Review of ‘The Bullet Catcher’s Daughter’ – Rod Duncan

I don’t usually blog about books I’ve read, but I’m going to make an exception for the Bullet Catcher’s Daughter, known to its friends as TBCD.  The book deserves all the hype it’s getting elsewhere, and if you haven’t heard about it, then you’ve been spending too much time on the Scottish Referendum.  The real empire at risk in the last month or so has been a gas-lit one.

On the one hand in TBCD, we have enough airships, alchemy, canal boats, circus magic, strange inventions, cross-dressing private detectives and mysterious men running round an alternative reality to satisfy the most ardent of Steampunk fans. On the other, we have a narrative of Dickensian precision held convincingly in the voice of Elizabeth Barnabus. What a heroine she turns out to be and how real Rod Duncan manages to make his leading character while all around sinks us deeper into the strangeness and fantasy of the Gaslit Empire. The balance shows a writer at the height of his powers. Much enjoyed and highly recommended.