Josef Matulich

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader along with a Q&A by the author.
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N/B: After I wrote this post, I saw that Matulich calls this "an adult novel with YA sensibilities" in our Q&A. That is a great way to describe the book, but I read it under the impression given by a certain eBook seller who labeled it as for readers of 12-18, and judged it accordingly. Some of what I said below reflects that. So take those with a grain of salt.

Finally, the Captain spoke: “You’re insane.”

“And that’s what will save us all,”Feng Po said with a smile. “We have about ten seconds before our friends out here realize we aren’t going to fall out of the sky by ourselves. If you have a brighter idea, I will be glad to execute it.”

The Captain spent five of those ten seconds in silence. He came back on the wire with a grunt and an unhappy tone.

“This is what Mme. Streif hired you for. You’d better be right.”

“If I’m not, I’ll be dead and wrong, and that should make you very happy in the Afterlife."

WHAT'S THE SILK EMPRESS ABOUT?
Our hero is Algie Pigggrem (not surprisingly, nicknamed "Pig" by many), a twelve-year-old First Mate's apprentice on the airship Wu Zetian flying along the High Silk Road between China and Europe. In the first chapter he and the first mate, Feng Po McLaren, try out some experimental weapons to fight off some air pirates. Algie is fueled more by adventure stories from penny dreadfuls than by common sense or an instinct for survival and takes risks with a panache that will endear him to the reader immediately.

This attack, and the way that Algie and Feng Po succeeded, will bring them (especially Algie) to the attention of the owner of their company, a regional British governor, and others—before he knows it, Algie is in the middle of some high-stakes intrigue.

THE FLASHBACKS

I am depending upon you to do something both brilliant and short-sighted.”

That comes late in the novel, but it's in the flashbacks that we get to see how Algie develops this ability.

We get to see a little bit of what happened to Algie right after he was orphaned—how he reacts to that, both in good and unfortunate ways—in flashbacks scattered throughout, leading up to the time he joined the crew of Wu Zetian. The way his mother raised him and the books that he read shaping his mind to act in certain ways (or at least attempt to) tells us a lot about him in the present, and how he has grown and learned from those days.

He shows his gallant and would-be heroic impulses from the beginning—his impulsivity and creativity, too. He learns (the hard way) that he can't win every time, but it doesn't stop him.

THE WORLDBUILDING

if you have problems believing that a man from Nigeria might be able to outdo the best minds of the British Empire, I could bring in Mister Liu to explain the science of these fire suppression spheres,” Mme. Streif said coolly. “His English is quite good and he can speak very slowly if you have problems with the larger words.”

The worldbuilding here is outstanding. The obvious thing to look at in a Steampunk book is the tech—I really enjoyed that, both the airship Wu Zetian (and the rest) as well as the smaller, everyday tech. The revolutionary stuff that Algie and the rest encounter—like the clockwork dragon, and similar automatons, is just fantastic. It's precisely the kind of thing you go looking for in a Steampunk work—it sounds great and you get just a hint of the kind of science that would make it possible. It's enough like your typical Steampunk technology to feel familiar, but Matulich puts his own spin (helped in large part by the setting) on it, so it feels fresh.

The setting and the people it's populated with, however, are probably even better than the Steampunk-ness. In addition to the typical Victorian English that usually populate Steampunk, you have people like the Scottish-born (and accented), Feng Po McLaren. But beyond him, there are characters of ethnicities and nationalities like Uyghurs, Chinese, Nigerians, Americans, and French citizens. These all come from a variety of religious, social, and economic backgrounds and combine in this book with a mix of curiosity and acceptance—as well as a decent helping of elitism and racism (as is to be sadly expected). It's a great way to show how the kind of transportation and technology in this world is bringing things together a little faster than it did in our reality—in addition to the diversity just making things entertaining.

The use of so many non-English phrases (translated in endnotes) is a fun—if occasionally frustrating—plus as well. There were times I was annoyed by having to break from the action to look up the translation—although context would carry you through a scene if you want to finish it before checking the note.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS
There are a few illustrations by Seth Lyons (who also did the great cover) starting off each chapter. A few didn't do much for me, most were pretty good—a few were excellent. I don't know that the book needs them—but I certainly don't think they hurt it. Overall, they're a nice little touch and do a great job of capturing and reflecting the tone and gadgets of the book. They might be a real bonus to a young reader dipping his toe into steampunk for the first time and isn't sure how to imagine some things.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE SILK EMPRESS?

"There is a picaroon cutter lying in wait for us about seven kilometers off the port bow."

“Air pirates?”

“So they are called in Adventure Stories for Boys. I usually just call them well-armed layabouts. Less pressure to live up to expectations that way.”

I've tried to stay pretty vague above while talking about a few things that really stood out—because half of the fun of this novel is in the discovery of this world and learning with Algie just what he's found himself in the middle of. It's a bonkers adventure—fit for one of Algie's adventure novels.

I've only read one other YA Steampunk—Westerfeld's Leviathan trilogy—so that's all I have to compare this to. Matulich's world is just as intricate and volatile, this book is just a bit leaner than any of Westerfeld's. Also, this is more fun. That's not a knock on Leviathan—they're in a war and trying to stop it. This is more of an action/adventure lark (at least initially). But fans of one should check out the other. Some of the humor is a bit more "adult" than YA—but it'll either fly right over the heads of a reader or give them a grin.

It's not just the action or antics that make this an entertaining read—Matulich's a writer that you want to read. There is a subtle charm to his phrasing, for example—he can take a pretty straightforward sentence or sentiment and tweak it just a bit to make it something that'll stand out.

I don't know if there are more books in this universe planned—but man, I hope so. I could live with this as a stand-alone, but I'd really appreciate at least a duology. I'm betting you'll feel the same way. But first, you need to read The Silk Empress, and I encourage you to do so (and then pass it along to a YA reader).… (mehr)

The sequel to Camp Arcanium is Power Tools In The Sacred Grove by Josef Matulich. This one picks up right after the first one left off and continues the story of Marc and his crew trying to build a Renaissance faire while fighting off monsters, demons and undead bunnies. The way things are going though the faire may not start on time. Jerimiah is doing all he can to stop construction along with putting a wrench in Marc and Brenwyn’s relationship. Also Marc is still trying to recover after a battle with a large tentacled monster. Hopefully Marc can stay on good terms with Brenwyn and keep his crew in the land of the living.

Power Tools In The Sacred Grove is on par with its predecessor and gives you all the comedy you would expect and more. I liked the further character development on Jerimiah. Jerimiah is more than a black and white villian. In this book you feel a little sympathy for him despite the fact that he is trying to kill Marc and his crew. Jerimiah craves power but doesn’t seem to realize that he is destroying his life in the process.

Another great scene in this book was when the OSHA lady pays a visit to Camp Arcanum and gets more than she bargained for. The exchange between Marc and his workers is priceless and how it ends is hilarious. Once again though I have to say my favorite part of this book is the relationship between Brenwyn and Marc. I like how they are total opposites but seem to work well together anyway.

While I did find this book entertaining, my problem was that it just seemed like more of the same. The first book doesn’t have any closure and this one continues the story. I felt as I was reading that the author could have just edited some scenes out of both books and combined them into one. That being said Power Tools In The Sacred Grove is still a lot of fun. I love a good mix of comedy and horror and the characters are deep and memorable. I’m hoping we see more from Camp Arcanum in the future.… (mehr)

Three men arrived in Arcanum Ohio with a pick up truck, a camper and seven months to build a renaissance faire. Little did they know that Arcanum is a town where most of the population practices magick and the woods are filled with supernatural creatures. The man in charge is Marc, who along with a love of power tools, has a family history of mental health issues and he doesn’t believe in magick. His beliefs soon change though when he meets a woman named Brenwyn who is head of the local wiccan coven.

Marc is forced to reexamine his views on magick and he has to deal with Jerimiah who is a powerful warlock and Brenwyn’s ex lover. Jerimiah has plans to finish off Marc but not before he uses him to become more powerful. Between the witches, demons and undead skinless bunnies, it’s going to take more than power tools to get the renaissance faire open in time.

Camp Arcanum by Josef Matulich is a comedy with horror elements and an interesting love story. When Marc and Brenwyn meet you see that they are exact opposites but right away their relationship clicks. One of my favorite scenes in this book was when Marc who has a history of schizophrenia sees magick spells being done and believes that he is loosing his mind. He starts to freak out and Brenwyn tries to come to his aide but at the time Marc doesn’t want her help and leaves Brenwyn feeling heart-broken. Eventually they start to accept their differences and work at becoming a couple. What really stuck out for me about this love story is that it didn’t seem too perfect and despite their differences I was rooting for them to stay together.

I also loved how witchcraft was represented in this book, I admit I don’t know a lot about covens, wicca or magick but this book made me want to find out more. All of the witches and warlocks in this book came across as people you might meet in everyday life and were nothing like the stereotypes that I’ve seen in other books and movies. In fact this book makes fun of those stereotypes. Though it’s not a big part of this book I have to say that I loved how schizophrenia is dealt with in this story. Marc spent a period of time taking care of his brother who has schizophrenia and I liked how he points out that people who have it can’t help how they act. In many books you see people who have mental health issues as being a villain, so I liked that this book treated it like it wasn’t a bad thing.

Camp Arcanum was kind of a mixed bag for me. I thought the story was slow-moving and even though I liked the villain he didn’t seem to come across as very threatening. All of the characters in the book were interesting and I liked the love story between Brenwyn and Marc. This book has some great moments such as Marc using tools to battle a coven of witches and there was a hilarious scene where all the local wiccans gather at a movie theater to watch and make fun of bad movies based on witches. This book is definitely worth your time and the ending is left wide open for a sequel.… (mehr)

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

(Spoilers within)

The basic story is three men, Marc and his two employees, Eleazar and Michael, go to a new town in order set up a renaissance faire. This new town is full of witches and such, though, and they end up dealing with magical forces. Marc falls for a pretty witch, Brenwyn, but she has a sleazy ex-boyfriend who wants her back (Jeremiah). It's well-written. The author puts in amusing asides and keeps a sense of humor throughout the book.

Marc said nothing, but he said nothing in a very churlish and hostile manner.

(In response to demons being summoned on the property, Marc says:)
Steve would never get liability coverage if the insurance companies found out.

The flow is generally good and its easy to read the majority of it. The banter between characters is good. I thought the personality clash between Eleazar and Michael was handled well, and even when Eleazar was insensitive (Michael is gay) it felt like it would fit his character, and he probably wouldn't even understand what was wrong with his actions (trying to make Michael appreciate women).

Action was written well and there were a lot of clever set-ups.

There are some errors, though not enough that it took me out of the story. The biggest one I saw was "We're men with power tools and were not scared!" because the line was copy and pasted several times with the typo in it.

So, why the rating?

It didn't always work for me. I was fine with Marc's movie date with Brenwyn at first, but when flipped out he dealt with it the worst way possible just for the sake of hurting Brenwyn and causing tension. In that situation, where he thinks he might be having a delusion, I understand why he would want to leave, but shouting that he didn't want to be near her wasn't necessary. He didn't even try to make an excuse, which seems like something most people would do. Not even a "I'll explain later, I just really need to go now". He went straight to yelling at her. At the same time, she really doesn't take the hint here or later.

Then he was cutting down trees and pretending they were the witches, including Brenwyn. I get why he would pretend they were the other witches, but why her? Brenwyn hadn't done anything to make him mad. She invited him out, he had a panic attack, and she tried to comfort him doing it. There's nothing rageworthy that she did (yet). She invited him to a rowdy movie event with witches. He was warned it would be rowdy and crazy. It turned out to be rowdy and crazy, then he gets mad that it was exactly what he was told it would be.

About Brenwyn herself - at first I was fine with her. Although they had some decent banter, I was never charmed with her, and I pinpointed the reason why after a bit and it got much worse later.

The main thing is that she presents herself as a mind reader, and not a tactful one. She's constantly saying or doing things that, if she isn't reading your mind, make it seem like she is. This isn't charming. Imagine, for a second, if someone hopped onto your computer and started reading all your private e-mails, then came over to you and started reciting things from your e-mails. Would you be thrilled? Probably not. It's a huge invasion of privacy, and even if you had someone who couldn't help reading minds they would still have to learn how to handle that in a graceful, less creepy way that wouldn't send off alarm bells.

Here's an example: Privately, while discussing with his employees how to hire some workers, Marc says he wants people with "Strong backs and weak minds". This doesn't get put in the ad. Later, when he visits Brenwyn, she says that he's looking for "strong back and weak minds", the exact same thing he said in private.

Now, let's give a different scenario. Say you knew a woman who went into a town to do some work. She meets and attractive guy. That guy starts very blatantly mentioning things that she said in private. Would you suggest:

1) She be charmed by his odd behavior.
2) She put on her running shoes and run, run, run as far as she can from the creepy stalker.

Just because it's reversed and it's a woman saying creepy, stalker-like things to a man doesn't make it better. She doesn't have the right to invade his privacy, and if she can't help it then she could easily try to at least seem normal. She could have told him the same information without using the exact phrasing that he said in private. It's like she's rubbing it in his face that she knows things she shouldn't, and the book gives her a free pass because she's 'hot'.

I mostly overlooked that part of it and could still enjoy the book just fine "because story", but then she did something that was just heinous to me.

Read the rest here.… (mehr)