Dec 30, 2008 12:32 PM
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Tue Feb 9
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We were intrigued to hear Pyr Books was publishing a "steampunk superhero" novel by George Mann, but the details turned out to be even cooler than that sounds. Plus you can read Mann's fiction online.
When we heard the words "steampunk superhero" used to describe Mann's novel Ghosts Of Manhattan, we had to ask Pyr's Lou Anders for more details. Here's what Lou said:
The book won't come out until 2010, so it's a bit early to talk about it. But it's set in Manhattan of the 1920s - but not *our* Manhattan. It's the future of a classic 1890s steampunk, projected forward a couple decades and moving laterally to America. The Ghost is a vigilante in the mold of the Shadow or the original Batman, who uses a variety of steampunk gadgets (though his gadgets are not the only steampunk elements in this world.) I think it's going to blow folks away.
But before Ghosts Of Manhattan comes out, Tor Books will be publishing Mann's Victorian steampunk novel, The Affinity Bridge, which should make him a big name in steampunk circles already. In The Affinity Bridge (already out in England), a cyborg Queen Victoria sends an adventurer, Sir Maurice Newbury, to investigate an airship crash that may be the result of an automated pilot failure. Meanwhile, a mysterious presence called the "glowing policeman" is murdering people, and revenants (aka zombies) are overrunning London.
Curious to see if Mann's quirky writing is for you? Snow Books has a Sir Maurice Newbury story, "The Shattered Teacup," up as a free PDF download and also a free podcast. It's a classic drawing-room murder mystery including a mechanical owl and a mysterious poisoning.
Above image from Countdown: The Search For Ray Palmer: Gotham By Gaslight.
Send an email to Charlie Jane Anders, the author of this post, at charliejane@io9.com.
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
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