Boneshaker is a science fiction novel by American writer Cherie Priest, combining the steampunk genre with zombies in an alternate history version of Seattle, Washington.

Early in the American Civil War, rumors of gold in the Klondike have brought would-be prospectors to North America's Pacific Northwest.

Anxious Russian investors commission American inventor Leviticus Blue to create a machine which can mine through the ice of Russian-owned Alaska.

Sixteen years later, Leviticus's wife and son, Briar and Zeke (Ezekiel) Wilkes, live in the impoverished outskirts of the former metropolis.

Life is difficult, but Briar manages to support herself and Zeke by working a physically demanding blue collar job cleaning water.

The pair of them encounter a Native American woman named Princess Angeline who lightly wounds Rudy, but they manage to elude her.

Zeke claims he doesn't hold any grudge against his mother for killing her husband, and they embrace, before leaving to loot what is left of the former Blue residence.

Which means that the thrilling Boneshaker will survive the ebb and flow of fashions and subgenres within the broad church of science fiction.

[8]Elaine Gallagher of Fiddlehead in Interzone wrote: The Clockwork Century stories are notable for their strong female characters...Priest's language on the other hand feels completely right for the American Civil War setting and I found "Fiddlehead" and the other Clockwork Century stories to be completely immersive.