Robert Rankin
The newest opus from the Master of Far Fetched Fiction features magic, mayhem, mechanical marvels, messianic madness, and the music hall,Â ,Colonel Katterfelto has returned to London, having departedÂ America under something of a cloudâ€”of smoke, issuing from his Spiritual Laboratory, which the townsfolk of Wormcast, Arizona, marched upon with their flaming torches. This catastrophic conflagration caused considerable concern to the pious colonel, who had been engaged in the creation of "Heaven's last and best gift to Mankind," The Mechanical Messiahâ€”he was, after all, being guided in this Great Work by holy angels, communicating to him through his monkey butler, Darwin. It is 1897,Â theÂ British Empire encompasses Mars, and an uneasy peace exists between the peoples of Venus, Jupiter, and Earth. In LondonÂ the marvels of the modern age to be experienced includeÂ The Electric Alhambra Music Hall, where crowds thrill to The Earl Grey Whistle Testâ€”a musical extravaganza featuring such top turns as Hayward's Acrobatic Kiwis, The Travelling Formbys, and the newly-arrived Colonel Katterfelto's Clockwork Minstrels. But all is far from well in old Whitechapel, where a monster is once more abroad in the night-time streets, committing hideous acts of murder. Can this be the return of Jack the Ripper, or has something altogether unearthly and Hellishly evil materialized? Famed consulting detective Cameron Bell is already on the case, but it may take nothing less than the New Messiah Himself to save London, The Empire, and all of the solar system from the impending apocalypse!
Fantasy,Fiction,Humor,Science Fiction,Steampunk,Science Fiction,Humor,Comedy,Science Fiction Fantasy
The Mechanical Messiah and Other Marvels of the Modern Age