...in this multi-POV steampunk sci-fi fantasy described as Deadwood meets Mad Max.
PETRA ELD REYES—last of the artefixers, hired to help a small town turn their soulstone windfall into profit. Problem She's an addict. And as the magic flows, her sanity goes.
LIZA O-CHAINS—clockwork zombie, forged of metal and flesh. She raids for her tribe. Killing is all she knows. Until a stranger from the town offers her something more.
KENJI MASTERSON—mine worker, standing up for the people's rights. Strong. Confident. Destined to lead—if he can survive the power and politics flooding into town.
XERXES THE INDESTRUCTIBLE—intergalactic fugitive. Shipwrecked on Earth. The creatures of this rock fail to show the proper respect. Xerxes will teach them.
EDISON CANTO—wealthy, charming scholar, out on the frontier to study the magic of soulstone. When the chaos erupts, will he run like a coward? Or will he fight?
MARSHAL FLYNN—back from the dead, she upholds The Iron Law. She knows what soulstone does to a town. She watched one go up in smoke. She won't let it happen again.
The wrong spark, and the town burns.
The books of the hyperArcana series can be read in any order. No homework required.
Spencer Hey lives in Boston, Massachusetts with his lovely and brilliant wife and their lovely and brilliant dog. He has a PhD in philosophy and worked as an academic for about 10 years, exploring questions of ethics, science, and technology. A life-long lover of fantasy and sci-fi—whether in books, games, or movies—fantastic world-building has always been a passion of his. For 35 years or so, this passion has been limited to sketches and documents and small game demos that few people ever saw. New World City is his first effort to share the passion and bring one of these worlds to readers.
Wow! There is a lot to unpack in this book, but in a trolly great way. The easiest way to explain this novel would be to say that it is a futuristic western urban fantasy. In many ways it comes across as an old fashioned western gold rush movie, with flamboyant villains and dark heroes. When a small mining town in the wilds strikes a massive vein of soulstone, a powerful magical crystal, it draws all types of attention, both honorable and nefarious. Among the key players are a resurrected gun slinging sheriff, a sentient clockwork zombie, a rogue scholar, a retired prize fighter, a murderous alien invader and a selfish 400 year old arcanist. But, in this town all their story’s are drawn into an intertwining action packed tapestry of a grand design that even they are unaware of. Greed, lust, gluttony and pride are but a few of the sins that risk seeing this town to damnation. Will the people of the town survive striking it rich, or succumb to their base needs and destroy themselves. Having read New World City, I was glad to see new areas of this world and expand its history. There is truly a lot going on, and so many moving pieces that at times it can be difficult to keep it all sorted out. But, once again, what a wild and exciting ride it is. Fans of cyberpunk with some fantasy thrown in will enjoy.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I loved this book, it feels very different to the first but definitely shares the fast paced and exciting feel. At first I was sad to be leaving the characters from the first book behind but this new set of character / narrators were just as compelling and brought new exciting elements to the world and lore. I felt like this book had more humour than the first which I really enjoyed. The setting of a town sitting on a powder keg on the edge of civilization was really fun.. this book is somewhere between, western, cyber punk, fantasy, sci fi... but it feels tightly woven and consistent.. quite a feat. The novel feels complete and satisfying and yet I am very excited for the next installment in the series.
Review: There was a lot of POV shifting and the different story lines that accompanied each. Some characters you like to ride around with, others not so much. Flynn stands out amongst the chatter, and might have been better served with a majority of the story line perspective. Would have made for surprising character reveals.
The alien speak is not real believable but I think this was intended solely for comedic relief. This novel is long-winded when you follow characters that were not built very well, so you don't really give a shjt where they are going. Once you slog through to the next POV, it may or may not land on your favorite character.
Entertainment value is still high and breaks the 4-star barrier.