All Those Vanished Engines

All Those Vanished Engines by Paul Park

1.5 Stars

This is a work of three parts that are loosely connected. The first part takes place after the Civil War in an alternate time. The main character, a teen girl, writes a fantasy of sorts. But is it fiction or is it the reality to come? The Battle of the Crater is mentioned and there seems to be something interesting about it. The vanished engines are implied here and that keeps the pages turning.

The second part takes place in what could be an alternate modern day. Some of the names from the first part are mentioned as ancestors. Elly seems to be a character in both parts. Again, the main character who seems to be named Matt, a name that also appeared in the first part, is a writer. What is interesting here, are the parallels between the first and second parts – the characters seem to be following the same paths but in different times. The Battle of the Crater is mentioned again and the parts of the vanished engines interest the narrator who sets off to find out more about them. This plot line goes nowhere.

The third part seems to take place in the same time period as the second, but in an alternate reality. This part is confusing and boring. Matt describes paintings and rambling writings that are full of misspelled words. None of the interesting plot threads are ever resolved. The Battle of the Crater is the title of one of the chapters, but nothing more about the battle and what makes it so significant is mentioned. After that chapter, this book became nothing more than words on pages to be slogged through to say that the book was finished.

I can't say I'd recommend this book. It's the first book that I have read by this author. I own a copy of Celestis, one of his earlier works, and after reading All Those Vanished Engines, I am in no hurry to read it.