Unnatural History is the first book in the Pax Brittannia series, written by Jonathan Green. The story is set in 1997 in an alternate universe, steampunk era London. In this universe the British Empire has continued to flourish under Queen Victoria, now in her 160th year of rule. The Magna Britannia Empire now controls two-thirds of the Earth and has colonies on the Moon and Mars. Through references made to the Challenger Wing of the London Zoo, containing living dinosaurs, it can be assumed that this is set in the Lost World universe, created by Arthur Conan Doyle. That was, however, tossed in there as a stray fact and never explained. Stray snippets of information, which intrigued but were never explained, were a recurring theme in this novel.

The hero of our story is Ulysses Quicksilver, an adventurer, dandy gentleman, and agent of the crown. He made a grand entrance in the prologue, having been missing and presumed dead for 18 months after a hot air balloon accident in the Himalayas. He survived, and in somewhat stereotypical fashion was rescued and trained in the mental and martial arts by a band of monks. It did at least make for an interesting backstory, and his entrance made for an intriguing setup. Then neither the backstory nor that entrance ever became relevant to the story or to the character development again.

This book was extremely inconsistent. The initial mystery of a break-in and death at the Natural History Museum was very engaging. That entire mystery was solved, lock, stock and barrel, within about the first third of the book. Then we jumped ahead in a somewhat jarring fashion and moved forward as a diabolical plan continued to unfold. This tendency to jump ahead in the story and leave previous elements behind was a trend in the book. It got much more frustrating as the story progressed. Several times there were very good cliffhanger sections, which were then neatly resolved with Ulysses Quicksilver appearing in another scene with scarcely a mention of what should have a dramatic near-death moment. To me the intent was for it to appear pulpish, or reminiscent of old serialized radio adventures. In most cases though the discontinuity was too jarring for me to enjoy.

By the second half of the novel these near-death moments ceased to be dramatic. There were quite a few of them throughout the book. It became apparent that Quicksilver relied on some sort of sixth sense to warn him of danger in advance. This was never explained in the story and was written as if it had been well-established. Quicksilver also got himself out of situations more often by luck than by any particular skill. Deus ex machina was his best friend in the story, topping his painfully loyal manservant Nimrod. As much as that man put up with at the hands of Quicksilver that name must be apt. The author may have been going for a Bruce Wayne-Alfred relationship there, but it didn’t quite work.

In many cases it seemed like I was reading about characters and relationships that had been well established previously, although as best I can determine this is the debut novel for these characters. Case in point, Quicksilver’s archenemy, Jago Kane. Kane I think is Moriarty to Quicksilver’s Holmes. Quicksilver has a hatred of Kane, to the point that it breaks his otherwise dapper demeanor. Kane returns Quicksilver’s loathing. It is implied that the two have had at least one dramatic duel to the death in the past, at which time Kane was presumed killed. But again, all this information was assumed to be common knowledge and glossed over beyond just a basic snippet.

The two traded sneers, blows, and barbs that were not particularly snappy or well-written. But those scenes seemed far more important to the characters than to me, the reader. Despite the hatred Kane turned to Quicksilver to get vengeance for a double cross. I know that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but as much as these two loathed each other, it seemed out of character. It felt like another case of forcing an issue to impart information to the main character.

In the end, against all odds, and thanks to more luck than skill Ulysses Quicksilver saved the day. Compliments of a full exposition of his evil master plan by the villain at a time when he could have been easily putting the finishing touches on his conquest or escaping, we got a full recap of the elaborately diabolical plan for destroying the British Empire as we know it and rebuilding it from the ashes, just in case all that wasn’t made pretty clear during the story from Quicksilver recapping the facts. That may have been to try to establish him as brilliant like Sherlock Holmes, but with all the luck he had to survive and save the day, I didn’t buy it. Nimrod did as much of the work as Quicksilver.

The bad guy? He escaped anyway thanks to a convenient ladder attached to a zeppelin that floated within reach at the perfect moment. That about sums up the story. Ulysses followed him to try to catch him, but jumped out of the exploding zeppelin, only to be saved from certain death by a pterodactyl that snagged him in mid air in an effort to make a meal. It then fortunately dropped him in the Thames River from a very low height. That may sum up the story even better. The final epilogue was meant to add more depth and mystery to the conspiracy against the British Empire. But it just made things seem more over the top, like no matter how high up into this conspiracy you get there’s always a higher level, and everyone, no matter what side they’re on, is a pawn in some master plan.

If you’re a fan of Britain, of steampunk, of almost non-stop death defying stunts and action by a smugly dapper British gent, or of dinosaurs or Neanderthals running amok, perhaps you’ll find this book to be rollicking fun. But I thought the constant brushes with death, miraculous brushes with good luck, characters that were both too flat and too over the top, and dialogue that alternated between British flair and not being well done or sounding British to me, almost as if two people shared the dialogue writing, caused it problems. The story started out well but seemed to lose a whole lot of steam in the second half.

To me Ulysses Quicksilver is not Sherlock Holmes. He’s not James Bond. He’s not Doctor Who. I don’t even think he’s Austin Powers. After reading the story it seems like he’s gotten to where he has in life by being extremely lucky, in the right place at the right time, and having a loyal butler who deserves a raise.

“Sniper Elite: Spear of Destiny” by Jaspre Bark is based on the videogame “Sniper Elite” by Rebellion Games. It is the first in a projected series from Abaddon Books.

The story centers on Karl Fairburne, an elite American sniper fighting in the last days of World War II’s European theater. Germany has all but fallen when Fairburne’s superiors give him dire news: Germany has built a working nuclear weapon, and a rogue SS general plans to defect to the Soviet Union and take the secret of the atomic bomb with him. With the United States and Soviet Union still officially allied, Fairburne must go deep undercover and battle Germans and Russians alike to keep this terrible new weapon out of Stalin’s hands.

I liked the central idea for this story, but the execution of the initial premise was disappointing. The plot is competent but not particularly gripping, consisting in large part of the protagonist going on a series of sniping missions assigned by his commander, with battles and complications arising on each mission. Unfortunately, the main character and overall story arc isn’t interesting enough to keep the individual episodes from getting repetitive after a while. There are some interesting developments near the end, but my lack of investment in the events and characters weakened their effect.

The book is badly weakened by the lack of interesting major characters. The hero and viewpoint character, Karl Fairburne, is not very compelling- he has little personality, and the back story he is given did little to provoke my interest. Fairburne’s lack of personality could have been effective if used to further a characterization of a man with his emotions dulled by the horror of war (as is skillfully done in some of David Drake’s work, for instance) but I didn’t get a sense of that from Fairburne; he didn’t come across as damaged, just uninteresting. This is especially unfortunate because there are some plot twists towards the end that would have been far more effective if I had been more interested in the main character.

On the plus side, the book’s atmosphere is strong. Bark paints an evocative picture of war-ravaged Berlin. He does a good job of creating a sense of despair and decay in his descriptions of the ruined city. The book’s action sequences are fast-paced and exciting, and Bark is good at creating a sense of tension during the sniping sequences. The violence is fairly graphic, and Bark uses that to good effect- the frequent descriptions of bloody injury and death, which could have been repetitive if handled poorly, did a good job of creating an atmosphere of horror.

All in all, I see “Spear of Destiny” as something of a missed opportunity, with an interesting premise, effective atmosphere, and a few potentially strong plot moments weighed down by a repetitive, mostly middling narrative and flat characters. To be fair to Bark, some of this may be due to the limitations of the source material, since he was presumably expected to follow the plot and characterizations of the video game. Unfortunately, despite some elements that make me suspect that Bark is a better writer than this book suggests, I can’t recommend “Spear of Destiny.”

In the near future, the hideous plague known as The Blight has swept across Earth like wildfire, killing a massive segment of the population with a particular blood type, leaving only scattered pockets of survivors across the planet. In the ensuing anarchy dubbed the Cull by plague survivors, the remnants of humanity struggle for survival. A cult known as the Apostolic Church of the New Dawn (or the Neo-Clergy) has risen, offering "salvation" to its followers and demanding their children in return, and vicious street gangs have carved out their own territories in the rubble of the cities as they squabble endlessly over resources.

In the wreckage of London, a nameless British ex-soldier hijacks a Neo-Clergy plane bound for New York City, intent on a mission known only to him. Meanwhile, a young man of the Native American Iroquois tribe is sent on a mysterious mission to New York by the tribal elders.

The Culled immediately calls to mind Richard K. Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs novels, with the story told in first person by the tough-talking ex-soldier protagonist plunging head-first into a gritty world where no quarter is asked and none given. The blasted wastelands of London and New York City are vividly rendered in grimy detail and the action is fast and furious, with blood, guts and explosions aplenty.

Unfortunately, the plot suffers from an unclear motivation for most of the major players, in particular the protagonist. Up until the end, his reason for hijacking the plane and laying waste across New York isn't clearly explained and even then, it seems rather thin and tacked-on, as does the Iroquois nation's reasons for helping him. Still, the author's fantastic eye for description and action helps to carry the story along at a fast pace and overshadows the plot issues.

The previous books I've read from the Abaddon imprint weren't that impressive, but The Culled manages to step up a few notches, in my opinion.

Nicco Salarum makes his living as a thief in the corrupt island city of Azbatha. But Nicco has a problem. Having run afoul of the local crime kingpin, he owes a substantial amount of money to cover the cost of the valuable shipment he failed to steal.

When a foreign wizard approaches Nicco with an extremely well-paying job, it appears the problem is solved. Little does Nicco know his problems are only just beginning...

As with the previous book in the Dreams of Inan series that I've read, Stealing Life combines elements of sci-fi and fantasy. The city of Azbatha and other locales featured in the book are well fleshed-out and Nicco himself is given a good amount of backstory.

The main storyline perhaps isn't utterly original, but does move at a quick pace and kept me reading. However, the concept of the "Thinmen" (golems), which serve as all-but-mindless thugs is a bit inconsistently rendered. In particular, there's a crucial scene near the end that is rather marred by this and could have been better handled.

I did find Stealing Life to be a bit more readable than the previous (stand-alone) entry in the series, despite the flaws.

The planet of Inan has been torn by war for 500 years, but at long last a peace accord has been signed by the warring nation-states of Inan. Yet, there are those who are not content with peace and are willing to incite a new war to achieve their own ends.

Simeon, a warrior of the nation-state of Bethel has been assigned as a bodyguard to the irascible mage Ramus Bey. Before long, a mysterious string of attacks on Bey pushes Simeon's abilities to the limits, ultimately resulting in Bey's abduction and Simeon's branding as a traitor to Bethel. To clear his name, Simeon must escape and discover what has happened to Bey before a new war begins.

A Kind of Peace melds elements of sci-fi and fantasy, where mages are the "ultimate" weapon that prevents any one nation-state from gaining advantage, yet modern technology is relied upon for a wide variety of functions.

The main story is readable if not groundbreaking (the usual power-hungry stereotypes are alive and well here), but there's plenty of action to keep the story moving.

However, Simeon's relationship with Jenna comes off as rather flat and acts as more of a plot device than anything else. This and a few other plot holes work against the book, otherwise I would mark it higher.

Not a terrible read by any means, but I can't say I'd recommend it highly, either.

It is the age of Napoleon, and France is at war with England on the high seas. Meanwhile, Captain Havelock of the Whirlwind receives orders from the British Admiralty to proceed to the west coast of Africa and hunt down the French frigate Elita, which has been hounding British merchant ships.

After engaging the Elita in an indecisive combat which leaves both ships in dire need of repair, Havelock discovers that they are not alone in the vast ocean. A dread ship manned by rotting zombies stalks him, eager to exact revenge for his ancestor's crimes...

Death Hulk doesn't have much in the way of surprises. The plot is more or less predictable to the end. It excels as a page turner, but not much else. It might have been nice to see more character development as well, but it wasn't absolutely necessary to the book, admittedly. However, Sprange has evidently done some research into naval combat of the era and has a good eye for action scenes, lending some verisimilitude to the sea battles and hand-to-hand fights.

All in all, I'd have to say this is a decent read with plenty of action to keep you going, but don't expect anything incredibly thought-provoking.