Camera Obscura by Lavie TidharAuthor Website Amazon (UK) Amazon.com I read this book for the 2016 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge. 
Angry Robot (ebook), 2010
416 Pages
CAN'T FIND A RATIONAL EXPLANATION TO A MYSTERY? CALL IN THE QUIET COUNCIL.
The mysterious and glamorous Lady De Winter is one of their most valuable agents. A despicable murder inside a locked and bolted room on the Rue Morgue in Paris is just the start. This whirlwind adventure will take Milady to the highest and lowest parts of that great city - and cause her to question the very nature of reality itself.
The young boy huddled in one corner of the house, half-reading a wuxia novel and half-keeping watch on the night. The night was very still. Outside only the barest hint of wind rustled in the coconut trees, and the air was thick with humidity and the promise of rain.
This is my first time reading the author. It's also my first time reading steampunk (not entirely sure what the hell that is anyway).
Camera Obscura is crazy, fun, terrifying and hilarious all at the same time. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There are times when I had no idea what was going on or whether I was reading something set in the present or past or some other time but I was having such a good time I didn't mind. The characters and events in the book are mad but so fun and weird I couldn't put the book down when I started. I loved how the author twisted and distorted well-known historical characters such as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Frankenstein. I loved the character of Milady - she was a crazy bad ass from the start with her tough attitude and gun and got even more hardcore when some insane stuff happens. I found this book so refreshing and fun. I now need to read the first book in the series, The Bookman.
I'd highly recommend Camera Obscura.
