An Unsubstantiated Chamber by William J Jackson is a dark steampunk murder mystery set in Railroad City, with a few bleak undertones of the superhero genre to set it apart from the fray. The first in a series, it’s a pretty solid debut from another self-published author and also includes a pair of short stories at the end for bonus material. Jackson succeeds early on in setting a very dark and dystopian tone for his fictitious Rail city in 1880’s Missouri and I couldn’t help picturing a foggy nineteenth century London (I suppose in steampunk that’s a compliment). His tale is bleak and somber and told with deep regret by our narrator, Miss Aretha Tyne Astin, a hunter of paranormals or “Pins” who is herself a paranormal in league with a Gestapo-like military regime. Using a memoir format (at times, almost confessional) Astin guides us through the series of events that not only surround the Chamber Murders case, but her own personal shift in allegiance. This retrospective narration adequately sets up the plot but I couldn’t help finding the younger version of Astin far more compelling than the older, wiser narrator. Young Astin boasts in her Welsh/Mexican breeding, conceitedly itemizes the intricacies of her outfits, and waxes philosophical about “the hunt” which has become like an addiction to her, obscuring her awareness of the atrocities in which she participates. Old Astin is exposition heavy and a bit of a downer. Jackson missed a golden opportunity not letting the younger Astin’s voice dominate more of the narration, especially the opening of the story. With her proud, vane and politically myopic point of pulled to the foreground, the opening would’ve been far more gripping, while the droll, self-reflective and morally realigned character she becomes could have faded in a little later in the narrative, once we’re safely hooked on the story. I get what he was going for in the Prologue, but it killed a lot of momentum before Astin’s snark could lure me back in and save the story.
Without much delay the plot draws in our other lead, Professor Flag Banner Epsom, and it’s the banter and begrudging collaboration between the two that like so many other steampunk tales, murder mysteries, and limitless other genres, carries the story forward. But the humor is sardonic and the repartee snarled with nary a smirk or smile. Readers looking for lighter fare may find this depressing or overly serious, but Jackson sticks to his aesthetic and Epsom’s arrogant lecturing is an enjoyable foil for Astin’s prim professionalism. His chronoscopic ability to see the past is at the core of this plot as well as the two backup features. I worried his idiosyncratic speech patterns (yew and aye for “you” and “I”) would be distracting, but at least they were consistent and Jackson managed not to overdo it. In fact by the end his stodgy characterization grew on me, even going so far as to justify the inclusion of his pneumatic false arm and leg (another over-utilized genre trope that could have backfired on Jackson). The superhero elements are appropriately restrained, adding only a subtle shade of influence to differentiate this tale from other steampunk. They resemble the dark and gritty aesthetics of the Watchman more so than the colorful bombastic adventuring of Avengers. His most original contribution to the genre, Jackson downplays it rather than overdo it. Nicknames like Mortar, Mustachioed Man and the Spaceman, even our narrator’s own Huntress in Hazel, are equally inventive and subdued, perfectly Victorian and steampunk without overdoing the gimmick of “steampunk meets superheroes”. Their “costumes” are equally downplayed. The villainous Green Bag Man merely wears a green bag-like mask. Others simply have well described suits or maybe a cloak or Chinese straw hat. I found them effectively iconic, even if a little simple, and capes and spandex would’ve been a disaster anyway. The Guild of Honor, a disbanded team of vigilantes (think Justice League) feared by the military as anarchists, amount to little more than backstory. Jackson narrowly avoids world-building overkill (the plight of so many amateur authors before him) by ever so carefully tying only the briefest of references to the Spaceman and his alien bride to the Amberson family at the center of the mystery. I expected it all to come full circle but the story isn’t about them. They are the backdrop. A historical reference point for how the world got this way and what it means to our characters. By practicing “less is more” he successfully lays the ground work for a sequel I very much want to read if only to learn the rest of their story. As for the murder mystery it is neither brilliant nor predictable, but functional enough to keep the story interesting and ultimately serves its purpose bringing our narrator to her turning point in life without feeling forced. It’s most climactic moments fall just a little flat, as the action set pieces resemble the latest Marvel movie installment rather than truly intense, suspenseful drama. They devolve into super powered punches and explosions of lightning that failed to resonate quite as much as the build-ups or the aftermaths surrounding them. The best scenes involved arguing politics with Astin’s superior, Sergeant Powell, or interrogating aristocrats aboard airships. Jackson proves more adept at noir than action. Jackson’s real flourishes, though, come in his descriptions of clothing. Where most steampunk amateurs are content to reference a corset here or a cutaway coat there, he displays an uncanny lexicon for the various pieces and ornamentations of nineteenth century style, seldom if ever recycling his vocabulary. Combined with a believably feminine narrator complete with full emotional range (and baggage), I was honestly surprised to rediscover on multiple occasions that the novel was in fact written by a man (female readers will have to comment themselves if they too were fooled). Conclusion: 3.5 out of 5. Jackson makes a respectable debut, leaving us wanting more rather than giving too much. He may not chart as much new territory as he could have here, but he easily avoids the most common pitfalls. There’s real life in his characters, especially his narrator, the Huntress in Hazel, but I wouldn’t have minded even more from her. If you grew up on 80’s graphic novels by Alan Moore and Frank Miller, and you’re visiting this obviously steampunk website, then you won’t be disappointed. Recommended Reading: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore
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C William PerkinsI write reviews for a few websites. Some of them I post here, too. Aeronautics AnonymousInterviews with Indie Writers Hosted by me! Get to know some soon to be favorites!
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