrafian horrors, and no, that’s not all. This is all great fun-but the plots sometimes ramble and it’s difficult to keep track of the many, many characters.

The latest book in the series Secrets of the Fire Sea just isn’t as good as the ones that came before. The lead is too similar to past characters and never really develops her own voice, the moral dilemas raised by the society of Jargo are never really acknowledged, and it’s just a bit too noisy and scattered for its own good. That said, it’s still chock full of Hunt’s trademark creativity-sentient bear people! An volcanic civilization surrounded by lava flows! And a female heroine devoted to the intellectual life (this last one shouldn’t be noteworthy, but is).

If you’re a fan of the series, Secrets of the Fire Sea is probably worth picking up-but it’s not the high point. If you dig epic fantasies with unique conceits, check out The Court of the Air.

Reading Level: Young Adult/Adult.

Rating: ✰✰✰