Fiddlehead [Dramatized Adaptation]

Written by Cherie Priest

Narrated by A Full Cast, Katy Carkuff, Eric Messner and 36 more

Young ex-slave Gideon Bardsley is a brilliant inventor, but the job is less glamorous than one might think, especially since the assassination attempts started. Worse yet, they're trying to destroy his greatest achievement: a calculating engine called Fiddlehead, which provides undeniable proof of something awful enough to destroy the world. Both man and machine are at risk from forces conspiring to keep the Civil War going and the money flowing.

Bardsley has no choice but to ask his patron, former president Abraham Lincoln, for help. Lincoln retired from leading the country after an attempt on his life, but is quite interested in Bardsley's immense data-processing capacities, confident that if people have the facts, they'll see reason and urge the government to end the war. Lincoln must keep Bardsley safe until he can finish his research, so he calls on his old private security staff to protect Gideon and his data.

Maria “Belle” Boyd was a retired Confederate spy, until she got a life-changing job offer from the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Pinkerton respects her work, despite reservations about her lingering Southern loyalties. But it's precisely those loyalties that let her go into Confederate territory to figure out who might be targeting Bardsley. Maria is a good detective, but with spies from both camps gunning for her, can even the notorious Belle Boyd hold the greedy warhawks at bay?

• Language: English
• Publisher: GraphicAudio
• Release date: Jun 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781648814129

Cherie Priest

Cherie Priest is the author of two dozen books and novellas, including the horror novel The Toll, acclaimed gothic Maplecroft, and the award-winning Clockwork Century series, beginning with Boneshaker. She has been nominated for the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, and she won the Locus Award for best horror novel. Her books have been translated into nine languages in eleven countries. She lives in Seattle, Washington, with her husband and a menagerie of exceedingly photogenic pets.

Reviews for Fiddlehead [Dramatized Adaptation]

[jcmontgomery · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of Steampunk's better series comes to an end. For now. How bittersweet it was turning that last page. However, Cherie Priest has written other books, other stories that I hope to get my hands on SOON.This is one of those series that you want to re-read almost as soon as you put down the last book.It is a series I love to recommend as an introduction to Steampunk along with Gail Carriger's books. It isn't as traditional as some, being that it is set during an alternative version of the Civil War. But that difference is what, I think, helps American readers connect more easily to the genre.It's a sad farewell, but not a final good-bye. The war had to end sometime, even if it means not exactly living happily ever after - another selling point to this series. It's fun and honest in many ways, including handling loose ends, but not to the point of being unrealistic. Love this book. Love the series. You will too.

[lauriebrown54 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

‘Fiddlehead’- a computing machine bright enough to ‘fiddle with a man’s head’- brings the story arc started in ‘Boneshaker’(still my favorite of the series, especially now that there is a huge digging machine stuck under Seattle)to a close; hopefully it’s not the end of Priest’s steampunk, alternative history Clockwork Century world as well. The zombies that we first saw in ‘Boneshaker’ are explained and sorted, and the prolonged (20 years) American Civil War brought to a close. The characters we’ve been introduced to through the series have a chance of peace at last. The story had multiple story lines, including that of Gideon Bardsley, inventor of the Fiddlehead and former slave, as he is attacked in an attempt to destroy his calculating machine. He finds himself running for his life, right to the home of retired President Lincoln, who survived the assassination attempt but now uses a motorized wheelchair. Meanwhile, President Grant finds a traitor in his government whose actions may not just keep the war going but cause the end of civilization on the American continents. There is a lot at stake, and only a few people- including a former Confederate spy and a man with a warrant out on him-and very little time to try and stop a zombie apocalypse from occurring.It’s a good story; the story line following Maria Boyd (the former spy) has a tremendous amount of action in it right up to the climax. The line that follows Grant, Bardsley and Lincoln is very tense but there is a siege that goes on far too long- the one flaw I felt the book had. All in all, a satisfying read.

[pghdragonman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It is a relief the Civil War is ending. I mean it has been dragging on for so long draining our heroine of all her resources. Of course I mean Cherie Priest, not Maria Boyd. While Ms Boyd’s adventures in this time that never was has certainly been exciting and enjoyable in their own right, I felt they have been a distraction to the true heart of the Clockwork Century: the story of Seattle, the source of “sap” and the source of the rotters. In the acknowledgements, Cherie Priest says Fiddlehead is not the end of the Clockwork Century, but she does say we may have to be content with smaller portions from time to time . . . at least for now.For me, this was a let down from The Inexplicables and certainly did not approach the tension of Ganymede. There are enough seeds sown in Fiddlehead, though, that I can’t help but wonder what the course the newly re-United States will take and if the focus will shift away from Seattle, towards DC or go in an entirely new direction. Whatever the author has in store, I want to follow it.Fiddlehead stands up very well on its own. The pacing is excellent and the backstory is nicely filled in without the need for prolonged flashbacks, nonetheless, some of the character relationships may seem a little puzzling if you are just coming into the story at this point. Overall, I am rating this as a solid four stars.

[cissa_5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love the Clockwork Century series, and this is a strong and gripping end (woe! to the novels. (Priest has hinted that there may be more stories set therein; I hope so!)This volume does an amazing job of tying together various disparate threads in the previous volumes, including an ending to the long-dragged-out Civil War.The characters are great as always, including a Lincoln who survived the assassination attempt, and a Grant who can- sometimes- refrain from the booze. But characters from the previous books are here, too, and welcome, especially as they start to intersect in interesting ways, as the various threads in the various books get knitted together.And- the last third is one of the most exciting, action-filled sequences I've ever read. Not good for my insomnia, but a wonderful read!I loved this book, even though it's the end of the series. Issues were tied up, but not unbelievably tightly. Characters learned and grew. And the descriptions, and the humor, were wonderful. I'm sorry the series is ending, but it's ending on a very high note.