For the Empire!
I'm a big fan of all things steampunk, so when I spotted this new series I had to give it a whirl. I'm glad I did; Jonathan Green has created an alternate universe that's great fun to explore.Our hero, the dandy adventurer Ulysses Quicksilver, is both likable and engaging, and his indefatigable manservant Nimrod provides a pleasantly droll foil.
The real star is the world Green has created, though, and he throws literally everything at the story in his efforts to provide a ludicrously enjoyable reading experience. Amongst other things, we have robot policemen, escaped dinosaurs, rampaging monkeymen and ruthless terrorists.
It's a great start to what I hope will be a long running series, and anyone looking for a light, readable adventure story should check out Ulysses and his world.
(David Ford)
Good holiday read
Steampunk Victorian Britain in the late 1990s and all is not well. Despite advanced technology which has taken Britain to other worlds and the very bottom of the oceans and pretty much dominate all places in between, polluting them as they go, the country is just as socially stratified as it was a century earlier and there's been no Labour Party to introduce an NHS. However, we have our hero to protect the status quo as he fights against villains and monsters...Still, this is all good fun even if I did want the upper crust hero to join the proletariat and start a socialist revolution. Heck, I'd settle for industrial reform and a national health service. Competently written with plenty going on and several young ladies aiming their low cut decolletage in the direction of our irresistible manly hero when the action briefly flags. Ideal for reading abroad when sitting in the shade of a beach umbrella with a chilled beer or an espresso (depending on taste) and pretending you're not watching attractive young women or men (depending on taste).
I'll stop this now before my fantasies carry me too far.
(Ian Williams)
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