Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl by David Barnett
I'm speeding through an e-arc of this today and hope to get a full review of this amazingly fun Victorian steampunk ish weird novel. David's novel opens with a very normal appearing series of events and spirals quickly out into a fantastical series of horrifying events followed by disarmingly funny totally English humor funny ones. I'm thoroughly charmed by this brand new approach to my favortie alternate history era to visit and one that presents the social restrictions and limits of that world starkly and effectively. This novel promises cameos from figures of the era both real and fictional. You can go here to get a taste of David's writing in this TOR novel that I think will fit perfectly on my shelf of favorite alternate histori like the Bookman and the Burton and Swinburne books.
Here is the cover synopsis...
Nineteenth century London is the center of a vast British Empire. Airships ply the skies and Queen Victoria presides over three-quarters of the known world—including the East Coast of America, following the failed revolution of 1775.
London might as well be a world away from Sandsend, a tiny village on the Yorkshire coast. Gideon Smith dreams of the adventure promised him by the lurid tales of Captain Lucian Trigger, the Hero of the Empire, told in Gideon’s favorite “penny dreadful.” When Gideon’s father is lost at sea in highly mysterious circumstances Gideon is convinced that supernatural forces are at work. Deciding only Captain Lucian Trigger himself can aid him, Gideon sets off for London. On the way he rescues the mysterious mechanical girl Maria from a tumbledown house of shadows and iniquities. Together they make for London, where Gideon finally meets Captain Trigger…
The Scroll of Years by Chris Willrich
I have great hopes for this what might be called Silk Road fantasy since it is set n a fictionalization version of the continental Far East. Chris has been writing in this setting for a bit now having short fiction appear in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Lightspeed, Beneath Ceasless Skies the latter two of which are free to read and you can click through here to Chris' site where he links to the stories themselves. Several of my favorite people in speculative fiction, namely Saladin Ahmed and Howard Taylor, have written some very intriguing things about this in addition to the fact the the editor of Beneath Ceasless skies and the great Lou Anders choose to print his work. Here is the synopsis from Pyr.com...
Persimmon Gaunt and Imago Bone are a romantic couple and partners in crime. Persimmon is a poet from a well-to-do family, who found herself looking for adventure, while Imago is a thief in his ninth decade who is double-cursed, and his body has not aged in nearly seventy years. Together, their services and wanderlust have taken them into places better left unseen, and against odds best not spoken about. Now, they find themselves looking to get away, to the edge of the world, with Persimmon pregnant with their child, and the most feared duo of assassins hot on their trail. However, all is never what it seems, and a sordid adventure-complete with magic scrolls, gangs of thieves, and dragons both eastern and western-is at hand.
Gods of Earth by Craig De Lancey
I came across this just yesterday while preparing for today's post and was intrigued by the synopsis hat I found on Tor.com. It seems the kind of thing that I should really take a peek at... Not having much time with it I'll give you fantasy fans a link to the authors website here and add the synopsis....
Thousands of years after a war against the gods drove humanity nearly extinct, something divine stirs. It awakens the Guardian, an ancient being pledged to destroy the gods—a task it believes long-accomplished. Through deep caverns, he makes his way to the desolate surface of Earth and stalks toward the last human settlements, seeking the source of this strange power.
Far away, the orphan witch child Chance Kyrien is turning seventeen: today he will be confirmed as a Puriman and learn what stake in the family’s vineyard his adopted father will give him. Ambitious, rebellious, but fiercely devout, Chance dreams only of being a farmer and winemaker, and marrying the girl he loves, the Puriman Ranger Sarah Michaels.
But a shocking cataclysm of violence and destruction turns Chance’s peaceful world upside down. Aided by his loyal friends and the Guardian, Chance must travel through time and space to battle the last remaining god. For the destinies of Chance and this final deity are fatally intertwined, and only one of them can survive.
Spirit of the Centure: Khan of Mars by Stephen Blackmoore
Yes I'm totally looking forward to a book based on a role playing game. Yes I love the pulp era game Spirit of the Century and apparently so do a couple of my favorite gritty urban noir authors Chris Wendig who is writing a Triliogy and apparently Stephen Blackmoore who is writing a stand alone spin off. I will say it I want so much to read a novel starring the Gorilla hero Khan on Mars in the pulp age era of non costumed hard hitting heroes. Anyone who has read City of the Lost knows that Stephen can write bloody pulp action and dark edged heroes with the best of them. I have hopes for this to be as much big stupid fun in all the best senses.
Read this add copy and blurb by fellow action neo pulp writer Nathan Long.... You can go here to see the order page at Evil Hat games, the makers of the Spirit of the Century, FATE, and Dresden role playing games to name just a few....
When erudite ape Professor Khan and rough-and-tumble cowboy Bulls-Eye Gutierrez are zapped away on a one-way trip to Mars, they are thrown into a world in chaos. Under the malevolent gaze of the Weather Witch, Princess Cyclone, our heroes face the intrigue and war raging across an alien world. Will they survive long enough for the other Centurions to build a way back home, or will they perish upon the shifting sands of the Red Planet, never to be seen again?
A spin-off adventure from the Dinocalypse Trilogy!
“Who would have thought a four hundred pound gorilla could be so agile? Khan of Mars moves with the speed and whiplash reverses of a hunting hawk, yet packs the punch of a rampaging Yeti. Engaging characters, endless invention, and a breakneck plot that never lets you catch your breath—Stephen Blackmoore must have that ape by the short hairs to make him hop around like that.” — Nathan Long, author of Jane Carver of Waar
And now for something totally free... With all the free fiction venues on the Internet I have to start adding these a bit too so a new bit of this weekley feature...
A Rumor of Angles by Dale Bailey
Tor.com has been publishing free short fiction on their website since the first few days of its existence. This one looks like a particularly interesting addition to that stable. Dale Bailey writes about an alternate dust bowl era America with hits of urban fantasy elements. Its enough to get my antenna up and I will be checking it out. It will be hitting on Tuesday the 10th on their site and will be for sale to through all the normal e-channels. Dale has written a good deal of fiction including several novels and short stories, one that won the International Horror Guild award and he's been a Nebula Nominee.... Go to tor.com to take a peek next week...
Till next week that a taste of what I would love to have on my bookshelves....take care ...
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