Welcome to the potential epicness that is Queue the Quipster. Is there a steampunk novel you find gossip worthy or a science fiction fave that needs to be pulled from its throwback throne and be read now? Is there a post apocalyptic wasteland you won’t dare venture to again? This feature is about you, me and those science fiction and steampunk books you love, hate, or which overwhelmed you with mediocrity. Queue the Quipster is nothing without you sharing your thoughts and reads!
So this is when you get to share! What title should I read for Janaury’s Queue the Quipster?
Intrigued? I knew you had a sense of adventure! Here’s how it works.
You may submit as many books as you like and the more mentions of the same book, the more likely it is to be the Queue the Quipster pick. The only requirements are:
- Books should be in the science fiction and/or steampunk genres. This includes any offshoots of those genres like post apocalyptic/dystopian.
- Books should be at least a year old
That’s it, only two requirements! You can leave a comment with your suggestions on this post or any of our social media posts. Let the sharing begin!
As I mentioned in my announcement post, this first Saturday is when I’ll be taking your suggestions as to which science fiction/steampunk/dystopian novel I should read.. But what awaits you on the second Saturday? The review of course! To start us off, I asked my wonderful G+ers for their suggestions and The Affinity Bridge by George Mann, was the clear popular vote, so don’t forget to check in next Saturday for what I think of the first novel in Mann’s Newberry and Hobbes series.
Welcome to the bizarre and dangerous world of Victorian London, a city teetering on the edge of revolution. Its people are ushering in a new era of technology, dazzled each day by unfamiliar inventions. Airships soar in the skies over the city, while ground trains rumble through the streets and clockwork automatons are programmed to carry out menial tasks in the offices of lawyers, policemen, and journalists.
But beneath this shiny veneer of progress lurks a sinister side.
Queen Victoria is kept alive by a primitive life-support system, while her agents, Sir Maurice Newbury and his delectable assistant Miss Veronica Hobbes, do battle with enemies of the crown, physical and supernatural. This time Newbury and Hobbes are called to investigate the wreckage of a crashed airship and its missing automaton pilot, while attempting to solve a string of strangulations attributed to a mysterious glowing policeman, and dealing with a zombie plague that is ravaging the slums of the capital.
Get ready to follow dazzling young writer George Mann to a London unlike any you’ve ever seen and into an adventure you will never forget…
Get in on the action now, the next read is up to you!
I suggest Meljean Brooks’ Iron Seas books – The Iron Duke, Heart of Steel and Riveted. I also read a great book recently by Elaine Corvidae, Angel of Brass, that I recommend.
I’ve been wanting to read Brooks’ series, so I would be interested to see what you thought Natassia! I’ll put in a couple of suggestions.
Steampunk:
The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross (Steampunk Chronicles, #1)
Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti
Havemercy by Jaida Jones, Danielle Bennett (Havemercy #1)
Science Fiction: The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Arthur C. Clarke’s the City and the Stars is a book I haven’t seen discussed in frankly too long. Leigh Brackett’s The Sword of Rhiannon has been getting attention lately but it is still one of the best. John W. Campbell, Jr.’s novelettes Out of Night and Cloak of Aesir (published in the volume Cloak of Aesir and the Best of John W. Campbell Jr.) are a take on alien invasions which is as fresh today as it was when it was published. They do form one story. Clifford D. Simak’s the Cosmic Engineers is a flat-out space opera in the old sense but begins with a group of space pilots going into interstellar space despite efforts of the authorities to stop them and climaxes at the edge of the Multiverse.
If you would like, you could read my science fiction novel, Call of Descent (Brandi M Polier) although it is only available in ebook form at the moment.