Senlin Ascends, by Josiah Bancroft, was a novel I picked up on a whim and took me quite by surprise in its excellence. The author has a florid, flowing writing style that serves as a perfect match for both the Victorian-Steampunk setting and the main character’s academic nature. This selfsame protagonist, Thomas Senlin, was indeed the primary reason for my enjoyment of the book. He is a bookish, quiet man whom I found it remarkably…