Steampunx Episode 1: Funk and Puck

Steampunx Episode 1: Funk and Puck

Benjamin Jacobson

Steampunk, alternate reality 

43 pages

Teen

Warnings: Violence

Funk is a boy living in 1875 that is trying to become a man by hunting the Birch Stag, a wooden stag created by the wizard Thunder. Instead of killing the beast himself, he witnesses it's demise at the hand of outsiders with guns, which have been banned in the land of Ten Hundred Nations and gets himself shot through the hand. To save it, he and his sister, Puck, must go find Thunder while at the same time warn him of the intruders.

Writing Style: 10/10

The author did really well in writing this. The style seemed to accurately represent the people that he was writing about and I personally didn't see any mistakes on his part. He just did an all around excellent job.

Plot: 9/10 

The plot progressed well with natural twists and turns. It starts out as an innocent quest for manhood before morphing into something more dangerous and bigger than Funk's quest. The Buffalo man ends up playing a major role, attacking the two while at Thunder's and guns in The Ten Hundred Nations are banned, making it so that their presence is an act of hostility against the whole nation and involving more than just the two children and Thunder.

Originality: 10/10

I feel like this was a very original story. While it told one young man's coming of age, it told of a major threat that was going to come down on the nation. The steampunk side of it is a nice addition to many stories and one that I personally don't see explored often enough. Thunder uses a lot of wood in his endeavors and also tries to make them for the purpose of peace. These all combine into a very original work.

Enjoyability: 9/10 

The originality in this and the idea of a place that mixed the ways of earlier early humans and the present era of the time had me enthralled until the end. In the beginning the contrast of the twins characters, Puck being very much still a child and carefree while Funk is serious and wants to be taken as a man had me smiling and wanting to see what happened to them. When it was decided that they needed to see Thunder, the wizard that was said to be crazy, I wanted to know how crazy he was and see these magical machines he possessed. The story kept me going with something new continuously and took me as far as to read the two sequels that he has out.

End: 9/10 

The end did everything that I want in an end. It wrapped up the story, letting me know what happened with Funk's hand, the Buffalo Man that killed the Birch Stag and Thunder's machines and their uses while paving the path for episode two.

Overall: 47/50

Steampunx can be downloaded at Smashwords for all devices.

Benjamin Jacobson has a blog and a Twitter.