The Violins Played Before Junstan

 

I loved this book! Indie author, Lou Kemp does an incredible job weaving together so many elements and tropes - steampunk, Victoriana, magical realism, demons (?), witches, even a very mild touch of romance. Amazingly, it all works beautifully. 

The Violins Played Before Junstan is the prequel book to Kemp's Celwyn series. While it isn't required to read Violins before diving into the series, I do recommend it. Simply because it is just so very well crafted! Jonas Celwyn is a strong protagonist who uses his magical abilities to manipulate the world around him. But, he's not a bad guy. Not at all. His logical, ethical counterpart, Professor Xiau Kang, a mechanical automat, serves to balance and ground Celwyn's capricious nature. On a ship from San Francisco to Singapore, Kang and Celwyn identify threats against them and set out to neutralize those threats. Shenanigans ensue and leave the two men no closer to solving the mystery of who is hunting them or why. 

They also wind up collecting a wide array of companions who each bring a new facet to this thrilling and complicated adventure. Annabelle, the wealthy and feisty American heiress, trying to escape a forced marriage, who insists on joining their quest in return for helping them out of a tight spot when Celwyn is suspected of murdering another passenger. Bartholomew, a well-educated African, who merely hoped to book passage on a train but was denied because of his race, joins the group when Celwyn purchases a first-class ticket for him. Zander and Telly, orphaned children in need of love and opportunity, rescued from a madman, round out the unconventional family as they make their way across continents via private rail from Singapore to Prague. A host of other characters wander in and through the narrative, adding color and intrigue, as Kang and Celwyn attempt to protect them all from the evil which lurks. 

I couldn't put it down. Indeed, as soon as I turned the last page, I immediately purchased the first book in the series, Music Shall Untune The Sky, just so I didn't have to leave this incredible cast of characters or miss any of their adventures.