Saturday, May 25, 2013

The Romulus Equation, Cornelius Quaint Chronicles by Darren Craske

Cornelius Quaint is back and in more danger than ever!

Harper Collins UK sent me an ARC of this book for review (thank you).  It will be published at the end of May, so make a note.  This is the fourth and final (?) in this series and the first one I've read.  It was an enjoyable read as a stand alone, but if you want all the details, you'll need to pick up the earlier books, too.

Madame Destine sees into Cornelius' future and warns him of great danger and potential bodily harm if he travels to Rome.  She wants to go along, but he forbids it.  Of course, as soon as he's on his way, she follows him.

He heads to the headquarters of his enemy, determined to bring them down by whatever force necessary.  What he never expects is who his enemy actually is...

This is an action-packed story with violence and touch of steampunk.  It's easy to care about Cornelius.  He's an orphan and doesn't know how his parents died, he's fighting for a good cause, and he's fighting against tremendous odds.  You want to him to win, but the psychological toll on him is even worse than his physical injuries.  Will he recover?

At the very end, I'm not sure this is the final book in this series.  What Cornelius learns will give him a new focus on life and love.  Maybe he  find another quest to pursue, who knows?  We can hope.

Happy reading.

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