Publisher: Tor Books
Release Daet: September 27, 2011
ISBN: 978-0765329462
Pages: 352
The gist of the story is that there's a submarine that the confederate supporters need to get out of New Orleans - this is an alternate universe story. Josephine, owner of a bordello, recruits an old flame to pilot it out. There's Texans, Voodoo Queens, Zombies and Pirates.
With all that going on, why did I get so bored? It wasn't the writing, Ms. Priest is descriptive and her writing flows easily. It was mostly the characters.
I couldn't bring myself to care about Josephine. I wanted to, she's a strong single woman running a bordello in New Orleans, dealing with all the mean Texans and helping the Confederates - what's not to like? But Josephine just came across as a cold fish. If Josephine and her old flame, Andan Cly, had such a big love affair, why isn't there more tension between them? I mean, we actually hear more about their relationship through Cly's thoughts than through Josephine.
There's also very little conflict between the characters - the mainly African-American rebels didn't bat an eye when Josephine brought a mainly White group into their hideout. Seriously? Then, when one character turns out to be transsexual, it is presented in a awkward way and then just put aside as if to say 'Oh. I see. Well, carry on.' I was confused as to why the character had to be outed at all. I mean, did GANYMEDE need some LGBT-ness? What was up with that? It made no sense to the story.
The Voodoo Queen seemed as if she were simply a delivery tool. There was no way to get from A to B, so she was tucked in to be a bridge.
Overall, the storyline was good, the writing is fabulous, but the characters left much to be desired.
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