Thanks to everyone who entered the contest for The Steam Mole – check back soon for the giveaway drawing video!
This week’s giveaway is a real treat: The Rise of Ransom City by Felix Gilman.
In October 2010, we gave away a copy of Felix Gilman’s The Half-Made World, an intense and sprawling tale (see the review here and the giveaway here). The Rise of Ransom Cityis not so much a sequel as a parallel tale set in the same world. Framed as a collection of autobiographical scraps put together by a newspaper editor, the book tells the story of Harry Ransom, a fast-talking charmer who creates the Ransom Process, an inexplicable (and often unpredictable) means of generating light. Liv Alverhuysen and John Creedmore from The Half-Made World make a brief appearance as Ransom details his adventures attempting to make his fortune with the Process. Also prevalent in Ransom’s story is the ongoing war between the Gun and the Line, which threatens to swallow up the country as it expands ever westward.
The Rise of the Ransom City, while quite different than The Half-Made World, is just as dense and layered a book as its predecessor. Harry Ransom may not be the most reliable narrator, and readers may wish for some more mentions of what went on in the previous book, but Gilman’s latest is another fascinating look at the weirder western edge of this literary country.
We have one copy of The Rise of Ransom City to give away, and it’s a lovely hardback copy at that! To enter the giveaway, post a comment below and tell us your favorite invention of the 19th or 20th century. (This means that “the wheel” doesn’t count, but “Coca-Cola” does, for instance.) The deadline for entries is Sunday, February 24th. Good luck!
More information on The Rise of Ransom City, including an excerpt, can be found on Tor’s website.
More information on Felix Gilman can be found on his website and his Twitter page.
I read The Half-Made World and loved it. I hope this one is as good!
Posted by: Jean Hontz | February 19, 2013 at 02:21 PM
The birth control pill is my favorite invention of this century, for many reasons, selfish and unselfish.
Posted by: Cassandra | February 19, 2013 at 02:37 PM
The microwave is one of my favorite inventions this century!
Posted by: Seanna | February 19, 2013 at 02:59 PM
My favorite 19th Century invention has to be the safety pin.
Posted by: Joshua S. Fields | February 19, 2013 at 03:23 PM
This is very un-steampunk, but my favorite invention of the last century can be summed up in one word: Plastics.
Posted by: Alden Ash | February 19, 2013 at 06:07 PM
Waterman's fountain pen is my favorite!
Posted by: Steampunk_Gypsy | February 19, 2013 at 06:22 PM
I would love to win it, it sounds fascinating!
I think that most household appliances were really important for how they decreased a woman's workload so that she could do something other than clean or wash all day. So I would have to say The washing machine. Or possibly the hoover/ vaccuum.
Posted by: Laura Morrigan | February 19, 2013 at 11:11 PM
Oh, to fly in a steam-powered aeroplane! I’ve waited simply ages for the thrill of a lifetime and it happened today. After weeks of anticipation, fueled by the local papers and flyers nailed to every tree and, telegraph pole and fence post for miles around, those barnstorming Besler brothers finally arrived here in Oakland with their marvelous invention, the steam-powered aeroplane! So quiet, so efficient, and such a marvel of ingenuity and engineering. Surely the age of steam-powered flight has dawned at last!
Posted by: Page Turner | February 20, 2013 at 10:18 AM
I believe the greatest invention has to be from 1953. The invention of the first musical synthesizer not only brought us, arguably, the best era of music... yes, I am referring to 1980's techno pop. The synthesizer has also indelibly branded our auditory recounting of electro-beam weaponry as well as ionic flux pulse engines.
Posted by: Paul Payne | February 20, 2013 at 09:13 PM
My favorite invention is the internet. That is all.
Posted by: Professor Moniker | February 22, 2013 at 09:34 PM