There has been a parade of mind-numbingly similar dystopian films out of Hollywood. Here’s one from Russia that would give them a run for their money. Abigail takes the typical dystopian scenario and infuses it with fantasy and a bit of steampunk. Not sure why they filmed this in English only to dub using different English, but impressive film nonetheless. Especially with a budget a tiny fraction of the typical, over-priced, dull fest we’re used to.
Kat Bloodmayne was experimented on by her father. Now her soul is dying and an uncontrollable power within her threatens all around her.
When we last left Kat in Tainted, she had learned of the darkness infecting her father. He seeks to capture her and take her power for an insidious Frankenstein-esque goal — and is willing to sacrifice his daughter in the process.
Now, in Awakened, Morgan L. Busse continues Kat’s trials as she seeks a cure for what is destroying her from within, while her father’s bounty hunters chase her to the ends of Austrium.
Awakened is set in a steampunk era that almost was: Victorian style, merged with the industrial age, and one of airships and mechanized war. So are you ready to enter this world where the Darkness is rapidly descending? Will Kat control her power and restore her soul?
Or will she destroy all those around her, even those she loves?
Kat Bloodmayne has a secret. She has the power within her to use nature as a weapon. Problem is that she doesn’t know where the power came from or how to control it all that well. People around her are getting hurt, and worse now that she is being hunted for her power.
Hunted by someone she knows well, protected by a man who may not be on her side and running in a world where the darkness is far more sinister than she she could have imagined.
This is Morgan L. Busse‘s new book Tainted. Set in a dystopian steampunk world — think Victorian with airships where science and the old world clash and converge.
Also think fantasy with a bit of Frankenstein simmering in the background.
I was very impressed with Morgan’s new page turner. There have many repetitive attempts at dystopia in book and film, and many failures or not-quite-there steampunk attempts. Morgan doesn’t succumb to these pitfalls and creates an original story in a well-realized world. I could see this story playing out on the big screen and Morgan has certainly established herself as a storyteller to pay attention to.
And Kat Bloodmayne is not a heroine to be trifled with.
I’ve posted a number of times on Morgan L. Busse‘s incredible Follower of the Word fantasy series. Now she has given us a first look at the part one, Tainted, of her new steampunk series coming next spring:
Hopefully, some more sneak peaks into the series are coming soon.
It wouldn’t be Christmas without…The League of Elder.
Say again?
Well, it seems that for the past couple years, I usually have a new volume of Ren Garcia’s sci-fi series in my hands around this time. This year is no exception with book 9 of his unique universe, Stenibelle, but one must back up a bit for those not familiar with the books.
The series has a couple self-contained stories (the first two books, then a trilogy, then another dualogy, etc.), and I always recommend starting at the beginning, but here we will go back to book 6, Sands of the Solar Empire.
This is where we are introduced to Paymaster Stenstrom who has had one dream: Becoming a captain in the Fleet. He gets his chance, but his life is never the same (if it was, it wouldn’t be very interesting). Set in Garcia’s unique sci-fi/fantasy/steampunk universe of the far future, Stenstrom faces evils, bizarre beings and death around every corner — only to learn there are many more versions of himself in alternate dimensions.
That’s where Stenibelle falls into place. In this dimension Stenstrom has lost his ship, ended up in jail and lost pretty much everything. And he isn’t a he — Stenstrom is Stenibelle, a woman. No, this isn’t what is sounds like, but it isn’t the typical parallel universe story either. In what is the author’s shortest book, it is almost like an alternate version of the previous volumes. Not word for word, but a tiny glimpse of what the Stenstrom books would have been like had the character been a woman. Steinbelle, though, is different enough (beyond the obvious) from her parallel self that fans may want to see her own adventures in the League. By the end of this book, she has become a strong, fierce hero of sorts — and still very much a woman.
The League is a big place and readers looking to disappear in a universe that doesn’t look like a hundred others, need to look no further.
And on 
Darrick Dean 