Keely: a steampunk story

by D. Alan Lewis

Crashing into the streets of London, she fell to an Earth under siege by a mysterious race known as the Otherworlders. But as foreign as the aliens are, so is she to those who find her.
Thomas Laybourne, a tinker and weapons designer finds the unconscious star girl and takes her back to his flat. Aided by his friend, Doctor Hunter and a grumpy clothier name Mattie, he begins trying to determine who she is and why she has chosen the darkest days in human history to arrive.
With most of the world under alien control, only Britain remains as the only vestige of human resistance, but the end is approaching unless Laybourne’s latest weapon can stop them. As he finishes up the weapon, his attention is drawn more and more the beauty and amazing powers of the star girl. Can they stop their advance and save the Empire in time? Or is humanity destined to end beneath the dark clouds of the aliens?

122 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 17, 2015

About the author

As a child of the sixties and seventies, D. Alan Lewis grew up watching the U.S. space program in its heyday. His fascination with the space race developed a love of science fiction. His interest in horror came about later in life as the result of multiple marriages.

D. Alan Lewis is a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee who now resides in Nashville with his children. He has been writing technical guides and manuals for various employers for over twenty years but only in recent years has branched out in to writing fiction. In 2006, Alan took the reins of a Novelist Writer’s resource in Nashville where he has been working to with aspiring writers.

The manuscript for his first novel, The Blood in Snowflake Garden, was a Top Ten finalist for the Claymore Dagger award in 2010. He is currently working on several other projects including a follow-up to Snowflake Garden.

Reviews

[Phil Mayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Set in a time as obscure as the dark clouds hanging over London, it blends the familiar and the different in a delightful manner. I enjoyed the historical allusions set in a different context.

Disclosure: I'm the narrator for the audio version, due out soon.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Earth has fallen. The alien Otherworlders, slug like monstrosities with technological strength far beyond humanity’s comprehension, have coated the world with billowing clouds of darkness. Clouds that block the sun’s light. That poison the crews of any airship that try to breech the clouds, leaving their lungs horrifically darkened, like the most dust coated of coal miner’s lungs, worse perhaps. Weapon designer Thomas Laybourne works for the British government, humanity’s last holdout, desperately trying to complete a weapon that might allow the Air Navy to destroy the Otherworlder’s cloud factories and allow humanity to hold out a little longer. And then a ray of light comes crashing into this hopeless world. Keely, innocent as a child and stronger that dozens of men. Keely, who soaks in the weak sunlight that does reach London and transmutes it into hope for Britain, her people, and, perhaps, the world.

I have opinions on D. Alan Lewis’ Keely, a steam punk novella that desperately wants to be a romance while also seeming fully aware that it really should not be. This is a deeply doomed world. A world where humanity has lost and all that is left is the last bit of struggling before being wiped out by the Otherworlders or via slow starvation. The novella, is about a stuffy Victorian man finding, and instantly falling for, a solar powered alien girl who cannot communicate with him and who is repeatedly described as childlike.

I feel like there are two things that could have left me feeling more positive toward Keely, one feels really simple and the other would take some pretty heavy rewrites to the book. The simple option is to tone way back on Thomas describing Keely as childlike and allow her to actually speak. She is clearly meant to be an intelligent character, learning to understand read and spoken English very quickly, but she is not allowed to learn to speak it well enough to really have dialogue. It makes her feel like Thomas is attracted to her as much or more because of her childlike aspects, than that she is conventionally attractive and quite affectionate towards him. Really not something I am about. The more involved option, the one that would require significant rewrites, would be to focus more on the doomed world and the way Britain is clinging to survival by bare fingertips. Focus more on Keely as a beacon of hope and Thomas’ work on the H8 bomb in the face of seemingly certain doom. Maybe also focus in a little more on the steam punk setting, there were some notable bits of it, but it felt oddly thin for the protagonist being a weapon designer in a steam punk setting.

The shame here is, I feel like Lewis could be a solid writer. He has solid technical skills, he just focused in on aspects of his story that really specifically do not appeal to me personally in a way that does not appeal to me personally. But, and here is the kicker, while I did not enjoy Keely I do want to see what he can do with a little more space and a tighter focus on his setting’s conflict. I want to see what kind of books Lewis writes four or so novellas down the road. What sort of writer he develops into.

My final thoughts wind up being almost entirely based on Thomas falling for a young woman who cannot communicate with him and who he also continually describes as childlike. Nothing really against the quality of the writing itself, just that the “born sexy yesterday” trope really does not work for me. I wanted to know more about his setting and this doomed battle the remains of humanity was fighting. More about the way life goes on in a London that has seen most of its people escape to the countryside in hopes of finding safety. So, Keely gets a two out of five from me, but I am going to keep an eye on the author.

[Michelle Nicholson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a random pick for me at the Southern Festival of Books yesterday, where I also met the very friendly author. I grabbed it because the cover reminded me of Supergirl.
I wasn't disappointed either. It's a short origin-type story of a 'superhuman' named Keely who appears right in the midst of the remainders of humanity's losing war against otherworldly invaders.
And, even though I could do without the romance bit, I loved this little story. It has your mentions of the steampunk genre, a sweet yet kickass superheroine, and an interesting enough storyline that I would definitely recommend giving it a go.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another short listen by this author who has the knack to put a lot into a short time frame. This was a very exciting action adventure full of thrills as the author takes you on a journey of supernatural meeting humans. Aliens have taken over London and are working on taking over the world. They have blocked out the sunlight for the most part leaving nothing but black clouds. As the humans try to find a way to get back their country a lady comes into their lives. Where she came from and how she acts if very much a mystery, they are shocked to see all that she is able to do.

It is hard for me to pick a favorite character there are so many that grab you and pull you in. Keely is a wonder and a thrill to picture from the way she dresses to the way she carries herself. Thomas is a sweet nerd who is a delight as he designs weapons to help take down the aliens. Doctor Hunter is a very nice sweet man who does his best to help Keely find her way and learn of the country she is in. Mattie I just loved her attitude but I think she is more a sweet old lady who is lonely.

I loved Phil Mayes accent he was a delight to listen to. I thought his tones were great, his emotion outstanding. He really made you feel each emotion of all the characters. You had no trouble knowing who was speaking whether it was male or female. You could hear him swallow from time to time but it didn't take away from the listen. There was no background noise and his tones were even throughout. If he took a break you could not tell. I look forward to listening to more audios from this narrator.

The author gives you a wonderful exciting, thrilling read/listen that was a delight. There wasn't a character that I didn't like. His story telling is outstanding as he pulls you in and takes you to another place and time. The only thing I would have liked to have known was more about Keely. Where she came from and why London, what does she really expect the human to do. Is she friend or not? I thought the author filled in the rest of the story very well never leaving you guessing. It is so hard to put everything that needs to be told in a short story but I feel this author does a wonderful job of it. I am looking forward to listening to more audio from him.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This cover is so powerful and I loved the image that it represents to young girls and women! I decided to read this book after seeing the cover and looking at the description. Keely falls from the sky at a time when the earth has been invaded by aliens. Keely seems to be the only one who has the power to save the remaining human life on the planet. Keely is found by Thomas and the story is told in an unique way as it is told by him. Keely is pretty, strong and will do whatever it takes to save mankind. I loved reading about her dedication to saving the rest of the planet. The story is well-written and is very entertaining! I would highly recommend this one!