Tag: Books

Gears of Wonderland

Scott Kinkade
Gears of Wonderland
Gears of Wonderland

Ever wondered what would it would be like if someone wrote a steampunk version of Alice in Wonderland? Well, wonder no more, for Jason G. Anderson’s Gears of Wonderland is here to show you!

James Riggs has a lousy girlfriend and a lousy job. But, as he soon discovers, things can get so much worse.

He witnesses his oldest friend murdered at the hands of a hulking assailant and narrowly avoids becoming the next victim when a mysterious man in white pushes him down a hole. He ends up in a strange Victorian city and is informed by a gun-toting woman named Kara that it’s actually Wonderland.

He thought it was just a book, but it’s all too real. Continue reading “Gears of Wonderland”

Washington’s Dirigible

Scott Kinkade
Washington's Dirigible
Washington’s Dirigible

Recently I was in an antique store here in town and came across a 1997 novel which caught my interest. Since it was only a dollar I picked it up. The book is Washington’s Dirigible by John Barnes.

The story is told from the point of view of Mark Strang, who was a college professor until he saw his family murdered by the Closers, bad guys from a multitude of timelines who want to impose their will on the multiverse.

Strang finds himself recruited by the ATN, a federation of timelines fighting to stop the Closers. He becomes a member of Crux Ops and sent on his first mission to a timeline the ATN has cultivated. Continue reading “Washington’s Dirigible”

Outcasts of East Mars

Scott Kinkade
Outcasts of East Mars
Outcasts of East Mars

Today we have a short story by Brett Harte and B.R. Nielson: Outcasts of East Mars. Taking place in 2072 on, naturally, Mars, the story centers around a small group of people who have been deemed undesirable by the city of East Mars and so are forced into exile.

These unwanted examples of humanity include Mr Rose the gambler, the Mistress, Dear Mother and Uncle Billies. We are given very little description of these characters, yet you can easily form pictures of them in your mind.

They are escorted out of the city at gunpoint and head off on a journey to West Mars, where hopefully they will be given a better reception. Continue reading “Outcasts of East Mars”

The Real Thing

Scott Kinkade
The Real Thing
The Real Thing

Today we have a cyberpunk novel by Jacob Prytherch: The Real Thing.

Roman Rasnic, “The Black Cat,” is a chemist turned black market peddler of a drug he invented called Cupid. It allows people to experience the sensation of intense love toward whomever they want. This has proven quite profitable to him in future Japan.

Unfortunately, it also causes him plenty of problems. Continue reading “The Real Thing”

Spirits from Beyond

Hilde Heyvaert
Spirits from Beyond
Spirits from Beyond

Ghost Finders has never been my favorite series of Simon R. Green, but with this fourth volume in the series, Spirits from Beyond, the series really picks up. Green delivers with this excellent work of classic, good-old ghost-hunter fun that we’ve come to love from the genre without the book becoming a cliché.

The characters are finally fully developed as their own people in this issue, with their own personalities and problems, and the plot keeps on thickening, providing answers here and there but overall leaving the reader with more questions without becoming annoying. Continue reading “Spirits from Beyond”

Further Tales from the Dispatch Box of John H. Watson M.D.

Hilde Heyvaert
Further Notes from the Dispatch Box of John H. Watson MD
Further Notes from the Dispatch Box of John H. Watson MD

The latest edition in Hugh Aston’s Sherlock Holmes series is once again full of marvelous tales of that favored sleuth. Even though all its predecessing volumes have been absolutely brilliant, this one is the best so far.

Once again the author takes the reader on four new cases, all describing adventures and mysteries needing to be solved by the brightest mind of the Empire. Continue reading “Further Tales from the Dispatch Box of John H. Watson M.D.”

The Dark Victorian: Risen

Scott Kinkade
The Dark Victorian: Risen
The Dark Victorian: Risen

Today we have a Victorian adventure by Elizabeth Watasin, The Dark Victorian: Risen. This is the first book in the Dark Victorian series.

Jim Dastard is not your usual detective. In fact, he is a talking disembodied skull who works for the Secret Commission, a government bureau that resurrects people from the dead and sends them to fight other eldritch threats to England. Continue reading “The Dark Victorian: Risen”

Folding Reality

Scott Kinkade
Folding Reality
Folding Reality

Today we have a quirky novella by Mit Sandru: Folding Reality.

Mike, an insurance salesman, is having a very bad day. For some reason, every time he folds a piece of paper — whether it’s a map, a dollar or take-out menu — he finds himself transported to another (usually unfriendly) place and time. He ends up in Jerusalem where he somehow prevents the crucifixion of Christ — and gets nailed to a cross himself! Continue reading “Folding Reality”

City Hall, Volumes 1-3

Hilde Heyvaert
City Hall
City Hall

City Hall is a franga (French manga) created by writer Rémy Guérin and artist Guillaume Lapeyre. Set in an alternative Edwardian-era London, full of steampunk and fantastical marvels and terrors.

Imagine a world where paper has not only been replaced by the Steam-net but is also a dangerous weapon. Everything written down on it becoming reality, how dangerous and threatening as the writer deems appropriate or necessary. Only very few individuals still know how to write by traditional means, everyone else uses typewriters resembling the steampunk laptops and desktops computers. Continue reading “City Hall, Volumes 1-3”

Dead Iron

Scott Kinkade
Dead Iron
Dead Iron

Today we have Devon Monk’s 2011 steampunk novel, Dead Iron, the first book in her Age of Steam series.

The story takes place in Hallelujah, Oregon in the late nineteenth century. The town is enjoying prosperity due to the arrival of the railroad that will soon be connecting them to the rest of the country.

However, not everyone is in good spirits. Protagonist Cedar Hunt has been cursed by a Native American god to become a werewolf during the full moon. During his first change he killed his brother (or so be believes) who had been cursed along with him. Continue reading “Dead Iron”