Review – Grand Tour (The Brass Queen, Book 2) by Elizabeth Chatsworth (5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Steampunk
Length: 426 pages
Publisher: CamCat Books
Release Date: April 23, 2024
ASIN: B0CB1RWKF7
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in The Brass Queen series
Source: Bought ebook for Kindle
Rating: 5/5 stars
“In a fantastical steam-powered world, eccentric aristocrat and secret arms dealer, Miss Constance Haltwhistle, has been blackmailed into stealing alien artifacts from the crown heads of Europe. Only the shady but annoyingly handsome US spy, “Liberty” Trusdale, can help her execute her perfect palace heists. As Constance creates chaos and mayhem across the Continent, monstrous creatures are plotting an interdimensional invasion of Earth. Will Constance and Trusdale stop bickering long enough to end the war of the worlds before it starts?”
Series Info/Source: This is the second book in The Brass Queen series. I bought this on ebook.
Thoughts: I really loved the first book in this series and was incredibly excited to see a follow-up book had been released. I was not disappointed; this book was just as hilarious, creative, engaging, and heartwarming as the first. This book is a unique combination of steampunk elements with parallel universe elements as well.
Constance Haltwhistle has to steal some unique elements in order to return her estate from the inter-dimensional hole she accidentally sent it to. She starts off in Paris in an attempt to do just that. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately?, the handsome Trusdale (US spy and cowboy extraordinaire) ends up involved as well because of the assignment he is given by his handler, codename “God”. What follows is an adventurous romp to many large European cities, including the floating palace city of Versallies.
This was such an entertaining and creative read. The characters are quirky, have a lot of depth to them, and are silly and heartwarming all at once. I love the world here and the adventures our characters go on. The craziness in here had me laughing out loud a number of times; it was just so much fun.
This is a very intricate and well thought out world. I love the quest to steal these special objects, and I love that so many parties end up involved and woven together.
Watching Haltwistle and Trusdale get to know each other better and dance around each other was very entertaining. They are both used to secrecy and lying, and watching them try to navigate that and still learn to trust each other was both fun and sweet.
The writing here is easy to read and flows well. This is really excellently written, and I have no complaints. It is a longer book, but I whipped right through it always excited to see what would happen next.
My Summary (5/5): Overall this was an amazing follow up to “The Brass Queen” and I can’t wait to see if Chatsworth writes future books in this series. This is a wonderful blend of steampunk, historical fantasy, and some science fiction in the form of parallel realities. The characters are highly entertaining; there is a lot of humor and adventure here, the world-building is well done, and I really loved how it all blended together.
