3.5 out of 5 Stars
Thank you to Shannon at Reads & Reels Tours for having me on the tour today!
Synopsis
It is New Year’s Eve, 1875. In this humorously told Steampunk tale, adventure-prone Ichabod Temperance and his lovely sweetheart, Miss Persephone Plumtartt, once again find themselves swept up into a whirlwind of misadventure and international catastrophe. The entire world totters on the brink of war, as various nations develop arsenals of dreadful power. It seems as though every nation on Earth lusts for Empire. A sinister plot boils to change the course of human history. Along with a remarkable cast of characters, including sapient animals and clockwork men, our heroes find themselves plunged into unimaginable peril!
My Thoughts
What a unique “narrative”! This is definitely a one of a kind series. I can’t even really call it a narrative because the entirety of it is written in dialogue with brief setting statements. It reads like the close caption script to a movie, or a radio drama…. I am absolutely NOT stating this as a bad thing! I almost gave it an extra star just BECAUSE of this! It left me to fill in the blanks with my own imagination.
The alliteration in the story was so whimsical, in a very Dandy Steampunk style,
“An aura of anger arises around the metal angel of angst. The tundra trembles with trepidation at the terrible tread. The lumbering lummox looms large. James’ face, formerly framed with fearless ferocity, fails famously.”
“Poison piles up in precarious pyramids, promising portents of pushing up plenty o’ Petunias.”
“Hurrying on with our unscheduled inspection we visit vast visions of venomous vats violently vibrating, with viscous viciousness.”
Was this book written by Wayne from Letterkenny? Or Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer?
The characters were all interesting. My one complaint is that because there was no inner monologue or proper narrative, is was difficult to really get to know any of them, You got a sense of what they were like, but you never really got to know them on a personal enough level to get really invested in them.
I absolutely loved the character of James Murray, the wild Australian. But, I will admit to having little clue as to what he was actually saying most of the time! (maybe that was what leant to the air of charm and mystery surrounding him. Ha ha!)
“Those imaginarian quotational markers dilly up my kwonky, Colonel. Triddie me scuppers, and blocko the diggers, am I to understand that you are involved with a plot to barbee up a method of making the populatto all gully gully?”
“Well it all started when I was just a pup-sized koala to a dingo’s relief. The upbringing I got at the hands of my Binga Bingas was priceless. Never short the berroons, I quickly made my mark in the skids. Up the Raleigh roost I came like a night squelching bird of Gongarine devouring a Tazmanian turtle tink up the gullipers.”
This book may not be for everyone, but I would love if everyone would give it a chance. It’s so unique in this copy/paste world that it’s definitely worth giving a chance. It really is different from anything I’ve ever read before, and I absolutely plan to continue with the series!
GIVEAWAY!!!
Print Copy of any volume in The Adventures of Ichabod Temperance Series! Click HERE to enter!!
Or pick up a copy for yourself, now!
Amazon U.S.
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Amazon U.K. (Free for Kindle Unlimited!)
Author Bio
Standing over five feet, seven inches and weighing in at better than one hundred and thirty pounds, Ichabod Temperance is ‘The Alfalfa Male.’ After lengthy music, karate, and pro-wrestling careers, Ichabod’s involvement with movie stuntwork has led him to write these whimsical, steam-driven adventures. Mr. Temperance and his lovely muse, Miss Persephone Plumtartt, live in Irondale, Alabama, USA, along with their furry pack family.
Author Links:
A World of Intemperance is Best Served with a Koala Zombie Killer Cocktail
“So, Barney, ya wanna buy Wilhelmina a drink?”
“Another round of Koala Zombie Killers, ja!”
Well, when an author writes a drink that doesn’t exist… it’s up to The BookWorm Drinketh to come up with the recipe!! (Although Ichabod, if you happen to have an actual recipe, feel free to let me know!)
Sadly, it’s very hard to get any Australian liquors in Canada. What DO we have?! Copious amounts of Australian wine! So, I decided to do my own Aussie’d up take on a Zombie Cocktail.
Ingredients
- 1oz Gold Rum
- 1oz 151 proof Rum
- 1oz White Rum
- 1oz Apricot Brandy
- 2oz Pineapple Juice
- 1/2oz Lime Juice
- Australian Sparkling Wine
Directions
- Pour everything EXCEPT sparkling wine into a cocktail shaker full of ice
- Shake until chilled
- Pour into glass
- Top with Sparkling Wine
- CHEERS!!
The BookWorm Drinketh 
Psssttt… Not my kinda read…
And I am feeling too ill to like your drink of the day… Maybe I shouldn’t comment anymore
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Well, you won’t know it’s not for you until you try it! 😉 I hope you feel better. 😙
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Yeah baby… Want me drunk and loose so that you can have your way with me… 🤣🤣😂😂 Hence the Assless chaps…
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Wahhh!
You really read it!?!
Thank you so much! This is the best review I’ve gotten in a long time. 🙂
Perhaps I write children’s books for grown-ups?
Hey, we’ve got a half bottle of Captain Morgan and some kind of fruity brandy laying around. I’ll get Miss Plumtartt to pick up a nice Aussie wine and we will get slow-witted and zombie-fied!
Somehow, Shannon came up with an old synopsis for the book. Here is the current synopsis for ‘World’. I write all of the synopses for the books in the same ridiculous dialogue style of the books so that any potential reader may be warned as to what they might be getting into…
“I say, Mr. Temperance, you would do well, sir, to be more aware of the world around you. The clamour of war threatens to engulf the globe. Moreover, I confess a trepidation in my soul stemming from other quarters in this galloping age of invention. I feel certain that we are at risk from threats of a supernatural origin. Do you not agree, eh hem?”
“Yes, Ma’am, Miss Plumtartt, Ma’am, I have the same sense of nameless dread gripping my pumper in it’s icy grip. Why, it looks as if you and I have uncovered a conspiracy to plunge all the world’s countries into mayhem and disaster, leaving the spoils of a conquered planet to the tender mercies of heartless tyrants using means inhuman to gain their sway. I’m glad we have the companionship of a telepathic doggie, a tin-man, and all sorts of other entertaining folks to see us through this peril, for I think we might be in a lot of trouble!”
Thank you so much for your kind words, Miss Bookworm, Ma’am. I truly appreciate them. To tell the truth, the first book happened by accident, as it was written just to provide a backstory for my steampunk persona. Prior to that I had never written so much as a grocery list. I did not do well with my support cast in the first book, but in the second, they sort of take over. Little by little, book by book, I have developed my style. With the tenth book, I am almost to where I want to be as a writer. There are bits of music and rhyme here and there in the first five books, but with the sixth, there is full on singing throughout it and the rest of the series.
I have another quirk that I have not mentioned. I have a tendency to play with my fonts. This is highly restricted in a digital format, but in print, I can do all sorts of wacky stuff.
If possible, especially books six and seven, are best read in a physical format.
Happy Trails, tipsy Bookworm Lady!
Your pal,
~Icky. 🙂
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Children’s books for grown-ups!! That’s PERFECT! 😂😂 Also, different font styles is EXACTLY what was needed! I can just imagine the KABOOM’s and POWs being more predominant. 😋 I’ll defintitely be checking the print versions out. Thanks for commenting!
P. S. That synopsis is way better and much more “you” 😉
Cheers, 🍻
Your new fan
The tipsy BookWorm Lady ❤️😘
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Interesting comments above ladies lol. Thanks for hosting Nicole 🙂
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Very interassante!
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It definitely was!!
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Having read the short extract, I would definitely need a strong drink like this to read the whole book.
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Ha ha! It’s so unique! You know me and the weird and wonderful!!
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