It's Day 2 of Giveaway Week, and today we're featuring Rise of the Iron Moon by Stephen Hunt. In a happy coincidence, Hunt's book was mentioned yesterday in a Wall Street Journal article about steampunk literature!
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The Rise of the Iron Moon by Stephen Hunt (Tor Books)
In Middlesteel, the river takes everything. And it takes in everything as it flows, sensing people running in the shadows, political forces massing just out of sight, and magic and steam working alongside each other.
Middlesteel is the capital of Stephen Hunt's Kingdom of the Jackals, and The Rise of the Iron Moonis the third book to take place in his Jackelian world. The series is now up to six books (released in the UK first before making their way over to the US) and, while not a linear series, has many recurring characters and plotlines in each volume.
First off, I admit that I hadn't read the previous books in the series before opening The Rise of the Iron Moon, and so felt as if I hit the ground running at a high speed. I'm told this is a trademark of all the books in the series, however -- the action comes fast and furious and with many tangents sparking off in different directions. It's a wild ride and one that immerses you at once in the world of the Jackals, the Quatershifts, and other nations that may extend beyond what anyone imagines. In Hunt's books, robotic technology and magic exist side by side; steam-powered machinery is driven by people with powerful visions, while politicians use any advantage they can find to advance their causes. There's something in The Rise of the Iron Moonfor everyone -- especially for those of a steampunk bent.
We have a beautiful hardcover edition of The Rise of the Iron Moon to give away! We're going to get a little creative on this one. To enter the contest, post a comment below and explain (or fabricate) your theory on ley lines, which are often mentioned in the Jackelian series. (The Wikipedia entry is a little iffy; here's another site which details the history of the ley lines theory.) Are ley lines bunk? Are they magnetic? Are they a guide map for aliens? Are they something else entirely? We'll take any explanation below. All entries will be put into a top hat and the winning entry will be drawn at random (perhaps by a snarky steampunk puppet). The deadline for entering the contest is 11:59 pm EST Friday, May 27; we'll hold the drawing sometime over Memorial Day weekend and post the winner straight away. Good luck!
(More information on The Rise of the Iron Moon is available via Tor/Macmillan; Stephen Hunt twitters as SFCrowsNest and has a website of the same name.)
If they are not random coincidences ley lines were created by time traveling storytellers to give authors a device they can use in their books.
Posted by: Alden Ash | May 10, 2011 at 02:03 PM
Ley lines are a physical manifestation musical/mathematical/mystical Pythagorian order, a compulsion to builders of monuments they feel from listening to the music of the angels as they turn the spheres.
Actually, I think they are random coincidences, but the other explanation is more fun.
Posted by: Liam | May 11, 2011 at 10:55 AM
Haha, I have no theory of ley lines, other than their being random. To tell the truth, I'll probably google ley lines right after I'm done typing this...
Posted by: Nicole Dunlap | May 11, 2011 at 01:34 PM
Things are never what they appear. This is the universal condition when all things are in flux. You assume that just because we live on the planet, that it belongs to us. That assumption is not only wrong, it is completely necessary. The less you know, the better. We see microcosmic life all the time now. But what about the macrocosm? How much of the universe goes by without us seeing it? Does all that stuff still happen? Matter is energy, energy is matter. I've said to much. You'll just unravel the whole thing...
Or it could be that I'm a liar.
Posted by: Tyler Childers | May 11, 2011 at 02:39 PM
Ley lines are the avenues of travel between the Known World and the Realm of Faerie that permit the Seelie Court to pass freely on their business between our world, at the end of time, and theirs, where time stands still. The fabric that separates our worlds is thinnest where ley lines cross, permitting Faerie magick to bleed into our dreary reality in ways both astonishing and menacing-- to the discomfort of those who maintain order in the Realm of Faerie! Should you pass through intersecting ley lines under a full moon, you'll find yourself with pockets full of gold and a crown of silver moonbeams-- but fall asleep there and you may awake years later with dry leaves in your pocket and cobwebs in your hair...and wistful but troubling memories of a night of frenzied dancing with partners of transcending beauty.
Posted by: Page Turner | May 13, 2011 at 08:33 AM
I'm not sure but I think that there must be a cosmic joke in there somewhere ...
Posted by: Barry Huddleston | May 15, 2011 at 11:18 AM
Oooh, I just love Page Turner's explanation... Its sooo brilliant!
I'll have to come up with something different... Navigational lines full of mystic energy that ancient dragons used to orient themselves. Ever since the dragons dissapeared from Earth the lines started to decay and many of the waypoints crumbled or were destroyed, ths breaking the delicate arcane telluric circuitry and disabling the network...
Posted by: Soundofthunder | May 17, 2011 at 05:36 AM