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28th out of 33 books
—
7 voters
The Translated Man and Other Stories (The Corsay Books)
by
Chris Braak (Goodreads Author)
The gray, icy city of Trowth is hollowed out by war, and now haunted by the degenerate spawn of a monstrous science. Only a drug-addicted detective and a young man with a gift for mathematics have the means to solve an enigmatic murder--a murder that may be the key to saving Trowth from certain destruction.
Kindle Edition, 192 pages
Published
February 14th 2009
by Threat Quality Press
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Braak gets the setting and atmosphere of the city of Trowth just right, and for me that is the crucial point in any steam punk mystery. The author must create a metropolis halfway between the London of Queen Victoria and the Baghdad of Haroun al Rashid (with perhaps a dash of Eugene Sue's Paris thrown in for good measure), a city possessing an underground--preferably literal--filled with marvels, monsters, and crime. I was particularly delighted with the historical background Braak provides for...more
I first heard of Chris Braak's The Translated Man in the best way possible, referenced on a random linked blog post. The thumbnail review hit a lot of my personal nerdy buttons and thus stuck in my mind, and when I finally got a reliable tablet it was one of the first books I picked up.
The Translated Man is a Hard-boiled/Pulp/Crime/Magic/Neo-Victorian/Lovecraft Steam-Punk Detective novel. See what I mean about hitting all the nerdy buttons at once?
The Translated Man is a novel set in the city of...more
The Translated Man is a Hard-boiled/Pulp/Crime/Magic/Neo-Victorian/Lovecraft Steam-Punk Detective novel. See what I mean about hitting all the nerdy buttons at once?
The Translated Man is a novel set in the city of...more
I bought this book about a year ago after reading a review at io9, then promptly forgot about it. I rediscovered it awhile ago and was immediately sucked into the story. Braak transports some of the classic tropes of crime fiction (tough-as-nails cop addicted to something, a conspiracy that goes all the way to the top, everybody insisting that real police work isn't anything like crime fiction) and transplants them into a Lovecraftian/steampunk/dark fantasy world. This is the first self-publishe...more
I've been trying to get other people to read this book. It's self-published on Amazon and usually that means it's ridiculously crappy.. not so with this book. It's steampunk-ish, if you don't know what that means, search for it on google (think top hats and bronze goggles). This book is well written and the story is pretty good, but what sucked me in were the crazy details about the city and its history. The architecture wars, cross-the-ocean, and heretical aetheric geometry.. yeah that's right,...more
Magic steampunk police adventure?
You can read other reviews for more about the story. What I want to say is how this book shows e-books are awesome. Normally a paperback of this genre would be expected to be 500+ pages and cost $9+ dollars. This book is perfect length-wise at 224 pages which allows a Kindle price of $4 - fantastic!
Oh, I must say I like how the magic was well blended into common life. Like the main character who has a disease that is a combination of leprosy and invisibility.
You can read other reviews for more about the story. What I want to say is how this book shows e-books are awesome. Normally a paperback of this genre would be expected to be 500+ pages and cost $9+ dollars. This book is perfect length-wise at 224 pages which allows a Kindle price of $4 - fantastic!
Oh, I must say I like how the magic was well blended into common life. Like the main character who has a disease that is a combination of leprosy and invisibility.
A fascinating book I'd describe as detective noir fiction and Cthulhu cosmic horror. There's a city in the grip of an architectural war, nonhuman races, psionic weather, a crime-solving aetheric mathematician, a drug-addled and hallucinating detective, a clairaudient knocker and a host of other very creative ideas.
Every element of this book ticked a box for me, so it was a real shame the ebook was so badly formatted. Hopefully that's been addressed since.
Every element of this book ticked a box for me, so it was a real shame the ebook was so badly formatted. Hopefully that's been addressed since.
Disclaimer: Chris Braak is my husband's cousin. And I did some proofreading for a subsequent edition.
Having said that...
A complex combination of Victoriana, steampunk technology, Lovecraftian horror, and old-fashioned detective noir--a world of heretical science and Reanimates where the world of the Aether lies like a layer on the visible. This is a story that creates a rich world, high in detail, fully realized, but without wasting any time--there is no fat here--the plot gallops forward.
OK, al...more
Having said that...
A complex combination of Victoriana, steampunk technology, Lovecraftian horror, and old-fashioned detective noir--a world of heretical science and Reanimates where the world of the Aether lies like a layer on the visible. This is a story that creates a rich world, high in detail, fully realized, but without wasting any time--there is no fat here--the plot gallops forward.
OK, al...more
My son recommended this book to me. It was a little hard to get into at first, but once you began to understand the planet, culture and people, it was fascinating. This is a book you really need to read twice to get it.
I have a Print on Demand edition of this book with no ISBN listed, and no "and Other Stories" in the title.
If you like Lovecraftian steampunk dark Victorian crime novels, you'll like this one. :)
Oct 25, 2010
Chris Braak
rated it
5 of 5 stars
· (Review from the author)
·
review of another edition
This is ALSO my book, so can you blame me for rating everything really highly? They'll probably take these off after I get my author account confirmed.
Anyway, definitely get this version, instead of the old version of The Translated Man, as the new one includes a couple other stories that will be very important later on.
Anyway, definitely get this version, instead of the old version of The Translated Man, as the new one includes a couple other stories that will be very important later on.
Jan 23, 2013
Lalalie Dedepine
marked it as to-read
Jan 23, 2013
Anh
marked it as to-read
Dec 06, 2012
rick
marked it as to-read
Nov 26, 2012
Thomas
marked it as to-read
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RAAARRGGGH! I AM A MIGHTY NOVELIST AND ALSO DINOSAUR!
Hello. Welcome to the biography of Chris Braak, famous playwright and book-writing-guy. You may have heard the rumors that I am actually a velociraptor in disguise, wearing a suit that I made from the skins of my human victims, but that's obviously absurd! I mean, how, if I were such a thing, could I ever type? I'd need some kind of mechanical a...more
More about Chris Braak...
Hello. Welcome to the biography of Chris Braak, famous playwright and book-writing-guy. You may have heard the rumors that I am actually a velociraptor in disguise, wearing a suit that I made from the skins of my human victims, but that's obviously absurd! I mean, how, if I were such a thing, could I ever type? I'd need some kind of mechanical a...more
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