For the past few months I have looked forward to Brooke Johnson’s debut novel, The Brass Giant. Somewhat familiar with her writing (Dark Lord in Training), I was curious to see what sort of story she’d deliver in the increasingly popular steampunk genre. I was not disappointed.

The Brass Giant certainly lives up to the expectations of steampunk fans, thanks to the world and details that Johnson ably portrays in her narrative. But the story also incorporates a strong—and I should say, at times predominant—romance component, along with political intrigue and a message against war and those who would seek to profit from it. Before I go on, I must say that at times the story felt over-heavy on the romantic side of the ledger. I will stipulate that not being a strong lover of romance-laced stories, my bias may color my impressions.

Tied to this romance—at the causal foundation of it—lies a question of motivation, namely why our protagonist, Petra, and her to-be love interest, Emmerich, join forces in the first place. If like me you’d prefer this explained up front, you will require a little patience. We only know at first that Emmerich strongly believes she can help him pull off a challenging engineering project. Since this story is told entirely from Petra’s point of view, we don’t initially appreciate why Emmerich would seek her assistance. This left me initially puzzled. However, as it unfolds, the story does clarify this question, and, without revealing too much, we learn the answer involves Petra’s early years and how she became an orphan.

The rest of the story more than trumps this initial apparent logical disconnect. Brooke Johnson’s rich, textured prose draws you deeply and relentlessly into the journey she invites you to take with her. Her descriptive powers show through in full force. I should say more, but to put it into words would require her skill, and I can’t but fail there. I’ll simply highlight how passages outlining the technology involved in the Brass Giant world come across with generous, vivid details. If at times I failed to follow it all, I fault only my saturated imagination. The author shows off not only her meticulous research, but also her skillful weaving and kneading of her soaring imagination into the story’s technological underpinnings.

The author’s descriptive powers also manifest themselves in a few action sequences, two of which took my breath away. I won’t go into detail for fear of spoiling the read for you, but I’ll note that looking back, at least one of them didn’t amount to much. And yet the tension Johnson’s text creates had me page-turning and cringing to make sure her protagonists would come through unscathed. Johnson uses all the senses (smell stays at the forefront throughout) to embed us in her world. My only demerit here is all the tingling and shivering in previously mentioned romance scenes—OK, had to get that off my chest.

Driving all this, of course, we find two well-drawn and realistic characters. When they do dumb, risky things, to find their motivations you only have to look at their youth and clearly portrayed passion for each other and their work. More than that, my distaste for romance notwithstanding, the relationship between Petra and Emmerich consistently strikes the genuine bell. It progresses with tenuous, at times, fragile steps, and always naturally.

With regards to pacing, the story moves along at a nice clip. If anything, it flattens out a bit when the automaton goes through the floor (I’ll leave it at that). For a chapter or two, the story teeters and meanders a bit, seeking to regain its footing. At a point I pondered why I needed to read so much about Petra’s undercover maid duties, when a big conspiracy about an automaton looms out there. But just as I started to fret, the engine got back on the rails and steamed ahead to a satisfying finale.

In all, I recommend The Brass Giant to any reader looking for a solid story penned by the hand of an able writer. More than that, I look forward to the next installment of Brooke Johnson’s Chroniker series.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars