Red-Handed

Pax Britannia #8, Part 1

by Jonathan Green

Paris. City of lights. City of lovers. City of dreams. Yet if one man gets his way its inhabitants will soon be forced to endure a nightmare such as they have never known. But dandy detective and Hero of the British Empire Ulysses Quicksilver is determined to get in his way; although he has problems of his own to deal with first before he can try to rescue the French capital from its earth-shattering fate. Arriving at a murder scene – with the dead man’s blood on his hands – Ulysses is forced to go on the run, so that he might track down the real killer. His intention: to clear his good name, and get back to England in one piece and as quickly as possible; for the love of his life is about to take a most ill-advised trip to the Moon. But that might be easier said than done, for the terrorist known only as ‘Le Papillon’ is preparing to bring chaos to the capital. When a butterfly flaps its wings, a wise man prepares for stormy weather. And with Ulysses Quicksilver involved, it’s bound to be the worst storm on record.

Genres: Steampunk, Science Fiction, Fantasy

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 5, 2011

About the author

Jonathan Green is a writer of speculative fiction, with more than seventy books to his name. Well known for his contributions to the Fighting Fantasy range of adventure gamebooks, he has also written fiction for such diverse properties as Doctor Who, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, Sonic the Hedgehog, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Moshi Monsters, LEGO, Judge Dredd and Robin of Sherwood.

He is the creator of the Pax Britannia series for Abaddon Books and has written eight novels, and numerous short stories, set within this steampunk universe, featuring the debonair dandy adventurer Ulysses Quicksilver. He is also the author of an increasing number of non-fiction titles, including the award-winning YOU ARE THE HERO – A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.

He has recently taken to editing and compiling short story anthologies, including the critically-acclaimed GAME OVER and SHARKPUNK, published by Snowbooks, and the forthcoming Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu.

To find out more about his current projects visit www.JonathanGreenAuthor.com and follow him on Twitter @jonathangreen.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's tough to review this first installment of the new Pax Britannia book fairly, since it is only the first third of the story. On top of that, not only do I, as a reader, not know where the story is going next, neither does the author: this installment ends on a cliffhanger, and readers can go to the publisher's web site to vote on which way they think the story should go next. The second installment will have a similar vote, and only after the third part is published as an ebook will the whole thing be released as a complete novel.

I can say, as someone who has only read the first Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia novel before I read this one, it's fairly accessible. There's quite a bit of mention of earlier stories, but while I understood that I was coming in on the middle of a series, I didn't feel particularly lost. While this story very much seems to follow on from a cliffhanger in the previous book, I felt I had enough information to still enjoy it. Plus, once that cliffhanger was wrapped up, the new story was completely fresh and accessible.

What I ended up with was a fast-paced, science fiction, steampunk action-adventure, with some cute nods to genuine Victorian science fiction. The interactive part of the story was fun, and it's really got me looking forward to the next installment (which is why I was willing to skip ahead in the series). And now I've got some time to get caught up!

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Quicksilver, but I'll admit this was not his best outing for me. I suspect the issue lies in the way the story developed based on reader votes rather than author plotting. No harm, no foul...just not my favorite. Look forward to more Quicksilver!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The eighth adventure of Ulysses Quicksilver with some interesting ideas.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paris. City of lights. City of lovers. City of dreams. Yet if one man gets his way, its inhabitants will soon be forced to endure a nightmare such as they have never known. But Hero of the British Empire Ulysses Quicksilver is determined to get in his way… although he has problems of his own to deal with first, before he can try to rescue the French capital from its earth-shattering fate. Arriving at a murder scene, Ulysses is forced to go on the run, so that he might track down the real killer. His intention: to clear his good name, and get back to England in one piece and as quickly as possible; for the love of his life is about to take a most ill-advised trip to the Moon. But the terrorist known only as ‘Le Papillon’ is preparing to bring chaos to the capital.

Let’s start with a little history lesson, seems only appropriate when this novel features time travel as a major component. Time’s Arrow was original published slightly differently than the previous Pax Britannia novels. It first saw the light of day as a three part episodic e-novel where the readers got to make a decision at the end of each episode as to where the story went next. The first part, Red Handed, arrived just over a year ago in October 2011. This was followed by Black Swan in May 2012 and then the final part, White Noise, appeared in September 2012. Harking back to the halcyon days of Fighting Fantasy (yes, I know they are still around but Sssh I’m waxing lyrical here) this additional touch of reader participation was a nice extra. The three episodes have now been collected together as one complete story in a paperback and e-book edition.

Poor old Ulysses Quicksilver. He really has been through the ringer just lately. Still a dandy, adventurer and agent of the Crown, but now also a time travelling crash test dummy. This latest adventure finds Ulysses suffering from the aftermath of an ill-advised trip to the Moon and a sojourn to the battlefields of the Second Great War, the events pick up directly after the conclusion of the novel Anno Frankenstein. For reasons I’ll gloss over to avoid spoilers, Ulysses is slightly adrift in time and on the run in Paris. Things escalate rather spectacularly from that point onwards and the manic action doesn’t let up until the last page. How can you not love a novel that features a flying rocket-powered bicycle, a cybernetically-enhanced silverback rampage, and a terrorist with a penchant for butterflies.

As I’ve come to expect from Jonathan Green’s writing, there’s a boat-load of steam powered action set pieces, a fast paced plot and some great throw-away pop culture references for a reader to spot. It’s become a favourite game of mine to see how many of these references I can spot in each new adventure. Everything from classic black and white movies to vintage video games gets a look in this time out.

Those of you who have read my reviews regularly will be well aware of my fondness for the world of Pax Britannia and the Ulysses Quicksilver novels. Jonathan Green knows how to deliver quirky adventures that are incredibly easy to get caught up in and contain a sense of unrestrained excitement in the writing. It’s always a pleasure to come across a writer who is obviously enjoying creating his or her work as much as the readers who are consuming it. Pax Britannia is a fun series and well worth investing your time in. I would strongly suggest however, checking out the preceding Ulysses Quicksilver novels before you dive into Time’s Arrow. If you don’t, you’ll be missing out on a brilliant ongoing series. Who knows where steampunk-ninja Jonathan Green will take Ulysses Quicksilver next, I can’t wait to find out.

[Ade Couper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Welcome to the world of Pax Britannia , & meet Ulysses Quicksilver : agent of the British government, adventurer , & dandy-about-town.... In this episode , Ulysses is in Paris , wanted for a murder on the Rue Morgue, & trying to foil a fiendish plot by a diabolical mastermind....

It took me a little while to get this , but then I "got" it - basically , this is a Roger Moore Bond movie! There are all sorts of nods to gothic & sci-fi classics (If I tell you 1 of the chapters is called "the silverback of Notre-Dame"....) , but this is basically a "stick your brain in neutral & enjoy the ride" tale.

The diabolical mastermind is quite entertaining, although all the characters seem a little cardboard : Quicksilver comes across as a slightly charmless John Steed (& the whole tale reminded me of an Avengers fan novel "Too Many Targets" in some ways...) , but the entertaining set-pieces more than make up for the thin characterisations.

this is my 1st visit to the World of Pax Britannia , but (like any good nefarious super-villian) "I will return....!"

Worth a look