The Rising

I expected The Rising to have a middle-book problem and was pleasantly surprised when it didn't. Following directly after The Mechanical, The Rising takes us from the moment that The French spit in the eye of the The Dutch (metaphorically, but I'm trying to stay vague and spoiler-free) to a natural climax of the series (and it's a good one though you'll see it coming a mile off!).

Overall, the book explores AI self-determination in a steampunk setting without bringing too much magic into it for my taste.

A note on the narrator of the audiobook, he's pretty good at voices, is capable of a French accent (though uses it a bit inconsistently), and mispronounces the word "chimera" as "shimera" (he also almost drops the 'h' on the word "human", which I understand is a common pronunciation variation). Overall, I'd give his narration four stars.