Storyline: 2/5 
 Characters: 2/5 
 Writing Style: 2/5 
 World: 4/5 
 What I liked: I've been more intrigued with the idea of steampunk than I have been with the actual writings I've read under that heading. I liked Boneshaker because it dropped all the elements of steampunk that I find distracting or annoying: the emphasis on Victorian mannerisms - morality and prudishness, in particular - casting famous personages in new circumstances or roles, and the jumbling of the British historical record. I was tremendously pleased to finally read an American steampunk novel. I liked that it didn't stray into the Wild West genre but instead went far West to situate itself in the gold rush. The alternate history world Priest creates is largely constituted by the technological inventions: zeppelins, massive mechanical devices, and the extensive use of steam power. There was just enough detail and description about the rest of the world (the non-technological side) to draw in and amuse the reader. I also appreciated the strong female character who understood herself as (and was appreciated as) something other than a sex-object. 
 What I didn't like: The book doesn't replace the above-mentioned gaps (Victorian morality, famous historical characters, British history) with anything substantive. There is no attempt at any sort of social commentary or tangle with philosophical or scientific questions. It is not even a story about the characters or about familial bonds. This is an extremely simple action-adventure placed into an alternate history where technological development and natural disaster proceeded differently. The writing, similarly, is extremely simple. Very little, in artistry or in substance, would have been lost had this been presented as a comic book or a video game instead of as a novel. In fact, the reading experience was very much like engaging with a video game story. The author attaches a note at the end of the book justifying her deviations from history. In essence, her defense is that she needed a background other than that which real history provided. This seemed a rather lame excuse given that it is an alternate history work. With more effort and some creativity she could have given a plausible reason to explain why her 1860s Seattle differed from the real one. The book as a whole would have benefited much more from additional attention to the world it was set in. As it was, this could just has easily been placed in Kansas City, New Orleans, or Richmond.