I've enjoyed the the books in this trilogy, andII think the last book is the best.
The originality of the plot and the characters involved make for a great reading experience.
I need to find more books by this author. ( )

Feeling that she's been left without options, Elizabeth Barnabus takes matters into her own hands, first by confronting the Duke of Northampton and second by agreeing to assist her friend Fabulo in a heist on the International Patent Court in London. But of course things don't go to plan, and soon Elizabeth and her friends are running for their lives ...

While the previous two volumes in the Fall of the Gas-lit Empire sequence were pacey and original, this third volume certainly ups the ante. There are several moments in the book where the tension and suspense are downright nail-biting. The set-up of the heist is incredibly clever and can compete with any heist thriller seen at the cinema. A worthy conclusion of the trilogy, and I can look forward to seeing more of Elizabeth Barnabus in the Map of Unknown Things sequence. ( )

This was a fitting end to an excellent trilogy (except that now I know it's not a trilogy and not the end). I think it is the best book of the three by a considerable margin - not to say that the others weren't good, because they were. This one was just so good that I ended up not doing anything I had planned to do, in favour of carrying on reading.

This is essentially a heist book: Elizabeth Barnabus is persuaded to join a gang intending to break into, and steal from, the International Patent Office. It's known that the IPO keeps examples of "unseemly science" that it deems not conducive to the good of the common man. If some of those marvels could be stolen, the thieves might live very comfortably on the proceeds.

Or the IPO itself might be destroyed...

There is a great deal of action here; for the first time, Elizabeth is taking the initiative - and I think that's intentional on the part of the author. Elizabeth has spent two books running away - now she can't run any further, and she can't hide. The time has come to stand, and to fight back. Which she does.

This book includes many things that I enjoy: intellectual property law; clocks; locks; filing systems. But what I liked the most, I think, were the interactions between Elizabeth and the other gang members, each of whom had their own motivation for joining the heist. They are all real people, with lives outside the book, which have led them to take part such a dangerous plan.

The heist itself does not go as planned (obviously) but what is discovered, and what is left hidden, bring the story to a very interesting end. I find myself wondering whether Duncan intends to leave it there - which he could very well do - or continue it on (now I know he intends to carry it on - excellent!). There are certainly enough loose ends to support further books in the sequels - but to leave it there would also be satisfying, in a way. Life is not neat and tidy. Most people's real life stories do not end in such a way, to allow the book to be closed with the knowledge that nothing interesting ever happens to that person again.

But I wonder: what happens when you think that your choice is between death and victory, but you turn out to be wrong? And how do you define victory? ( )

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: You’d have to be mad to steal from the feared International Patent Office. But that’s what Elizabeth Barnabus is about to try. A one-time enemy from the circus has persuaded her to attempt a heist that will be the ultimate conjuring trick.

Hidden in the vaults of the Patent Court in London lie secrets that could shake the very pillars of the Gas-Lit Empire. All that stands in Elizabeth’s way are the agents of the Patent Office, a Duke’s private army and the mysterious Custodian of Marvels.

Rod Duncan returns with the climactic volume of the Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire, the breathtaking alternate history series that began with the Philip K Dick Award-nominated The Bullet-Catcher’s Daughter.

My Review: If I did not already have information to the effect that this volume merely concludes the first series of books about the Gas-Lit Empire, I would even now be stowing away on a container ship bound for the UK with murder in my heart and author Duncan in my sights.

As things stand, I am thrilled by the ending of the book...by the entire last third, in fact...and the justice meted out therein. It's no secret from my earlier reviews that this is a series I've completely given myself over to. I have a suspicion that this is due to the talents of Mr. Duncan in applying his professional knowledge of science and computing to create a plausible explanation for this amazing world and its terrific characters. In previous reviews, I've described the point of departure for the series as unlikely in the extreme. I only now, at the very end of the third book in the trilogy, understand why this particular point of departure from the world we inhabit was chosen. In fact, it couldn't have worked in any other way. I will not spoiler this for anyone else, but keep the origins of the Gas-Lit Empire in your mind throughout the book and you'll be given an even richer reading experience than you'd have any other way.

I've got quibbles, of course, I'm a reader with thousands of books under my belt so it would be improbable for me not to have. I wonder how Miss Elizabeth Barnabus came to the final conclusion she did during the heist at the end of the book in such a hurry. But honestly, any quibble I have is more akin to brushing my husband's coat on his way out the door than to yanking at cards in a house of cards. Specks, mere specks, nothing more.

If it isn't crystal-clear from the foregoing, I am urging with great certainty and compulsion that you go forth on the instant and order whichever of these books you haven't yet read. If you haven't read any, buy the series in bulk. I waited an agonizing year before getting my copy of THE CUSTODIAN OF MARVELS, and I don't want others to suffer as I have done. ( )

Review copy

The first book in this trilogy, The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter (The Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire #1), came out in August of 2014. At the time, I called it "a beautiful tale of mystery and intrigue.wildly imaginative, and entertaining,"

Unseemly Science (The Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire #2) was released in April of 2015. Not quite as much fun as book one, but still a solid read.

Now comes The Custodian of Marvels: (The Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire, #3), a near perfect end to the trilogy. All of the mysteries are resolved with a fresh story to conclude the adventures of Elizabeth Barnabus and her traveling companions.

In the tales that make up The Fall of the Gal-Lit Empire the author has created a not so United Kingdom following a civil war which left England split into two separate countries, the Kingdom and the Anglo-Scottish Republic. Then there's the all-powerful Patent Office meant to protect the citizenry from technology and mechanical devices.

The patent Office, it all comes back to the Patent Office, where Elizabeth and her cohorts endeavor to break in, believing this is where all of their questions may be answered by the custodian of marvels. What they find is not what they expect, in more ways than one.

All three books in the series are published by Angry Robot Books and are available in a wide variety of formats for your reading and listening pleasure.

Although each story works as a stand-alone novel, I recommend reading to entire series for maximum enjoyment.

Rod Duncan is a British writer who grew up in Aberystwyth. Identified as dyslexic at the age of eight he made his way through the education system by avoiding writing as much as possible.

Being dyslexic, it was the invention of the word processor that enabled him to develop his storytelling and writing skills. He now cleverly uses dictation software as a tool in the writing process. ( )