Ged Maybury's Across the Stonewind Sky: Into the Storm's Domain has it all. A dashing hero, scantily clad women, megalomaniacs, mad scientists, floating islands, and a land mostly unknown to the great explorers of the British Isles. It's just too bad that Maybury is unable to blend these exciting parts into a seamless whole. The result, instead, is a book that takes too long to get through, meanders from its plot lines, and makes the reader feel as if they are missing something.

Written for e-readers, I had a minor issue with my new (and awesome) Kindle Fire opening the mobi/e-text format, but I'm fairly certain that was a new user error and nothing to do with the file itself.

Supposedly written as a comedy, it comes off as amateur and lacks some of the most basic components of a good read. While the book did elicit a few out-loud chuckles, it certainly falls short of the label “comedy”. The humor in the novel is stale and trite, especially the author's running gag of the British stiff-upper-lip complex. “After all, he was British” became a way to escape having a protagonist with any real depth, and was over-used by the second chapter. Additionally, the humor smacks of inside jokes and personal asides that become annoying very quickly. No reader likes to feel as if they don't get what's supposed to be funny.

Secondly, it was too long, by at least half, with all the interesting parts taking place in either the first three or final five chapters. All that stuff in the middle was not really needed and made me feel as if the author had gotten so lost in the writing that he forgot about things such as plot and coherency. The story itself is full of untapped potential, with the protagonist, Rodney Hoverrim, heading into the unknown to be a great explorer of Arkorvarste, a land within a mighty storm that allows only hydrogen-filled airships to operate. Along the way he is tricked, shanghaied, imprisoned, recruited for a revolution, leads said revolution, and doesn't get the girl in the end. All are great pieces in a puzzle that just doesn't come together.

Third, there are egregious errors throughout the book, both grammatical and spelling, which made this read even harder. With a typographic error on almost every page, I spent more time fuming over the shoddy workmanship than on the story itself. I will admit to being very particular about editing, as I have worked in that profession for many years, but please remember, unless your roommate is an actual editor by trade, don't count on them to edit your book. There are plenty of editors available, in point of fact I know one who has a fair hand and works pretty cheap (my moment of shameless self-promotion).

Lastly, there are the characters themselves. If you wanted a compendium of stock characters, this is your book. Not a single character is original, but neither are they archetypes either. To be an archetype, a character must be fully rounded, and no character is fully-fleshed throughout this book. Backgrounds are sketchy, even on our erstwhile hero, Rodney. His counter-part, Romarny Skijypzee of the Inner Rings – a sort of super-spy/cooler known as the Firetail – fares no better, though we do become intimately acquainted with Rodney's obsessions regarding scantily-clad females whenever she – or any of the other female characters in the novel – are about.

All in all, Across the Stonewind Sky is a book about potential. It has the potential to be a good book. The characters have the potential to become memorable. The plot lines and world-building have the potential to become magnificent. But only after some serious rewriting and editing. Ged Maybury has a rough gem that needs to be cut and polished, and maybe then, we can call it a great book in the Steampunk library.

Zora E. Sternbilt is our newest correspondant for the Chronicle.  Look here for her continued reviews and commentary on the steampunk media scene.