The Forever Engine

by Frank Chadwick Narrated by Gildart Jackson

Overview

The exciting debut of a steampunk masterpiece from legendary game author and creator of the staple steampunk role playing game, Space: 1889. The stunning unveiling of a perfectly formed steampunk past, from an author who helped define the genre.



London 1888. His Majesty's airships troll the sky powered by antigrav liftwood as a cabal of Iron Lords tightens its hold on a Britain choked by the fumes of industry. Mars has been colonized, and clockwork assassins stalk the European corridors of power. And somewhere far to the east, the Old Man of the Mountains plots the end of the world with his Forever Engine.



Enter Jack Fargo. Scholar. Former special forces operator in Afghanistan. A man from our own near future thrust back in time-or to wherever it is that this Brave Victorian World actually exists. Aided only by an elderly Scottish physicist, a young British officer of questionable courage, and a beautiful but mysterious spy for the French Commune, Fargo is a man on a mission: save the future from irrevocable destruction when the Forever Engine is brought to full power and blows this universe, and our own, to smithereens.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

11/04/2013
Legendary game designer Chadwick taps into his popular Space: 1889 steampunk setting with this exciting prequel novel, which sees soldier-turned-historian Jack Fargo catapulted from 2018 to an alternate 1888 by a mysterious, explosive event. Though alternately amazed and baffled by a world that features airships, interplanetary travel, America split into the Confederate States and the United States, and Europe laid out along different political lines, Fargo just wants to go home. Unfortunately, the one man who might be able to help—the infamous inventor Nikola Tesla—is likely to destroy the world with his terrifying new technology. Though some of the temporal mechanics are grounded in technobabble, the worldbuilding is rock solid, the plot fast paced, the action visceral, and the stakes high. Chadwick balances scientific theory, steampunk imagery, and memorable characters with flair, delivering an entertaining story that serves well as an introduction to the game. (Jan.)

Library Journal

★ 12/01/2013
In the near future, Special Forces operator-turned-scholar Jack Fargo agrees to take a look at some curious artifacts, allegedly brought forward from the past by a group of scientists secretly experimenting with time travel. When a violent temporal accident sends Fargo to London in 1888, the soldier-scholar finds himself in a world very different from that of his historical knowledge. In a city rendered dark and toxic by the fumes of industrialization, floating wood, known as liftwood, enables the flight of great iron ships. Humans have colonized Mars, and in Eastern Europe, the Old Man of the Mountains is constructing a "Forever Engine" that could destroy more than one world. VERDICT The author of How Dark the World Becomes and designer of role-playing games has brought to life a darkly imaginative steampunk future populated by intriguing characters, including a lovely and brilliant spy for the French Commune and a British officer who seems to shirk his duties but who may be more than he appears. Alternate versions of historical characters mingle with Chadwick's fictional personae in a brilliant sf adventure that will leave the reader hoping for further outings for Fargo and his companions.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940177242040
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	02/18/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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