aw this was very fun. i was worried that i wouldn't enjoy it as much because i hadn't listened to the podcast but i personally was fine

A fun and fast read, humorous throughout in that absurdist, British kind of way that can make a life-threatening situation sound like a minor inconvenience, and a perfect fit for someone who can imagine steampunk urbanism taken a step too far.

As someone who can be very particular about a city-centered novel, I started this one with not a little bit of caution, but the writing style won me over quickly, as well as entertaining main characters and some concepts, such as the Even Greater London - a city that never stops expanding in a completely chaotic, unpredictable way, truly a full-fledged character in its own right. I also appreciated the Queen Victoria situation, and the gentleness and warmth with which the main characters’ lowest points in the narrative were handled. My personal readers’ choice award (somewhat predictably) goes to the corporate-enlightened automaton dishwasher nicknamed Cleany Clive.

In essence, this was a detective story with sizable but unobtrusive chunks of world-building, hinting with its final interaction at future cases to come - if so, I’ll gladly follow Clara and Fleet on their next whirlwind adventure.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

The Sugdens are comedic geniuses. This is a must-read for anyone who's listened to Victoriocity, heard of Victoriocity, have never heard of Victoriocity but adore funny fantasy/great reads/books in general. Just read this book!! I wasn't sure what to expect – the transition from audio comedy to the page is tricky – but HIGH VAULTAGE more than delivers. Fleet and Clara jump off the page in this absolute romp of a book. Highly, highly recommend – HIGH VAULTAGE is positively electric.

I am not a big sci-fi reader but I do really enjoy funny sci-fi. Douglas Adams, Becky Chambers and Red Dwarf never fail to make me laugh, so I was excited to dive into a new kooky, tongue-in-cheek sci-fi and I was even more intrigued when I learned about the added mystery element. Thank you to the lovely people at Gollancz for allowing me to be a part of the blog tour.

In Even Greater London, the Tower powers every intricate mechanism while engineers demolish and rebuild whatever they want to. In an alternate 1887, Even Greater London is also the home of Fleet-Entwhistle Private Investigations, made up of veteran, semi-retired (sort of) police inspector Archibald Fleet and the tenacious journalist Clara Entwhistle. When the police are stumped by a series of bank robberies, a kidnapping isn’t really something that they have time to investigate. This is the perfect crime for the Fleet-Entwhistle collaboration to finally show everyone what they can do.

In Even Greater London, healthcare basically consists of replacing faulty body parts with machinery. This means that humans with mechanical parts are extremely common and in fact, Queen Victoria is one of them. This steampunky element to the book conjured up such a silly, fun atmosphere and I loved how we occasionally got reminders that several characters in the story were not exactly flesh and blood.

I found it hilarious that even in a London that is seemingly so different to the one that we know, etiquette still dictates that eye contact with strangers must be avoided. Some things are so ingrained that they can never be erased, no matter how many madcap ideas you throw at it.

The language, dialogue and humour is also wonderfully British and while as a Brit, I adore this, I’m always wary that it might not translate well to other cultures. In short, British humour is satire of often very trivial matters and it is perhaps not for everyone. It is definitely for me though!

Clara was definitely my favourite character and I felt like a fangirl following her favourite superhero around this crazy city, which I definitely got lost in multiple times. In fact, my biggest criticism of the book was the complex setting. I struggled to picture Even Greater London as it almost certainly was supposed to look because I couldn’t get my head around the mechanics and landscape. Perhaps it doesn’t matter and the city can look however you want it to look but I can’t help feeling that I was missing out on becoming fully immersed in the setting.

High Vaultage is a fast-paced, intriguing mystery with some really interesting, unique steampunk influences. If you love a Victorian mystery with automatons, ridiculousness and constant innovation, it’s a must read for you.

High Vaultage was one of the most original stories I’ve recently read. It is set in Even Greater London in 1887, a city inspired by Victorian London with a fantastical steampunk twist. The novel has a complex plot, excellent and inventive world-building, likeable characters, lots of action, intrigues, and rather absurd humour. It’s a gripping detective story, but my favourite element was the city itself, so vast that seeing the horizon could drive people mad and so absurd in its constant, chaotic, and often unnecessary growth. I would love to learn more about this world and read more books set in Even Greater London. For now, I will definitely check out Victoriocity, the podcast created by the authors.

I know I’m thoroughly loving a novel if I do something like buying it or, in this case, starting to follow a podcast.
This is the first in a series so I bought it and subscribed to Victoriocity.
The blurb list names like Adams/Aaronovich and Pratchett. I would add Gail Carriger as The Parasol Protectorate is one of my favorite series and High Vaultage became my favourite steampunk/humorous alt history novel.
Even if I never listened to Victoriocity I fell in love with the novel since I read the first pages as the humour, the world building and the storytelling were perfect according to my heart.
Archibald Fleet and Clara Entwhistle are a weird a well matched couple of investigators. Archibald is a mysterious guy, Clara a rebel. Both are able to think out the box and I had fun in reading their dialogues and discovering their background.
The plot is crazy and gripping, weird and highly entertaining. A mix of humorous fiction and mystery that kept me reading and having fun.
There’s a lot to say about this novel but, please, go and read it as it’s one of the best steampunk I read in a long time.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I had such a good time reading this book. Laugh-out-loud funny, High Vaultage is set in the same universe as the Victoriocity podcast, and it's Victorian London but not quite how you know it. Join Inspector Archibald Fleet and journalist Clara Entwhistle as they investigate a string of crimes that at first seem related, but may not be... or ARE they??

High Vaultage was so fun to read. If I had to pick my absolute favourite thing about this book, it would be the main characters Archibald Fleet and Clara Entwhistle. Every scene that they're in together is just pure gold. Absolutely love the dialogue and love their dynamic.

How do I even sum up the quirky, loveable debut novel that is High Vaultage? In a nutshell, this book has a creative setting based on a steampunk style industrial revolution, and partners it with a sense of humour that complements it perfectly.
As soon as the novel proudly revealed that Queen Victoria is the first British monarch to feature retractable caterpillar tracks for all-terrain access, I knew we were going to get along just fine.

The idea behind High Vaultage’s world is that the industrial revolution never slowed down, and instead the rate at which cities expand and technology advances goes into overdrive. By the start of the story, ‘Even Greater London’ is a single city covering the entire lower half of Great Britain; the city still feels quite Victorian in nature, despite the presence of Automatons and The Lightning Tower that dominates the skyline. There’s a small detail in the world-building that really demonstrated how vivid the scenery was: there’s multiple references to citizens feeling ill and dizzy if they get too broad a view of the city skyline, as the sheer scale of the city is found by most to be nausea-inducing. I can absolutely imagine this to be a great setting for a Dungeons and Dragons steampunk world!

The light, tongue-in-cheek writing style in High Vaultage makes a nice change from the dry sarcasm of many modern witty SFF novels.In fact, the humour style actually reminds me of the Discworld books, which is NOT a comparison I use lightly. Many comedy fantasy books are likened to Pratchett’s books purely on the notion that they’re funny, but this is the closest match I’ve read in the last few years. The absurdity of the writing is a perfect match for the absurdity of the setting, even though the setting isn’t meant as a punchline joke - for me, that stops the comedy from feeling flippant and tacked-on. The story follows a duo of private investigators as their cases escalate from lost dogs up to bank robberies and kidnappings. The plot is solid and drives along at a good pace, and doesn’t suffer from any pacing issues as far as I’m concerned. We visited a lot of places in the novel, and I really hope we get to dive back into this world in later sequels!

A piece of speculative fiction, set in an alternative, steampunk-ish, late 19th century UK, where a series of mysterious bank break-ins launch us on a journey that shows us the intricacies of the worldbuilding the authors excelled at, and engages us in unraveling a multi-faceted mystery. Our protagonists are a couple of unusual Private Investigators - Entwhistle is a woman in her 20s that is seeking to build a life of her own in the big city, away from the outdated expectations of her parents and high society; Fleet is a semi-retired (there is a fun story around this fact) police detective, who struggles with his new position in life, and seeks purpose.

The main feature of this book is the worldbuilding. It is perhaps among the most engaging, complex, and well thought through that I've seen in a long time. There are elements here of Mieville's Perdido, Paul di Filippo, and even the recently published Hexologists (with which the similarities don't end here). The "science" at the core of this world is robust, enjoys internal consistency, and is well explored in the story, without relying on unnecessary exposition.

The other feature of this book is its levity and style. The writing is superb - it's well paced, fun, and rhythmic. The mystery at the core of the book unravels nicely over time, and no part of the book feels overly rushed (kudos to the authors and editors!). The fact that the authors don't take themselves too seriously is charming - there are so many moments in the book that I chuckled out loud! I had a smile on my face in most segments, and enjoyed the banter between the various characters, the personalities (especially of Entwhistle), and the odd joke here and there (like the "entrepreneurial spirit" of Fleet's landlord).

There were a few small things about the book I found less engaging. The first was the character development - our protagonists came across as interesting, but they were not explored much, and their emotional depth didn't come to light at all. As if they existed in a vacuum, and therefore their decisions and behaviours seemed a bit forced at times - without a strong cohesive core. Not a huge deal, given how entertaining the characters were anyway, but more of a missed opportunity.

The other thing I disliked a bit was how nicely all the elements of the book fit together. It's like there was no unnecessary aspect of the story (specifically - the detectives' investigations) that eventually didn't fit into a broader story. This felt forced, and also had a strong aroma of deus ex machina, whereby many clues were discovered by chance more than by logic or hard work.

I recommend it to any fan of steampunk, and of alternative speculative histories. It's also great if you're not looking for something grim or dark (a la Perdido Street Station), but rather something more approachable and fun.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I received a copy of the book for a free and unbiased opinion.

The world- building In High Vaultage is some of the best I’ve read. This isn’t just because automons that just don’t seem to work ( I loved the one writing non-offensive obituaries), the army of engineers who never stops working or defying death through mechanical engineering. The difference in this book compared to others is how society reacts to such technology- from the opening where a woman takes joy in destroying automons to Fleet being dismissed from the police as there is no paperwork for people who have come to back to life. This happens in the background of the overall mystery of the kidnapping and bank robberies.

The plot moves quickly from one revelation to another, and I appreciated how all the strands of the sub-plots come together in the end. There were plenty of moments where I found myself laughing!

Clara and Fleet make a great investigating couple, Fleet desperation to get back to the police and his frustration with the bureaucracy that won’t move from the fact that he was once dead. Clara’s own determined ambition to be independent in male dominated world is the perfect foil.

I haven’t heard the authors’ podcast, but it is now one my list of podcasts to listen to, and I really hope there are more books set in Clara and Fleet’s world ( even if it is the case the book ends on!)

I enjoyed the England setting as well as the Characters a lot, it was a fun break from the usual heavy fantasy books I tend to read.

Well wasn't this book the most fun! And, dare I saw it, a wee tad on the bonkers side, but in a really good way!
Victorian Even Greater London - encompassing most of the south, apart from the lower two thirds of the Isle of Wight... but living in Portsmouth I can kinda understand that ;) Queen Victoria is on the throne but is, in a good old steampunk way, mostly machine now, having been resurrected and rebuilt a number of times. The Thames is frozen, basically cos its heat has been used to power everything.
Things get weird (weirder) when a man is abducted by an unknown in a carriage. An incident that sparks off a whole host of other weird and wonderful, bonkers crimes, avidly investigated by the wonderfully named Archibald Fleet and Clara Entwhistle whose endeavours have them seeking help and information from a whole host of, ahem, interesting people...
This was awesome all the way through. Funny as you like, laugh out loud on occasion too. Not one for reading on a bus! I took to Clara and Archie right from the off. Chalk and cheese but they rub along well enough. With funny consequences on occasion too. The story, in amongst all the shenanigans is actually quite coherent and so obviously well plotted. That plot able executed with some cracking additional characters. It kept me entertained and was a wonderful escape from real life, leaving me at the end, fully satisfied.
Now... I know this story originated from an audio drama podcast, and I will be seeking that out, but please do say that it's the start of a book series... I'm most definitely up for that. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Great fun and endlessly inventive
This was a riotously imaginative read from beginning to end. The steam punk elements were well fleshed out and the plot was complicated and solidly put together and the characters, while not totally believable, were easy to like and engage with. The scene, set in a gigantic (‘Even Greater’) London, covering most of the South of England, made for a partly familiar but often surprising landscape. Enchantment was added by the frozen Thames (not by nature but by scientific design) and of course there is a sinister electrical tower drawing power from the whole country. There are mysterious disappearances and bank robberies which must be investigated at great personal risk by the delightful Clara Entwhistle and gloomy Archibald Fleet.
Basically, a great, thoroughly enjoyable, escapist read, well put together and full of inventive and delightful details.
I totally recommend it and will be looking for more from these authors.

I’m afraid this didn’t live up to the billing for me - comparisons with Adams and Pratchett were well wide of the mark. I found it exposition-heavy, with unconvincing characters and an insufficiently engaging mystery. Humour is one of the trickiest genres to get ‘right’ as what will make one person roar will leave another cold - and this left me cold, especially the frequent ‘amusing’ asides. Reminiscent in style with the great Douglas Adams, but not in successful delivery.

I really wanted to like this more than I did, and I’m sure there’s an audience out there for it.

I loved this book! So imaginative, bursting with creativity, intrigue, surprising inventions and mind-bending concepts. And it was so much fun to read! I loved this Victorian Even Greater London setting, a mix of steampunk machinery, high-tech and advanced scientific progress. Where Queen Victoria (now more machine than human) had to be revived 11 times, following 11 successful assassination attempts; an universe populated by automatons (Tommy Tons as Kathleen Price calls them), where technology is so much different than what we would expect. An immense tower is providing electricity to the city (half the size of England) while ‘draining’ the Thames of all its heat and leaving it frozen. We follow a pair of odd and quirky investigators, who attempt to unravel the events of the most mysterious series of crimes. I thoroughly enjoyed the book - it’s clever, original, funny, sharp, satirical and incredibly entertaining and satisfying. I loved it! Now I need to discover the podcast and Victoriocity as I knew nothing about it when I started the book. Thanks to NetGallery for the ARC!