Steam Punk Seattle

If you like gears, goggles, and gas masks, give Cherie Priest's steam punk novel Boneshaker a try.

A bit of alternate history for you. The Russians owned the Klondike and knew about large quantities of gold buried beneath rock and ice, so they sponsored a contest for inventors to develop a machine that could dig down deep enough to get to it.

In Seattle, Dr. Leviticus Blue makes the Boneshaker his entry into the contest. He tests it out, which results in the machine barreling below Seattle, collapsing homes and tearing through the vaults of banks, as well as releasing a pent up gas known as the Blight. It's bad enough that he may or may not be a criminal in addition to a mad scientist, but the Blight brings permanent shame to his name.

When people breathe the heavy gas, they begin to decompose and develop a taste for human flesh, rushing in groups toward any noise that might be someone to eat. Seattle is walled off to contain both the "rotters" and the gas. And it is into this walled-off Seattle that Zeke Wilkes Blue goes to find some information that could restore the good name of his absent father. Zeke's the only thing his tough, aloof mother Briar has in the world, and when she learns he's gone into the heart of danger, she suits up and goes in to save him. This makes for a fun and suspenseful adventure full of interesting inventions and likable characters that will easily help you pass the time while traveling or relaxing at the end of the day.