I received this book for free from Shadow Mountain in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Fires of Invention by J Scott Savage Series: Mysteries of Cove
Published by Shadow Mountain on September 29, 2015
Genres: Middle Grade, Steampunk
Pages: 288
Format: ARC
Source: Shadow Mountain
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Trenton Colman is a creative thirteen-year-old boy with a knack for all things mechanical. But his talents are viewed with suspicion in Cove, a steam-powered city built inside a mountain. In Cove, creativity is a crime and invention is a curse word.
Kallista Babbage is a repair technician and daughter of the notorious Leo Babbage, whose father died in an explosion an event the leaders of Cove point to as an example of the danger of creativity.
Working together, Trenton and Kallista learn that Leo Babbage was developing a secret project before he perished. Following clues he left behind, they begin to assemble a strange machine that is unlikely anything they ve ever seen before. They soon discover that what they are building may threaten every truth their city is founded on and quite possibly their very lives.
Love, love, loved the newest steampunk adventure by J. Scott Savage! What an adventure from page one to the end. It’s not often that a middle grade book pulles me in hook, line and sinker, but Fires of Invention was brilliant. It tackles the delicate balance between tradition and innovation, technology and safety, creation and destruction. In a mountainside hidden away from outside intruders, the people of Cove live on coal generated power. They are safely enclosed in their self-sustaining society…or so they think!
There are dragons, tinkers, inventors and trouble makers with just a hint of pre-teen romance. Perfect for kids ages 10-13.
Content: mild violence and child abuse
About the Author
J Scott Savage is the author of 16 novels including the Mysteries of Cove series, the Farworld middle grade fantasy series, and the Case File 13 middle grade
Author photo copyright Heather Zahn Gardner
monster series. He has been writing and publishing books for over fourteen years. He has visited over 1000 schools, dozens of writers conferences, and taught many writing classes. He has four children and three grandchildren. He lives with his wife Jennifer in a windy valley of the Rocky Mountains.
He loves hearing from his readers at scott at jscottsavage.com