• Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • TikTok
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Tahlia Newland

Editor, Author & Artist

  • Editing Services
  • Me & My Creative Life
    • My Books
      • Metaphysical Fiction
    • My Poetry
    • My Masks
    • My Hats
    • Permaculture, Forest & Garden
    • Performing Arts
  • Blog
  • Contact

Review – Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris

June 7, 2011 by Tahlia Newland

Title: Phoenix Rising
SubTitle: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel
 Author: Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris
Publisher: HarperCollins
Imprint: Voyager
Pub Date: 05/01/2011
Category:  ADULT: Steampunk Fantasy.

Phoenix Rising is a great read, a tightly written, fascinating novel with colourful characters, plenty of action, wonderful inventions and an intiguing puzzle to solve.

The blurb
These are dark days indeed in Victoria‘s England. Londoners are vanishing, then reappearing, washing up as corpses on the banks of the Thames, drained of blood and bone. Yet the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences– the Crown’s clandestine organization whose bailiwick is the strange and unsettling — will not allow its agents to investigate. Fearless and exceedingly lovely Eliza D. Braun, however, with her bulletproof corset and a disturbing fondness for dynamite, refuses to let the matter rest. . .and she’s prepared to drag her timorous new partner, Wellington Books, along with her into the perilous fray.

For a malevolent brotherhood is operating in the deepening London shadows, intent upon the enslavement of all Britons. And Brooks and Braun — he with his encyclopedic brain and she with her remarkable devices — must get to the twisted roots of a most nefarious plot . . .or see England fall to the Phoenix!

In this Steampunk version of Victorian England, one plucky secret agent finds herself removed from fieldwork on account of her over zealous use of explosives. She is demoted to an assistant in the archives where she must work with Wellington Books, apparently as opposite in character to her as you could get. The easy going, fiery colonial (Eliza is a kiwi and proudly so) constantly annoys and is challenged by Welly, who is precise, diligent, by the clock and by the rule book. I love both these characters.

Welly is happy in his job as Librar…. whoops, archivist, but Eliza would rather be out shooting criminals on behalf of Queen and country. When she comes across the records of a fascinating and gruesome unsolved case that her ex-field partner was working on before he went crazy and ended up in Bedlam, Welly picks up her interest in the case. After a new piece of evidence comes to hand, their curiosity takes over and they’re on the case without the approval of their superior.

The characters are well drawn, likeable and deepen as the story progresses. Welly is very upper-crust and he finds Eliza’s colonial ways lax and sometimes downright crass. He is surprised to discover that she has taste and can behave as any well bred lady should when she needs to. She doesn’t have a scientific mind like Welly or share his fascination with gadgets. Her love is her guns and stiletto knives. Yet when the two get together, they make an excellent team.

The trust between them and respect for each other grows and by the end a little of Welly has rubbed off on Eliza and visa versa.

This novel reminds us how easily nefarious characters can hide behind the patriotic English upper class façade and shows us that the characteristics they despise in other classes, rather than making them inferior, make them particularly good in the certain areas such as in the skills of sleuthing.

This is probably the most clearly drawn Steampunk world I have come across so far. The machines are described so well that they are quite believable. Some might find Eliza a bit of a stretch in believability for a woman of the time, but it is an alternate reality, and she is a Kiwi who learned to fight from the Maoris which makes her character quite plausible.

The ending came to a satisfying conclusion with just enough left over to give you an idea of where the story might be going next. I’ll definitely be keeping up with this series. I give it 5 stars and recommend it for all Steampunk lovers over 18. There’s a hint of lesbian debauchery and a taste of sexually orientated torture though, thankfully for this reader, neither are described in detail. Both seemed necessary to paint the picture of just how malevolent the secret society is.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: 5 stars, Reviews, Steampunk Tagged With: Book Review, Fantasy novels review blogs, Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris

« Splash into Summer Giveaway Winner
What is it like to be seventeen? And why that’s the age of my heroine. »

Comments

  1. Tee Morris says

    June 9, 2011 at 1:02 am

    Thank you so much for this lovely review. We hope you join us for our next Ministry novel, Of Cogs & Corsets. In the meantime, please give our podcast a listen at http://ministryofpeculiaroccurrences.com.

    Again, we really appreciate you taking the time to read our work and review it!

    • Tahlia Newland says

      June 9, 2011 at 8:57 am

      Thanks for popping over. I’m always happy to support a fellow author whose work I like. We need each other in this mad world where there’s so many books around. I’ll certainly read of Cogs and Corsets when it’s out. What a great name.

  2. Lea says

    June 9, 2011 at 2:10 am

    Pip (Philippa) Ballantine is amazing! Have you heard any of her podcasted novels? I love Chasing the Bard, and Weather Child seems quite nice as well, although I’m only a little ways in. She has a lovely reading voice.

    • Tahlia Newland says

      June 9, 2011 at 8:58 am

      A pod cast is an interesting idea. I might check it out.

Search

Recent Posts

  • Fantasy Book Review: The High Priestess by Val Tobin
  • Book Genres – What you Need to Know.
  • How to See Edits in Word Documents
  • Finding an Editor You Can Trust
  • Review of ‘The Guild Codex Spellbound Series’ by Annette Marie

View Posts by Category

Writing a novel? Feeling overwhelmed? Get new insight and inspiration with my FREE Novel Revision Checklist. 

DOWNLOAD  NOW

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Free Book Download  
Get Lethal Inheritance free when you sign up to my new release email list.  I won’t share your details and you can unsubscribe at any time.

My Latest Books

  • Fallout: Recovering from Abuse in Tibetan Buddhism
  • The Elements of Active Prose: Writing Tips to Make Your Prose Shine
  • The Locksmith's Secret
    Rated 5.00 out of 5

Alliance of Independent Authors

Alliance of Independent Authors

Click HERE to see all my books.

Books
Reviews, Writing, Cats & Contemplation
Editing

Click HERE to subscribe to my newsletter and get my fantasy novel Lethal Inheritance FREE. 

How to Meditate – the crucial points

See more

Hi I’m Tahlia Newland

I can help you express yourself and share your story with the world.

 

Do you want to write a really good story and have it professionally polished and published?

As an editor, I help you be the best writer you can possibly be. I strengthen your voice, support your vision and can assist you all the way to publication.

On my blog you’ll find book reviews, writer’s tips, contemplative articles on meditation and working with your mind, and occaisonally pictures of my Burmese cats.

If you’re interested mostly in my contemplative articles then  Sign up to the Living in Peace & Clarity Newsletter to get those articles delivered by email. And check out the resources on my Living in Peace and Clarity Page.

I do a lot of community work involving blogging and general support for Buddhist students processing revelations of abuse in their spiritual communities.  Please consider supporting me to continue this work.

Occiasonally, when inspired and not too busy with community work, I make masks.

All my books are

Visit my Mask & Steampunk Accessories Shop

2015-03-19 15.46.12
Blue Burmese
Like cats in stories? Check out my books. And click the photo to read the cat colomn.

Click Here for More Articles in This Series

Book reviews – sci fi, fantasy, literary fiction, Buddhist fiction and related non-fiction

Fantasy Book Review: The High Priestess by Val Tobin

Fantasy Book Review: The High Priestess by Val Tobin

The High Priestess: Persephone’s Return is the third book in Val Tobin’s Tales from the Unmasqued World Series, and in it she deepens and expands the stories from the previous two book. The book has two central story arcs based around characters we’ve met before. One arc follows Kelsey (a human) who is with Josh […]

More Posts from this Category

My gorgeous Burmese cats

Renovated Website & Cute Cat Series

Renovated Website & Cute Cat Series

Yesterday I did a photoshoot for my renovated website. Take a look around, particulary at the home page (Click on my name at the top to go there). It’s designed for editing clients with my books secondary because I need to focus on the part of this publishing business that actually earns me more than […]

More Posts from this Category

Seven of my novels have an Awesome Indies Seal of Excellence

Four of my books earned BRAG Medallions

I abide by the ethical author code

I'm an Ethical Author
Alliance of Independent Authors

Copyright

All material on this website is under copyright to Tahlia Newland and cannot be shared without written permission.

  • Editing Services
  • About Me
  • My Books
  • My Masks
  • Blog
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023 · Amoré Theme by Oh, Hello Designs on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

FREE Novel Revision Checklist

Written a book? Need some help reviewing and revising it? Download my Novel Revision Checklist for step by step guidance.  

DOWNLOAD NOW

no thanks

{"cookieName":"wBounce","isAggressive":false,"isSitewide":true,"hesitation":"120","openAnimation":false,"exitAnimation":false,"timer":"","sensitivity":"","cookieExpire":"7","cookieDomain":"","autoFire":"","isAnalyticsEnabled":false}

Please note: I am closed for holidays from Christmas day until Jan 30th 2023. Dismiss