The Perilous Voyage

A Professor Goodsteam Adventure

By Michael Wegner (Indie author, 2023)

Genre: Fiction – Historical Fiction/Action & Adventure/Steampunk Fiction

Pageg: 331 + Epilogue (Paperback)

Via: Author request

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“But it’s only a two-day trip. What could possibly happen?”

The answer is plenty in this lithe and lively combination of travel, technology, geography, adventure, romance and levity by Michael Wegner.

Mom: With a little old driver so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be…

Kimber: Earth to Mom. Come in, Mom. Methinks you’re in the wrong season.

Mom: Well, let’s not get picky here, okay?

Kimber: Speaking of “picky” – sort of – The Perilous Voyage thingy reminded me of that story where Caractacus Potts rebuilds that old race car for his littleuns after buying it for thirty shillings to prevent the car from becoming scrap metal.

Mom: You mean the book by Ian Fleming?

Kimber: Naw. I was thinkin’ more the movie with that Dick van Dyke dude.

Mom: Funny you should mention that. I was thinking Jules Vernes’ Around the World in Eighty Days.

Kimber: With Phileas Fogg and Passepartout?

Mom: Exactamundo!

The Great Debate

So that’s how we got into The Great Debate on The Perilous Voyage. Truth is, this lively and quick adventure story includes a little of All of the Above.

It’s about a down on his luck 19^th century inventor of airship propulsion units, Professor Augustus “Augie” Goodsteam. He’s in a race to secure a government contract for long-distance dirigible engines to solve his financial woes. If Professor Caract… I mean, Goodsteam can’t make good on a past due loan, his Boston house will be forfeit.

Fearless Foursome

So Goodsteam, along with three compatriots, is forced into “an inane competition by circumstances beyond his control.” Taking off in his dirigible, the Air Apparent, Goodsteam must beat the world circumnavigation record of 61 days.

Hi, Phileas Fogg.

It’s 1853. Coal-fired steam engines are the main means of propulsion. So it is with the Air Apparent. Well, that and dry humor. And one cool cat named Mindy.

Anyway, Goodsteam is joined in his around the world endeavor by his two able assistants, Jennifer and Matthew, and one Mary Thyme. (Clever, that.) Among other things, Mary’s a financial and mathematical whiz. And a crackerjack shot with a pistol. That comes in handy in this lively and quick adventure.

Highlights

Highlights of this book include descriptions of air travel aboard a dirigible. Also the Air Apparent’s JET (Javelin Extreme Transport) engine. Ditto lots of details involving the ship’s pilothouse, galley, gondola, remote viewer, condenser, carbon oil, and so on. Details about the engineering and operation of a dirigible will appeal to STEM types. How Goodsteam harnesses the power of a storm to cross the Atlantic is also excellent. In this scene the quartet is heading for England, drifts south, and winds up on terra firma in Portugal. Always on the look out for fuel, they finally score a sufficient quantity of the elusive carbon oil needed to fuel the JET engine in a store of loot plundered by a vanquished pirate, Captain Ortiz.

Perils A-Plenty

Along this perilous voyage, the professor, Mary, Matthew, and Jennifer encounter all sorts of unknowns, challenges, and tight spots as they travel through Madrid, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Persia, and India, to name a few. They face bad weather, pirates, moussaka, cut fuel lines, trigger-happy Russians, Turkish police, and a mysterious coded letter. An earthquake in Persia. Coal. A snake bite. They’re arrested as spies in Rome. They encounter different customs, cultures, and cuisines from around the world. And plenty of close calls. There’s also truckloads of tea. And whist. Lots and lots of games of whist.

One thing we got tired of fast was the commentary on women’s fashion, the silliness between Matthew and Jennifer and the professor’s cluelessness, and the ladies’ “coughing fits.” This element was funny the first 452 times it appeared. But it got stale faster than a quart of milk left out on the counter. In the Gobi Desert. Kinda slowed down that “lively and quick” thing.

So this story is strongest when it sticks to what it does best: A dramatic sail into the wild blue yonder of historic and futuristic elements, all set adrift on a sea of hope and high adventure. It has a Phileas/Caractacus feel to it yet maintains its own unique flavor and texture.

If you enjoy steampunk fiction,* reading The Perilous Voyage is a little like unwrapping Christmas. Or maybe driving a certain magical car whose engine makes famously distinctive noises.

Kimber: So. When’s that little old driver with cheeks like roses and a nose like a cherry showing up?

Mom: Insert eye roll here.

Our Rating: 3.5

 

*We had to look it up. One of us is older than dirt.