a TeMPLe of WoRDS

For any of you who follow my blogs regularly, you'll know that most of the time there is a certain protocol to the way I pick out books.  Now, sometimes I do stray from this, especially if it comes to a genre I'm not sure of, but mostly it's: cover, genre, description, star rating, and then, if I am curious or have questions, I will read the reviews.

With this book, the cover instantly caught my attention.  And the fact that it's labeled a "steampunk adventure," well, I didn't have to go any further than that.  (I love steampunk adventures and will read any I get my hands on.)  I did read the description on this one - stolen map, lost civilization, terrible secret ... "dark secrets which can push even the strongest minds into madness."  This book sounded like a real winner and I couldn't wait to sit down and read it.

I WANTED to love this book - and there were parts that I did - but at the same time, it was highly disappointing. 

What I liked:

• The way it was written - like you were scrounging around in your grandparents' attic and found an old trunk with a really old journal inside, a journal that tells the tale of a great adventure

• The characters - Lumpen, Fitzgerald and Old Chap (especially Old Chap) were interesting characters and I enjoyed finding out about them and the others as we moved on throughout the telling of the story

• The secrets and mystery to it all - fun and intriguing.

What I didn't like:

• There were MANY moments where I was SO bored - now, I have this problem sometimes during adventure books, during those slow moments, but there were a lot more slow moments than I ever expected - in fact, almost the whole first part of the story is one giant slow moment, including stories you would expect not to feel slow.  I grew discouraged with this and put the book down several times before picking it up once again yesterday and forcing my way through the rest of it. 

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.