Coup de Grace by Paul Centeno

 

Kaimo de Morté is a trained optometrist but living in a small town he has to work in the mines in order to save money for his own optical emporium. Living under an Emperor who is seen as a god there are insurgents who fight for political freedom. When Kaimo and the insurgents’ paths cross and Kaimo rescues a girl from an imperial cargo train, his world changes. He and the girl embark on a quest to find a scholar who can tell her more about the aether in her veins that Lord Cazar wants her for. In their travels, they encounter countless dangers and suffer betrayal and trauma. However, once they reach the Insurgents and discover that they themselves have become rebels there is no turning back. Together with a very Brittishly witty automaton, Kaimo, and Zylpha have to face dangers and losses and celebrations of life, all against the backdrop of a steampunk industrial world filled with automatons and mechanical works of wonder, such as the traveling City Mystwalker and the steam-powered airships. Coup de Grâce by Paul L Centeno is an entertaining and cleverly written work of art.

In his book Coup de Grâce, Paul L Centeno puts forth a story that is intricate in its plot and crammed full of adventure and danger. Kaimo, the main character has experiences that change him and his way of looking at the world. All the characters show a steep curve of development and the story has you holding your breath and on the edge of your seat, multiple times. As Kaimo takes on the Imperium in order to save Zylpha he has to reconsider his moral values and in the end form an alliance that goes against his soul, in order to ensure a future where he and Zylpha can be together. The novel throws a curveball in the last chapters and offers a solution to the crisis in the story that is unbelievable and brilliant. As a fan of steampunk, I can recommend this to all who are in awe of the creativity of the authors who create the steampunk worlds and the technology which is found in them.