The Doomsday Vault - A Novel of the Clockwork Empire

Informationen zum Autor Steven Harper was born in Saginaw, Michigan, but he moved around a lot and has lived in Wisconsin, Germany, and (briefly) Ukraine.  Currently he lives with three sons near Ann Arbor, Michigan.       Mr. Harper teaches high school English in southeast Michigan.  His students think he’s hysterical, which isn’t the same as thinking he’s hilarious.  When not writing, he plays the folk harp, dabbles in oral storytelling, and spends more time on-line than is probably good for him. Klappentext In a clockwork Brittania! Alice's prospects are slim. At 21! her age and her unladylike interest in automatons have sealed her fate as an undesirable marriage prospect. But a devastating plague sends Alice off in a direction beyond the pale-towards a clandestine organization! mad inventors! life-altering secrets! and into the arms of an intrepid fiddle-playing airship pilot. Leseprobe Chapter One The zombie lurched out of the yellow fog and reached for the door on Alice’s hansom cab. Alice Michaels shied away. “Driver!” she shouted. “I see it, miss.” The driver leaned down from his seat above and behind Alice and cracked the zombie smartly across the forearms with his carriage whip. The zombie groaned. Its face was a mass of open sores, and its skin had worn through in places, exposing red muscle beneath. Old rags barely covered its body. Fear and adrenaline thrilled through Alice’s veins as the zombie’s festering arm reached through the open sides of the cab. She pushed herself away from it, but there wasn’t much room in the little two-wheeled cab, and The Dress hindered her movements. The driver lashed down with the whip again. The zombie abruptly let the cab go, and the driver smacked the reins across the horse’s rump. Alice clutched a handle inside the cab as it bounced across the cobblestones, the wheels pounding as hard as her heart. Despite herself, she turned on the leather-covered seat and looked out the rear window. The zombie was already fading into the night and mist. A particularly rough bounce jolted Alice to her teeth. “You can slow down now,” she called. “It’s gone.” The driver obeyed, and Alice resettled The Dress about her. The Dress was a deep violet affair with multiple flounces, fashionably puffed sleeves, and a short matching shawl to ward off the damp spring chill. The layers formed a heavy shell around her, concealing her pounding heart and shaking knees beneath a veneer of smooth satin. It had cost Father an enormous sum, and Alice realized she had been more afraid of the zombie’s tearing The Dress than of the creature’s touching and infecting her. “You all right, miss?” the driver called down from his seat. “I’m fine. Thank you for fending it off.” The driver touched the brim of his high hat, and Alice realized she was required to tip him extra. She made a mental inventory of the coins in her purse and decided she could do it, but only if the driver on the return trip would be willing to wait while she ran into the house for tuppence. It would make her look foolish, but there was nothing for it. Yellow gaslights lit the London evening as the horse clopped through winding streets, the driver keeping carefully to the better-traveled avenues. Other carriages and cabs pulled by horses both living and mechanical joined them. Overhead, Alice heard the faint whup-whup-whup noise of a dirigible’s propellers, and its massive, blunt shape made a black spot among the misty stars. Restaurants and pubs kept their doors open and their windows lit—lights kept the zombies at bay. Smells of coal smoke, manure, and wet wool permeated the air. People strolled in couples or groups on the sidewalks, heading to or from concerts, plays, parties, celebrations, and other social events. It was a Saturday evening in May, and the London spring season was in full swing. Alice watched the men in their dark trousers...

Product details

• Authors: Steven Harper
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 01.11.2011
• EAN: 9780451464293
• ISBN: 978-0-451-46429-3
• No. of pages: 400
• Dimensions: 107 mm x 171 mm x 28 mm