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<\/p>\nLet\u2019s take a quick look to see what\u2019s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.<\/p>\n
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Ghosts of Manhattan<\/span><\/a> by George Mann<\/span><\/p>\n Promo copy:<\/span><\/p>\n INTRODUCING THE WORLD’S FIRST STEAMPUNK SUPERHERO Review forthcoming.<\/span><\/p>\n \n The War That Came Early: West and East<\/span><\/a> by Harry Turtledove<\/span><\/p>\n \n Nights of Villjamur<\/span><\/a> by Mark Charan Newton<\/span><\/p>\n Promo copy:<\/span><\/p>\n Following in the footsteps of writers like China Mi\u00e9ville and Richard K. Morgan, Mark Charan Newton balances style and storytelling in this bold and brilliant debut. Nights of the Villjamur marks the beginning of a sweeping new fantasy epic.<\/p>\n Beneath a dying red sun sits the proud and ancient city of Villjamur, capital of a mighty empire that now sits powerless against an encroaching ice age. As throngs of refugees gather outside the city gates, a fierce debate rages within the walls about the fate of these desperate souls. Then tragedy strikes\u2014and the Emperor\u2019s elder daughter, Jamur Rika, is summoned to serve as queen. Joined by her younger sister, Jamur Eir, the queen comes to sympathize with the hardships of the common people, thanks in part to her dashing teacher Randur Estevu, a man who is not what he seems.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the grisly murder of a councillor draws the attention of Inspector Rumex Jeryd. Jeryd is a rumel, a species of nonhuman that can live for hundreds of years and shares the city with humans, birdlike garuda, and the eerie banshees whose forlorn cries herald death. Jeryd\u2019s investigation will lead him into a web of corruption\u2014and to an obscene conspiracy that threatens the lives of Rika and Eir, and the future of Villjamur itself.<\/p>\n But in the far north, where the drawn-out winter has already begun, an even greater threat appears, against which all the empire\u2019s military and magical power may well prove useless\u2014a threat from another world.<\/p>\n \nMore in Part I<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let\u2019s take a quick look to see what\u2019s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound. Ghosts of Manhattan by George Mann Promo copy: INTRODUCING THE WORLD’S FIRST STEAMPUNK SUPERHERO 1926. New York. The Roaring Twenties. Jazz. Flappers. Prohibition. … Continue reading
\n1926. New York. The Roaring Twenties. Jazz. Flappers. Prohibition. Coal-powered cars. A cold war with a British Empire that still covers half of the globe. Yet things have developed differently to established history. America is in the midst of a cold war with a British Empire that has only just buried Queen Victoria, her life artificially preserved to the age of 107. Coal-powered cars roar along roads thick with pedestrians, biplanes take off from standing with primitive rocket boosters and monsters lurk behind closed doors and around every corner. This is a time in need of heroes. It is a time for The Ghost. A series of targeted murders are occurring all over the city, the victims found with ancient Roman coins placed on their eyelids after death. The trail appears to lead to a group of Italian-American gangsters and their boss, who the mobsters have dubbed ‘The Roman’. However, as The Ghost soon discovers, there is more to The Roman than at first appears, and more bizarre happenings that he soon links to the man, including moss-golems posing as mobsters and a plot to bring an ancient pagan god into the physical world in a cavern beneath the city. As The Ghost draws nearer to The Roman and the center of his dangerous web, he must battle with foes both physical and supernatural and call on help from the most unexpected of quarters if he is to stop The Roman and halt the imminent destruction of the city.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/ecx.images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/61EOLCcCVDL._SL500_AA300_.jpg\")
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