Arabella of Mars

      I'm switching gears and exploring some fiction outside the typical adult dark stuff I usually read. So, I'm taking a trip into Ya for a bit. The first YA title I'm reviewing is Arabella of Mars by David D. Levine. I had high hopes for this steampunk/regency romance adventure tale. The protagonist shares a name with my youngest daughter and my current WIP is a dark steampunk novel, so I felt this had to be a sign I would love this book. I must admit, I'm a bit conflicted on this one. The parts I enjoyed were not the steampunk elements and there was much I found in the work that was a chore to get through. Spoiler warning from here on out.

       Arabella of Mars has a brutally slow start. Our protagonist goes from restricted wealthy girl to mascaraing as captain's boy about a sky skip  in a streamline manner that lacks building tension. The pieces of the plot are in place and yet somehow they feel like an empty recount of events. It feels as if Levine is getting this opening act out of the way to get to the part of the story that interests him.

        Arabella goes through the motions in the first act, forced from one situation to another. the other characters seem to act in a similar manner. Simon's sudden jump into a murderous plot feels unnatural and paints him as rather flat. It takes only a tiny mention from Arabella that he can travel to Mars quickly and cheaply to spur him into villain mode. Even the "trying to provide for his wife and baby" motivation feels false, as he comes off as uncaring overall. He's the bad guy, pure and simple. Likewise, Captain Singh's motivation is off. I can't imagine a captain chasing down a destitute looking kid for miles through London simply because he thinks this kid might possibly hold some promise in automata repair, merely by hearing her talk about it. He chases her and accept her into the crew because he has to for the story to progress, not for any actual motivation.

       The second act is the seafaring - I mean spacefaring- journey from Earth to Mars. This had your standard adventure on a ship sort of events: Arabella working to be accepted by the rest of the crew, a battle with pirates, a necessary stop on an island- errrr, I mean asteroid, and a failed mutiny. This part wasn't bad, per say, only expected for the most part. It felt like the standard ship journey plot lines thinly veiled with the steampunk technology elements. Instead of on the high seas, this was in space.

        At several points, the technology/science of how the ship and space flight worked hijacked the story and there were long spans of this middle act that were more about how 'cool' the concept for the tech was over characters or plot. The details of how the ship functioned became cumbersome fast. This may be a personal preference, but when I read sci-fi I detest when a story becomes a survey of how hypothetical technology could work rather than a character's journey. Besides the rather awkward romance building between Arabella and the captain, much of this middle act could have been cut down and simplified to speed up the pace of the story.

       Here's the kicker, the third act was interesting and a unique take on the space cowboy type vibe. A tried and true plot line in this act as in the former two. this time, the plot focuses on the indigenous inhabits being offending by the actions of the intrusive ranchers and  settlers who have claimed the territory. It leads to a violent war between the two cultures with our brave heroine the only one capable of bringing the two groups to peace. The creative world building and unique martian culture works to give this old plot structure a breath of new life enough to pull in readers. I was a tad disappointed that the unique culture and environment of Mars wasn't explored as much as I would have liked (Levine seemed to be far more interested in how the ship sailed that how the people in the destination lived) but it was still a satisfying act to read. Simon reprises his role as the villain in the climax, which still comes off as wooden and annoying, but he serves his purpose. The end sets up nicely for the next book in the series.

        Overall, it wasn't a horrible book but not something that grabs my attention. The story felt like more of a way for Levine to explore the idea of space travel that he created rather than about the characters. Perhaps it just wasn't for me, but might appeal to others.