Lost Things

The Order of the Air #1

by Melissa Scott, Jo Graham

In 1929 archeologists began draining Lake Nemi in search of the mysterious ships that have been glimpsed beneath its waters since the reign of Claudius. What they awakened had been drowned for two thousand years. For a very good reason.

Veteran aviator Lewis Segura has been drifting since the Great War ended, fetched up at last at the small company run by fellow veterans and pilots Alma Gilchrist and Mitchell Sorley, assisted by their old friend Dr. Jerry Ballard, an archeologist who lost his career when he lost part of his leg. It’s a living, and if it’s not quite what any of them had dreamed of, it’s better than much that they’ve already survived. But Lewis has always dreamed true, and what he sees in his dreams will take them on a dangerous chase from Hollywood to New York to an airship over the Atlantic, and finally to the Groves of Diana Herself….

The world is full of lost treasures. Some of them are better off not found.

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Steampunk, Historical, Science Fiction, Fiction, Historical Fantasy

350 pages, Paperback

First published July 24, 2012

About the author

Scott studied history at Harvard College and Brandeis University, and earned her PhD. in comparative history. She published her first novel in 1984, and has since written some two dozen science fiction and fantasy works, including three co-authored with her partner, Lisa A. Barnett.

Scott's work is known for the elaborate and well-constructed settings. While many of her protagonists are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered, this is perfectly integrated into the rest of the story and is rarely a major focus of the story. Shadow Man, alone among Scott's works, focuses explicitly on issues of sexuality and gender.

She won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in Science Fiction in 1986, and has won several Lambda Literary Awards.

In addition to writing, Scott also teaches writing, offering classes via her website and publishing a writing guide.

Scott lived with her partner, author Lisa A. Barnett, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for 27 years, until the latter's death of breast cancer on May 2, 2006.

Reviews

[Wealhtheow · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decade after WWI, the remnants of a magicians' lodge sworn to defend against evil has fallen on hard times. Mitch and Jerry were physically injured, and the loss of their beloved leader has left them adrift. But when an archaeological dig frees an ancient evil, they must once more oppose it.

Very historically accurate, but astonishingly slow and tedious. If the portions of this book that related to the evil and the lodge's efforts against it were excised, the book would probably only be about 20 pages shorter, if that. The vast majority of this book consists of Alma, Mitch, Jerry and Lewis eating, dressing, or traveling. Loooong stretches of them piloting various aircraft. Entire chapters about their efforts to get a nice dress for Alma. Meanwhile, a demon is jumping bodies all over the world, but don't let that get in the way of the characters' ruminations over coffee! If this book had a drinking game, you'd die of alcohol poisoning from the number of times Jerry says "Oh, I should research a way to defeat this demon" and the other lodge members say "oh no, you're too tired, go to sleep." They never do anything! They just get on various conveyances (a plane! a train! a dirigible!), and then at the end they stumble upon a deus ex machina (literally) to solve their problems.

Very frustrating. I would have felt more kindly about the slow plot if the characters and their interactions were strong, but they just repeat the same thoughts and feelings over and over.

The sentences themselves are well crafted, and I was impressed by the authors' knowledge of the 1920s and aircraft. But there was nothing here to hold my interest.

[Sineala · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the most exciting book about curse tablets that I have ever read.

No, seriously. (Also I like curse tablets, so this is actually an endorsement.)

I am not sure I would call Lost Things the very best book I have ever read, but it's a whole lot of fun. It's set in the late 20s, and you've got airplanes and airships and action-adventure and even a bit of Hollywood glamor, and of course secret societies of magicians. Our heroes, all four of them, are called upon to save the world when an excavation of Caligula's sunken ships out of Lake Nemi also looses an ancient demon, who, naturally, wants to take over the world. Like you do. And what has the goddess Diana got to do with all this? Read, and find out.

Luckily the authors know their ancient history -- based on what I have read by both of them before, I trust them to get their classics right. (I don't know enough to judge their portrayal of the 20s, but, hey, it's fun.) It is nice to be reading a book and not yelling BUT HOW DID NO ONE FACT-CHECK THAT? at the Kindle. Also, as often happens in both these authors' works, there are queer characters who just happen to get to be the heroes, which is nice; I also appreciated the portrayal of disability.

The one major downside is that the POV changes -- because there are four main characters and they all get screentime -- feel really, really unbalanced and I can't figure out why. As I was reading I kept being startled every time I was in someone else's head; maybe the balance is off?

Nonetheless, I am really glad I bought this one; I enjoyed reading it a lot, and I eagerly await the sequel.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Mina Harker led a team of magicians (Quincey, Seward, and Jon Harker) against an ancient demon in the 1920s it would be pretty much this book.

PS for those who dislike sex scenes as much as I do, there is a flashback-sexcapade about mid-way through the book.

[Chris Branch · Rating 4 out of 5]

The highest praise I can give this book is that it’s one of very few I’ve read that can compare favorably with the historical fantasies of Tim Powers. The plot, the historical details and the fantasy aspects are absolutely five star. Supernatural stuff behind the scenes of the ordinary world, possession of historical figures by ancient evil, Diana mythology, and airships as an added bonus – this is great stuff!

On the downside, I stumbled over the POV changes a bit, as others have mentioned. I think the problem for me was that the four protagonists were together for most of the time, so the unexpected switching from one to another’s POV seemed rather... pointless. But there were a few scenes where the POV of each of the four was needed, so I can see why it was done. Also I felt there was a bit too much emphasis on mundane details, especially in the beginning – the characters’ clothes, the mechanics of maintaining and piloting aircraft, and yes, the characters’ feelings and suspicions about one another. All this made for some certainly realistic but also somewhat tedious passages.

But overall I was pleasantly surprised by how good this was. The downsides I mentioned fade away toward the end, and the rising tension and final resolution were extremely well done. I would definitely recommend it to Powers fans – recognizing, of course, that the writing style is quite different, and some may enjoy that difference more than others. For example, the characters and the tone of the book are fairly serious – that’s a good thing in general, and again, it’s realism given the subject matter – but I thought there were a couple of opportunities for humor that might have lightened the tone.

[Idamus · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF, not sure which is most boring, story or narrator.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Melissa Scott and Jo Graham make for an excellent writing team, and this series had been sitting on my TBR for quite some time. Set in the late 1920s, it contains everything from aviation to classic history to magic, centered on a quartet made up of three pilots and an archaeologist who also happen to form a lodge of magicians. The characters, each of whom carries their own scars both physical and emotional from WWI, seem promising so far, and I trust this writing duo to develop each of them with increasing complexity as the series progresses. Definitely a fun read that'll have me coming back for more.

[Jacqie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the idea of this book. Secret magicians' society set against 1930's Indiana Jones-style derring-do? That's what I was expecting. Something kind of like "Waking the Moon" by Elizabeth Hand, one of my favorites.

Unfortunately,the book just didn't come to life for me. I had no idea what three of the four main characters looked like. Lewis, the protagonist, was so flat in affect that I wondered why he bothered to do anything at all. I liked Alma, aviatrix, Magister and the only one with a physical description, but she wasn't the protagonist.

There was no richness to the setting description. I didn't feel that I was flying in a barnstorming plane, or in a fancy Los Angeles hotel. The writing was minimalist, and I wanted more in order to feel that I was experiencing a different time and place through the book.

I didn't get a good feel for the magic, either. It was definitely systemic, but no explanation was given that helped me feel that I really understood it.

Maybe others got more out of it than I did. The book isn't badly written, it's just not my style.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclosure: I received a free audible copy of this from Audiobookblast.com for an unbiased review.

A low 3 star rating, I almost only gave it 2 stars.

Archaeologists in the 1920s, air ships, lost treasure and reawakened evil. This sounds just up my alley and I really wanted to like it, but it totally fails to live up to its promise. First, the narrator, John Lee, has a slow, lazy, monotone way of speaking, even when the characters are fighting for their lives, that totally ruins the suspense. Then there are the interminable details about flying. Since the story is set at the dawn of modern aviation, a little of the flying info is interesting, and helps set the stage for the world the characters live in. But it goes on and on. And on. I really don't care how much fuel they use or have left.

In the end I'm giving it 3 stars because I didn't dislike it in anyway. The characters were okay, no misogyny or anything to offend me, it just bored me quite a bit.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this steampunk/urban fantasy novel was interesting. Members of a magical secret lodge (like a Masonic lodge) work to seal an ancient evil. But it plodded along. Most of the book was spent in transit and sitting around talking about how the characters don't know what to do. The 3rd-person-limited viewpoint shifted from person to person, and I had trouble keeping the characters straight, even though there were only four of them.

I wish there had been more historical aspects to the mystery. Part of a mystery inscription was in Etruscan, and some of the ancient Roman religious rites had a part in things, but I wanted more details. The science behind the airship was good. I've enjoyed some of Melissa Scott's other books, but this one fell short for me because of the pacing problems.

[Rachel Neumeier · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, these are historical fantasy. WWI has recently ended and WWII has not yet begun, so that adds a poignant note as characters think about their recent lived experience of the Great War and hope nothing like that ever happens again.

Alma was an ambulance driver in the war. Now she is a pilot and owner of a small company that flies freight and passengers around the country. She is possibly a little too good to be true, but only strained credulity a little bit. Oh, and for those of you who, like me, appreciate female protagonists: Alma is forty-two.

Those of you who know more than I do about the airplane technology of the time will surely appreciate all the details about the planes and flying, which as far as I can tell are meticulously researched. I enjoyed all that very much even though I know almost nothing about the subject.

The other three main characters are Louis Segura, another pilot, who in the second book had recently married Alma; Mitch, an wartime ace who is also a pilot though still dealing with the aftermath of wartime injuries; and Jerry, a historian and archeologist who is missing part of his leg because of ditto. Oh, and the deceased Gil, Alma’s first husband, who is practically a character himself even though he died before the first book opens. I don’t mean he’s a ghost. It’s just his memory exerts a big influence on all the actual characters.

Oh, plus they all belong to a small group of magicians dedicated, in their own small way, to helping save the world. Definitely a good choice for a noblebright collection. Also, well written and fun to read.

The first book involves a little problem with an ancient demonic type of entity that was recently freed; also a pretty snazzy airship. In it, we pull the group together, establish the world, and totally wreck the airship. I was sorry about that last.

The second book, Steel Blues involves a coast-to-coast airplane race, and was probably my favorite. I particularly enjoy a new character who was added to the permanent cast during this story. She’s a con artist and a thief and a medium who can call up the dead and she’s just a lot of fun. I’m sure she’s one big reason I liked the second book better than the first.

Then the third book, Silver Bullet, involves a little experimental device Nikola Tesla put together a few years ago, now causing unanticipated problems, so our protagonists have to fight off the bad guys while Tesla himself arranges to shut the device down.

I enjoyed the whole series, so I expect I will be picking up the fourth and fifth books pretty soon.

[Evaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a cool read. Set in the early 1930s, a period that I'm quite fond of, it's the tale of a small aviation company run by veterans of the Great War and how they get involved in a dangerous, thrilling occult adventure with its roots back in ancient times.

We have the three aviators, Lewis, Alma and Mitch, and the Jerry, the archaeologist. The First World War, the Great War, left its scars on everyone that fought and these four are no different. There are the obvious wounds, such as Jerry's missing lower leg, Mitch's abdominal scars, and there are also the mental and emotional wounds that all four suffer from. I liked all of them and I thought the authors did a good job of introducing and portraying them. It's the first in a series of books, so I expect to be learning more about them - especially my favourite, Mitch. I think he was the least fleshed out, but maybe that's because he doesn't seem, right now, to be as complicated as the other three?

So, the adventure includes an ancient evil from the time of the Emperors Claudius and Nero and possibly even before. We have a demon run amok and our quartet are on the chase. The only real problem I had with the whole thing was the time we spent reading about the intricacies of the aircraft involved. I didn't feel I needed to know things in such detail, either about the Terrier plane or the dirigible. The one part where I felt it worked was the big chase scene.

Now, I have to say, the book reminded me of a favourite book of one of my favourite authors - Katherine Kurtz and her Lammas Night. It also reminded me of her Templar series of books, but mostly Lammas Night. I wonder if the authors were inspired by her?

Anyway, I enjoyed my read and as it's the first volume of an omnibus, I have the next 2 books in the series to look forward to! If I was one to binge read, I'd be reading them right away, but I like to space my series out for the most part.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jerry tilted the tablet. The surface was blurred, worn, almost as though it had been exposed to wind or water. Or to something that rubbed constantly against it, trying slowly and without patience but with infinite time to wear away its bonds. [loc. 762]

America in the late 1920s: Alma Gilchrist runs the small aviation company founded by her late husband. Her fellow pilots, Lewis Segura and Mitch Sorley, are both veterans of the Great War, as is their friend Jerry Ballard, an archaeologist and academic who was gravely injured in the line of duty. None of them are quite ... ordinary. Lewis is prone to oracular dreaming: Alma, Mitch and Jerry are what's left of the Aedificatorii Templi, an occult lodge of magical practitioners. And some acquaintances from the old days have become involved with an ancient entity originating at Lake Nemi, where Caligula conceived a monstrous affront to the Temple of Diana ...

Lost Things, the first in the 'Order of the Air' series, is as much about the relationships between Alma, Lewis, Jerry and Mitch (and the late lamented Gil) as it's about the supernatural threat released by the excavations at Lake Nemi, or the arcane methodologies that the splintered lodge musters against that threat. The setting -- the early air transport industry of the USA, back when airships were still the luxurious way to cross the Atlantic and planes were unable to fly high enough to cross mountain ranges -- is fascinating and well-researched. And above all, this is a novel about team; about families of choice, found families, and the ways in which the protagonists, lost and drifting in different ways, find or make a place where they can be true to themselves.

[Shrike58 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back in the 1990s, there was a time when I considered Melissa Scott appointment reading, when she was writing space fiction with a filigree of cyberpunk. Situations change though and Scott fell out of my reading rotation, mostly because I don't read tie-in novels and Scott's idea of fantasy didn't appeal to me.

Flash forward 30 or so years, and one day I was wondering what Scott has been up to, in part when thinking about a constellation of female writers from the 1990s who are either out of circulation, or are no longer with us, and discovered "The Order of the Air." My thought being this should be right up my alley.

Unfortunately, the execution did not match my hopes. The high concept is cool. The prose is better than workmanlike. The characters are at least acceptable. The big problem is that this story has all the narrative snap of a wet noodle. I plowed through it but the overall execution doesn't make me want to rush right out and hunt down the rest of the series. To put it another way, all the components were there for a thriller, or a story of gothic atmosphere, but Mmes Scott & Graham just didn't seem to have that sort of novel in them, and that's unfortunate. Silvia Moreno-Garcia would have had a field day with this material.

My final thought is that narrative drive might always have been a problem with Scott's novels, even in her prime writing for Tor, and that's why I don't remember those novels better.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting story. The style of writing works brilliantly for the alternate 1920s US.

I have read all of the Order of the Air series (so far) and they remind me of H Rider Haggard and other similar adventure writers (which I borrowed from the library as a kid - I had read all the children’s books in my local library so I was allowed to borrow from the adult section; the librarian checked my choices). But Scott adds a contemporary edge

While this is co-written by Jo Graham, this has, in common with other Melissa Scott novels a beautifully created world and I like Scott’s worlds, and also how she manages to write about unconventional (in modern Western heteronormative eyes) relationship styles in such an everyday way. They are part of people’s stories rather than the focus of the story.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a perfectly good book, but it wasn't what I was expecting when I bought it and when I started it, which immediately put it at a disadvantage when I was reading it.

This is a "magic circle saves the world with new member" book. And as such, it tells a good story, introduces the characters and circumstances well and finished beautifully at a point to go on and tell more stories about these people.

I misunderstood and thought it was a "find at archeological dig teaches us lots of things we didn't know about the truth of ancient civilisation" book. I love those, especially if they have flashbacks, mysteries to solve and magic and/or science fiction in the solution, especially science fiction. Therefore I was disappointed.

It wasn't the book. It was me.

Know what the book is offering and you will find a most enjoyable story. I'm sorry, book.

[Az Vera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Depression era fantasy? Sounds like a bizarre genre mix but it works oh-so-well. Melissa Scott and Jo Graham are at it again with fantastic world building and the kind of depth and accuracy in all areas (technology, history, archaeology) that keeps immersing you in their worlds and never breaking you out.

It's really interesting seeing fantasy tied into a post-Great War period that is often forgotten by that genre (medieval, Victorian, and contemporary often feel over-represented in fantasy) and nothing is spared in recreating the feel. The descriptions of clothing, social norms, of people still lost and trying to find themselves in a world that kept turning after the war even though they couldn't.

The characters are well fleshed out, there's no terrible tropes and the romance is both fitting and integral to the plot - no tacked on love scenes here. Of particular delight to me was a cast of characters well past the "prime" you see in a lot of writing. These aren't 18-24 year olds saving the world while fresh out of studies, these are people who fought in a war a decade ago, who know love and loss and are all 35+ yet still willing to risk everything to do what is right. The introduction of disabled and mobility-limited characters who are still heroes is amazing, it's representation that fiction needs too.

[grosbeak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Airplaines! Archaeology! Heremeticism!

[Graculus · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple of months back, I picked up the first 3 books in this series as an omnibus ebook edition quite cheaply and was hopeful that they'd be entertaining because of the involvement of Melissa Scott, who writes one of my favourite m/m series (the Points books, in case you were wondering). And since I wasn't feeling 100% this afternoon, I decided the best thing for me was to curl up with the first book in the series, Lost Things.
 
Anyway, a brief introduction to this series - set just after World War I, our protagonists live in Colorado and are involved with a small aviation company there, three of them being pilots and another an archaeologist, all carrying scars of various kinds from their time at war (some physical, others mental or emotional). We subsequently discover that there's also more than meets the eye where all of them are concerned, since Lewis who has recently joined the company has clairvoyant gifts and the others used to be part of a magical group dedicated to fighting evil. Yes, really.
 
In Lost Things, the background to everything that's going on with the storyline is the excavation of Lake Nemi in Italy, which was previously dedicated to the goddess Diana and where two large ships were built by one Roman emperor and then subsequently sunk by the next. The ships, however, were not all that was sunk as there was also a dark power that has now escaped and, when we start Lost Things, is possessing one of the archaeologists involved with the dig. The truth about the Bad Thing Now Loose In The World is discovered when our group's archaeologist gets the call to come and translate a tablet which has been smuggled out of Italy to the US and which turns out to have been part of what was keeping the Bad Thing under control.
 
Basically, our heroes spend a lot of time travelling from Colorado to California, then to Chicago. Then they're off to New York to try and get ahead of the possessed archaeologist before he leaves for Italy again, but arrive too late to stop him boarding the boat. Then they're on an airship to Paris and various trains to get to Lake Nemi. To be perfectly frank, while it was very clear a lot of thought and research had gone into all this travel, I skimmed most of it in search of plot. 
 
Likewise, I profess to being a bit underwhelmed by the relationships between the main characters, given how well the m/m stuff is written in the other books I've read by Melissa Scott - two of the characters are in a relationship (m/f), one used to be in a gay relationship with the female character's previous husband before he died, and it's heavily implied that the other is suffering from wounds down below which mean he can't get any (but is probably straight).
 
I think this is one of those books where, if I hadn't already got the next 2 books as part of a package deal, I probably wouldn't be inclined to bother. However, I have started the next one ( Steel Blues ) and we'll see if I can make it through to book 3 afterwards... I'm not certain it's going to happen!

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 lowered to 3

This fantasy spans continents and centuries, from California to Italy, from ancient Rome to the 1920’s. It carries some of the spirit of Dan Brown, if you substituted magic for convoluted conspiracies, or The Fifth Element, if you substituted airships for spaceships.

Lost Things follows four main characters as they try to stop an ancient evil thing that has escaped imprisonment under the Goddess Diana’s watch and now wants to take over the “modern” world. I compare it to Dan Brown partly because it ties a long history to the main plot and weaves an alternate way of seeing the world into our everyday life. Mostly it’s because, like Dan Brown, Scott and Graham love giving you turn-by-turn directions. The practicality of securing flight plans and breakfast is interesting and refreshing. It seems like real people dealing with a real problem. Still, it wears on you over time. I felt like I could draw a map of Paris after reading The Da Vinci Code. After Lost Things, I’ve memorized train and flight schedules.

I compare it to The Fifth Element, because it’s a chase in which the villain and good guys don’t see each other that often. (Fun fact: hero Korben Dallas and villain Zorg never meet in The Fifth Element.) The good guys have a greater goal: imprison the evilness once again. They start by going after the evil but end by half-chasing, half-being chased as they head to the holy place where they can do the magic that will save us all. Despite the lack of hand-to-hand combat, there are some incredibly gripping action scenes and good suspense along the way.

The characters are all three-dimensional, different in their own ways, and sensible in their construction. Lewis is an immigrant veteran and, as it turns out, a clairvoyant. Alma is a nurse, a female aviator, an earth magician, and Lewis’s lover; she has to deal with the social prejudice of being an unmarried woman in addition to dealing with demons. Jerry is an impressive scholar with a wooden leg. He seems out of place at first, but he gradually becomes more and more important, arguably rivaling Lewis for the spot as lead protagonist. Mitch is practical Southern hospitality.

The fifth (unseen) character is Gil, who died years before the novel starts. He is the only one who is larger than life. Like Rebecca in Daphne du Maurier’s classic, he suffuses the entire story.

Overall I liked the book, but I didn’t fall in love with it. I’d recommend it to people who want The Da Vinci Code lite or a small taste of magic and history in an otherwise practical novel.

[Cleo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this 1920s set adventure with Indiana Jones vibes but more magic and less imperialism. An ancient evil is accidentally unleashed when archeologists drain Lake Nemi in Italy and four Americans end up working to defeat it. One is an archeologist and the rest are aviators.

This is a riff on myths about the goddess Diana, specifically Diana Nemorensis. There’s a low key m/f romance but it’s mostly an adventure story. There’s also a gay main character and references to a past poly relationship. It’s the start of a series but this book is stand alone.

[Amie's Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOST THINGS

Author: Melissa Scott & Jo Graham

Type of Book: Audiobook - Unabridged

Narrator: John Lee

Length: 11 hours, 12 minutes

Genre: Historical Fantasy Fiction

Release Date: January 8, 2013

Publisher: Crossroad Press

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

* I received a free copy of this audiobook through Audiobook Blast in exchange for an honest review.*

This story was not what I expected. It was actually better than I expected.

This audiobook is set in the year 1929. The war is over and many men who have returned to America are finding themselves at loose ends.

In the war Lewis Segura was an exceptional pilot. Despite his stellar reputation he had a hard time finding a job after the war.

Eventually he finds a home (in both work life and real life) with Alma Gilchrist who owns a small airline company.

Alma's husband had died after returning from the war from the effects of mustard gas, leaving Alma as the owner of their airline.

Meanwhile, in Italy, an archaeological dig is taking place at Lake Nemi.

They have discovered two ships beneath the lake's waters that date back to the time of Caligula's reign.

But the archaeologists do not just discover hidden artifacts. Something else was hidden with those ships; something evil, and now it has been unleashed.

What Lewis, Alma and two friends could possibly have to do with ancient Roman artifacts you will have to listen to this audiobook to find out.

This audiobook is over eleven hours long, but the story is filled with twists and turns that will keep the listener interested the entire time.

The narration is excellent. There are quite a few phrases in other languages that could easily have been tongue twisters, but John Lee voices them with ease. Also, he has the perfect voice for this alternate-history type of story. For some reason that I cannot explain, his voice lends the storyline credibility. I rate the narration as 5 out of 5 stars.

I enjoyed this audiobook and would not hesitate to recommend it to both "real" and alternate history lovers.

Overall I rate this audiobook as 4 out of 5 stars.⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Lis Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Post-WWI, hermetic magic, lodges, aviation.. Lewis Sugura is an aviator who, in the late twenties, hooks up, or falls in, with a small commercial aviation company who, it turns out, are the surviving members of a lodge. He's always had strange dreams; he's long known that some of them seem to be "true dreams;" they foreshadow things that he will really encounter later.

One of those dreams led him to Alma Gilchrist, pilot, widow of Gil Gilchrist, part owner of Gilchrist Aviation. He doesn't at first know that she, fellow pilot Mitchell Sorley, and their friend Dr. Jerry Ballard, are the surviving members of a lodge of which Gil was Magister.

What he finds out, when he's told Alma enough about his dreams, is that he's a powerful clairvoyant. The next challenge will be the mutual decision as to whether he will become part of their lodge.

Meanwhile, Jerry Ballard has been presented with a little mystery----a recovered Roman tablet which he is offered an absurd amount of money to translate, by a member of another lodge. This is despite the availability of two other people in that lodge who should be able to translate it, without the absurd fee.

Jerry's puzzle is enough of a puzzle that they decide they can neither ignore it nor send Jerry out to Los Angeles on his own. They fly there together, and Lewis starts getting an education in what the business of the lodge is, while Alma, Jerry, and Mitch become more and more alarmed. Some of Lewis's recent dreams are rather directly on point.

And, good Catholic boy that he is, he needs to come to terms with the fact that he's apparently getting messages from the goddess Diana.

When they discover they're facing a demon, they set off on a chase from Los Angeles to Chicago to New York to Europe.

It's an exciting adventure, and a very convincing the early 1930s and early aviation. And it's just a lot of fun.

Recommended.

I bought this book.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Satisfying historical fantasy set in 1929. I bought it due to my past experiences with Melissa Scott's books and was not let down.

Not science fiction but historical fantasy, the background of the story is the final year of the 20's. The adventure starts with an archaeological dig in Italy. The archaeological dig is real enough, as are the ships built by Caligula and then sunk in the lake after his assassination. Add to this the release of an ancient malignant being with the attempt to recover the ships and there is the satisfying bones of a good story there.

Alma, Jerry, and Mitchell are all members of a Hermetic Lodge. Jerry and Mitchell are combat veterans of the Great War. Alma was an ambulance driver and the widow of their friend and Magister, Gil, who died of the effects of mustard gas after the war. Each of them have lost something. Early in the book they are joined by Lewis Segunda, another veteran pilot who becomes Alma's lover and employee as they struggle to come to terms with their losses and rebuild their lives.

This story feels true to the time. The details about flying and the attempt to commercialize add to the story. A good part of the US is covered from Colorado to Hollywood to Chicago with period detail highlighting, but not overwhelming the plot and characters.

John Lee, the narrator does a great job. His general narration accent is American with a 1920's feel to it but he voices the characters with their various backgrounds well. Even when reading ritual magic he does not go overboard.

[A. Sines · Rating 3 out of 5]

(I received a free audible copy in exchange for an honest review.)

Reading the blurb for this, I thought it would have more archeology in it. Listening to the first few chapters, I really had no idea where this was going. It starts in a little airfield, run by a widow and her dead husband’s friend. Seriously, what did that setting have to do with an archeological dig site?

The more I listened, the more Lost Things felt like a cross between secret societies deeply intertwined with the supernatural and Indiana Jones. It has detailed descriptions of the art of flying in the early twentieth century, which was very interesting.

Once out of the airfield and traveling to find ancient tablets, you get a deeper sense of what interpersonal relationships were like back then. You never fall into the trap of relating the characters and their actions with today’s standards.

The paranormal aspect is so subtle as to fall a layer behind the setting and culture of the time. Characterization and the characters’ actions rises to prominence.

John Lee does a very consistent and smooth job of narration. I’m not sure if it was the writing or the narration, but on occasion, the scene changes occurred to quickly and it took me a few sentences to catch up.

Overall, a pretty decent listen.

[Andrea]

A group of World War I veteran flyers are members of a Spiritual Order dedicated to fighting mystic evils, but after the death of their leader have drawn back from actively pursuing this goal. However, an object dug up at Lake Nemi (an Italian archaeological site) sends them headlong into a hunt.

We're brought into the story from the viewpoint of Lewis, a newcomer to the Order, but then spend time with Alma, Mitch and Jerry. All the characters have rich and complicated backstories - they are damaged, but determined and strongly devoted to each other. It's an unusual story, but interesting, and I'm planning to continue on to the next book in this series.

The story is as much about being in the late 1920s as it is about chasing mystical dangers, so may read slow-paced to those who don't find such stuff interesting.

[The accents the narrator chose were a little distracting, especially the one used for Mitch, which was intended to be 'Southern gentleman' but I kept expecting him to say things like: "Step right up, ladies and gentlemen...".

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book on my library's e-shelf and thought it looked like a quick, fun read, possibly with interesting mythology or archaeology involved. I was pretty disappointed. it was quick, but the plot dragged, and even when something that should have been exciting was happening, it felt slow. the main conflict was resolved off-screen (off-page?) and everyone moves on, more relaxed, but I as the reader didn't feel entirely certain that it truly was over. one of the three things they discussed doing as of utmost importance never happened (or perhaps did, but by the least qualified character?) and for all the strength the enemy seemed to have, and all the fear and danger that could have happened, the resolution was unconvincing and the denouement unrealistic.

in other matters, the queer character sub story was very limited and reinforced stereotypes, if anything. Same for the disabled character.

I almost gave this three stars for having a decently strong female character, but even she couldn't save it.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a different feel than Graham's Numinous World series (maybe because this is co-authored, or maybe because this is just a different series), but I still enjoyed it. Sort of Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Indiana Jones set during the late 1920's. You've got the team of supernatural evil-fighters with varying talents (magical and not) like Buffy's "Scooby gang" and archaeology and curses and so on with action and adventure like Indiana Jones, but this book is definitely its own thing as well. It's the first in a series, so I felt like I was just getting to know the four main characters by the time it ended. Sometimes the POV shifts felt a little choppy, but that didn't detract too much from my enjoyment. A solid, enjoyable adventure with characters I'd like to read more about. I will most likely pick up the next book in the series at some point.

Note: I received this book for free through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

[Deedra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kept zoning out with this book and having to back it up.It just seemed to drone on about mundane things when there was evil to vanquish,Etruscan to figure out,etc.I liked the narrator,John Lee,but he was not right for this book.Set in the 1920's,mostly,we come in when Jerry is asked to translate an ancient text that was found in a temple after the draining and archeological dig at Lake Nemi.There is a curse and a demon who inhabits people then jumps to someone else.Alma,Mitch,Jerry and Lewis live together,work together flying air ships and planes,and are members of an ancient hermitage that handles things like this."I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast or MalarHouse dot com"

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Join pilots Lewis, Alma, and Mitchell, and their archaeologist friend Jerry, on an extraordinary journey halfway across the globe to enter into a world of demons, a secret society, magicians, and archaeology. I believe that the factual bases were exquisitely researched and fed to the reader as a leisurely 11 course meal. The characters are real to their time, yet the reader can easily relate to their actions as well as their personal struggles.
Well written, irregularly paced, engaging. A very enjoyable read.
John Lee is an excellent storyteller.

"I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast"

[Donna Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a luscious and highly detailed adventure, packed with magic, ancient goddesses, heroes, and derring-do.

The characters are great - part mystery-solving gang from a cultish magical Lodge, part Indiana Jones team. Each have their flaws, their considerable history, their unconventional romantic arrangements, but come together with their skills of aviation, analytical research, clairvoyance and dreaming true to be the only team that can help as they pursue a demon across the ocean.

Very good fight scenes.

Some head-hopping in the POVs without switching scenes, which may come from overlaps in the writing partnership. Also some very convenient bits of plot regarding the demonic possession. However, gripping, realistic and excellently executed.