The Court of the Air
Two teenage orphans in an anemic fantasy analogue of Victorian London are baffled
to find themselves on the run in this overeager effort from British author and
blogger Hunt (For the Crown and the Dragon). Molly, pursued by determined assassins
with mysterious masters, hides underground, while Oliver, framed for his uncle's
death, takes to the air to escape the fey-hunting Special Guard. They also draw the
attention of the Court of the Air, a shadowy black-ops organization, and communityist
revolutionaries seeking to resurrect ancient subterranean gods. An entire steampunk
menagerie is pressed into lackluster service, but the pace leaves no time to focus
on any single element. Only the steammen and their refreshingly tender machine culture
are affecting and original. The historical and geographical parallels are overly
frequent and mostly trite. Hunt has packed the story full of intriguing gimmicks, but
the end result is more overload than wonder.
The Kingdom Beyond the Waves
A delightful, thrill-packed adventure set in the world of 2008's Court of the Air,
this charming steam-pulp yarn chronicles the journey of archeologist Amelia Harsh as
she searches for the fabled kingdom of Camlantis. Bad-boy tycoon Abraham Quest finances
the journey; does he merely want to test his new airships, or is something more devious
going on? Amelia is joined by Commodore Black and his crew, who have escaped a horrifying
underwater debtor's prison, as well as Amazon-like warrior Veryann, but even they may be
no match for sabotage, fierce native attacks (spurred by the actions of the expedition's
lunatic steamman guide, Ironshanks), furious thunder lizards and forced service to the
insectile Daggish. Wildly imaginative and compelling, Amelia's journey plays out against
a backdrop of civil war and failed rebellion, layered and complex treachery and love in
surprising corners.
The Rise of the Iron Moon
From the author of The Court of the Air and The Kingdom Beyond the Waves comes
a thrilling new adventure set in the same Victorian-style world. Perfect for fans
of Philip Pullman and Susanna Clarke. Born into captivity as a product of the Royal
Breeding House, friendless orphan Purity Drake suddenly finds herself on the run with
a foreign vagrant after accidentally killing one of her guards. Her strange rescuer
claims he is on the run himself from terrible forces who mean to enslave the Kingdom
of Jackals as they conquered his own nation. Purity doubts his story, until reports
begin to filter through from Jackals' neighbours of the terrible Army of Shadows,
marching across the continent and sweeping all before them. But there's more to Purity
than meets the eye. As Jackals girds itself for war against an army of near-unkillable
beasts serving an ancient evil with a terrible secret, it soon becomes clear that their
only hope is a strange little royalist girl and the last, desperate plan of an escaped
slave.
Secrets of the Fire Sea
A tale of high adventure and derring-do set in the same Victorian-style world as the
acclaimed The Court of the Air and The Rise of the Iron Moon. A secret grave enough
to kill for! The isolated island of Jago is the only home Hannah Conquest has ever
known. But her carefree existence comes to an abrupt halt when her guardian, Archbishop
Alice Grey, is brutally murdered. Someone desperately wants to suppress a secret kept
by the archbishop, and if the attempts on Hannah's own life are any indication, the
killer believes that Alice passed the knowledge of it onto her ward before her head was
separated from her neck. Meanwhile, a deadly power struggle is brewing on Jago. And as
Hannah digs deeper into the mystery Alice left behind, assisted by two rather different
detectives, she must race to unravel a chain of ancient riddles in order to save not just
her own life, but her island home itself!
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