Reflections

Combining a steampunk airship adventure with nature and saint based spirituality, ugly/adorable flying gremlins, competing political conspiracies, a missing princess, various forms of magic, and the beginning stages of romance, Clockwork Dagger charmed and entertained me. Octavia Leander, orphaned in the war, has healing powers sought by all sides, so though she just wants to practice her craft in a quiet rural setting she's drawn into a dangerous power struggle.

Fortunately she’s quick thinking and has the support of the Lady, a healing goddess who may have begun life as a human but now is embodied as the spirit of a magnificent magical tree. The characters are wonderful--beside Octavia there is Leaf, the little green gremlin, Viola Stout, an unconventional older woman with a surprising secret, Alonzo Garret, the handsome airship steward who's always around when there's trouble, and assorted eccentrics who make up the airship's passengers and crew. The story's landscape includes smoky cities, marshy swamps, and country towns and though it’s set in a fantasy kingdom, not England, the book reminded me of Gail Carriger's Etiquette and Espionage series.