The Affinity Bridge (Newbury & Hobbes Inverstigation #1)

A Captivating Read Indeed!

I wasn't fanatic about The Affinity Bridge though I was thoroughly interested in it at the same time. It was a change from the books I have been reading (my recently read books I either couldn't get enough of or disliked with a passion). This one was in the middle. Still I recommend it too fans of mystery and steampunk genres. I guess the main reson why I wasn't too thrilled with it was(and I feel horrible saying this mind you) because it had minimal amounts of romance. I can tell George Mann was trying to ease into the relationship of the two main characters (but to me it was torture!) and I respect that especially since your average romance novel usually rushes the romance between the lovers to where it's unrealistic (I really do hate that part of being a fan of romance). All in all, The Affinity Bridge was an awesome book (with it's zombies and electrical walking canes...) to read and I enjoyed it very much. I am also very excited for the sequal The Osiris Ritual.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Affinity Bridge is a Steampunk crime Mystery set in London in th

Affinity Bridge is a Steampunk crime Mystery set in London in the Victorian era. The author paints the setting well and we can actually feel the choking London fog of times gone by, but are further intrigued by elements of the story that are able to cloak themselves within the thick, dark atmosphere. The writing is good and fast paced so that our interest is held throughout the story. I don't want to give away the plot points of the story, but will say that it's imaginative, engaging, and inspires me to want to read the next book in the series, The Osiris Ritual.

This is the sort of story that makes Steampunk interesting as a genre. I would have liked to get more of a feel for what it's like to travel on an airship, but perhaps that will come in one of the further stories.

The Affinity Bridge had all the potential in the world but when

The Affinity Bridge had all the potential in the world but when it was all said and done it didn’t amount to much. The world created by George Mann is an interesting one, his characters not so much. Each one was a cliché with little imagination and the mystery involved here left little doubt. Overall this book was a fine attempt but not worth the time.

Steampunk sherlock holmes

A great detective novel with a mix of sci fi and supernatural elements

Great Steampunk story

Great story. Loved the characters of Newbury & Hobbes. Can't wait to read the next story.

...and after 35 pots of Earl Grey, the story ended.

It seemed like a tweener book for British kids. I am neither. In spite of having enough plot elements to make a thrilling read, I put the ebook down again and again, even toward the end of the book. I will not criticize the author, I could do no better, and a critic risks nothing. He does write in a fashion that is easy to visulaize in the mind's eye.

A delightful steampunk story

I enjoyed this story even if the description of the automata was a little bit too far fetched to be believable in the traditional SciFi genre and it sounds anachronistic. On the other hand the pace and the richness of the descriptions do take you to that victorian and foggy London we love so much. Definitelly recommended.

Fun steampunk romp

No text was provided for this review.

Quintessential Steampunk with an Engaging Story

Though a little less engaging than it's sequel, The Osiris Ritual, The Affinity Bridge is an absolutely fantastic story which in many ways catered perfectly to my notion of Steampunk London. Sir Maurice Newbury is the Sherlock Holmes of steampunk, with a wonderful personality that is, nevertheless realistic; Newbury has faults. The relationship between he and Miss Veronica Hobbes, his "assistant," (she is only so in that Newbury hired her; in every other way she is his equal) is endearing, and is possibly the first ever instance of a romance as a major factor in a steampunk novel. The book starts out a little slow, but speeds up drastically after about the fifth chapter as the plot thickens and the mystery becomes more and more engaging. Mann's writing style can sometimes be a little sloppy, but he is the first author I've seen to successfully create and describe in print format an action scene which would usually be better suited for a movie. I understand that this is said all the time, but I truly was unable to put this book down!

A decent detective novel

While I was reading this I kept thinking about the Will Smith movie 'I, Robot' where a robot may have committed murder setting humanity on a perilious collision course with technology. I also had the latest incarnation of a Sherlock Holmes movie swirling around as well as this steampunk drama has a Victorian Age sleuth and a side kick probing the murders of London's citizens allegedly purpitrated by automotons, robots, with human like qualities. It was dizzying keeping up with all of the red herrings and wide array of characters.

In the end, it could have been just another detective story and I really did not get all the crazy technology ala Wild, Wild, West. It was likable and it did keep my attention longer than I first thought. Regarding the genre of steampunk, the age before WWI was a dazzling display of new technology that was growing by leaps and bounds. Europe was the epicenter of it and it came to a nasty collision in August 1914. Steampunk to me can almost be true to historical accuracy, somewhat, so it needs to be a little more out there for me.

Good Read

Absolutely amazing, perfect for when you need a book to enjoy

A good yarn. . .

though not a great one.

The plot reminds me a little of Gordon Dahlquist's Glass Books of the Dreameaters, although the plot of The Affinity Bridge is decidedly less strange. Here we have a feisty heroine and a flawed hero, AND (if that weren't enough), a solid sidekick. It's a little bit Sherlock Holmes and a little bit Amelia Peabody.

Nonetheless, The Affinity Bridge is an easy, escapist, page turner; I finished it in seven hours, by the clock--and I am very much your average reader. It is promising, but it doesn't quite live up to it's promise. I found the characters a bit shallow and the dialog incongrous: highly purple Victoriana, coupled with modern colloqualisms.

I think I understand what Mann was going for; the plot is steam-punkish. However, culture changes much slower than technology--as we witness everyday--and Mann doesn't really sell me that the language will have changed that much. Nor do I buy the other characters' easy acceptance of Veronica as a professional woman/buttkicker. Oh, that it were that easy: give us cars, airships, and robots, and we will give you universal human rights, just like that. But, that's not how it works, clearly. If you are going to do something like that, you've got to make it make sense in your world. Mann didn't.

Yet, the plot's okay. The ending is neither surprising, nor is it unsurprising. The plot point having to do with Jack seems an afterthought more than anything and would probably have been best left out; it's a distraction. The whole book seems clearly a set-up for another novel with the same characters, and so it left me a little unsatisfied with this novel.

Bottom line: If you like the steampunk genre or mysteries, it's worth a read, but it's not going to make you think. Then again, not everything has to.

Affinity Bridge

This story had so many different elements to it...a zombie plague, a ghostly policeman, an airship crash, crazy scientists, and a touch of the paranormal. It was almost too much to keep up with. I can's imagine how Sir Newbury managed to keep up with it all, but somehow he did with the help of his beautiful assistant, Veronica.

The story starts off with the investigation of a glowing policeman that seems to be responsible for several murders. As Sir Newbury begins the investigation he is instead directed, by the Queen herself, to investigate an air ship crash. Somehow all of this and the zombie plague tie together fairly neatly in the end, but in a very odd way.

While I did enjoy reading the story, there were times it seemed to jump around a bit, and I could not find myself truly loving any of the characters. The saving grace, and what piqued my interest, was the final chapter. It just may compel me to give the second book a chance and see what happens.

3/5

disappointing

Airships, mechancial men, zombies, spiritualism. This should have been a wonderful book. Unfortunately, the author's attempt at Victorian dialogue was stilted, witless, and unauthentic. It became such a distraction that I lost interest in the story, and have yet it finish reading it.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Enjoyable time killer, especially for those interested in Victorian England, etc

I'd buy the next one in the series.

Light reading

Interesting and somewhat historical. Good if you want light reading.

Affinity Bridge (A Newbury and Hobbes Investigation) by George Mann

The Affinity Bridge
(A Newbury and Hobbes Investigation)
George Mann
Tom Doherty Associates
ISBN: 0-7653-2320-6
334 pages

"The Affinity Bridge" is an action-adventure steampunk mystery of the first order. George Mann combines Victorian era dialogue, a murder mystery, zombies, automata, dark magic, the macabre act of brain switching, and dirigibles to tell a truly interesting and exciting story. In the tradition of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Who, and The Avengers, "The Affinity Bridge" introduces the team of Sir Maurice Newbury and Ms Veronica Hobbes, agents of the Crown (Scotland Yard). Together, they are enlisted by the Queen to discover the cause of an air balloon crash and the unknown identities of the victims. Mann weaves an intricate tale of mystery and adventure whilst visiting the seedier sides of Victorian London and manages to write it in such a way that you believe you've traveled to an alternative Victorian history such as you've never seen the likes of before. The intrigue, dialogue and plot are first rate and you'll even be surprised by events a time or two. Well worth the time and money spent!

4 stars out of 5

The Alternative
Southeastern Wisconsin

http://thealternativeone.blogspot.com/

Good book, steam punk may become more than a subculture

the imaginative nature and well thought out plot stand out well.
zombies, automatons and airships should be enough to bring out the steam punk in anyone. i hope to see more in this series.

Mann propels us into an alternate history steampunk world

The year is 1901.

A strange zombie plague threatens the low class areas of London. Zeppelins fill the skies, piloted by mechanical men. Queen Victoria, with medical help, is still on the British Throne. A mysterious, glowing policeman has been strangling people.

Welcome to the world of George Mann's The Affinity Bridge.

In this Victorian AH Steampunk world, meet Sir Maurice Newbury and his assistant Miss Veronica Hobbes. Agents of the Crown, its their job to deal with enemies and threats to England.

And do it proper British style, of course.

Its clear that there are dark things afoot. A mysterious zeppelin crash impels our two agents into a world of conspiracy, adventure, intrigue and even a bit of the New Weird. The book is not as aggressively set in that genre as other novels I have read as of late; The Affinity Bridge is much more a pure AH "steampunk novel"--with some twists.

The novel starts slowly as we start to get to know the characters. It's clear Newbury and Hobbes are relatively new to each other, as they are to us. However, the writing and characterization improve as we get to know Newbury, Hobbes, and the characters around them.

When it does hit on all cylinders, the novel feels a lot like those old Victorian novels, with all of the plots tying together in a neat fashion (perhaps too neat), hair-breadth escapes, and even a couple of pitched battles, and always time for British sensibility. The characters are neither cardboard nor two dimensional--both have flaws and aspects of their characters that they keep under wraps.

The tagline to this book is "A Newbury and Hobbes novel" which sounds to me that a sequel might be in the offing. Now that the characters and world are firmly established by the end of the Affinity Bridge, I'd read it.

THE AFFINITY BRIDGE is an odd alternate earth historical thriller

In 1901 London, automatons have taken over most of the manual labor replacing humans. In that environs British Museum anthropologist Sir Maurice Newbury and his assistant Miss Veronica Hobbes investigate the crash of a zeppelin piloted by a cyborg in which pilot error is statistically impossible yet in this case somehow appears plausible. --------------

At the same time, a plague is spreading throughout the city's poorest sectors turning people into zombies. These revenants pose a major threat of destroying the British Empire from within. An expert on the occult, Maurice with Veronica's able help connects the two incidents in between Earl Grey time.--------------------

THE AFFINITY BRIDGE is an odd alternate earth historical thriller that combines elements of horror, science fiction and mystery in a London at the start of the twentieth century filled with robot and zombies; yet in some ways sort of remains the same as our earth as there is always time for a bit of tea. That combination adds some realism to the story line, but tea for two is fun for the participants however can be tedious to the reader. Still filled with plenty of blood, the occult and automatons, George Mann provides his audience with overall an enjoyable tale of a London out of control except for the tea time outs that seem mindful of Holmes-Watson.-------

Harriet Klausner