From the Deep of the Dark

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

The sixth marvellous tale of high adventure and derring-do from the master of steampunk literature, set in the world of The Court of the Air
A daring underwater chase ends in a battle for the Kingdom itself

The streets of Middlesteel are under attack by an unseen enemy, leaving bloodless corpses in its trail. The newssheets scream vampire, but the truth is even more deadly than anyone knows.

Charlotte Shades, Mistress of Mesmerism, is a thief and a darned good one at that. When two mysterious men ask her to steal King Judes Sceptre from the Parliament vaults, the challenge (and reward) is too great to pass up. After all, Charlottes natural charm and the magic of the gem she wears the mysterious Eye of Fate have never failed her before.

Only consulting detective Jethro Daunt and his steamman companion Boxiron know theres more to these two men than meets the eye. Yet even as they rescue Charlotte from a fate worse than death, they are thrown into a plot thicker than even they realize. They escape beneath the waves in an ancient submarine led by Commodore Jethro Black, where they encounter stiff resistance from the strange people who inhabit the vast underwater kingdoms. But man, woman, seanore and gillneck alike must band together if they are to defeat a danger that might not even be from this world

Reviews

Praise for The Court of the Air:

An inventive, ambitious work, full of wonders and marvels Lisa Tuttle, The Times

The characters are convincing and colourful, but the real achievement is the setting, a hellish take on Victorian London the depth and complexity of Hunts vision makes it compulsive reading for all ages Guardian

Wonderfully assured Hunt knows what his audience like and gives it to them with a sardonic wit and carefully developed tension Time Out

Rich and colourful keeps you engrossed a confident, audacious novel SFX

Like a magpie, Stephen Hunt has plucked colourful events from history and politics and used them for inspiration Hunts tells his full-blooded tale with lip-smacking relish, revealing a vivid, often gruesome imagination The Court of the Air brims with originality and, from the first, its chase-filled plot never lets up Starburst

Author Bio

Stephen Hunt set up one of the first science fiction and fantasy web sites, www.SFcrowsnest.com, in 1994, the same year Netscape was launched as a graphical web browser. Today Stephen Hunt's SFcrowsnest.com has 700,000 readers a month. Originally set up to help promote Hunt's fiction, the site has expanded into an online magazine featuring SFF book and movie reviews, editorials, fiction, articles and news. Contributors include authors such as Ken Macleod and Stephen Baxter, as well as hundreds of science fiction and fantasy fans around the world. Stephen Hunt lives in Surrey with his wife and children.