Once a fine, upstanding member of society, Alexander Asherton has reached the low point of his life. Once he had prospects. A place in society. Once he had a beautiful wife. But that was before Aimee left him, before the explosion...and before magic. His promising future with the Church of England went up in flames with the explosion that wrecked his body.
Now he works for the cruel and mysterious Misters, who keep him awash in the magic he needs to feed his addiction. The magic he needs to live. His only comfort is that he doesn’t do wet work.
He’s only a thief, not a murderer.
When they demand he assassinate his ex-wife and steal a dark magical item from the powerful and twisted Duke Schaever, he doesn’t have a choice. The Misters hold the key to his life...and to his death. But all he’s got left is that he isn’t a murderer.
Who is Ash really? A priest or a killer? An addict, or a hero?
And what is the strange and deadly merging of science and magic that serves the Duke?
Philip Ligon’s debut steampunk fantasy twists and turns through a dystopian, alternate Victorian England. Full of magic, elves, dragons, and betrayal, this book will satisfy the most avid fans of dark fantasy and twisted steam-powered machines.
Is Ash truly lost to addiction and darkness, or if he can become something more? Find out by reading This Strange Engine today.
Philip Ligon’s love of fantasy began in earnest when he tried to read The Sword of Shannara for a book report in high school. Though he had to choose a different book for the report, he was forever hooked on epic adventures, quests, and fantastic realms. He proceeded to read every Terry Brooks book he could find, and soon discovered the works of Raymond Feist, Michael Moorcock, and threw in a heavy dose of Orson Scott Card, to name a few.
He has received numerous awards for his writings, including being a multi-year finalist in the Paul Gillette Writing Contest and a finalist in Colorado Gold. This Strange Engine was a finalist in the 2015 Zebulon writing contest and a quarterfinalist in the 2014 ABNA.
Philip calls the hills and valleys of north Alabama home.
Described as "steampunk fantasy", which there is no such thing, as Steampunk is a form of Sci-Fi. This (from the description) would be a form of Urban Fantasy, perhaps could be categorized as Gaslight Fantasy. It's a shame that it seems 90% of the books I see touted as "Steampunk" actually are not Steampunk at all. Actual Steampunk stories are regrettably pretty rare.
* If it's got a magical system it's not Steampunk * If it's got vampires it's not Steampunk * If it's set in an imaginary universe it's not Steampunk * If it's set outside the Victorian era it's not Steampunk
Steampunk is Victorian era Sci Fi, with technology driven by steam power.
This Strange Engine by Philip Ligon spins a tale of suspense, steampunk, fantasy, sci-fi, drama and even a bit of romance. The characters are well-developed, but at times a bit inconsistent. The story is exciting from page one and continues the same throughout. I had some issues with syntax here and there, but not enough to take away from the storyline.
Overall, this was an enjoyable book. I recommend it for readers who like multi-genre suspense and give it 4.3/5
On the whole I liked This Strange Engine, and large segments of the story were truly enjoyable. I loved the mix of Steampunk and Fantasy and the whole concept of injecting "magic" to gain power. The inner conflicts of the main protagonist, Ash, were extremely enjoyable, especially the conflict between his actions and current life against the inner voice of his old life. The main points I disliked about the story was Ash's infatuation with his ex-wife, which I found tedious and made me want to ring his neck more than once, and the fact that many of fantastical creatures had a generic, RPG feel to them. They rarely surpassed the basic mold of elves, cyclopses, dragons, gnomes, lizardmen and the like. Some of this might be because these magical creatures are incredibly secretive about themselves and their world, but at the end they still added little to the world in of themselves.
This Strange Engine by Philip Ligon feels very much like a well-fleshed out D&D setting with an approximately Victorian technology level. Which I very much mean as a compliment. I could see a very interesting campaign set in Campden, the town where technology and magic meet. There are warring thieves guilds, factional and class politics, and many many mysteries. You might even call it a steampunk fantasy.
For me, the setting is the star of the show. Since Victorian England is such well-trodden ground in English fiction, Ligon can spend most of his time describing how it is different, and relying on background information to provide a framework. In Campden, magic is both the source of their wealth, and their problems. Magic addiction is a far bigger problem than gin, and the local duke spends a fair bit of time policing the refugees that come through the magical gateway, ensuring things don’t get out of hand. While the setting is clearly based on the England we all know and love, the existence of magic is starting to shift society in new and strange directions.
My primary complaint about the book is that its protagonist, Alexander Asherton, is a miserable waste of flesh. I spent a large part of the book wishing that someone would finally follow through on their threats to kill him, so he would shut up about his ex-wife. By which I do not mean that he isn’t interesting or well-characterized. I’ve known men just like him, even at some periods been like him myself, so utterly whipped by his ex-wife that he spiraled into depression and [magical] substance abuse when she left him.
The way in which his shallow self-righteousness curdles into maudlin and utterly blind self-pity is done just so. I simply do not like him, which is the same reaction the vast majority of the other characters in the book have too. That Ash has any friends at all is a testament to the irrationality of friendship. Their loyalty, however, is touching. The man has better friends than he deserves.
I definitely wanted to see what happened next, despite my antipathy to Ash. I am certainly intrigued by the world Ligon has created. Your experience with the book, like mine, may be somewhat conditional on how insufferable you find the protagonist.
Alexander, a former bishop, turned thief and magic addict, falls foul of an organization that requires him to fulfill dangerous contracts in return for helping feed his magic addiction. The contracts become increasingly risky, with Alexander's very life at risk, but when they ask him to kill his ex-wife Aimee, Alexander already shady moral core is rocked.
The world is well-created, with a mixture of steampunk and magic, while a portal to a "fantasy" world introduces a plethora of familiar races (gnomes, dwarves, orcs and so forth.) The Plot moves steadily along, and introduces the world without cursing the reader with constant info dumps. While the book is relatively long, the reader will next feel bogged down. The characters are diverse, and the friction between the resident English and the portal dwellers is nicely done. While there is some dissent, the magic the portal dwellers provide makes it a worthy tradeoff.
The story is told from Alexander's perspective, and he is an enjoyable character, as his religious past is constantly in conflict with his amoral present self. Also a nice touch is how he handles his relationships comparing his old "good" self to his new "bad" self. Will he overcome the forces stacked against him, or will he fall foul of his poor life choices? You will have to read it to find out.
I received a free copy of this book from the author. I had the opportunity to review or not.
While I found this book to be a bit overlong, it was a fun read. Love, betrayal, magic, murder, technology, dragons and villains galore. Alexander Asherton was a canon, a man of great ethics who has been brought down to a lowly position forcing him to act as a slave to a group of men who hold his life in their hands. He is forced to do everything they tell him, when they tell him, only to satisfy his addiction to magic.
He is told to recover a statue and its head in order to provide them with an incredibly magical artifact by his employers. Something a host of people want and an evil man holds. Ash must enter into a den of evil to fight against strong magic, hatred, beasts and mechanical killers.
Philip takes us on a frightening trip with believable characters, extraordinary evil and fantastic adventures. His world is well developed with characters you can believe and empathize with. However, he also created some characters that made you seethe with anger. The story leaves an opening for further adventures and I am looking forward to going on those adventures with Ash, Reckard and Cavendish. You have got to get this book. Find out what’s in Ash’s future.
Right from the very beginning I could tell that this author had talent and the story was going to be exciting, interesting and fun. At the very beginning there is the scene as the main character is attempting to escape from a pursuit. The writing brought brought forward strong imagery of him bounding from one roof to another. You don’t often find such well written lines in a story nowadays.
The main character, Ash, is someone you would like to meet. His comrades or extremely likable. His interaction with those around him does a lot to develop his character. Now on to his wife, she is a “nasty piece of work”. Her friends have the right amount of nasty themselves. He works for a despicable set of bosses and is set against an equally despicable organization.
It is set in a world that combines steam punk, although a minimal part of the story, and magic. It all fit together nicely.
I look forward to reading his other stories.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Our main character Alex is a thief who steals magical items for his employers. His latest job requires him to find and steal a powerful magical item from his ex wife. Alex's ex has the magical skill to create bombs from thin air and he is told that when they broke up she attempted to blow him up.When he was married he was unaware that his wife had any magical abilities.There are conspiracies that the main character and his friends become aware of as they attempt to obtain the magical item and they become embroiled in a fight for their lives against elves and dragons to name a few. I only gave the book 4 stars because Alex is someone who doesn't like himself. All the other characters are believable friends or enemies and work well together.The story ends with one of Alex's friends needing rescue from a terrible fate. Hopefully it will be resolved in the next book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is a beautiful blend of arcanapunk and sciencey steampunk elements wrapped in a heist. Seeing all the fun little details of this world unfold was incredibly fascinating.
The characters are awesome as well. Or, mostly awesome. The protagonist, Alexander Asherton, drove a bit batty. He's delightfully stupid in terms of love and impulsiveness. I'm very much a creature of routine and sticking to my guns, and the wishy-washy habits this man has had me quite literally yelling at the pages. The best part is, I knew the blessed idiot would succeed. That kept me glued to the book. I couldn't sleep for the need of knowing just how he would succeed.
The most satisfying thing, however, was Sheela slapping Ash. He needed it so many times. That girl needs her own book. Needless to say, I'll be breezing through the rest of the series just as quickly.
Got this as an ARC for an honest review. Ash is a magic addict and to keep up with his habit he has to do a lot of unsavory things for his mysterious employers. But when they give him an assignment to steal a statue's head from his ex wife that he never got over, as well as kill her, well this maybe the assignment that ends up ending his own life. Will he live through this or succumb to the mariad of things that want him Dead? Definitely a great fast paced adventure where science meets magic in this alternate reality of our own little planet. Pick this up, it's a great 1st novel in a series in the making!
I quite enjoyed the plot; there was a good amount of twists and turns, but everything still made sense, by and large. The problem I had is A) the characters were inconsistent; B) sometimes the characters were really unlikeable (mostly when they seemed to grow out of character flaws only to step right back into them; and C) the writing was hard to read - not as in high-reading-comprehension, just odd phrasing and strange sentence constructions. It didn't flow right.
Long story short: I enjoyed the book enough to complete it, but I don't think I would buy the next book in the series.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Alexander Asherton, the lead character in Philip Ligon’s This Strange Engine (The Engine Series, Volume 1), goes through one crazy, wild, freaky but rather extraordinary ride. It’s s convoluted plot (see the publisher’s blurb for a good enough non-spoilish summary) but one that’s great to follow along. This is, quite frankly, an excellent series start. But for the fact that I’m literally dictating this review my husband from my hospital bed I could go on and on with praises - the book definitely deserves it. Since I can’t do that I will simply note that the book is most definitely one to read, it is easy to highly recommend. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in this series.
This is one of the best books I have read in a while! It grabbed and kept my attention from the first page to the last. It had a great storyline, well- developed characters, with lots of twists and turns to keep it interesting! The ending left me with the impression that this is a series, and I am going to go look and see if there is another book because the ending leaves you hanging. You'll be hooked right away from the first page, throughout to the last!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I really enjoyed this book - it is an exciting adventure and the mystery behind each of the characters draws you in. It started with a bang and then kind of slowed down a bit only to pick up and really grabbed me so that I didn't want to put the book down for very long. There were a few things I found a little inconsistent in the characters but overall the story held them up and I am looking forward to the continuation of this series. I received a complimentary copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving my review.
This book spins a fascinating plot with a lot of mysterious enemies and outside powers, plus an interesting magic system that is balanced really well with consequences/limitations. The characters have good foundations but sometimes fall a little flat - I would have appreciated learning/seeing a bit more of the side characters' motivations and backgrounds, plus a bit more development in the main character through his story arc. I'm looking forward to seeing how things spell out in the next book in the series!
A great book in a world that is filled with magical creatures from a dimension connected to our own. Where cyclops are hired to be bodyguards/security for wealthy businessmen and magic use has addictive qualities and comes with physical restraints. This book is fun and delivers moral trappings to the hero's quest. A fully fleshed out world with a rich history, this is a fun book for fans of steampunk and fantasy.
Gripping story, but not what I expected I was told that this was a Steampunk book, but it is really a great fantasy story with steampunk elements. There was not enough description of the alternate technology, but I found the magic chemistry to be intriguing. Well developed collection of characters with a mission that may be their end, a real page turner. I look forward to reading the next book.
I enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to anyone interested in fantasy/sci-fi, mixed with alternative histories, and a fair bit of drama, with a smidge of political intrigue. When dredging up the past is never a easy thing to do, especially as far as family is concerned.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a
He was at his lowest point and he needs a potion to stay alive get the treasure and live. Fail and die. He does it all until there is an issue with one of them. It;s all due to his ex wife. Secrets will be revealed. Who will.suffer? Who could die?.read to follow their journey
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was a great book for me. I just loved it. Was interesting from the first page and just drew me in and kept me up half the night reading. I could not put it down. I was wondering what was going to happen to josh.
Get the book and read it you will love it.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A little convoluted at times but the created universe was believable and consistent. You need to share the characters emotions to create texture, there was back story but I didn't ever feel connected. Despite that the story rattles along nicely paced it made it difficult to put down.
Keeps moving and keeps you turning the page. This is a very intriguing story with great characters (mostly) that are easy to become involved with. Very interesting ending. I also had a little too much of this man's obsession with his ex but the story was still great.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Disclaimer : I received this from the author for my honest review.
What things would you do if you were addicted to magic and needed your fix? Unsavory things? Work for people who are mysterious and don't reveal themselves?
This book is intriguing with well developed characters who take you on an adventure! This was a nice break from your ordinary magic books and I truly enjoyed it. I can't wait to dive into more books from this author.
This book was so intriguing! Love & loss...magic & addiction...high society & those that work for them... If you like steampunk you’ll enjoy this tremendously.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
My sister edited this book for her friend, so as a show of support I read it and I truly enjoyed it. It was a nice escape from the ordinary and now I am anxiously awaiting the next one!