More an excited burble than a book review: The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage

I'm in the middle of reading, after hearing the author speaking on the BBC's "The Museum of Curiosity" (though to my chagrin cannot now remember what she said), The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The Mostly True Story of the First Computer by Sydney Padua, a graphic novel with factual footnotes (and endnotes to the footnotes, and footnotes to the endnotes). I can't remember anything which has made me laugh out loud so often since Douglas Adams, possibly not even Terry Pratchett (though this may reflect my memory more than what I've been reading). If you're remotely interested in the history of computers, or in steampunk, or are a geek, or find the conceit of (just to pick one example from hundreds) the Analytical Engine, when Ada Lovelace goes into its internals to sort out a problem, popping up a sign reading "Just what do you think you're doing, Lovelace?" amusing, or (likewise) are interested to learn that, before the invention of the telegraph, Babbage proposed a network of zipwires across London for fast distribution of letters, then run, do not walk, out to buy this book!

When I ordered this book, and was told it was only out in hardback, and was £16.99, I said to the bookseller, "It had better be worth it for that price, then." Well, so far (I'm a third of the way through it), it's worth every penny. The only slight quibble I have with it is that the author is a Canadian, and occasionally the characters' diction reflects her Canadian English rather than the Victorian British English they would actually have spoken. But I suppose that is a small price to pay for Canada's having come up with someone who would think of writing this book in the first place.

Now I need to stop burbling here until I've read the rest of it.