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Under Pressure
January Purcell is used to danger and thinking on her feet, having faced threats up and down the timeline and in various realities; all part of the Great and Long Game. Nothing, however, could have prepared her for the extremes demanded by this latest mission, which sees her accompany Dr Robert Jones and his colleagues on a journey from the heart of Victorian London to Iceland, following in the footsteps of Professor Lidenbrock and the alchemist Arne Saknussemm.
Denied the support of her colleagues at London’s Oneiros Club due to her gender, January must rely on her own resources as she descends into the extinct volcano Snæfellsjökull, little imagining what she will encounter there, little realising that this is all merely a prelude to a long-planned invasion from Earth’s near neighbour, Mars…
“Here’s such a rich confection of our favourite persons and places, from Jules Verne’s volcano in Iceland and the subterranean Vril race to Wells’s Martian invaders and even scheming Moriarty—along with revelations about reality and about more-than-reality (such as The House, and The Existing). Need I mention that there are also shared lucid dreams? No spoilers could spoil the frantic fun of this sprightly riff. It’s stimulating, tremendous stuff.”
– Ian Watson, author of the Screen Story for Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Denied the support of her colleagues at London’s Oneiros Club due to her gender, January must rely on her own resources as she descends into the extinct volcano Snæfellsjökull, little imagining what she will encounter there, little realising that this is all merely a prelude to a long-planned invasion from Earth’s near neighbour, Mars…
“Here’s such a rich confection of our favourite persons and places, from Jules Verne’s volcano in Iceland and the subterranean Vril race to Wells’s Martian invaders and even scheming Moriarty—along with revelations about reality and about more-than-reality (such as The House, and The Existing). Need I mention that there are also shared lucid dreams? No spoilers could spoil the frantic fun of this sprightly riff. It’s stimulating, tremendous stuff.”
– Ian Watson, author of the Screen Story for Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence
- GenresScience FictionEbooks
141 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 4, 2022
2 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Fábio Fernandes
161 books148 followersAutor de BACK IN THE USSR (finalista do Prêmio Jabuti 2020), Love Will Tear Us Apart, Rio 60 Graus e O TORNEIO DE SOMBRAS.
Em 2025: OS AGENTES DO CAOS (Uma aventura de January Purcell)
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 25, 2022
An entertaining steampunk novel about exploring under a volcano, a la "Journey to the Center of the Earth", with Hans the guide from that book. In this reality, there is a special class of dreamers who can enter alternate realities in their dreams. In the reality our protagonists find themselves in, there are fictional characters who are real (like Hans), and there are encounters with real people (like Sir Richard Francis Burton) who do things that are different than our reality.
Basically it's an excuse for an adventure romp. This novella (95 pages) is about the right size for this kind of story. The underlying concept of looking for an alternative source of energy to coal is intriguing but mainly just an excuse for the adventure.
Basically it's an excuse for an adventure romp. This novella (95 pages) is about the right size for this kind of story. The underlying concept of looking for an alternative source of energy to coal is intriguing but mainly just an excuse for the adventure.
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November 12, 2022I thank the publisher for a free copy of this book. This is my honest review.
The setting for this novella is steampunk, in the sense that events occur (mostly) in Victorian times in an alternate world. Add in oneironauts who travel between timelines/alternative realities by shifting their consciousness between host bodies, and it becomes more metaphysical than your standard steampunk adventure.
Some of the characters will be recogniseable from works by authors such as Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle and HG Wells. Others are derived from history: I noted Richard Burton (the explorer, presumably) and an early iteration of a 20th century pop star. Quite possibly there were others that I didn’t pick up on.
I enjoyed the early part of the adventure, the sense of a world in peril, and learning about the Oneiros Club and its doings and opposition I wasn’t quite as engaged with the later parts. For my tastes, there was too much “reality-switching” to keep track of and the rules of the world were fluid, not giving me much chance to orientate myself.
An entertaining novella which will appeal if you like metaphysical adventures.
The setting for this novella is steampunk, in the sense that events occur (mostly) in Victorian times in an alternate world. Add in oneironauts who travel between timelines/alternative realities by shifting their consciousness between host bodies, and it becomes more metaphysical than your standard steampunk adventure.
Some of the characters will be recogniseable from works by authors such as Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle and HG Wells. Others are derived from history: I noted Richard Burton (the explorer, presumably) and an early iteration of a 20th century pop star. Quite possibly there were others that I didn’t pick up on.
I enjoyed the early part of the adventure, the sense of a world in peril, and learning about the Oneiros Club and its doings and opposition I wasn’t quite as engaged with the later parts. For my tastes, there was too much “reality-switching” to keep track of and the rules of the world were fluid, not giving me much chance to orientate myself.
An entertaining novella which will appeal if you like metaphysical adventures.
April 14, 2023
There is a satisfyingly broad and ambitious scope to this 'time-travelling' novella, intriguing characters and potentially vibrant locations - both period and fantastical - that would entertain and engage the reader over a longer format without any difficulty, I think. And that was my main issue, in that I thought the story felt rather shoe-horned into its 97 pages. The main effect - for me - was that the conflict and the antagonists might have been developed more, and the resolution seemed rather rushed. Still, there are plenty of moments to enjoy, not least the appearance of some familiar faces, evoking fond memories of Philip José Farmer's Riverworld series (for me, at least). Definitely worth a read; I did enjoy it.
January 8, 2026
There are other volumes (listed at the end) in this ‘novella series’, all with four or five books in them. This was the only story in this one. It was labelled steampunk, I’m not sure why, except for the Victorian main setting (we’re in time travel realms again). Oh, dirigibles. It could easily be weird, time travel, or rock opera.
Crossover, then. Yes, and also crossing over with classic fiction, time travel theory (some of which has references) and rock personalities. It helps if you are up to speed with real names of rock gods. As time goes on in this book, the references to that oeuvre increase exponentially. It was great fun.
Under Pressure is engagingly written by Mr Fernandes, who gets inside January Purcell’s head and experiences exceedingly well. For a protagonist who is undergoing several bizarre experiences, sometimes simultaneously, she was remarkably rational and easy to follow. There are some lovely twists with the Victorian standards that she has to overcome which are not a problem in the previous time she occupied.
The story rocks forward, occasionally leaping back for very good and well articulated reasons, and several opportunities for the reader to get ahead of the plot and then discover they have fallen into a trap. Excellent worldbuilding, even if some it may be borrowed from a book I have not read.
If you enjoy time travel, or are a fan of Jules Verne, or of a certain rock god, you may enjoy this. I did. A lot.
Crossover, then. Yes, and also crossing over with classic fiction, time travel theory (some of which has references) and rock personalities. It helps if you are up to speed with real names of rock gods. As time goes on in this book, the references to that oeuvre increase exponentially. It was great fun.
Under Pressure is engagingly written by Mr Fernandes, who gets inside January Purcell’s head and experiences exceedingly well. For a protagonist who is undergoing several bizarre experiences, sometimes simultaneously, she was remarkably rational and easy to follow. There are some lovely twists with the Victorian standards that she has to overcome which are not a problem in the previous time she occupied.
The story rocks forward, occasionally leaping back for very good and well articulated reasons, and several opportunities for the reader to get ahead of the plot and then discover they have fallen into a trap. Excellent worldbuilding, even if some it may be borrowed from a book I have not read.
If you enjoy time travel, or are a fan of Jules Verne, or of a certain rock god, you may enjoy this. I did. A lot.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews