The Cogsmith's Daughter

"The Cogsmith's Daughter" takes place in a dystopian future in the land of Desertera, where water is a scarce resource and the land is a dessert. The land is ruled by a king and nobles who live in a ship which had been stuck on the land when the waters dried up. Legend has it that a goddess (the Benevolent Queen) cursed the land when the royalty had become unfaithful to their spouses, as she had been spurned. Thus, the penalty for adultery is death by beheading, as is any traitorous activity, which covers a broad number of things.

Aya is young when her father, the cogsmith, is called to the ship to fix the prince's mechanical bird. When he is unable to do so due to a rare part that cannot be found (except in Aya's precious toy), the king declares him a traitor and has him executed. As a traitor's orphan daughter, Aya has lost her home and everything she knows. Unable to get enough food or survive on her own, Aya turns to prostitution in the poor shanty town area at the Rudder. She lives this way until Lord Varick comes to her with a proposition to seek revenge on the king. Not everything is as it seems amongst the royals and nobles.

The book is fascinating- Desertera is built up fantastically by the author and I was immediately hooked with this story. Aya is easily likable and down to earth. She has her curiosity, love for family, and desire for revenge and love which make her easy to understand. Her motives are clear from the get-go; others involved in this scheme are less clear. Some parts of the story (e.g. the mysterious Willem) are incredibly predictable, but I didn't mind- I loved every second along the way. There were a few twists at the end which I had kind of guessed but others which did surprise me. I won't say which so I don't give any spoilers. I don't think anything was very shocking about this story, but it's such an enthralling journey that I loved it anyhow.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes dystopian stories plus romances and intrigue. However, I would caution against young readers, as there is some explicit sex and violence regarding her time in the Rudder and occurrences in the ship. Regardless, as an adult, I found it very enjoyable and really look forward to seeing the story evolve in future books.

Please note that I received this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Steampunk fantasy with a serious revenge plot. Certain aspects unsuitable for readers under 17.

Author Kate M. Colby skillfully crafts a highly imaginative world of poor towns in the middle of a desert, complete with a cold and uncaring king. Main character Aya Cogsmith has a detailed backstory and compelling reason for seeking revenge. Creative steampunk inventions and clothing accessories included!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun story and a quick read. I'll be looking forward to the rest of the series.

A thoroughly enjoyable read with an unusual heroine that is sure to make young people think about issues of morality, love and sex.

The Cogsmith's Daughter is set in a dystopian somewhat Steampunk world. Taking place after an apocalypse that desertifies the world, we meet Aya and other characters living in a constrained realm. Specifically, constrained to a ship. The Starboardshire region is for the wealthy nobles. The Portshire side is for the middle-class merchants. And the Rudder, where we first meet Aya, is for the poorest to subsist in. And Aya subsists as a prostitute, which I found stunning for a YA novel.

This book strains credulity in some respects but when you place it within the narrow confines of those stranded on a large ship (imagine a cruise ship) you can kind of accept the interaction between royals, nobles, and the lower classes. Colby poses non-facile takes on morality, sexuality and attachment. This book is a rich start to a series. I hope Desertera #2 lives up to its promise. Beautifully edited and formatted for ebook readers, this book is wonderful.

I got this book through NetGalley to review. It was decently written but the story moves pretty slow. The story is more about political intrigue than anything else; there really isn’t any magic to speak of.

The story is set in a sort of post-apocalyptic world where water is very scarce because of a curse on the land. The cover and synopsis makes this seem like it’s going to be a steampunk novel; but it’s more like the novel is set in a post-steampunk world. There are old clocks and toys that are built with clockwork but the art of running and fixing them has been largely lost to time. The world-building is pretty light, I would have liked to see the world expanded on a bit.

Our main heroine, Aya, works in a brothel and comes across as fairly innocent. Despite Aya’s profession the story is never all that sexually explicit. I was a bit disappointed in how naive Aya was mentally and at how she got drawn into this strange web of seduction that the nobility had planned for her. I feel like given her background she would have been more street-savvy and just smarter about some of the situations in this book. This is a case where the temperament of the main character seemed at odds with her surroundings and background.

The story is also incredibly predictable at the end; there weren’t really any surprising twists or turns. While the whole book is well written and flows nicely, I just felt like there wasn’t much here to engage me as a reader and really grab me.

Overall this was an okay fantasy novel. It was well written and flows nicely. I thought the the world, the characters, and the story could have been more engaging and better developed. This isn’t a bad book but it wasn’t great either. There is a companion novel to this one that follows Aya’s best friend Dellwyn Rutt called “The Courtesan's Avenger”. I don’t plan on reading it.

Although The Cogsmith's Daughter by Kate M. Colby ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, it's not one that will leave you angry at the author for doing that, so don't let that keep you from reading this story, because you'll regret it if you don't read this right away.

Post apocalyptic, steampunk is not usually a favorite of mine, but I think this book might have changed my mind on that. This book is so incredibly interesting, it hooked me immediately and held me captive. Princes, rotten evil Kings, revenge, plots of distruction, prostitution, regal courts, various classes of wealth, romance, love, betrayal, murder...this book simply has it all. I will be looking to get my hands on the second book in this series, Deserta #2, as soon as possible.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

The Cogsmith's Daughter is the first in a debut steampunk, dystopian series by Ms. Colby. I have to say that I really enjoyed reading this book. The author did a wonderful job of world building, not just in terms of the history of the land and the lay of the land itself, but the socio-economic make up of the people living in this land. Desertera sounds like a fascinating world just ready for new adventures to be written about it. I loved the main character, Aya. She's the spunky, strong female lead you don't want to mess with. Through the story, readers see her seek revenge, reminisce on her past, fall in love, and discover sides of herself that she didn't know existed. There are some good twists and turns. The pace of the writing was good and steady. My only real complaint was that I wanted more of the steampunk aspects to the story. I would definitely be interested in reading future installments in this series.

Excellent first book of a steampunk series
I loved this book. It has great character development and some good action. There is a fair amount of politics and intrigue as well, all in a steampunk setting. Normally, I hate post-apocalyptic stories, but Kate Colby did a such a great job, that I liked this one. I found that it contained a certain optimism and lack of violence that easily kept me going. Colby also created a fascinating world of peasantry and nobility, centering around a stranded ship. I look forward to reading the sequel.

200 years ago a flood destroyed most of the world. Survivors settled around a steamship named Desertera and believe that the flood was caused by a pissed off goddess and to appease her the monarchs demand the execution of anyone who commits adultery (Random, right?)

Present time, King Archon traps his wives into adultery and then executes them to move on to the next woman. As long as he does not bother their women, Nobles have turned a blind eye to this but when Lord Varick's daughter is caught in this trap, Varick vows revenge in the form of a young woman named Aya Cogsmith.

Aya, barley making it by after, King Archon executed her father for treason, agrees to Varick plan to seduce the King, although it may risk her life.

I wasn't expecting much of this book. And I am happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised throughout most of it. But there were issues. What bothered me the most throughout the entire book was how did this civilization come to the conclusion that adultery was the reason why the flood happened. I would have loved to have more of a backstory/history lesson in this book.

I liked Aya for the most part. She bite off a lot than she can chew. I was hoping she would be stronger even towards the end. She showed how naive she was more than a few times and she had my eyes rolling. I loved the pace of the novel and how honest it was. The author didn't shy away from things and it wasn't distasteful. I liked that.

There was an obvious wall that was hit about half way through the book but it was quickly settled. Another issue I had with this book was the ending. I feel that the author was trying to not give the ending that we all wanted but I also feel that it wasn't the best choice especially since the second book isn't focused on Aya but her friend.

I also believe that the ending was a prime example of Aya being naive and I would say selfish. I was disappointed.

Overall, I want to read more but I am not sure if I am going to read book two.



3 Pickles

Happy Thanksgiving fellow Canadians. I hope you are having a great long weekend full of autumnal leaves and pumpkin pie. I love pumpkin pie and I'm so very jealous that I am missing out. Anyway, enough of pie, what did I read?



I started the week with The Curse of the Silver Pharaoh by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris which is the first in the Verity Fitzroy and The Ministry Seven series. This series focuses on the band of ragamuffin street children that have helped Agents Books and Braun in the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series. This first book is set before my favourite Ministry agents, before the House of Usher wreak havoc on the world but danger is still afoot. With the help of Agent Thorne three of the Seven go undercover in Delancy Academy - a school for the gifted to uncover the mystery as to why an eminent Egyptologist was kidnapped from the British Museum. What they find however, is an ancient curse and a lot of dead bodies. It's up to these intrepid youngster to save the day.

As the title suggests the story is told from young Verity Fitzroy's point of you. Verity joined the Seven after her parents died in a fire that left her without anyone to care for her. She wants answer to their deaths and is determined that solving the mystery of the Silver Pharaoh will lead her to those answers. Gifted with mechanical gadgetry young Verity fits right into the Academy but her skills lead her directly into the path of danger. Will she survive to solve the mystery and protect her fellow miniature agents? I will let you find that out for yourself.

As much as I enjoy the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences I have, to date, avoided reading any of the stories from the Archives as I generally don't enjoy prequels but I thought I would make an exception this time. I did feel a bit sad in a particular scene with Agent Thorne and my favourite colonial pepperpot. This would be an excellent book for younger readers as it has good mystery and great characters.



Book 2 was one I received from NetGalley - The Cogsmith's Daughter by Kate M. Colby. This is the first in the Desertera series. This story is set in a post-apocalyptic world where water is scarce and everyone struggles apart from the King and the aristocracy. Aya Cogsmith's father was executed for treason and she was forced to become a prostitute in order to survive. When the opportunity presents itself to avenge her father Aya jumps at the chance to bring down a king and her father's killer.

I thought that this sounded like a gritty tale of survival and revenge in a post apoc setting. I was however, left really disappointed. The plot and characters lacked depth and credibility. Desertera is set around a derelict cruise ship and governed by a King whose 9 wives were executed when they broke by the law by committing adultery. No one seemed to think it was odd that within months the new Queen is accused of having an affair (times 9!!!). Aya is to take part in a 'honey trap' to catch the King out but manages to find love along the way (after 1 meeting). Getting revenge for her father and the ruination of her life plays second fiddle to Aya's love life it seemed. In my opinion Colby should have set the romance to one side and focused on creating characters with depth and conviction. I appreciate that this is her first novel but I felt that The Cogsmith's Daughter was weak in characterisation and in the credibility of the plot.


That is it for me this week. I have a few more books on my TBR so fingers crossed I get through them. I am not reading as many as I had thought I would and I am still waiting for 'the' book to jump out at me. Until next Happy Reading!

Aya Cogsmith at the age of thirteen witnesses her fathers death for the simple reason that he could not fix the Kings sons animated bird.
Aya lives in a desert wasteland called Desertera were one King lives with absolute power.
Poor and destitute following her fathers death her only means of survival is prostitution until someone gives her the opportunity to reek revenge on the King for her fathers death.
This fantasy novel grips the reader from the first page. It is full of romance and intrigue. I loved it and can't wait to read the next book in the Desertera series.

Loved this book - just the kind of genre I like.
Steampunk meets Western with an ingenious plot and great characters.
Would definitely recommend.

I liked “The Cogsmith’s Daughter”, it is a well written debut novel. It’s got suspense, romance, steampunk and a good plot. The world is built good, believable and interesting.

The dialogues where a bit odd from time time, there’s several styles used for them. Sometime formal, other times loose and with the use of slang. The story itself is so good that this is just a minor grievance.

Colby is a good story teller which makes me look forward towards the next episodes in this series.

The one about Barblabù is one of the archetypal tales (in addition to being supported by some real facts), and this is a steampunk version of just such a tale. In a world now devoid of water and lacking of natural resources, one of the most important things is the lineage, and one of the strictest laws is about adultery, and there is a king who, to follow his desires, uses the power of the law to get rid of a bride when falls in love with another, until one day he meet his nemesis, the daughter of the craftsman who he did kill on a whim.
The book is very well thought out, the characters are realistic, even if the maturation of Aya seems a bit too sudden. Not predictable final, with the heroin that instead of leave her dreams to marry the new king, prefers to go back to the shop of her father and revive ancient mechanisms.
Thank Boxthorn Press and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Aya Cogsmith was the daughter of the last cogsmith in King Archon’s kingdom but when her father failed to make a repair at the request of the king he was sentenced to death. Losing her father Aya was subjected to turning to selling her body to survive even at her young age. But now years later Aya is approached by Lord Varick with a scheme for them both to obtain revenge against King Archon.

Lord Varick’s daughter had been the previous wife of King Archon but she was also ordered to be executed on the grounds of adultery as were the King’s previous wives. Varick has now decided that Aya is the perfect person who through her profession could seduce the King and turn the tables upon him to get revenge for the both of them.

The Cogsmith’s Daughter is the first book in the Desertera series by Kate M. Colby. The world building within this one was rather interesting, a sort of mix between a steampunk and dystopian read. There had been an apocalyptic flood that had caused the water in the land to dry up so the survivors had moored their steamship in a wasteland they named Desertera but now the King ruling the land has become a tyrant.

With the story within the book I found that some things were rather predictable in nature when it seemed like it should have been a surprise. I also found Aya a bit all over the place as a character, she was incredibly naive even with how she had spent her time since her father’s death making her seem younger than she should. The story started feeling more of a young adult type of read due to Aya but with the sexual situations involved even though not overly graphic it still is definitely not young adult so it all felt a bit off at times to me.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.