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The Ashtabula Irregulars: Opening Gambit
On a cold October night young Beverly Gray is running for her life when she literally bumps into William Thompson, journalist and spy for Her Majesty Queen Victoria. It is 1894 and America is still part of the British Empire but there is revolution in the air. Together with William's remarkable family and their former Buffalo Soldier friend Joshua Bowman, Beverly soon finds herself on a secret mission ordered by the shadowy Mycroft Holmes to stop the German Empire from negotiating a treaty for warm water ports in Spain and the Pacific. Filled with international intrigue and more than its share of gunfights, "The Ashtabula Opening Gambit" is the first in a Steampunk adventure series that takes readers into old New York, England, France, the Philippines, Egypt, Sicily and Spain as the story unfolds.
282 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 16, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 24, 2015
One might say the engine motoring this story along is as well put together as the rest of the steampunk devices on display in this raucous turn of the century tale. That was a complement, in case you were wondering. This is the second book I’ve read by this author now and suddenly I can’t get enough of him. His instincts about what goes where are uncanny, and seldom is he off even a beat. He has that gift that few writers do of being able to totally morph his narrative voice from book to book (John Grisham is the only other one that comes to mind); about the only clue that you’re dealing with the same writer is the excellence of the prose itself on a line by line basis and the sublime craftsmanship of the stories on a much higher level.
Well, there are a few other clues. Chief among them is that for a male writer he handles female characters better and more believably than the majority of male writers (I’m referring as much to his other book I’ve read, Corpus Delectable) as I am to the women of this book. They are all titans in their own way; so despite going back in time, the opposite sex is treated with the sensitivity that modern readers demand, all while blending perfectly with the times and seeming entirely historically correct (no mean feat, considering how badly we know women were treated at the time.)
As powerful as the author’s imagination is, it is also disciplined by research into the era and informed by hard facts pertaining to the politics and history, all of which helps to ground the speculative fiction in an added layer of realism. The scientific explanations given for the workarounds to the limitations of the day of a gifted family of Tesla-types was also well done.
I honestly don’t have much to complain about with this one. There were times when I’d have liked the pacing to have been more brisk. But you have to take that with a grain of salt since I read a lot of fast-paced thrillers, so my sense of pacing is probably skewed relative to the general public’s and to other genres. This story felt more like an atmospheric mystery than a fast-paced thriller.
Well, there are a few other clues. Chief among them is that for a male writer he handles female characters better and more believably than the majority of male writers (I’m referring as much to his other book I’ve read, Corpus Delectable) as I am to the women of this book. They are all titans in their own way; so despite going back in time, the opposite sex is treated with the sensitivity that modern readers demand, all while blending perfectly with the times and seeming entirely historically correct (no mean feat, considering how badly we know women were treated at the time.)
As powerful as the author’s imagination is, it is also disciplined by research into the era and informed by hard facts pertaining to the politics and history, all of which helps to ground the speculative fiction in an added layer of realism. The scientific explanations given for the workarounds to the limitations of the day of a gifted family of Tesla-types was also well done.
I honestly don’t have much to complain about with this one. There were times when I’d have liked the pacing to have been more brisk. But you have to take that with a grain of salt since I read a lot of fast-paced thrillers, so my sense of pacing is probably skewed relative to the general public’s and to other genres. This story felt more like an atmospheric mystery than a fast-paced thriller.
January 22, 2016
Would liked to have known why America was still a colony of Great Britain. A very bad book cover.
March 26, 2016
It’s 1894, and twenty-four year-old Beverly Gray is travelling the Great Lakes by steamship on a trip leaving behind her old life as a governess for a hopeful future in Buffalo when a chance occurrence near Ashtabula in the Ohio Colony of the British Empire puts her in contact with the Thompson-Redwing family, a group of free-lance spies loyal to Queen Victoria. In this alternate reality, American independence has not been achieved and steam is the force that powers industry and fuels the fires of international politics. The family quickly accepts Beverly as one of their own, and before long she is drawn into a mission to meet with the crown princess of Spain in hope of gaining her royal support to keep the German Empire from gaining access to warm water ports which would significantly unbalance the existing military paradigm by giving the Kaiser’s warships a more even standing against the British Navy. The success of the mission, however, only begins to uncover the truth behind the mutual building up of the two empires’ war machines, and as the spies independently begin to untangle the web of an international conspiracy, they discover that their greatest enemy may not be those in favor of violently gaining independence from the crown or even those advocating Nazi-like white supremacy; rather, they come to discover that their true foe may very well be the one most loyal to the Queen herself.
Mike Billington’s “The Ashtabula Irregulars: Opening Gambit” is a potent overture to what may very well turn out to be a grandly orchestrated alternate history universe. The writing is fresh yet the descriptions of cultural attitudes and steam-powered airships is reminiscent of certain real-world contemporary writings such as H. G. Wells’ “The War in the Air” (while the lightly touched upon social issues are more akin to “Ann Veronica”). But unlike Wells’ often one-dimensional characters who were created to showcase the author’s socio-political views, Billington’s family of spies feel true to life in their individual designs despite appearing on the surface to be cast from the usual tropes. William the journalist, his sister Dana the genius inventor, children to the wise matriarch Elizabeth who falls in love with the admirable Buffalo Soldier Joshua, might have begun as mere skeletons of humanity, but Billington does well in fleshing them out as the story progresses without being so long-winded as to bog down the action which is what the story is really all about. The multi-layered intrigue related to the beating of the war drums is just complex enough to avoid convolution while remaining believable in its twists as it points to the ultimate evil in a steampunk universe: the cardinal sin of replacing coal-powered steam with gas-powered electricity all in the name of higher profits. As to the action itself, the violence is well staged without being graphically over-the-top as Billington creates an atmosphere of adventure without the need to moralize every pistol shot fired.
Fans of the genre will certainly want to read this fantastic addition to neo-Victorian historical fiction.
Mike Billington’s “The Ashtabula Irregulars: Opening Gambit” is a potent overture to what may very well turn out to be a grandly orchestrated alternate history universe. The writing is fresh yet the descriptions of cultural attitudes and steam-powered airships is reminiscent of certain real-world contemporary writings such as H. G. Wells’ “The War in the Air” (while the lightly touched upon social issues are more akin to “Ann Veronica”). But unlike Wells’ often one-dimensional characters who were created to showcase the author’s socio-political views, Billington’s family of spies feel true to life in their individual designs despite appearing on the surface to be cast from the usual tropes. William the journalist, his sister Dana the genius inventor, children to the wise matriarch Elizabeth who falls in love with the admirable Buffalo Soldier Joshua, might have begun as mere skeletons of humanity, but Billington does well in fleshing them out as the story progresses without being so long-winded as to bog down the action which is what the story is really all about. The multi-layered intrigue related to the beating of the war drums is just complex enough to avoid convolution while remaining believable in its twists as it points to the ultimate evil in a steampunk universe: the cardinal sin of replacing coal-powered steam with gas-powered electricity all in the name of higher profits. As to the action itself, the violence is well staged without being graphically over-the-top as Billington creates an atmosphere of adventure without the need to moralize every pistol shot fired.
Fans of the genre will certainly want to read this fantastic addition to neo-Victorian historical fiction.
August 10, 2015
What if the Brit's had won the revolutionary war and years later America was thinking about fighting for independence? What if people with money want to start wars becasue they know the price of oil will go up? Part thriller, part mystery, part Mike Hammer style love story, part a twisting of history, part Journey to The Center of the Earth for inventions, a beach read for men. I like the author's style.
October 6, 2015
What a lovely read! Right off the bat I was swept into the irregular Thompson family and their inventions, air travel and intriguing adventures in an alternate history with a fabulous steam punk atmosphere. I really enjoyed the characters. Despite being unable to vote, the females were strong characters with heart. The mystery has twists and turns, and keeps you interested. I am hoping a second will come along soon!
October 22, 2014
It was interesting right from the beginning, the characters were solid and believable, and it was highly imaginative especially for a late 1800's tale. I also liked how strong and capable the lead female characters
were portrayed
were portrayed
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews