Rook's Gambit was the kind of steampunk book that I enjoy. Where the elements blend seamlessly into the world, making them a feature and less of a reminder that you are enjoying a steampunk novel.

There was a lot to enjoy in this prequel, a band of thieves, a young man, dealing with grief, coming into his own and breaking from his abusive family, and of course added mysteries. There was also big and little dog rep.

The narration was solid. GM Hakim did a good job and on only one occasion was I pulled from the story by a small technical glitch in the form of a swallow and awkward pause. Other wise, his voice became the voice of Varick in my head.

I am new to the Broken Gears universe and as this was my first time, I did not have any preconceived notions about the characters and the world. As such It took me a few chapters to find my bearings in it. This meant a kind of slow start, but it quickly picked up pace. I was surprised and delighted at the amped up tension that occurred once the heist began.

Its a fairly quick and fast paced story and a good introduction into the world. The characters are well developed, although, some of them are just evil for the sake of being evil and could have used more back story. I felt like perhaps I was missing something important about the family dynamics, something that perhaps Varick was missing as well. Maybe later in the series that will become more clear, as I understand Varick is a character we will see again.

I love a found family, and the support network that was enjoyed by this gang of thieves was fun to witness.

I did feel a little hit over the head with the constant apologetic nature that Varick and his aunt seemed to have about their wealth. I know that "rich" is sort of looked down on right now, because you know, eat the rich, but also the repetition became annoying. It might have been better served as a growth realization later in the book, or just shown rather than told repeatedly.

Overall though, pretty great. If you are looking for a steampunk heist, then you have found a good one in this book.

Steampunk, oceans eleven shenanigans on an airship, why ever not...!?!

Great characters, unique story beautiful world building. I need more!

GM Hakim does an impeccable job with the narration, I often forgot it was just a solo narrator!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the ALC of this book!

A bit of a slow start, but I quickly got into the swing of the story and I grew attached to the characters. The narration was fun and the variations on character voices was engaging. This is a new-to-me author, and I look forward to exploring more of her works and this world in particular. I will admit though, that looking through her works the covers do not stick out to me, so without this chance to listen, and if I hadn't liked what I saw of the summary, then this never would have been something to pick up. I'm glad the title was enough to initially catch my eye and get me to look closer or else I would have missed this gem.