Shelley Adina
| ePUB | A Gentleman of Means (Magnificent Devices, #8) |
| By | |
| Publication | 27 October 2025 |
| Number of Pages | 242 |
| Format Type | Kindle Edition |
Gentleman of Means (Magnificent Devices, #8)A somewhat shocking start to this volume, which sees Lady Claire return to England not quite in disgrace but not riding as high as at the end of the previous volume. The plot revolves around tracing Gloria, who disappeared in inexplicable circumstances towards the end of that book. Leaving the two girls in Munich to complete their studies Claire is accompanied by the equally resourceful older male members of the flock, one of whom learns something more of his parentage as well as the redoubtable Alice.
This volume brings the series to a satisfying end point, should there be no further books (there is a novella 'bridge' to a new series, excerpt at the end here).
The steampunk alt-hist trappings work well with the excellent female leads here - they are matched by equally good male partners. This Victorian age seems to have been a force for the good: peace seems to be to norm (no Zulu War or Sudan uprising, though skirmishes to protect Imperial holdings are mentioned). The Americas (Fifteen Colonies, the Kingdom of Spain, various Territories) also seem rather different. And of course Albert, Prince Consort is alive and well.
Splendid stuff (as I have said once or twice before).
Another great installment !
More fun streampunk adventure ! Intrigue, romance, dirigables, weaponry, chickens, and a touch of history all wound together once again. Thoroughly enjoyable
I had a break of a few years between books in the series but what a joy to rejoin Lady Claire and the gang. A steampunk romance with pirates, assassins and spies and turbulent father child relationships with, as you would expect, largely happy endings. The audiobooks of this series are fantastic! I thoroughly enjoyed this installment. A mad dash adventure through steampunk society with great characters, fabulous storylines and... some very lovely chickens! A great read.
I also loved listening to the audiobook of the story, and with Fiona Hardingham narrating again it was, of course, full of character and really brought the story to life. I'd definitely recommend it to all Magnificent Devices fans. Another great story
I just love these books. I usually get tired of a series with this many books, But let me tell you, each one is a wonderful adventure with characters I have come to love. Again I highly recommend them all. We’ve come a long way with these books. I bought the first one in post-Gail Carriger haze of “But I want more of this!” and taking my chances with a cheap e-book series. (Not that I’m knocking self-pubbed e-books and e-authors, but it is pretty much taking your chances with the material, like with any book.) And it was just so much fun and enjoyable and honestly took me by surprise. And while the Magnificent Devices series isn’t hundred percent perfect at times (The Love Woes of Alice Chalmers), I still really loved reading these books and couldn’t wait to get to the next one.
Picking up with the explosive, and somewhat jarring ending of A Lady of Integrity, A Gentleman of Means picks up with Lady Claire preparing to move on from university to the promised position at the Zeppelin Airworks and her impending, very delayed marriage to Andrew Malvern, as well as her continued worry about the whereabouts of Gloria Meriweather-Astor after her disappearance at the end of the last book. There is a lot going on with Claire’s character that does feel frustrating, or just so much flogging on the same three plot points over and over again—Claire can’t get respected and taken seriously as an engineer because she’s a GIIIIIIIIIIIIRL, her stubbornness for always going on adventure to save the people she loves—and I did get frustrated by these plot points, because well, it’s already a fantastical world, why aren’t there more lady scientists and engineers and inventors? Why does it have to examine the inherent sexism of the era? But I think that it works because it’s something that we still see going on right now. Despite the lack of electric guns or steam-powered airships or automatons, there’s still a massive divide in science between men and women, and having scenes of Claire calling out her superiors at the Zeppelin Airworks on being regulated to “fetching tea and sweeping the floor at night” (despite their explanations of “Well, yes, but all the junior engineers do that”) carries more weight because Claire continually gets treated as if she’s just filling time until she and Andrew finally get married. I wouldn’t say that this series is a women-in-STEM call to arms, but I think it’s encouraging, especially given that half the main female cast are inventors or engineers (yes, I’m counting Lizzie in this).
I also like that Andrew’s continued frustration about Claire’s heroic streak finally comes to boiling point, and that it’s not just manufactured drama to throw in at the last second. When he leaves Claire and breaks off their engagement, it doesn’t feel like “Oh, he’s just mad because Claire’s not going to be a good little wife and stay in the household” (even though Claire does interpret it as such—which also makes sense, given her frustration with Count Zeppelin and her superiors). Andrew is genuinely worried about Claire’s wellbeing, especially given everything’s that happened to her since the end of the second book, and even in the last few months in the book’s timeline. And it’s not just the death-defying near misses and walking away from exploding steam-powered forms of transportation—even if Claire did manage to walk away, there’s still the possibility of PTSD and psychological damage, which we see with both Ian Hollys and Jake. I do wish that we could have seen more of Jake’s PTSD outside of him snapping at Tigg and Maggie (Jake has always been kind of there, especially after the timeskip), because most of the PTSD storyline was carried by Ian. And I did like the fact that it was shown that Ian isn’t instantly better once he settled down in his estate and that these problems will also linger. (Although I’m not sure if I like the explanation of “He’s a broken man! He’s a gentleman who was treated like a commoner *gaspshock*” Right, so what’s your “reason” for Jake’s PTSD? Also may I remind you this series starts off with Claire being thrown out on the street and having to fight for her possessions back?) While I appreciate that Adina does show how being in the work-prison affected Ian and Jake, she does kind of fumble the handling of that storyline.
The other thing that I do have a bit of an issue with is the nature vs. nurture argument that suddenly pops up, and the extended idea of “Honor thy father and mother”—well, fathers anyway. We get a pretty direct parallel between Gloria and Tigg and their respective fathers: Gloria finally finding out that her father was behind not only the failed invasion, but also the assassination attempt in Lady of Resources (honestly? Bit of a stretch), and Tigg finally meeting his absentee father and learning that he’s there to kill Alice. On the whole, it really isn’t as egregious or drawn out as it could be, seeing as both Gloria and Tigg are horrified by their respective fathers’ action and distance themselves.
Let’s talk about Gloria—for as late in the series as she appeared, she got the single best character development through the second half of this series. From her first big appearance in Brilliant Devices and very coolly telling Claire “I know what you think of me, because it’s what my father thinks of me—that I don’t care for anything but frippery and I’m not important. Well, I’m tired of it,” and actually paying that off in her trying to figure out the situation as she’s being spirited away by Captain Hayes and trying to rescue herself. (To varying degrees of success, seeing as Gloria hasn’t had much experience going undercover as Claire and the flock have.)
While A Gentleman of Means is much more of a character story and finally wrapping up Claire’s journey from an outsider from a disgraced family to finding her flock and happiness, there’s still a lot of great fun at adventure to it all. I really enjoyed reading this, and finally getting to the end of a long boiling plot and a solid payoff from the first book. Yes, Claire got what she wanted, but there’s still a long way for her to go personally, and she’s inspired other young ladies to follow her lead (not necessarily in the engineering department, but rather standing up for what you believe in). And while not every volume was perfect, so much of this series was just fun to read. Even the books I wasn’t too wild about, I still had a grand time reading and I did look forward to the next adventure.
And although my experience with Shelley Adina outside of Magnificent Devices hasn’t been…good so far, I am really hoping that she’ll return to this world for more adventures. (All About Us aside, I’ve read the excerpt for Immortal Faith and…look, I don’t know if I could handle Amish vampire romances. I’m just stepping away from that one.) But I will miss this universe if/until that happens, and Lady Claire and all of her extended flock. I do very much recommend this series for just being a genuine surprise when it could have been an easy cash-in on a burgeoning subgenre, and it’s a delight to read.
Entertaining as always, but not my favorite of the series. Usually I can tell which character is the focus fairly early in, but this jumped from POV to POV so frequently I'm not sure. I had really enjoyed the series up until this point, although I took a star off both 5 and 6 for unnecessary levels of emotional cruelty. Yes I realize these books are set in a time when most women were literally nothing but tickets to advancement, money, sons, or some combination of the three, but the incredible ugliness of the Seacombes was above and beyond necessity.
This one however, destroys the whole reason for the series. To tell stories about women who learn they are strong. Women who stay true to themselves in the face of adversity.
I won't be reading any more of the series. Next book Alice will be registering her ship to the Queen so she can rip off her captain's insignia and race off to be Ian's housekeeper cum broodmare, while dear old Gloria gives over the reins of the family business to the man who lied to her for weeks because he thought her too stupid to comprehend reality, so she can incubate for him. I don't want to be around to see how the Mopsies are convinced to give up their spines. Any book whose primary objective is pairing everyone off is a waste of time. I really wish sappy romance novels were legally required to be clearly labeled as such. It would save me time and money for better books. Lady Claire Trevelyan and her companions return for yet another adventure in this, the eighth book in author Shelley Adina's "Magnificent Devices" series of Steampunk novels and I'm bound to say that the quality of her storytelling and world-building remain at an extremely high level.
In this adventure Claire and her companions are confronted with personal dilemmas, danger, unexpected family connections, and equally unexpected romance. Taken together they add up to a really enjoyable read.
The plot revolves around the abduction of Gloria Merriweather-Astor, a former schoolmate of Claire's who has become both a friend and ally despite the fact her father is a power-mad capitalist willing to wage war in the name of profit. Claire's decision to attempt to rescue her friend leads to personal trauma in addition to danger, putting her marriage to the very patient Andrew Malvern in doubt. Despite that painful fact. Claire believes she must attempt the rescue.
Told in a smoothly written narrative, "A Gentleman of Means" has all the elements a reader could wish for; a ripping good adventure, unexpected twists, well-drawn characters, and even a little humor where needed.
All in all, another excellent Steampunk adventure from a writer who has complete command of her narrative and characters. Not the best one in the series but very a good adventure. Just as good as the first seven books! I love the fast pace of this series. You never have to worry about growing bored. There's always lots of action, adventure, travel, flying, a little romance, a little drama- you name it, it's in here. A very well-rounded series... A fabulous addition to the series. Shelley Adina has done an excellent job of carrying the series along without it ever getting tired or boring. With such a large flock, there are a lot of people to focus on, and I love that each has their own story. That being said, Tigg played a big role in this one, and there were some big revelations for him here, but I did not think this story was about Tigg quite as much as the last few were about Lizzie, Maggie, and Alice. But! Nevertheless! Such a good story!! So many things going on for Claire and The Flock. Lots of unexpected turns of events, and still left a lot of room for things to come. I'm anxious to find out what will happen with all the more romance in the air. Plot was really good, and I love all the different characters, but I feel some events went uncontinued for the sake of continuing the plot and that was a little annoying, but almost everything else I loved.
By this book, though the Lady of Devices only makes rare appearances (which isn't that noticeable considering all that goes on), and it seems like everyone is used to killing somebody, especially the Lady... So, maybe like a three and 1/2 rating for this one? Claire is settling into life
as an Engineer for Count Von Zepplin and planning for marriage to Andrew
(or avoiding planning) though neither is going quite so ideally or quite so well as she would have hoped. But still, is she really willing to abandon her career, this opportunity and even the man she loves for the sake of a friend who, it has to be said, she doesn’t know that well
Gloria Astor-Merriweather has been kidnaped – but is Claire willing to throw everything away to get her back?
I love Gloria. Not so much her character (which is still very good) but the whole concept of her. Gloria Merriweather-Astor was introduced as a very opposite to Claire. While Claire was newly desperately impoverished. Claire was academic and scientific, Gloria was more interested and fashion, society et al. And Gloria is the daughter of her arch-enemy and the major antagonist in the series.
In any other book, Gloria would be evil. She would be the spiteful, vapid mean girl who we were supposed to hate and loathe from the very beginning. She could so easily have been a hollow demonised character.
But she isn’t – she’s clever and moral and capable. She has her own life and her own problems even though her context and experience is very different from Claire’s – and she’s a very loyal and caring friend who regrets deeply any idea that she may have failed Claire in the last book. Even more than her own freedom she worries that Claire may think she abandoned her - even if they’re not such close friends, it mattered to her that she was thought of hat way (of course, Claire, marvellously free of the girl-hate that is so annoyingly pervasive, doesn’t assume any such thing. Having experienced Gloria’s kindness she assumes far more kinder interpretations of her behaviour).
So, even though I risk sounding like a broken record, I have to repeat how excellent this series is with the female characters. Not just because they’re good and capable and interesting but because they’re also different. They have commonalities in different ways (Claire and Alice share an interest and talent for Engineering, Gloria and Claire attended the same school, Liz and Maggie are sisters) but they’re all still very different people.
The plot itself wasn’t especially unique – we have another rescue mission as our heroes ride to the rescue with cunning, cleverness, a whole lot of courage and daring and ingenuity and a great deal of determination. It’s not especially new, but it is great fun, well written, nicely paced and any outing with these characters will make me smile.
I’m more intrigued with where the story will go from here given the way the plot developed. We have a big confrontation with the big bad who has dogged the series for so long (that big bad was also surprisingly humanised) which will now put the series in a very different position going forward
There was also Claire’s confrontations with both her fiancé Andrew and her employer, the Count Von Zeppling (which I will come back to since there are elements there I don’t like a great deal) which have put Claire in an interesting position of questioning her priorities and where she actually wants to go in life and how she wants to live. Even while looking to the future with these elements, I liked the call back to the very early books, back when she was the Lady of Devices running her little rag-tag band of followers in a squat in the poor part of London. It was nice to be reminded of where Claire came from, what she has achieved and where everyone else still is.
There was also a nice look at Tigg who, in many ways, has come at least as far as Claire. He has grown, he has a future, a plan and a life and, like Claire, also has a nice look into his past in the form of his estranged father. It’s a nice look at Tigg’s character, his development and his own opinions, especialy with scenes from his own point of view, but I do think the references to his father’s skin colour (Tigg’s father is Black and his mother White) overly emphasised how dark and scary he was.
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This book takes up after the tumultuous events in Venice and just when you think Claire and Andrew will get to settle down, everything is turned upside down. Gloria Meriwether-Astor is being held hostage and of course Claire has to come to the rescue. Liked the background on Tigg and how he has grown in the officer corps. A very busy story with the usual suspense and intrigue with a romantic ending
This series is a guilty pleasure for me and I am enjoying the audio version this time. Now I am off to read # 9 (novella) and #10 again. I am growing more and more attached to the characters as I read along the series. What. a gem it is to have found this book series It was enjoyable, but the depth of writing was a bit shallow when Claire stands to lose everything at the start of the book and yet manages to resolve everything to her satisfaction by the end of it.
Still I don't read this for its depth and majestic prose, its really a guilty pleasure.
This volume brings the series to a satisfying end point, should there be no further books (there is a novella 'bridge' to a new series, excerpt at the end here).
The steampunk alt-hist trappings work well with the excellent female leads here - they are matched by equally good male partners. This Victorian age seems to have been a force for the good: peace seems to be to norm (no Zulu War or Sudan uprising, though skirmishes to protect Imperial holdings are mentioned). The Americas (Fifteen Colonies, the Kingdom of Spain, various Territories) also seem rather different. And of course Albert, Prince Consort is alive and well.
Splendid stuff (as I have said once or twice before).
Another great installment !
More fun streampunk adventure ! Intrigue, romance, dirigables, weaponry, chickens, and a touch of history all wound together once again. Thoroughly enjoyable
I had a break of a few years between books in the series but what a joy to rejoin Lady Claire and the gang. A steampunk romance with pirates, assassins and spies and turbulent father child relationships with, as you would expect, largely happy endings. The audiobooks of this series are fantastic! I thoroughly enjoyed this installment. A mad dash adventure through steampunk society with great characters, fabulous storylines and... some very lovely chickens! A great read.
I also loved listening to the audiobook of the story, and with Fiona Hardingham narrating again it was, of course, full of character and really brought the story to life. I'd definitely recommend it to all Magnificent Devices fans. Another great story
I just love these books. I usually get tired of a series with this many books, But let me tell you, each one is a wonderful adventure with characters I have come to love. Again I highly recommend them all. We’ve come a long way with these books. I bought the first one in post-Gail Carriger haze of “But I want more of this!” and taking my chances with a cheap e-book series. (Not that I’m knocking self-pubbed e-books and e-authors, but it is pretty much taking your chances with the material, like with any book.) And it was just so much fun and enjoyable and honestly took me by surprise. And while the Magnificent Devices series isn’t hundred percent perfect at times (The Love Woes of Alice Chalmers), I still really loved reading these books and couldn’t wait to get to the next one.
Picking up with the explosive, and somewhat jarring ending of A Lady of Integrity, A Gentleman of Means picks up with Lady Claire preparing to move on from university to the promised position at the Zeppelin Airworks and her impending, very delayed marriage to Andrew Malvern, as well as her continued worry about the whereabouts of Gloria Meriweather-Astor after her disappearance at the end of the last book. There is a lot going on with Claire’s character that does feel frustrating, or just so much flogging on the same three plot points over and over again—Claire can’t get respected and taken seriously as an engineer because she’s a GIIIIIIIIIIIIRL, her stubbornness for always going on adventure to save the people she loves—and I did get frustrated by these plot points, because well, it’s already a fantastical world, why aren’t there more lady scientists and engineers and inventors? Why does it have to examine the inherent sexism of the era? But I think that it works because it’s something that we still see going on right now. Despite the lack of electric guns or steam-powered airships or automatons, there’s still a massive divide in science between men and women, and having scenes of Claire calling out her superiors at the Zeppelin Airworks on being regulated to “fetching tea and sweeping the floor at night” (despite their explanations of “Well, yes, but all the junior engineers do that”) carries more weight because Claire continually gets treated as if she’s just filling time until she and Andrew finally get married. I wouldn’t say that this series is a women-in-STEM call to arms, but I think it’s encouraging, especially given that half the main female cast are inventors or engineers (yes, I’m counting Lizzie in this).
I also like that Andrew’s continued frustration about Claire’s heroic streak finally comes to boiling point, and that it’s not just manufactured drama to throw in at the last second. When he leaves Claire and breaks off their engagement, it doesn’t feel like “Oh, he’s just mad because Claire’s not going to be a good little wife and stay in the household” (even though Claire does interpret it as such—which also makes sense, given her frustration with Count Zeppelin and her superiors). Andrew is genuinely worried about Claire’s wellbeing, especially given everything’s that happened to her since the end of the second book, and even in the last few months in the book’s timeline. And it’s not just the death-defying near misses and walking away from exploding steam-powered forms of transportation—even if Claire did manage to walk away, there’s still the possibility of PTSD and psychological damage, which we see with both Ian Hollys and Jake. I do wish that we could have seen more of Jake’s PTSD outside of him snapping at Tigg and Maggie (Jake has always been kind of there, especially after the timeskip), because most of the PTSD storyline was carried by Ian. And I did like the fact that it was shown that Ian isn’t instantly better once he settled down in his estate and that these problems will also linger. (Although I’m not sure if I like the explanation of “He’s a broken man! He’s a gentleman who was treated like a commoner *gaspshock*” Right, so what’s your “reason” for Jake’s PTSD? Also may I remind you this series starts off with Claire being thrown out on the street and having to fight for her possessions back?) While I appreciate that Adina does show how being in the work-prison affected Ian and Jake, she does kind of fumble the handling of that storyline.
The other thing that I do have a bit of an issue with is the nature vs. nurture argument that suddenly pops up, and the extended idea of “Honor thy father and mother”—well, fathers anyway. We get a pretty direct parallel between Gloria and Tigg and their respective fathers: Gloria finally finding out that her father was behind not only the failed invasion, but also the assassination attempt in Lady of Resources (honestly? Bit of a stretch), and Tigg finally meeting his absentee father and learning that he’s there to kill Alice. On the whole, it really isn’t as egregious or drawn out as it could be, seeing as both Gloria and Tigg are horrified by their respective fathers’ action and distance themselves.
Let’s talk about Gloria—for as late in the series as she appeared, she got the single best character development through the second half of this series. From her first big appearance in Brilliant Devices and very coolly telling Claire “I know what you think of me, because it’s what my father thinks of me—that I don’t care for anything but frippery and I’m not important. Well, I’m tired of it,” and actually paying that off in her trying to figure out the situation as she’s being spirited away by Captain Hayes and trying to rescue herself. (To varying degrees of success, seeing as Gloria hasn’t had much experience going undercover as Claire and the flock have.)
While A Gentleman of Means is much more of a character story and finally wrapping up Claire’s journey from an outsider from a disgraced family to finding her flock and happiness, there’s still a lot of great fun at adventure to it all. I really enjoyed reading this, and finally getting to the end of a long boiling plot and a solid payoff from the first book. Yes, Claire got what she wanted, but there’s still a long way for her to go personally, and she’s inspired other young ladies to follow her lead (not necessarily in the engineering department, but rather standing up for what you believe in). And while not every volume was perfect, so much of this series was just fun to read. Even the books I wasn’t too wild about, I still had a grand time reading and I did look forward to the next adventure.
And although my experience with Shelley Adina outside of Magnificent Devices hasn’t been…good so far, I am really hoping that she’ll return to this world for more adventures. (All About Us aside, I’ve read the excerpt for Immortal Faith and…look, I don’t know if I could handle Amish vampire romances. I’m just stepping away from that one.) But I will miss this universe if/until that happens, and Lady Claire and all of her extended flock. I do very much recommend this series for just being a genuine surprise when it could have been an easy cash-in on a burgeoning subgenre, and it’s a delight to read.
Entertaining as always, but not my favorite of the series. Usually I can tell which character is the focus fairly early in, but this jumped from POV to POV so frequently I'm not sure. I had really enjoyed the series up until this point, although I took a star off both 5 and 6 for unnecessary levels of emotional cruelty. Yes I realize these books are set in a time when most women were literally nothing but tickets to advancement, money, sons, or some combination of the three, but the incredible ugliness of the Seacombes was above and beyond necessity.
This one however, destroys the whole reason for the series. To tell stories about women who learn they are strong. Women who stay true to themselves in the face of adversity.
I won't be reading any more of the series. Next book Alice will be registering her ship to the Queen so she can rip off her captain's insignia and race off to be Ian's housekeeper cum broodmare, while dear old Gloria gives over the reins of the family business to the man who lied to her for weeks because he thought her too stupid to comprehend reality, so she can incubate for him. I don't want to be around to see how the Mopsies are convinced to give up their spines. Any book whose primary objective is pairing everyone off is a waste of time. I really wish sappy romance novels were legally required to be clearly labeled as such. It would save me time and money for better books. Lady Claire Trevelyan and her companions return for yet another adventure in this, the eighth book in author Shelley Adina's "Magnificent Devices" series of Steampunk novels and I'm bound to say that the quality of her storytelling and world-building remain at an extremely high level.
In this adventure Claire and her companions are confronted with personal dilemmas, danger, unexpected family connections, and equally unexpected romance. Taken together they add up to a really enjoyable read.
The plot revolves around the abduction of Gloria Merriweather-Astor, a former schoolmate of Claire's who has become both a friend and ally despite the fact her father is a power-mad capitalist willing to wage war in the name of profit. Claire's decision to attempt to rescue her friend leads to personal trauma in addition to danger, putting her marriage to the very patient Andrew Malvern in doubt. Despite that painful fact. Claire believes she must attempt the rescue.
Told in a smoothly written narrative, "A Gentleman of Means" has all the elements a reader could wish for; a ripping good adventure, unexpected twists, well-drawn characters, and even a little humor where needed.
All in all, another excellent Steampunk adventure from a writer who has complete command of her narrative and characters. Not the best one in the series but very a good adventure. Just as good as the first seven books! I love the fast pace of this series. You never have to worry about growing bored. There's always lots of action, adventure, travel, flying, a little romance, a little drama- you name it, it's in here. A very well-rounded series... A fabulous addition to the series. Shelley Adina has done an excellent job of carrying the series along without it ever getting tired or boring. With such a large flock, there are a lot of people to focus on, and I love that each has their own story. That being said, Tigg played a big role in this one, and there were some big revelations for him here, but I did not think this story was about Tigg quite as much as the last few were about Lizzie, Maggie, and Alice. But! Nevertheless! Such a good story!! So many things going on for Claire and The Flock. Lots of unexpected turns of events, and still left a lot of room for things to come. I'm anxious to find out what will happen with all the more romance in the air. Plot was really good, and I love all the different characters, but I feel some events went uncontinued for the sake of continuing the plot and that was a little annoying, but almost everything else I loved.
By this book, though the Lady of Devices only makes rare appearances (which isn't that noticeable considering all that goes on), and it seems like everyone is used to killing somebody, especially the Lady... So, maybe like a three and 1/2 rating for this one? Claire is settling into life
as an Engineer for Count Von Zepplin and planning for marriage to Andrew
(or avoiding planning) though neither is going quite so ideally or quite so well as she would have hoped. But still, is she really willing to abandon her career, this opportunity and even the man she loves for the sake of a friend who, it has to be said, she doesn’t know that well
Gloria Astor-Merriweather has been kidnaped – but is Claire willing to throw everything away to get her back?
I love Gloria. Not so much her character (which is still very good) but the whole concept of her. Gloria Merriweather-Astor was introduced as a very opposite to Claire. While Claire was newly desperately impoverished. Claire was academic and scientific, Gloria was more interested and fashion, society et al. And Gloria is the daughter of her arch-enemy and the major antagonist in the series.
In any other book, Gloria would be evil. She would be the spiteful, vapid mean girl who we were supposed to hate and loathe from the very beginning. She could so easily have been a hollow demonised character.
But she isn’t – she’s clever and moral and capable. She has her own life and her own problems even though her context and experience is very different from Claire’s – and she’s a very loyal and caring friend who regrets deeply any idea that she may have failed Claire in the last book. Even more than her own freedom she worries that Claire may think she abandoned her - even if they’re not such close friends, it mattered to her that she was thought of hat way (of course, Claire, marvellously free of the girl-hate that is so annoyingly pervasive, doesn’t assume any such thing. Having experienced Gloria’s kindness she assumes far more kinder interpretations of her behaviour).
So, even though I risk sounding like a broken record, I have to repeat how excellent this series is with the female characters. Not just because they’re good and capable and interesting but because they’re also different. They have commonalities in different ways (Claire and Alice share an interest and talent for Engineering, Gloria and Claire attended the same school, Liz and Maggie are sisters) but they’re all still very different people.
The plot itself wasn’t especially unique – we have another rescue mission as our heroes ride to the rescue with cunning, cleverness, a whole lot of courage and daring and ingenuity and a great deal of determination. It’s not especially new, but it is great fun, well written, nicely paced and any outing with these characters will make me smile.
I’m more intrigued with where the story will go from here given the way the plot developed. We have a big confrontation with the big bad who has dogged the series for so long (that big bad was also surprisingly humanised) which will now put the series in a very different position going forward
There was also Claire’s confrontations with both her fiancé Andrew and her employer, the Count Von Zeppling (which I will come back to since there are elements there I don’t like a great deal) which have put Claire in an interesting position of questioning her priorities and where she actually wants to go in life and how she wants to live. Even while looking to the future with these elements, I liked the call back to the very early books, back when she was the Lady of Devices running her little rag-tag band of followers in a squat in the poor part of London. It was nice to be reminded of where Claire came from, what she has achieved and where everyone else still is.
There was also a nice look at Tigg who, in many ways, has come at least as far as Claire. He has grown, he has a future, a plan and a life and, like Claire, also has a nice look into his past in the form of his estranged father. It’s a nice look at Tigg’s character, his development and his own opinions, especialy with scenes from his own point of view, but I do think the references to his father’s skin colour (Tigg’s father is Black and his mother White) overly emphasised how dark and scary he was.
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This book takes up after the tumultuous events in Venice and just when you think Claire and Andrew will get to settle down, everything is turned upside down. Gloria Meriwether-Astor is being held hostage and of course Claire has to come to the rescue. Liked the background on Tigg and how he has grown in the officer corps. A very busy story with the usual suspense and intrigue with a romantic ending
This series is a guilty pleasure for me and I am enjoying the audio version this time. Now I am off to read # 9 (novella) and #10 again. I am growing more and more attached to the characters as I read along the series. What. a gem it is to have found this book series It was enjoyable, but the depth of writing was a bit shallow when Claire stands to lose everything at the start of the book and yet manages to resolve everything to her satisfaction by the end of it.
Still I don't read this for its depth and majestic prose, its really a guilty pleasure.