Cross-post from Gnostalgia The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats: A Burton & Swinburne Adventure Product description : Sir Richar...
Cross-post from Gnostalgia
The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats: A Burton & Swinburne Adventure
Product description:
Sir Richard Francis Burton’s expedition has returned from the future, bringing with it knowledge of technologies that must remain secret if history is to proceed as it should. However, when one of his colleagues turns rogue, the secret falls into the hands of the very people most likely to misuse it.
Betrayed, Burton and Swinburne watch in horror as the Empire’s elite employ the technology to secure their positions of privilege. When London’s parks are transformed into concentration camps, artists and philosophers are declared enemies of the State, and propaganda proliferates, the king’s agent finds himself on the wrong side of—the king!
Can Burton and his band of hunted revolutionaries overthrow an apparently indestructible and immortal autocrat … and if so, at what personal cost?
The Spring Heeled Jack saga reaches its explosive conclusion!
My thoughts:
Hodder puts the cherry on top of his Burton & Swinburne series with this excellent book, “The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats”. This story ties up elements in Hodder’s previous books The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack, The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man, Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon, The Secret of Abdu El-Yezdi, and The Return of the Discontinued Man with a superb action-packed conclusion.
If you enjoy steampunk, Hodder is an essential read. I guess it begs the question, can you read this book as a stand-alone title. No. I think that you really need to start from the beginning of the series. That being said, you’ll love every minute of the series.
How can you not love that cover art? I’d like a poster of that for my game-room.
Hodder ended the Burton & Swinburne series with his best effort. This book is what steampunk should be, but so seldom is …
I give The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats 5 stars out of 5 and recommend it for your steampunk home library.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Pyr. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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