Celine Jeanjean

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in The Viper and the Urchin series. Right now there are six books in this series. I borrowed this book for Kindle through Kindle Unlimited.

Story (3/5): This story starts out pretty slow, things don’t actually get moving until about 50% through the story and then the action is non-stop. This is about an assassin named the Viper and a young urchin named Rory. When Rory helps out the Viper, she finds out his most embarrassing secret. Rory ends up blackmailing the Viper; if he will train her in combat, then she will keep his secret. Things start to go sideways and Rory and the Viper end up in a plot to save the ruler of Damsport.

As I said the story started slow, but it sounded like it was going to be a bit different from your typical fantasy story. As it continued it picked up pace but turned into a more typical “save the kingdom from destruction” type of story.

Characters (3/5): I actually really disliked Rory and the Viper at the beginning of the story. Rory made some really stupid decisions that hurt her a lot. The Viper was just overly silly. As the story went on I grew to like them a bit more. Rory and the Viper are starting to develop a better working relationship by the end of the story as well. I am guessing as the series continues these characters will grow and become a bit more likable. However, for now I could have taken or left them.

Setting (4/5): The story takes place in Damsport, a pretty typical fantasy-like city with some steampunk vibes. There is a little effort made to place Damsport in the broader world and give it some history. I enjoyed the city and the steampunk overtones, but hope the rest of the world is built out better in future books.

Writing Style (3/5): The writing here is okay. It’s easy to read and fairly engaging but the pacing could use some work. I almost stopped reading it because the beginning was so slow, then a ton of things happened in the last half of the book. Hopefully, Jeanjean learned from this book and makes the pacing more consistent in later books in the series.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this was an okay steampunk fantasy read. I thought the first part was boring and didn’t really like the characters, but as things progressed the characters started to grow on me and I got more interested in the world. I am unsure right now if I will continue with this series. I have some other series I want to read first, but if I start thinking about this one again I might go pick up the 2nd book later.… (altro)

The Viper and the Urchin is a rollicking good tale which grabs you by the collar and sweeps you through the grimy streets of Damsport with humour and nail-biting danger. Its heroine, Rory, is a small scrawny urchin, scraping a living by theft and deception, who makes an unlikely alliance with the elegant Viper, an assassin who uses only poison on his victims and takes pride in his art.

When Longinus, the Viper, questions Rory’s behaviour, “You are coarse, you swear, and worse, you are grammatically incorrect,” she responds correctly, “Well I’m supposed to be, aint I? You’re the laconic assassin. I’m the cheeky urchin. That’s how it works.”

There are several other vibrant characters too, such as Cruikshank, the engineer who has designed a large mechanical spider to transport them up walls & over roofs, the Old Girl or Marchioness of Damsport who rules the state and the Scarred Woman, a mysterious swordswoman whom Rory wishes to emulate.

The city environment is vividly described, dirty and crowded with Banyan trees sprouting out of cracks in the radiating streets. I could visualise the Varanguards, costumed in the style of Varan, a dancer who hid knives in her hair, wearing horsehair ponytails as part of their helmets. And I would love to board Crazy Willy, the wild beast of a steam coach which races through the streets each night.

This exciting story contains all the essential ingredients of a fantastic steam-punk adventure, including a tough but vulnerable heroine, an intriguing companion, an evil foe and even a vague suggestion of a romantic interest. It is the first book of The Bloodless Assassin Mysteries and I am very much looking forward to the publication of the next one.
… (altro)

The second adventure of the Viper and the Urchin finds these two disparate characters relocated to the warehouse of Cruikshank, engineer to the Marchioness, no longer an assassin and a pickpocket, but officially employed by the Old Girl, as the Marchioness is affectionately called. But their services have not been required and they are feeling aimless and redundant when at last they are summoned to investigate a mysterious death by exsanguination in the insalubrious Bayog district of the city of Damsport.

Rory’s knowledge of the criminal underworld of the Rookery make her indispensable but Longinus occupies his time investigating the unexplained shortage of the black silk he needs urgently for his new elegant suit. A link between these two events is discovered in The Black Orchid, a newly popular brothel. Rory and Longinus find themselves in great danger again, not just from their enemy but also from threats to their relationship. As they become estranged, the future looks grim.

Like the first book, The Black Orchid engages readers by the strong, vibrant women who never give up against all odds. An old relationship between the Marchioness and stunningly beautiful Mizria may be reawakened, Rory seems to becoming closer to Varanguard, Rafe and Longinus continues to send anonymous poems to Lady Martha, daughter of the Old Girl.

Celine Jeanjean has written another thrilling adventure which is hard to put down. The grubby streets of the city come alive in the fast moving plot and each character has substance and complication. Alchemy and steam driven vehicles play their part but heroism shines. In conclusion the scene is set for further adventure involving characters who have come to mean a great deal to their readers.
… (altro)