Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg: Girl Genius, Book Four (4)

Kindle Edition
486
English
N/A
N/A
16 Mar
In a time when the Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, mad science rules the world—with mixed success.

In Agatha H and the Siege of Mechanicsburg, Agatha Heterodyne, the last of the Heterodyne family, has returned to her family’s hereditary town with the might of the Wulfenbach Empire hot on her heels. The only thing holding off an outright attack is Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, the heir to the Empire, who has joined Agatha and her friends inside the great artificially intelligent fortress of Castle Heterodyne. Now they must race to repair the mechanisms that once allowed the Castle to defend Mechanicsburg, before the rest of Europa shows up to take all the revenge the mad Heterodynes of the past so richly earned.
 
From the Hugo Award–winning Girl Genius online comics comes this fourth book in the Agatha H. series, and like the previous three books, it will engage you in a unique world of adventure, romance, and mad science!

Reviews (19)

More Mad Science, More Romance, and even More Over The Top Than Its Predecessors!

The Foglios have been cranking out the Girl Genius comics for around fifteen years. But these novelizations are more - they clarify the plot, provide a LOT of background information, and insert some jokes that just can't make it into a comic. If you're new, start with the first book. You'll need the setup. But buy all four...these things are like chocolate mimmoths. You can't stop with just one.

Good Idea, Disappointing Execution

I have been a longtime fan of the Girl Genius webcomic and finally decided this summer to try out the books. It was an experience. The below review applies to all four books: Agatha H. and the Airship City, Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess, Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle, and this book, Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg. The pros: The Foglios are very good at world building. The world they have created is rich in details, fantastic without being so unbelievable as to cause laughter — though there will be a fair amount of laughter at the comedic moments in the story! The novels are a faithful retelling of the events in the comic, with the addition of a deeper dive into characters' thoughts and motivations that do not always come across on the comic pages. Additionally, the authors have added quite a bit in history and culture for their world, crafting a richly creative experience. The cons: The authors desperately need a good proofreader. The text is rife with spelling errors and inconsistencies (even of names and places they created!). The verb tense shifts from paragraph to paragraph, at multiple points in the text. Because the text follows the comic, and the comic will often shift scenes from page to page with little-to-no transition, the text will do the same. There are no line breaks to indicate the shifting scenes, which does at times cause confusion as there is no visual cue that viewpoint is shifting from two characters in one location to five characters in another. Overall this makes for a very hard read; the errors and inconsistencies cause the text to be jerky and disjointed, instead of flowing smoothly. While this works for the visual medium that is the comic, in text format it becomes more of a chore to deal with rather than a story to enjoy. I had hoped that, progressing through to the later books, the errors would become less but sadly, they are just as prevalent in book 4 as they are in book 1. Overall I enjoyed the books from the point of view of adding to the visual medium presented by the comic's storytelling, but found them a tedious read. Coming from such talented world builders and storytellers, this was a disappointment.

ALL HAILE THE LADY HETERODYNE!!!!

Finely after years of wating we get the conclution to the siege of Mechanicsburg. Ofcorse those who read the online comic now what is about go down but like the 3 novels before it this one ad more detal. Both throu the discriptions of emtion hard to convay i pictures and the once again hilarius foot motes that sould defetly not be overlooked. Ontop of all this the novel once again taked the opetunety to fill in seces betwen the frames giving awseres and deapth not found in the comics. If you like the comick or the previus novels you are gona love this one too. It is the continuation of all the hummer and drama that the foligos are so good ad. So by this book and once more join Agatha Heterodyne on a thrilling ride in the world of gears, mosters, lighting and the best(jet somhove also underplayd) love triangel I have ever read about. LONGE LIVE THE MISTRES OF MECHANICSBURG. ALL HAILE THE LADY HETERODYNE AND TREMBEL BEFORE HER!!

Well worth the wait!

As always a wonderful read on the continuing adventures of Agatha Heterodyne and her friends! Even if you’ve read the graphic novels or follow online, you need to get the written novel to help fill in the gaps and provide some more complete explanation of the story. Plus, the footnotes ALONE are worth buying this book! Already looking forward to the next one.

I am soooo looking forward to the next novel...

OK, I am going to squee like a fanboy. The novels add great depth and detail to the webcomic, and add High Humor to Dark Times. Want details? Read it yourself... dollink.

Mad Science! Romance! Talking Cats!

Even if you read Phil and Kaja Foglio's Girl Genius on-line web-comic, even if you've collected the hard-copy graphic novels, you still don't know the whole story! That's right, the Professors Foglio add even more new content in their prose novels, try them for the Mad Science, stay for the chocolate-covered Mimmiths!

I love this book, I love this story!

So this book is based on the Girl Genius webcomic, and I love it just as much now as I did when I first discovered the series was back when the plan Jagers had a deep conversation the how a plan where you lose your hat is a bad plan.

A fun read with a few additions to the story

The prose series follows the same story line as the Girl Genius graphic novels. Somehow it still manages to produce page turners. And there are always elements of the plot and back story that get filled in. Highly recommended as are the graphic novels.

Great Fun!

I've been a fan of Girl Genius comic since the beginning of the series. This book is the latest in the series, bringing more background and depth to the comics. Can't wait for the next one!

Waiting for book 5 please

don't take 5 more years for the next book! The books helps to better clarify things that are not clear in the comic,

More Mad Science, More Romance, and even More Over The Top Than Its Predecessors!

The Foglios have been cranking out the Girl Genius comics for around fifteen years. But these novelizations are more - they clarify the plot, provide a LOT of background information, and insert some jokes that just can't make it into a comic. If you're new, start with the first book. You'll need the setup. But buy all four...these things are like chocolate mimmoths. You can't stop with just one.

Good Idea, Disappointing Execution

I have been a longtime fan of the Girl Genius webcomic and finally decided this summer to try out the books. It was an experience. The below review applies to all four books: Agatha H. and the Airship City, Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess, Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle, and this book, Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg. The pros: The Foglios are very good at world building. The world they have created is rich in details, fantastic without being so unbelievable as to cause laughter — though there will be a fair amount of laughter at the comedic moments in the story! The novels are a faithful retelling of the events in the comic, with the addition of a deeper dive into characters' thoughts and motivations that do not always come across on the comic pages. Additionally, the authors have added quite a bit in history and culture for their world, crafting a richly creative experience. The cons: The authors desperately need a good proofreader. The text is rife with spelling errors and inconsistencies (even of names and places they created!). The verb tense shifts from paragraph to paragraph, at multiple points in the text. Because the text follows the comic, and the comic will often shift scenes from page to page with little-to-no transition, the text will do the same. There are no line breaks to indicate the shifting scenes, which does at times cause confusion as there is no visual cue that viewpoint is shifting from two characters in one location to five characters in another. Overall this makes for a very hard read; the errors and inconsistencies cause the text to be jerky and disjointed, instead of flowing smoothly. While this works for the visual medium that is the comic, in text format it becomes more of a chore to deal with rather than a story to enjoy. I had hoped that, progressing through to the later books, the errors would become less but sadly, they are just as prevalent in book 4 as they are in book 1. Overall I enjoyed the books from the point of view of adding to the visual medium presented by the comic's storytelling, but found them a tedious read. Coming from such talented world builders and storytellers, this was a disappointment.

ALL HAILE THE LADY HETERODYNE!!!!

Finely after years of wating we get the conclution to the siege of Mechanicsburg. Ofcorse those who read the online comic now what is about go down but like the 3 novels before it this one ad more detal. Both throu the discriptions of emtion hard to convay i pictures and the once again hilarius foot motes that sould defetly not be overlooked. Ontop of all this the novel once again taked the opetunety to fill in seces betwen the frames giving awseres and deapth not found in the comics. If you like the comick or the previus novels you are gona love this one too. It is the continuation of all the hummer and drama that the foligos are so good ad. So by this book and once more join Agatha Heterodyne on a thrilling ride in the world of gears, mosters, lighting and the best(jet somhove also underplayd) love triangel I have ever read about. LONGE LIVE THE MISTRES OF MECHANICSBURG. ALL HAILE THE LADY HETERODYNE AND TREMBEL BEFORE HER!!

Well worth the wait!

As always a wonderful read on the continuing adventures of Agatha Heterodyne and her friends! Even if you’ve read the graphic novels or follow online, you need to get the written novel to help fill in the gaps and provide some more complete explanation of the story. Plus, the footnotes ALONE are worth buying this book! Already looking forward to the next one.

I am soooo looking forward to the next novel...

OK, I am going to squee like a fanboy. The novels add great depth and detail to the webcomic, and add High Humor to Dark Times. Want details? Read it yourself... dollink.

Mad Science! Romance! Talking Cats!

Even if you read Phil and Kaja Foglio's Girl Genius on-line web-comic, even if you've collected the hard-copy graphic novels, you still don't know the whole story! That's right, the Professors Foglio add even more new content in their prose novels, try them for the Mad Science, stay for the chocolate-covered Mimmiths!

I love this book, I love this story!

So this book is based on the Girl Genius webcomic, and I love it just as much now as I did when I first discovered the series was back when the plan Jagers had a deep conversation the how a plan where you lose your hat is a bad plan.

A fun read with a few additions to the story

The prose series follows the same story line as the Girl Genius graphic novels. Somehow it still manages to produce page turners. And there are always elements of the plot and back story that get filled in. Highly recommended as are the graphic novels.

Great Fun!

I've been a fan of Girl Genius comic since the beginning of the series. This book is the latest in the series, bringing more background and depth to the comics. Can't wait for the next one!

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