This book is by Gareth Ward, aka The Great Wardini (he's a magician), and I really enjoyed reading it. The humour and the invented words that Zonda comes up with are fantastic, and I was so immersed in the book that I absolutely forgot that I was reading a book by the owner of the bookstore in town. Although I sort of recognized some bits of the book from other books, I still think the whole plot is great. Absolutely original. Using some familiar names in a steampunk world was and is a great idea. Although the author could've delved into the descriptions of the characters a bit more, because I found myself imagining faceless people instead of the fantastic main characters. But that doesn't change the fact that this book must've broken some sort of record. (Twilight doesn't tell you much about what Bella looks like, and that hasn't made any difference to how successful Stephanie Meyer has gotten)
Though the book could've been better (that would've been hard to achieve), nothing is perfect, and this masterpiece is no doubt one of a kind.
(also, when I was like, 8yrs old, the Great Wardini taught me a few magic tricks, giving some of his old equipment to me, and his wife was really nice to my friend, Stella and I, so I might be a teensy bit biased...)