Lazarus

by Sarah Cawkwell

Welcome to an alternate 1870s where the heroism and hubris of humanity in this era of steam and steel have unlocked secrets that the world was unprepared for, as super-science and alien technologies bring about an exciting and unpredictable age. The Dystopian Age.

402 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 26, 2022

About the author

A freelance writer based in the north east of England, Sarah is old enough to know better, but still young enough not to care. When not slaving away over a hot keyboard, Sarah's hobbies include reading everything and anything, running around in fields with swords screaming incomprehensibly, and having her soul slowly sucked dry by online games. Her minimum bribe level is one chocolate orange.

Reviews

[Michael Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the alternative 19th century American Old West of the Wild West Exodus tabletop game, Sarah Cawkwell’s Lazarus is an action-packed tale of gunslinging lawmen, soldiers, spirit magic and horrifying technological experimentation. In this Dystopian Age blending steam power and hyper-advanced technology, Major Willa Shaw of the Union of Federated States is dispatched to the arid lands of Arizona to investigate the destruction of a young mining town named Provenance. Along the way she’s unhappily reunited with a figure from her past in the shape of Deputy Doc Holliday, the two of them forced together by circumstance as they piece together a puzzle involving questions over Provenance’s fate, horrifying human/machine constructs, and a dangerous new narcotic called Lazarus. The trail of death and destruction they follow leads inevitably to the threat of newfound conflict, and the unhinged genius of Lady Annabelle Hamilton.

As a tie-in novel exploring this entertaining setting there’s a lot to recommend this – it’s not the most complicated or unpredictable of plots, and it does have a slightly confusing tendency to jump perspectives in the middle of a scene (and that’s really a case of personal taste), but really it’s just good fun, and boasts some great characters (just wait until you meet Sergeant Irwin). The occasional references to other events, factions and concepts in the setting will likely appeal to existing fans, but there’s nothing stopping someone totally new to the IP [like me] from enjoying this as a standalone story.

Read my full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2022/11/...