THE GHOST ENGINE
THERESA FULLER
ISBN# 9781925748000
March 2018
Bare Bear Media
http://www.barebear.media/
E-Book
$7.99
348 Pages
YA Steampunk
Rating: 5 Cups
Learn more on our Steampunk Site
Lady Elizabeth Ada “Berd” Lovelace is a young suffragette who wants to fulfill her grandmother’s dream of becoming the first female computer programmer. To do so she knows she has to get her hands on a machine called the Algorithmic Engine, one of the very first computers. When the inventor of the machine passes away, Berd is able to purchase the Algorithmic Engine, but the purchase ends up being more than she bargained for.
Charles Fotheringay is the son of the inventor of the Algorithmic Engine. He has been trapped inside the Engine for a year, living on the energy it produces while trying to stay alive.
When Berd finally is able to get her hands on the Algorithmic Engine, at first she cannot get it to work, but then she decides to try and get it started by powering it with the energy of lightning. She does this by attaching some wires to the lightning ground on the roof. But then she realizes that she forgot to flip the switch on the Engine to turn it on. In a desperate attempt to reach the machine and flip the switch before the energy from the lightning reaches it, Berd does not make it and ends up inside the Engine. Once inside, she meets Charles Fotheringay, the son of the man who originally envisioned the Algorithmic Engine. While trying to survive the many traps inside the Engine, the two fall in love. However, there is a catch, the Engine or Gine is learning and becoming self-aware which is dangerous for the two humans who are trapped inside. Will Berd and Charles find their way out of the Engine before it shuts down trapping and killing them? And if they do survive the Engine and return to their lives, will they be allowed to stay together?
The Ghost Engine is one of the most imaginative Steampunk romances that I have had the pleasure of reading this year. The world building is superb. The descriptions of the city inside the Engine are so well written that you feel as though you are experiencing every single terror laden moment that Berd and Charles experience right along with them. You can feel every desperate moment, and you wonder right along with them, if they are going to get out. As you read, it feels like you are in the Engine too! It puts me in the mind of a Steampunk version of the movie Tron – speaking of which, this book would make a very good movie! I highly recommend it for anyone who loves the Steampunk, sweet romance and fantasy. You simply do not want to miss this one, folks!
Regina
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More