Skies of Steel
...MiscJoy: I hadn’t read the prior books but decided to take a chance that I wouldn’t get too lost by starting with Skies of Steel. I think the author did a great job of providing enough detail on the world-building aspects (Man O’ Wars, ether, tetrol and the like) including references to the political unrest over control of resources and the resulting over-arching Mechanized War that embroiled much of the globe. Skies of Steel didn’t focus so much on the Mechanized War per se as it mainly provided a backdrop for the story developing between Daphne and Mikhail. I appreciated the characterization of Daphne as a woman who didn’t let fear stop her from making the decisions that had to be made, even if she had to be ruthless about it. Definitely not a Mary Sue. I was fascinated by the Man O’ War concept and enjoyed reading about the air ship’s design and Mikhail’s connection to it. The story was non-stop action to be sure. But at times, I felt disconnected from it. I suppose that could have been a result of not having read Skies of Fire first. Although, I’m still not sure as to the why of it...
Read the full joint review with E_bookpusher posted on October 15, 2012 on The Book Pushers blog: http://thebookpushers.com/2012/10/15/joint-review-skies-of-steel-by-zoe-archer/