Steampunk - takes you back to the future

'Speculating on the possible futures of bygone ages is both easier than predicting what's coming tomorrow, and more fun,' says David Barnett over at guardian.co.uk.

He goes on: 'It could be argued – and people have – that the 19th century was quite exciting enough without these speculative bolt-ons, but nevertheless, 20 years after The Difference Engine was published, it appears to be back with a vengeance. Two recent anthologies – Steampunk, edited by Jeff and Ann Vandermeer, and Extraordinary Engines, from Solaris Books – whetted genre fans' appetites, and steampunkish novels are following at a rapid rate: Stephen Hunt's series of books that began with the Court of the Air; Dan Simmons' literary fantasy Drood, in which Charles Dickens begins to suspect the hero of his unfinished novel is up to no good; and George Mann's Affinity Bridge novels all spring quickly to mind.'

What about Pax Britannia, eh? There are five PB books out already and another three due this year! And there are more planned! And it is steadily building up a loyal following... You get the idea.

If you would like to show your allegiance to Pax Britannia, then send your name and address to www.paxbritannia@hotmail.co.uk and I'll send you some Pax Britannia badges and try to include your name in passing in a forthcoming Pax Britannia adventure. Now, you can't say fairer than that, can you?

2008 Sidewise Awards

SfSignal have recently announced the nominees for the 2008 Sidewise Awards.

The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize excellence in alternate history fiction. The 2008 Sidewise Awards will be presented at Anticipation, the 67th Worldcon, to be held in Montreal, Canada from August 6-10, 2009. The winners are selected from a panel of judges that currently includes Stephen Baxter, Evelyn Leeper, Jim Rittenhouse, Stuart Shiffman, Kurt Sidaway, and Steven H Silver.

Unfortunately, none of my Pax Britannia books appear on the list of nominees, although another quite-possibly-very-much-inspired-by-even-down-to-the-final-battle-aboard-an-airship title, George Mann's The Affinity Bridge has been. I didn't particularly rate it myself, but good luck to him.

Serendipity and Coincidence strike again!

I was recently directed towards the following review, published in the Guardian, for George Mann's The Affinity Bridge.

The Affinity Bridge
Eric Brown
The Guardian,
Saturday September 6 2008

Steampunk is making a comeback, and with this novel Mann is leading the charge. Sir Maurice Newbury is an anthropologist at the Natural History Museum, perfect cover for his job as troubleshooting agent of the Crown. He and the demure yet resilient Miss Veronica Hobbes investigate the more bizarre and exotic threats to the Empire. This adventure includes murderous zombies, automatons and a villainous airship company. The setting is London as you've never seen it before, with bulbous dirigibles crowding the skies, steam wagons, and Queen Victoria kept alive by a mysterious medic known as the Fixer. An engaging melodrama that rattles along at a breakneck pace.

Steampunk making a comeback? Had it ever really gone away. The Natural History Museum? Agent of the Crown? Automatons and dirigible airships? Queen Victoria kept alive by mysterious medic means? An engaging melodrama that rattles along at a breakneck pace?

Sound familiar? Then you can understand my editor's concern, along with my own.

Here's the response I wrote to the letters page of the Guardian which, to the best of my knowledge, was never printed.

I was interested to read Eric Brown’s review of The Affinity Bridge by George Mann (The Guardian, Saturday 6 September) and was particularly intrigued by the line, ‘The setting is London as you've never seen it before, with bulbous dirigibles crowding the skies, steam wagons, and Queen Victoria kept alive by a mysterious medic known as the Fixer.’ Well, it’s certainly London as you've never seen it before, unless you happen to have already read Unnatural History, the first book in the Pax Britannia steampunk series published by Abaddon Books in 2007, of course!

Brown claims that, ‘with this novel Mann is leading the charge.’ Well, as another of those authors leading the charge, as it were, I thought that your readers might be interested to hear about an alternative steampunk series. Without doubt this sub-genre of science fiction has a loyal following, and one that is on the increase, so certainly the popularity of steampunk cannot be denied.

So if anyone tempted to pick up The Affinity Bridge after reading Brown’s review would like to read more adventures of this type, (set in the closing years of the 20th century with the British Empire still going strong, Queen Victoria kept alive by advanced steam technology and London re-imagined as a fantastical sprawling metropolis where dirigibles roam the skies, robot bobbies enforce the law and dinosaurs are on display in London Zoo,) then they could do a lot worse than check out Abaddon’s Pax Britannia novels. With three already published (Unnatural History, El Sombra, Leviathan Rising) and another – Human Nature – out this December, and more to come after that, they should provide more than enough steam-powered action to keep even the most die-hard fan happy until the New Year.

Yours sincerely

Jonathan Green

http://www.jonathangreenauthor.blogspot.com/