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Millicent Darlington and her ragtag group of wayward souls, secretive government officials, and orphaned children make up the crew of the airship Elizabeth Anne. When a respected lady with a background in science hires the ship in order to secretly study and find evidence of the mythical kraken, they end up with more than they bargained for. Encountering a group of slavers who have just returned from capturing an unsuspecting New Zealander named Kev and transporting him to their time and dimension, the crew of the Elizabeth Anne mounts a rescue operation. However, with Kev now their responsibility, they need to find a way to return him back to his own place and time, even if it means proving the existence of parallel universes in the process.
Written with an elegant and exciting style and perfectly capturing the steampunk aesthetic that combines the technology of the 1800s with modern ideas and the imagination of writers like Jules Verne, this book is a stylish delight to read. The cast is vibrant and immediately fun to accompany on their adventures, and the level of imagination that is given toward the contraptions and automatons that populate this story’s world is captivating. Though this first installment covers only a few short adventures with the Elizabeth Anne, the door is wide open for more stories in this universe, and readers will be eager to learn more about Millicent, Persephone, Kev, Lenore, and the whole cast. Those familiar with the steampunk genre will feel right at home, and those who are curious to learn about it will be delightfully enraptured by this story.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review