12.07.2009
The Kingdom Beyond the Waves
by Stephen Hunt, hardcover, 556 pgs
Book 2 in the Jackelian series
Overall Grade: A+
Whereas the ending of Hunt's first book set in his Steampunk world fizzled at the end, 'Kingdom Beyond the Waves' runs full speed right to the last page. No dissatisfaction here! Professor Amelia Harsh and Commodore Jared Black, of brief acquaintance in 'The Court of the Air', make their return, along with a lot of other fine characters. We have Cornelius Fortune, who moonlights across the border as a demoniacal troublemaking rogue rescuing political prisoners from his former country of Quartershift. We have Abraham Quest, a rags-to-riches Jackelian entrepreneur millionaire, who funds an expedition deep into the jungles of Liongeli in search of the ruins of the fabled Camlantis. And the way to do that is to take submarine, Black's submarine it turns out, upriver, to hopefully avoid the slavers, the crazy disavowed steammen, the horrifying vendetta-driven dinosaur-like carnivores, and the sentient zombifying plantlife. No one said it was going to be easy!
Labels: genre: fantasy, genre: fiction, genre: steampunk, media: book, series: Jackelian
