Ulysses Quicksilver, agent of the crown, jumps into a time vortex pursuing Daniel Dashwood, a madman bent on sharing modern technology with Hitler’s forces and changing history to suit his evil ends. Rewind several decades, to the time of the Second Great War, to Darmstadt. The Nazis are battling the steampunk empire of Magna Britannia, cooking up necrotic super solider in the gothic towers of Castle Frankenstein. In the forests outside the castle, other forces are gathering. Ulysses’ father is there, proving that dashing good looks and a talent for swashbuckling adventures run in the family, and wondering why his British masters have partnered him with the weakling scientist Dr. Jekyll. The ladies of the Monstrous Regiment as also there to help, but there may be other gothic monsters in the hills… Those of you that have been following The Eloquent Page for a while are no doubt already aware that there is much love in this corner of the Internet for the Pax Britannia novels written by Jonathan Green. Each new installment is highly anticipated and has always delivered the very best in steampunk flavoured adventure. I was keen to pick up from the cliffhanger that occurred at the end…

Today’s post is from guest reviewer @SamaelTB. Just like to take the opportunity to thank him for letting me publish his review. Okay, let’s get one thing clear right now. Pattern Recognition is damned good book. The prose is stunning and the protagonist is at once hardcore and sympathetic. Prior to this I’ve only read one Gibson and while Neuromancer is a bit dated now it’s still an astonishing read. I’m pleased to say Pattern Recognition is at least its equal. Cayce Pollard has the odd affliction of being allergic to branding. This aids her in her career as a cool-hunter and brand consultant. She is also part of a community that seeks to learn the origin and meaning of mysterious fragments of footage that have started showing up all over the internet. When her newest employer recruits her to discover the identity of the creator of the footage she’s hurled into an adventure that sees her facing off against industrial spies and mafia goons, all the while inching ever closer to the truth. The story is told in third person present from the perspective of one Cayce Pollard. She’s young, smart, but haunted by both her affliction and the…

Please note that this review contains some minor spoilers if you haven’t read Arrowhead and Broken Arrow, the first two novels in this sequence. Robert, The Hooded Man, leads the Rangers, who keep the peace in the ravaged wastelands of Britain, foiling the ambitions of warlords and petty tyrants who would take the country for themselves. Even the spirits of his beloved Sherwood Forest aid him, sending him dreams to guide his path. Arrowland by Paul Kane is the author’s third book, set in the Afterblight Chronicles universe. The world has been stricken by a pandemic that is fatal to all but those who have the blood type O negative. In the United Kingdom, from the ruins of Nottingham, ex-policeman Robert Stokes has started to create the beginnings of a new society. Adopting the mantle of the well known legend of Robin Hood he has successfully defended his community on a number of occasions. In the previous books I was pleased that Nottingham was used so effectively as the story’s backdrop. In the first two novels my adopted hometown has been central to the story. Anyone who has attended the British Fantasy Society convention, FantasyCon, will appreciate the in-joke about…

Strange anomalies are ripping holes in the fabric of time, allowing creatures from the distant past and far future to roam the modern world. Evolutionary zoologist Nick Cutter and his team must track down and capture these creatures and try to put them back where they belong.   Primeval: Extinction Event by Dan Abnett is based on the popular UK television show of the same name. Nick, Abby and Connor are busy trying to deal with the anomalies that are appearing randomly across the UK. Connor notices that the anomaly phenomena are behaving differently each time they occur. While investigating the latest occurrence the team are kidnapped and taken thousands of miles away to help a foreign power deal with their own anomaly issues. Moving the action out of the UK to the wilds of the Russian Federation is a good move. The TV show has always suffered a bit with the limitations of its budget. There are no such considerations here. Meanwhile, with the majority of the Anomaly Research Centre team missing, it is up to the boss Lester, and his assistant Jenny, to figure out just what is going on. Enter the diabolical Helen Cutter, Nick’s estranged wife…

An ancient prophecy. An evil older than mankind. It is the beginning of the end. I was about three or four pages into The Mayan Prophecy by Steve Alten when I had a niggling suspicion that everything seemed awfully familiar. After bit of hunting around at the front of the book I discovered that the novel was originally published under the title Domain back in 2001. Though I had read it before, I decided to re-read and refresh my opinion of the novel. The Mayan calendar runs out on the 21st December 2012. Some have predicted that this heralds the end of mankind. The novel uses this premise as the basis for a thriller/science fiction adventure. In a Miami mental asylum inmate Michael ‘Mick’ Gabriel has spent the last eleven years incarcerated in solitary confinement for attacking a politician. He forms a relationship with the new psychiatric intern, Dominique Vazquez, who is assigned to care for him. As she gets to know him, she learns about his unconventional upbringing in South America. Mick was raised by his archaeologist father, Julius, amongst the ancient ruins of the Mayan culture. Julius, having spent decades researching the Mayan’s lost history, firmly believed that…

The seeds of heresy are sown I’ve been aware of the Warhammer 40000 sci-fi novels for a while now and if I’m being honest, I’ve always been a bit wary. They have such a huge back catalogue of titles I have been a little intimidated and unsure where to start. Fortunately, through the power of Twitter, I was able to ask a friend of a friend, who works at Games Workshop, where would be a good place to begin. The near immediate response – Horus Rising by Dan Abnett. Set in the far future of the 31st century the Imperium of Man has left Terra (Earth) and taken to the stars. At their head, is the near immortal Emperor who has chosen his favourite son, Horus, to be his Warmaster and lead the empire’s troops into battle. Mankind is no longer burdened by petty internal squabbles based on religion or ethnicity. The humans of the future are positive in their belief that the entire universe is rightfully theirs and set about making all other planets comply. The novel follows the Imperial Legions as they move through the galaxy imposing their iron will on all that come before them. It pays…

It’s spreading. The suicide cults of kids barely through puberty. They kill themselves in Cutter Circles, brought together by 3g and desolate dreams. It’s a virus. A plague. Who knows how to stop it? Find out who caused it. Find out who’s in charge. Destroy them. Survive. I knew nothing about Point by Thomas Blackthorne when it dropped through my letterbox. The publisher had asked for reviewers for some of their upcoming titles and there was another novel I was hoping to get my hands on. I was a little disappointed but like the dutiful reader I am, I picked up the book and started to read. Within five pages all thoughts of the other novel had fled, and I was completely hooked. Set in the near future the novel is a frenetic, intelligent thriller with a splash of science fiction thrown in for good measure. In a world where the United States is falling apart, there are televised knife fights, and the British government is full of corruption, the reader is introduced to ex-serviceman Josh Cumberland. Josh was formerly a member of ‘The Regiment’ – think black ops amalgam of all the United Kingdom’s special forces. He is privately contracted…

I’m very lucky in that I have had the chance to read some excellent novels in the past twelve months. I also took the plunge and launched The Eloquent Page back in July so I thought that now we are creeping towards the end of 2010 I would take the opportunity to reveal my literary highlights of the year. Not all of the books listed below were published in 2010 but I read them this year so as far as I’m concerned that meets my flimsy attempt at criteria. The books that I have reviewed on the site contain links back to the original reviews. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larrson – Brutal, daring and utterly gripping. Some of the subject matter is harrowing but once the story gets going you will be completely hooked. A superior thriller that establishes a hard as nails heroine in Lisbeth Salander. Well worth checking out the original Swedish language film as well. The Road to Bedlam by Mike Shevdon – I purchased Mike Shevdon’s debut novel Sixty One Nails on a whim and was totally captivated by the story. The sequel continues developing the tale of Niall and Blackbird. This…

Ezekiel Blue’s father committed a crime, unleashing a deadly menace into steampowered Seattle. And his bereaved family has paid the price. Now, Ezekiel is determined to clear his father’s name, risking death and the undead in the attempt. Sixteen years ago, as the American Civil War dawned, gold brought hordes to the frozen Klondike. Fanatical in their greed, Russian prospectors commissioned Dr Leviticus Blue to create a great machine, to mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus the Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine was born. But the Boneshaker went awry, destroying downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas. Anyone who breathed its fumes turning into the living dead. The devastated city is now walled in to contain the blight. But unknown to Briar, his widowed mother, Ezekiel is going in. His quest will take him into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive If I’m being one hundred percent honest, I have to hold up my hands and say initially, I found  Boneshaker by Cherie Priest a difficult book to read. Now before all you Priest fans form a steam-powered lynch mob and head toward…

“Start a new life on the Moon!” I have been a huge fan of the Pax Britannia novels since I discovered the first novel Unnatural History back in 2007. I was quickly in thrall to the universe of gentleman adventurer and dandy, Ulysees Quicksilver and his ever loyal man servant, Nimrod. Set in an alternate Britain where the Victorian era never ended, the British Empire, now known as Magna Britannia, is still going strong. The industrial revolution continues unchecked and with the help of steam technology Victoria has retained her throne for over one hundred and sixty years. The following video serves as an excellent introduction into what you should expect from a Pax Britannia novel. In Dark Side, the sixth Pax Britiannia novel that Green has written, the author takes Ulysees Quicksilver from the now familiar streets of London Maximus, off world to the British colonial moon base Luna Prime. Our erstwhile hero’s brother, Barty, always the black sheep of the family, has left London unexpectedly and Ulysees is determined to track him down. Upon his arrival in the moon Quicksilver begins to uncover a massive conspiracy that will affect not only him and his family but the whole of…

I have explained in the past that I am not a massive fan of short story collections but there is an exception to every rule. In my opinion, The Wild Cards novels are the best ongoing series of short stories available today. When I heard that Tor Books was re-releasing the first novel I felt compelled to immediately start re-reading my old copy. How best to describe the concept of Wild Cards? The quick answer would be – imagine an alternative Earth where an alien virus has been released and as a result super-powered humans exist openly in society. That description doesn’t do the novels justice, as the Wild Cards cannon is so much more than that. At the end of World War II, as the world enters the atomic age, an alien virus is released over the streets of Manhattan. Everyone is in the area is affected by the virus and will suffer one of three seemingly random possible outcomes – known as wild cards. Firstly, there is the ‘Black Queen’ a painful and unpleasant death. Another possibility is becoming a ‘Joker’ meaning that the victim is mutated and disfigured. The final possibility is to pull an ‘Ace’ –…

In the 25th Century the British Space Empire faces the gathering menace of the evil ant-soldiers of the Ghast hive, hell-bent of galactic domination and the extermination of all humanoid life. Back in the dim and distant past when I was at university, I was introduced to the scoundrel that is Harry Flashman. Created by George McDonald Fraser, in a series of books collectively known as The Flashman Papers, dear old Flashy rode rough shod over the 19th century leaving his imaginary mark over a plethora of genuine historic events. Flashman was written as a scoundrel, a cur, a cheat, a bounder, a thief and a coward. As I’m sure you can imagine I was immediately entranced by this self confessed anti-hero. So convincing and well researched were these novels some critics believed Flashman to be a real life historical figure. To me, the language used in each novel was a constant delight. Phrases like “damn your eyes sir! I am a British officer” were a joy and I devoured every story I could get my hands on. The covers of each novel always displayed Flash as the very epitome of English Victorian gentleman. Flashman always appeared very dapper with a smirk or…

“He died in battle . He was reborn in victory“. In the film Groundhog Day, Bill Murray repeatedly wakes up and re-lives the same 24hrs over and over again. Each time the cycle repeats, he learns another valuable lesson about his life. All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurakzaka has a similar premise but instead of being set in Punxsutawney it is set on the muddy battlefields of Japan in the midst of a future war. Alien creatures called Mimics have landed and are attempting to invade Earth. Slowly they are attacking each country trying to discover where humanities weak points lie. Keiji Kiriya is a fresh faced solider who is starting to panic at the thought of his first impending battle. He has never experienced war. He has no idea of what to expect or how to react. His worst fears are confirmed and shortly after the battle begins he is killed only to re-awake back in the army base where he is forced to relive the build up to his death once more. Keiji quickly comes to realise he is trapped in time and no matter how he tries to escape destiny he will always end up on the…