By: Ian Edginton, D'Israeli Publisher: Dark Horse Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Format: Illustrated Label: Dark Horse Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 88 Publication Date: September 09, 2003 Reading Level: Young Adult
Product Description: A decade after the Martians abortive assault on the Earth and their attempt to establish an invasion bridgehead on the British Isles; the industrious Victorians have assimilated the Martian technologies into their everyday lives. Hansom cabs now scuttle along the Capital's streets on multi-limbed crab legs and the terrible monopoly of the Martian heat-ray has assured the dominance of the British Empire over two-thirds of the Earth's surface, and whose benign tyranny looks to continue to do so far into the next century. However, there is something rotten at the heart of the Empire... When the bodies of several young women are found washed up on the Thames, drained of blood, enter Captain Robert Autumn (retired soldier turned gentleman adventurer) and his former Sergeant Major now manservant Archie Currie. Together they are drawn into the mystery which leads them from the gin palaces of the East End, and the grinding poverty of North, to Whitehall's corridors of power and the very Hall of the Martian King!
A scientific adventure by Messrs Ian Edginton & D'Israeli, purveyors of fantastic fiction for young gentlefolk and the mentally deficient.
Brilliant but Insufficiently Developed The idea of what happens after Britain wins The War of the Worlds is well conceived and executed. They obtain technivcal knowledge decades, perhaps centuries, ahead, but at a dreadful price. The basic plot is also good. However, the book is simply way too short for the story being told. Wham, bam, it's over. While the characters and plot are promising, their development is minimal. Still, I liked it enough to get the next book in the series.
10 years later... The Martian invasion ended a decade ago and left the British Empire in a very interesting position. Martian technology has allowed them to take over most of the Earth with Heat-Rays and advanced machinery that allows a 100 men to do the work of a 1000. The British Empire runs on the oil from red weeds and the red blood of the lower class. Yet when dead women, their blood drained from their bodies, are found washed up on the Thames certain questions are asked and some people wonder what is going on? Is it a vampire? Or something more dangerous... Follow Captain Robert Autumn and his servant Archie Currie as they follow the clues, from the East End to the grinding poverty of the North. Hansom cabs with limbs, flying aircraft and lots of green smoke.
A bit too short . . . . The concept, art and basics of the storyline are good, but like volume two of Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, it doesn't quite deliver on its HG Wells-ian promise. It is evocative but it lacks the detail one would want in a stand-alone graphic novel that wants to deliver a fully realized alternative history world.
But even though it felt like the plot wrapped up a bit too fast, for the price it is hard to beat this little harcover volume.
Well done historical fiction Martians have always had a thing for attacking the Earth. But in this case, jolly old England has saved the day and procured powerful alien technology to secure its position as the globe's preeminent superpower. But in the detective tradition of Sherlock Holmes and Watson, ex-soldiers Robert Autumn and his Scottish butler Archie Currie follow a bloody trail that leads to unraveling an awful conspiracy behind their county's new found military-industrial might.
When an old codger discovers blood-drained corpses of women and Archie's brother laments the disappearance of his grown daughter, the two Brits start snooping. As the powers that be start covering their tracks, with explosive results, the saying of "old soldiers never die, they just fade away" may unfortunately prove too true in this case.
Reminiscent of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, this story successfully evokes the rich detail of the Victorian era, from the distinctive architecture to the lively period patois. Originally conceived as a web-comic, the meticulous preparation in script, design, and plotting results in a thrilling if not unsettling story. In an era where governments delude its citizens with justifications for ill-conceived wars, the rallying cry end should be less "God Save the Queen" but "Heaven help us."
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