Another great book in the clockwork century series. It really has all the great ingredients of a great steampunk novel with a side order of zombies. I love how the book features a strong female role-model without emasculating the male characters in any way. This is a race all over America by dirigible and trains. Through war zones and the wilderness hunted by outlaws soldiers and zombies. All in all another great read from Cherie Priest. ( )

I loved this book. So far, I've enjoyed all of the stories that are being told in the world of "The Clockwork Century". Dreadnought is the best so far.

The story is carried by a strong, richly drawn main character, Nurse Mercy Lynch, whose only flaw is perhaps being a bit too unflappable. Then again, her strength does not come falsely and she uses it to help others when needed. Surrounding her is a potpourri of supporting characters that, with the exception of some infantrymen, are also well-drawn and easy to distinguish.

The plot proceeds at breakneck speed, barely pausing occasionally for a little reflection and the binding of wounds. It's filled with airships, trains, and other battle vehicles powered by steam and reflecting the best minds of the century applied to the technology of war. And applied to war they are with credible descriptions of high-powered battles.

A few things didn't work for me. There was a bit too much traversing of various characters from one end of the train to the other in the midst of a pitched battle. I was a bit disappointed that one of the characters that seemed to be getting a big build-up as an adversary too quickly turned into an ally and then simply disappeared into the background. Once again the simple geography of the story didn't completely always work for me, especially in the giant train battle. I simply could not visualize so many sets of tracks intersecting in the Western frontier of Utah so few years after the Trans-Continental Railroad made it's first connection. But all this is forgiven in the name of alternate history and fabulously fun adventure. ( )

I liked this book but wish the author had explored the political impact of slavery and the Civil War head-on instead of glancingly. The book felt a little imbalanced without a stronger grounding in its alternate history and almost as if it were romanticizing the Confederacy (though I don't believe that was the author's intent) ( )

It's been years since I read the first book in this series and I was initially concerned - did I need to reread it before going to this one? Luckily that wasn't the case and I happily sank into the world of Mercy Lynch, a nurse traveling from Virginia to Seattle, crossing war-torn states via dirigible, boat, and train. It was thoroughly exciting and had such a great strong main charcter. ( )

This is a second book in a series, and it shows. I didn't like it half as much as the first, but soldiered my way through to the end. ( )