I’ll be real: I did not think this post through.
It’s exciting! I’m improvising! And I’m surrounded by books! Surely a character will come to me!
…soon!
Oh.
Oh no.
A character just came to mind and, um…
Well…
Let’s just get into it.
Jasper Renn from The Steampunk Chronicles
Every time I think I’ve forgotten this series, it comes back.
“Dammit, Lauren,” is the correct response.
While other aspects of the book interested me, Jasper Renn’s description convinced me to give the The Girl in the Steel Corset a shot.
This is embarrassing, but…I love cowboys.
Like…more than pirates.
I didn’t see same-sex Oklahoma because I liked the music, okay?
So even a slight whiff of “gunslinger” mixed with steam punk and a female protagonist was enough to give me high hopes.
I read quickly, waiting for Jasper to appear.
He showed up and spoke maybe five lines before being arrested by cops and extradited to the States.
WHAT A COOL CHARACTER.
Some things about Jasper:
- He’s introduced as a rival for mechanic Emily’s affections…
- …a plot point that is QUICKLY abandoned in the second book, when Sam and Emily fall in love and Jasper returns to his ex-girlfriend Mei, the eponymous girl in the clockwork collar
- He’s a mighty fine shot thanks to the organites, the somewhat-magical blue beings that give the various characters special powers
- He has ties to the Irish gang in Five Points New York…
- …LEADING TO THE INTRODUCTION OF MY BELOVED WILDCAT.
Though folksy and annoying, Jasper’s not a bad character. As far as point of view characters go, I prefer him to “badass” Finley Jayne or good guy Griffin King. And the “cops” who arrest Jasper turn out to be FORMER GANG MEMBERS. Props, I guess, to author Kady Cross for giving this gunslinger questionable morals and a dark past.
Silly as he is, I hate Jasper the least.
Narrative Paradise 