Lecture toute une Aventure: Phoenix Rising (Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences 1) by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris

Hello everyone^^,

The first sunny week of summer has come to an end with again rain, rain and guess what? more rain. Fortunately for me, my reading shedule gave me such a pleasure that i could forget the weather.
To go on on my discovery of Steampunk and thanks to a contest on A.L. Davroe, i've got the opportunity to read Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris...i 'm so glad for it. Even better, i've found that apart of book2 already available, there are also several short stories *__* i want those pdfs as soon as i can *_* but those are available for free in podcasts on the series' official website. Now it's my first time with podcast but i loved the one i tried ( however english not being my native language i still have difficulties with listening comprehension thus the reasons i want the pdf of those stories too^^)

So, today, i will introduce you to this wonderful series and it's first book Phoenix Rising: (be cautious of the sparks and explosive...)

Happy reading

Publisher: Harper Voyage

Publication: 2011

Genre: steampunk, romance, suspense
Violence: strong

Language: normal
sex: Mild ( lot of allusions)

Public: 18+

Source: Won on A. L. Davroe ( thank you so so much!)

Short description from goodread :

Evil is most assuredly afoot—and Britain’s fate rests in the hands of an alluring renegade . . . and a librarian.

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 Books 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!

My opinion:

A wonderful example of steampunk! I loved all the gadgets and the investigation parts. The Characters are so fun and they still keep a lot of secrets for the readers and for each others so the series is really promising.

The relation Welly has with his father is strange and makes me so curious. We can guess it wasn’t easy for him to distance himself from this strong figure and part of me would be so delighted to read a meeting with Miss Braun just to see the reaction of Welly ‘s father.. it could be so fun.

Eliza Braun is crazy in love with dynamite , when asked to choose between back up and black powder she choose the powder and the result is a lot of work for clean up team and for the ones responsible for keeping everything secret. Hard to find logic explanation for so many destructions. Because of her petulant behaviour she is partnered with Wellington in the archives, so far from the field she is accustomed for, however some will have great surprises if they thought it was going to keep her calm. Proud woman from

New Zealand

, she will shake the British archivist and every ones that cross her path.

I absolutely loved all the opera part, really you should read it it ‘s action packed, funny, everything ^^

The other characters aren’t lacking either. The ministry of seven is cute, cunning and so resourceful.

Director Sound is secretive and must have a plan to pick those two agents and put them together. As for the plot, with so many villains part of so many secret society it’s a just a bit difficulty to guess who is who but at least we know we will have a lot of actions. Phoenix society, House of usher ( from whose we know nearly nothing yet) and Lord

Sussex

scheming plot… while this book has a proper ending , we really want more and the series is really promising.

As for the romance part: I love how it’s developing. Currently it’s more one sided Books is really attracted to Eliza but not acting on it yet and while she loves to tease him she must first find closure on her “affair” or lack of it with Harrison. However even if she is comparing them she is slowing appreciating Wellington more and more so it’s a great promise for the rest of the series while they are learning about each other.

I wholeheartedly recommend it. It was pure pleasure and if I wasn’t for the orgy part it would have be great for a larger public but as it stands for adult readers only.

Score: 5/5

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and no compensation was received in exchange for this review

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