Cyrus Darian and the Technomicron

Cyrus Darian #1

by Raven Dane

Hired by a wealthy American, Cyrus Darian sets off on his first misadventure to find the mysterious and powerful Technomicron.

With his colleagues and friends – adventure-seeking inventor Sir Miles Hardwick, and a demon trapped in human form – Darian must traverse the poisonous London fog to expose the conspiracy behind the London Turbines.

What mysteries will Darian unearth in his determined search, and how many women will his philandering ways take advantage of …?

Welcome to the Misadventures of Cyrus alchemist, hedonist, philanderer and anti-hero.

‘A very good book in the steampunk genre’ – Wired
‘You will surely be missing a Steampunk gem if you ignore this book!’ – Theresa Derwin

Winner of the Victorian Steampunk Society Award for Best Novel

Genres: Steampunk

247 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 9, 2011

About the author

Raven Dane is a UK based author of dark fantasy, alternative history, post apocalyptic SF, horror, steampunk novels and short stories. Her first books were the dark fantasy Legacy of the Dark Kind trilogy, Blood Tears, Blood Lament and Blood Alliance. These were followed by a High Fantasy spoof, The Unwise Woman of Fuggis Mire.
Her steampunk novels so far are the award winning Cyrus Darian and the Technomicron and sequel Cyrus Darian and the Ghastly Horde. She has had many short stories published, including one in a celebration of forty years of the British Fantasy Society and in international horror anthologies. These have included Tales of the Lake 2, alongside Richard Chizmar, Ramsey Campbell, Tim Lebbon and Jack Ketchum. She also had a story in Billie Sue Mosiman’s Frightmare –Women Write Horror which was shortlisted for a prestigious Bram Stoker award in 2016.
She has appeared in two international lists of best female horror writers. In 2013, she was signed up by Telos Publishing for her collection of Victorian ghost stories, Absinthe and Arsenic and in 2015, the alternative history/ supernatural novel, Death’s Dark Wings. All the Cyrus books are with Telos now in new editions with the third book in the series due in 2019.
A lifelong Dr Who fan, Raven was delighted and honoured to be part of the script team on a spin off film, The Daemons of Devil’s End by Reeltime Pictures in 2017. She also contributed to the novelisation of the film.
Raven brought out a horror novella, The Bane of Bailgate in 2018 and is currently working on a Victorian-based supernatural novel, The Arcane and a prequel to her Legacy of The Dark Kind trilogy, entitled The Blood of Kings More recently Raven has a post, post apocalyptic SF novel released by Demain Publishing called House of Wrax and a short story in an anthology set in celebrated author Dave Jeffery's A Quiet Apocalypse world called A Silent Dystopia.

Readers, please note , some old editions of Blood Tears,Blood Lament, Blood Alliance and the Unwise Woman of Fuggis Mire are no longer available and publishers no longer trading. So far Blood Tears and The Unwise Woman of Fuggis Mire are now republished with lovely new covers. Goodreads does not let the author remove out of date editions

Reviews

[Dar B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book that I have won on goodreads! It was not my normal kind of book, rather one of the few that sort of interested me but I was much more eager to win many of the others. I need to think on it to write a proper review but, for now, I'll let you know that I think that Raven Dane is a pretty good writer.

I like fantasy books, but not so much about creatures from Hell. I like sci-fi a little, but she dabbles it in with vague and sweeping descriptions and doesn't get too technical. I like historical-fiction, but not so much from England's 19th century. However, Dane writes it so well and with such a flourish, that I found this story enjoyable. Again, there are other genres that I prefer to read, but I just had to keep reading. She seems to leave it open for another story to follow and I honestly can say that I will make sure to read it, if one does!

Dane has a wonderful gift for description: "Hundreds of arcne and obscure fantastical objects gleamed and flickered filling every shelf and most of the floor space. Other strange forms and curios hung and spun glistening from hooks hanging from the tall ceiling. The proprietor eschewed gaslight preferring gilded sconces of warm candle glow to illuminate her esoteric wares." Can't you see this emporium so vividly?

Here, examples of the industrial technology: "...powerful generators hissed and began to turn, cogs ground into life, rows of lights flashed and flickered" and "... precision engineering, a marvel of steam powered, electonically compressed energy...". Not too technical, not condescending to non-scientists, and very understandable, as well as easily visual.

Her characters are all detestable in one way or another, yet you cannot help but care about, feel sorry for, understand, or actually like them. Well, not all but most.

All in all, I am very impressed. I had no idea what "steampunk" was so I had looked it up. Consequently, I thought that it would be a struggle to read this book and the only reason that I did attempt it was the fact that I needed to review it (because I won it) and it was a signed copy! Enjoyable! The only people that I think would not like this book are those who do not like fantasy or sci-fi whatsoever and, perhaps, people who might be offended by anti-Christian sentiments.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this great Steampunk Adventure. It is just jam packed with ideas and the mix of adventure and the super natural/occult works well. The element I loved the most was the main protagonist Cyrus Darian. To describe him as an anti-hero would be an understatement, he is in fact despicable. He has not one redeeming part of his character, he will lie and manipulate. You might ask why would you read a book with such a mean character, well it's just so refreshing, you get too many novels where the anti-hero does something completely out of character and saves the day. Although Cyrus does save the day for a moment at the end it looks like he's going to betray everyone. I thoroughly recommend this book for avid Steampunk fans, it compares well with other leading authors in the genre like Cherie Priest, Mark Hodder and George Mann.

[Dumpy Unicorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cyrus Darian is one of those characters that you just have to love because he is so naughty. Dabbling with demons or seducing women and men left, right and centre he's a bad boy, but a very likeable bad boy with a coterie of friends that you can't help warming to.

I'm someone who loves the aesthetic of Steampunk but hadn't really got to grips with reading anything in the genre until this novel and it really is good.

Raven Dane is rather good at painting vivid pictures with words that draws me in and keeps me interested. She also creates and sustains a cast of characters that are equally interesting.

The novel rattles along at some pace and I was rather besotted with the whole thing.

I've got the sequel on my to-read list and I can't wait to get around to it.

[Steven Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the style - jumping from viewpoint to viewpoint - a little annoying at first, but then again I read the book in, I think, 3 days, so not a major issue. Occasional typographical errors, and nothing the like of which I haven't read before, but it's always good to discover new anti-heroes. I'm glad to see there's at least one more, anti-heroes like these need series that aren't afraid to grow/change and occasionally kill minor supporting characters.

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is set in a dark Victorian steampunk version of London, struggling with polluted air and vested interests. The central character - Cyrus Darian - is a mysterious figure who manages to attract both loyalty and betrayal in equal measure, and the twists and turns of the story drew me in and kept me fascinated. A compelling read.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read that surpassed my, rather grumpy at the time of reading, expectations. Great world building and good characters. Only scene I was uncertain about was one involving a young lady and a spiked drink. Good read nonetheless.

[Alfy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This should have been a fun romp, steampunk and magic, an outrageous hero, and a quest for a mysterious relic. Great ingredients for a holiday read. Alas , the writing is simply too amateurish, and what could have been a compelling, if easy, story turned into quite a bit of a slog.