Save his boy, uncover a conspiracy, and master opposable thumbs—a dog’s work is never done.Buddy’s favorite thing is curling up for a nap at the foot of Ethan’s bed. Then he stumbles through a portal to a clockwork city plagued by chimeras, and everything changes… Well, not everything. Sure, his new human body comes with magic powers, but he’d still rather nap than face the people of Excelsior, … Excelsior, who harbor both desire and fear when it comes to “the other side.”
He discovers Ethan followed him through the portal and underwent his own transformation, and it becomes Buddy’s doggone duty to save him. Buddy finds unlikely allies in an aristocrat with everything on the line, a mechanic with something to hide, and a musician willing to do anything to protect her. Using a ramshackle flying machine, the group follows the chimeras deep into the forest and uncovers a plot that could reshape the worlds on both sides of the rift.
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The novel bounces about between all these different characters and their own little plots and sub-plots, their dreams and desires, and their primal urges yet as a reader you never feel lost, the chapters are short, the action keeps moving, and interweaving this character and that characters, and overlapping plot lines. Indeed the novel bounces along like an excited puppy at times, which may be something to do with the excited puppy, newly reborn by accidentally walking through a rift between worlds as a human being running around getting confused by the strange world he has found himself in as well as the strange body that is now his.
That’s the most unique idea in this novel, rifts between worlds are a well-established trope, hell the wardrobe to Narnia is just a rift between worlds at the end of the day, but in Buddy’s universe when you cross through a rift you don’t just move to a new world, you change form. Animals become human, and humans become animals. Indeed it works both ways, and it is hinted that at the core of every human is a true animal form, so even as a human, they have aspects of the animal they would become were they to pass through the rift and vice versa. But it is far from the only unique idea within these pages.
Many of the characters are fresh looks at old archetypes but none the worse for that, each character has their own unique personality, their own strengths and weaknesses, there own issues and prejudices. Yet they manage to come alive in your imagination, one of the problems with having so many characters is they can tend to blub together for a reader but Pheobe manages to keep them all separate in your mind, as the story continues to bounces along, and importantly it is splendid fun into the bargain.
I don’t review books I would not give five stars to, and this is definitely a five-star novel, so give your imagination a treat and go lose yourself in the world of rifts human animals, animal humans, and cog wheeled glory that is this wide sprawl of wonderfulness…
Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over: https://margaretmcgaffeyfisk.com/category/reviews/
Phoebe Darqueling creates a fascinating portal fantasy where animals take human form and humans become animals through a mix of magic and pseudo-science. The novel explores ostracism, race relations, and the unproven logic that separates societies into classes so some rise and others fall based on aspects outside their control.
We get a clear vision of the society through a large and varied cast along with a tight omniscient third point of view (POV). Any character might earn the POV regardless of scene changes, but I was never lost as to whose perspective held the moment. There were only a few cases where I felt information was withheld from the reader to create a false suspense and appreciated how I learned things for the most part.
This is a debut novel, and sometimes the writing could be more polished, but the characters and the world make up for the rough spots. A good part of the beginning is spent meeting everyone and settling into the world. (Even so, I confused Lord Corvid and Cirroc for a bit because the names are too similar.) The plot is a little loose at points, and I would have been more satisfied with the ending if it had two or three more scenes to wrap up different aspects, but as a whole, I found the novel layered and strong with the writing only interfering on occasion.
The mix of leading characters offers many approaches to explore. We have Buddy, driven to protect and help even when his puppy-like enthusiasm caused the problem. Olivia wants to escape her ivory tower existence and see the world especially if it means running away from her guardian and his unsavory associates. Adelaide has her own secrets to keep while Jeremy wants to rise above his station using his musical talent, which brought him to Olivia’s attention.
There are megalomaniacs able to control crowds with their persuasive voices, aristocrats willing to flout the rules to enable their own curiosity, and a fascinating, barter-based culture that has grown among those without the resources of the aristocrats and so better able to survive in a vibrant community sprung out of the ashes of the main city.
These are only a few of the characters who take the center stage to expose different aspects of Excelsior, both the good and the seedy underside.
As you might guess, a lot happens in this novel, and while little is driven by the main characters, they are quick to react with plans of their own. For example, things keep happening around Buddy that trigger his protective instincts. He draws others into his rescue attempts, some willingly, some eager, and some largely against their will. This gives us a broad cast with complex connections between them that cause as much grief as joy.
Then there’s the society itself which merrily ignores the stratification based on which traveler a person descends from to the point of arranged marriages as part of a breeding program. At the same time, recent travelers are named monsters and hunted down in the street. Since The Great Tragedy, travelers are the cause of everything that has gone wrong in Excelsior, determined to destroy what remains. This myth has become a reality, though not in the way the average person believes.
The traveler magic is as fascinating as it is mysterious. Each traveler discovers what abilities, if any, they arrive with only by observation. Sometimes it takes another to see the patterns. The way Buddy learns his abilities is a good example of where the description worked well. Jeremy’s connection with music, the subtext-filled confrontations between Olivia and Lyre, and the body language crossovers between Buddy as human and Ethan as puppy are a few more.
This wasn’t a straightforward review to write, but I hope I’ve been able to reveal some of the delightful aspects while keeping the surprises intact. It’s a worthy solo work to start a career in long form and gives hope for even stronger works to follow.
This is probably the best portal fantasy I’ve ever read.
There were so many character arcs that the story was constantly full of suspense and action. I loved the idea of how the portal changed people into animals and animals into people. Buddy was a loveable character, exhibiting all the traits of a dog even when he was human.
His eagerness to jump into danger made him an interesting main character and funny at times. I think my favorite character in the piece though was Adelaide because of her mystery. We don’t learn much about her until the end of the story and until then, her entire character is solemn and different.
This book also included otherworldly creatures that you don’t read about much in other fiction like chimeras and djinn—which I thought was quite unique and refreshing. If you’re looking for a unique read full of action and suspense, this is the book for you <3
Riftmaker is a steampunk adventure about Buddy, a dog who has been transformed into a human being after going through a rift between our world and an alternate reality. On the other side, he is in search of his boy, Ethan, who was turned into a dog by the rift as well. In the steampunk world they are considered Travelers. Ethan is kidnapped by other Travelers and Buddy has to learn what it means to be human as he works with Jeremy, Lucy, Grace, Olivia, and Adelaide—all residents of the steampunk world—to get Ethan back and return to our world.
Pros
Perhaps one of my most favorite things about this book is that it works on several levels. While the book is a steampunk sci-fi novel, it really works on the young adult level as well. Apart from a couple instances of swearing at the very end, the style and language work for a middle to high school level. Yet, at the same time, I felt the story engaging enough to work on an adult level as well.
Another thing I appreciated about this book was the character development. There is quite a bit of character growth from the start to the end. Buddy learns a lot about being a human, Jeremy is forced to learn tolerance, Ethan just plain grows up some despite still being 11 years old throughout the story. Even one of the bad guys turns out to be not quite so bad, though I’m not going to tell you who and spoil some of the story.
One final thing, among others, that I liked about this book is the world-building. The rifts were well thought out and worked to propel the story forward. The way the society in the steampunk world was structured both mirrored periods of time in our own history and had enough detail to be real enough to feel like it really could exist. Even the chimeras and the djinn were a nice twist on what we usually see with them but felt natural to this world.
Cons
Except for the one bad guy growing as a character, I didn’t feel like the bad guys were as well developed. Don’t get me wrong, they were excellent bad guys. It’s just they felt a little flat to me. They had well developed motives for doing what they were doing. I did appreciate the fact they could be seen as heroes from their point of view. However, the growth and change weren’t there as much as it was for the protagonists.
The other thing that caught my attention was that there were a few editing issues. Now, please keep in mind I had an ARC copy, so I would guess at least some of it was fixed by the time this book was released. And, the issues were not glaring enough to make me want to put the book down. All of the issues were minor typo things like a missing word or misspelled word. I know I get a little sensitive about things like this, so I would guess many people may not even realize some of these things were issues. Overall, this was a minor problem in a fun steampunk adventure.
Conclusion
Overall, this is a wonderful addition to steampunk literature. The world is wonderful, most of the characters are dynamic, and the writing works on multiple levels. I would give this book 4.5 stars out of 5.