Official Review: Shadows Against the Empire

[Totoro]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Shadows Against the Empire" by Ralph E. Vaughan.]

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Shadows Against the Empire is a fantasy novel, in a steam punk setting. Set in the late 1800's, Britain has extended its empire to the stars. The story takes place on Mars, Venus, and Earth, with interplanetary travel achieved in, assumed, steam powered "aether ships". There is not a lot of time given to any of the technology involved, which is why I think of it more as fantasy than science fiction. From the very beginning I found the book similar to Edgar Rice Burroughs A Princess of Mars. Vaughan, must have taken some inspiration from that very book as it is mentioned in the telling of the story. The story also hearkens to William Gibson's The Difference Engine.

As the book starts, there seem to be at least three different plot lines that we are following. There is the story of Daraph-Kor, who is drawn on an almost spiritual quest. Arriving to place to which he is drawn, only to have his body invaded by and unknown entity, an entity indenting mass destruction. Thoza-Joran, is another Martian whose mind has been invaded by an entity. We also meet Sergeant Felix Hand (a Martian) and Captain Robert Folkestone (a human), who are sent to investigate the disappearance of a ship, and have an explainable encounter. Finally we also meet Chief Inspector Ethan Slaughter, who has a strange relic, reminiscent of Mars but covered in a drug from Venus.

It takes a bit of time for the plots to coalesce. There are Dark Gods and insidious Dream inducing Drugs. Hand and Folkestone have several adventures which lead them to discover more and more of the Dark Gods' plotting and scheming. Eventually it does all come together.

From a technical standpoint, there were several places that needed better editing. Mainly uses of words like "had" when the author meant "hadn't", making some sections a little confusion. Sergeant Hand is written as knowledgeable and somewhat experienced at times and at others is treated as almost a buffoon, even his speaking varies from sounding education to more of a country bumpkin.

Personally I did not care for the book. I think I expected more information on the technology that would make this novel steam punk. While at times it was a true page turner, there were other sections that just seemed to drag on and on. The ending was also vary hurried. I rate the book 2 out of 4 stars.

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