Book description
The sixth marvellous tale of high adventure and derring-do from the
master of steampunk literature, set in the world of The Court of the Air.
A daring underwater chase ends in a battle for the Kingdom itself…
The streets of Middlesteel are under attack by an unseen enemy, leaving
bloodless corpses in its trail. The newssheets scream vampire, but the
truth is even more deadly than anyone knows.
Charlotte Shades, Mistress of Mesmerism, is a thief - and a darned good
one at that. When two mysterious men ask her to steal King Jude's
sceptre from the Parliament vaults, the challenge (and reward) is too
great to pass up. After all, Charlotte's natural charm and the magic of
the gem she wears - the mysterious Eye of Fate - have never failed her before.
Only consulting detective Jethro Daunt and his steamman companion
Boxiron know there's more to these two men than meets the eye. Yet even
as they rescue Charlotte from a fate worse than death, they are thrown
into a plot thicker than even they realize. They escape beneath the
waves in an ancient submarine led by Commodore Jethro Black, where they
encounter stiff resistance from the strange people who inhabit the vast
underwater kingdoms. But man, woman, seanore and gill-neck alike must
band together if they are to defeat a danger that might not even be from
this world… Praise for Stephen Hunt:
'Hunt's imagination is probably visible from space. He scatters
concepts that other writers would mine for a trilogy like chocolate-bar
wrappers. This is Philip Pullman with a dose of benzedrine. Hold on to
your hat and let yourself get carried away.' Tom Holt
'A ripping yarn … the story pounds along … constant inventiveness keeps
the reader hooked … the finale is a cracking succession of cliffhangers
and surprise comebacks. Great fun' SFX
'An inventive, ambitious work, full of wonders and marvels' Lisa
Tuttle, The Times
'The characters are convincing and colourful, but the real achievement
is the setting, a hellish take on Victorian London … the depth and
complexity of Hunt's vision makes it compulsive reading for all ages'
Guardian Stephen Hunt has worked as a writer, editor and publisher for
a number of magazines and national newspaper groups in the UK. He is
also the founder of www. SFcrowsnest. com, one of the oldest and most
popular fan-run science fiction and fantasy websites. Born in Canada,
the author divides his time between the UK, North America and Spain. His
interests include computer programming, the graphic arts and collecting
comics. One day he hopes to have a library large enough to house all of
his books.
