Evolution Expects

I've been dropping hints for a while now (some more subtle than others) but, as of today, I can exclusively reveal that the fifth book in Abaddon's Pax Britannia line is to be Evolution Expects, the fourth Ulysses Quicksilver adventure and the concluding novel of the first UQ story arc.

There's no front cover image yet, but here's the blurb I've written for the back cover of the book.

After more than 150 years as the supreme power on the planet, the British Empire has become a corpulent, stagnating monster. At its heart lies Londinium Maximum, a city festering under a near-permanent cloud of noxious smog. More than ever before, the realm of Magna Britannia needs a saviour – a man like new Prime Minister, Devlin Valentine.

But while London prepares for the launch of the Jupiter Station – the seeming answer to everyone’s prayers – there are those who want this longed-for change to come about more quickly; people who are even prepared to give evolution a helping hand.

None of this, however, is Ulysses Quicksilver’s concern. Back in London, after the horrific events that befell him in Yorkshire, the dandy adventurer has more pressing matters of his own to attend to. But when a deadly legacy returns, Ulysses finds himself drawn into that pit of madness and despair known as Bedlam.

A storm is brewing over London and this time – with a dangerous, masked vigilante stalking the streets, a monster from Jewish myth on the loose in the East End, and rival gangs fighting for control of the city’s underworld – when that storm breaks there may be nothing even Ulysses Quicksilver can do to prevent a catastrophic metamorphosis.

Don't worry - this may be the final story of the first story arc, but it's not the end of Pax Britannia, not by a long way!

Evolution Expects will be published by Abaddon Books in May 2009.