Leviathan Rising

Pax Britannia #2

by Jonathan Green

In the closing years of the 20th century the British Empire's rule is still going strong. Queen Victoria is about to celebrate her 160th birthday, kept alive by advanced steam technology. London is a fantastical sprawling metropolis where dirigibles roam the skies, robot bobbies enforce the law and dinosaurs are on display in London zoo. Welcome to Magna Britannia, a steam driven world full of fantastical creations and shady villains. Here dashing dandies and mustachioed villains battle for supremacy while below the city strange things stir in the flooded tunnels of the old London Underground. Around the world in eighty days in style! This proud claim, made by the Carcharodon Shipping Company, is about to be put to the test as its newest and most magnificent submersible cruise liner, the Neptune, sets sail on its maiden voyage around the world. Among the great and the good who have been invited to join this historic cruise is Ulysses Quicksilver, dandy adventurer and hero of Magna Britannia, enjoying a well-deserved sojourn after the traumatic events of Queen Victoria's 160th jubilee celebrations. But something is waiting in the depths. Something that threatens the Empire itself!

Genres: Steampunk, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Adventure, Science Fiction, Alternate History

320 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2008

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

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book of the PAX BRITTANIA series
and it is the second adventure of Ulysses Quicksilver.

This is the blurb:
"Around the world in eighty days ­ in style!"

This proud claim, made by the Carcharodon Shipping Company, is about to be put to the test as its newest and most magnificent submersible cruise liner, the Neptune, sets sail on its maiden voyage around the world. Among the great and the good who have been invited to join this historic cruise is Ulysses Quicksilver, dandy adventurer and hero of Magna Britannia, enjoying a well-deserved sojourn after the traumatic events of Queen Victoria¹s 160th jubilee celebrations.

But only days out from the undersea city of Pacifica disaster strikes. First a brutal murder is committed and then an act of sabotage sends the Neptune plunging into the abyssal depths. Trapped at the bottom of the sea, teetering on the edge of the unfathomable Marianas trench, the few who survive the tragedy discover that their problems are only just beginning.
For far below, in the cold ocean depths, a decades old secret awaits them. Lurking in the oppressive stygian darkness is the legacy of a protracted cold war waged between Magna Britannia and the Chinese empire. The Kraken has awoken. Rising from the abyss, like the Biblical leviathan of legend, it hungers and when it hunts none shall escape its primeval fury.
END OF THE BLURB

I liked the story which is a mix of steampunk, The Abyss, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, secret research and a whodunnit murder mystery.


The book also contains an additional short story
VANISHING POINT by Jonathan Green
We meet again our hero Ulyses Quicksilver.
This time he has to deal with ghosts and mysteriously machines.


All in all you get book ideal for rainy days. It is a fun and entertaining read without thoughtfulness.

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book I bought in this series was the seventh, which is out of character for me because I like to read series in order but the blurb and the cover and everything about it just told me that this was something special. I was not let down. Jonathan Green is an amazing author and his skill of crafting words with such fluency and inspiration is a rare one. I am now gradually acquiring the whole series.

I was given the first two last Christmas and I know it's quite a while ago now but I can still remember their plots because all his works stay with me a long time after I've read them. The first book was a classic and I thoroughly enjoyed it, soon moving onto number two. I love Ulysses and think he is a worthy hero but this book didn't quite hit the spot for me. Maybe it was because he set this book underwater which is quite a difference to the usual haunt and takes more to pull off because everything is so different. The plot was good and so were the murders and the beginning when he was describing the subliner was so rich with detail that I could feel myself slipping on to that very ship but still something was missing. I think it was missing the usual action of scooting around with Nimrod in their car and running to save the world with his super-cane just in the nick of time. Also, I think the love interest was not as... good. I can't describe it, I just thought she wasn't as attractive or appealing or in any way good enough for Ulysses. Maybe you disagree but she didn't make the part for me.

The underwater setting was another thing that set me off. I appreciate that he was trying something different and seeing what he could do with a twist on the norm and to be honest, he didn't write a bit of crap and pass it off as a book. The storyline had depth (as always) and the characters were intriguing in their own way but everything just struck me as cold. The more I think about it, that was probably the point of it all and I'm just rambling on here but this was the one thing that made me think twice about this book.

However, at the end of the day, it is a Jonathan Green book and I'm not complaining because it wasn't a direct fault that I'm pointing out. It was just the overall atmosphere that left me a little chilled. But maybe that was the death of the Miss Birkin... eughhh!

I love all the books of his that I've read so far and this wasn't by any means a bad book so thumbs up anyway for the storyline and characters! (apart from Glenda. mwah ha ha!)

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

I CAN’T GET ENOUGH! Book 1 of this series, ‘Thy Kingdom Fall,’ provides background and sets the stage for an all too possible future where the Government uses all means available to secularize the United States of America, removing religious obstacles necessary to exercise total power. Book 2, ‘Stars and Scorpions,’ focuses on efforts by followers of Judaism (Stars) and those of Catholicism as practiced in Mexico (Scorpions), to defend their faiths against external pressures: attacks against Judaism by the government of the USA; attacks against Catholics by the drug cartels and the corrupt government of Mexico. In Book 3, following the death (under suspicious circumstances during an official state function) of the Russian Emperor Krutikov, a Russian mob boss, Igor Aleyev, capitalizes on the leadership void to take control. The White and Dark sisterhoods of the religious cult of witchcraft, Wiccan, wage war on the streets and in the alleyways of Moscow for supremacy of their chosen sides. Threatened, the Russian Orthodox inexplicably vanish. The Mormon Order has fled Utah and the United States, forming their own independent state on the high seas in floating cities where they too are faced with a schism. Project Leviathan (self-contained, self-supporting, and fully autonomous cities), in multiple but similar formats, underlies these storylines but must survive Igor Aleyev’s thermonuclear strike to drive back encroaching CHIN forces attempting to take advantage of the Russian power struggle. It is not difficult to choose a side in these running conflicts. Dragon has masterfully set the hook with Book 1 and he doesn’t fail to keep the line taught.

[ᴥ Irena ᴥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though the beginning of the first act is pretty slow (the appearance of VIP passengers on board of the Neptune was one of those boring things), the second and the third act saved the day.

It is Hercule Poirot meets tons of films where people get stuck on ships or inside some underwater facility and they have to get away while being chased by monsters and unknown murderers. Not really a spoiler.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jonathan Green will take you on a wild ride with a crescendo that lasts the whole last half of the books. I was eagerly gobbling up every piece of his story, but the only reason I didn't land it a 5 star is because I figured out his mystery long before dear Mr. Quicksilver did.

[Jānis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great sci-fi opera with an oldschool feel. Story before tech. Hope the rest of the trilogy are as good.

[Joe Longstaff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some more brilliant writing from the impressive Jonathan Green. No more needs to be said.

[Teo · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Leviathan Rising" is the 2nd book in the Pax Britannia series, kickstarted by Jonathan Green with "Unnatural History" and tuned-up with the sequel. This one's takes the win over the first novel, in every way imaginable.

It starts only a short time after the grand and explosive finale of "Unnatural History". Ulysses Quicksilver, dandy adventurer and secret agent of the throne, is invited to a luxury cruise, the maiden voyage of the world's most advanced submersible cruiser, the Neptune. Joining him are a slew of VIP guests, each with their own secrets. That something shady is afoot becomes clear when there is a murder on board. As if this wasn't enough, the Neptune suddenly starts to sink to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, which - contrary to everyone's beliefs - is anything but unpopulated. Ulysses' much needed respite turns into a bitter fight for dear life, his own as well the ones of his fellow passengers.

So, what we have here is a steampunk (sci-fi) murder mystery mixed with horror and adventure. Jonathan Green turned into next gear with this sequel, which really does leave its predecessor in the dust in all aspects. Everything is better, and dare I say, bigger?

The writing and plotting is improved, and the various sub-genres blend seamlessly to create a very fun thrill-ride. But be warned - this is NOT a murder mystery. Do not expect anything even remotely on the level of Agatha Christie. The murder is simply one of many plot devices used to add to the tension, while the focus of the plot shifts in other - frankly, more interesting - directions. So, don't hold too much of a grudge if you guess whodunnit within the first 100 pages or so.

I devoured this novel in a matter of days. It's really more of the same pulpy steampunk, only executed in a more skillful manner. It's got its fair bit of cliches, true; but again - that is kind of the point with these books, right? It's what you do with familiar elements that matters, and what Jonathan Green did is create another fun entry in the diary of Ulysses Quicksilver's life. Absolutely recommended!

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was going to give this book two stars, because at least it is pacey and, I guess, kind of exciting at parts, but my conscience just won't allow it. Because below the very shallow exterior of an average James Bond novel filled with cliched characters (non of which are particularly likeable) and plot points (all of which are completely predictable), lies something rather unpalatable. I was enticed by this because the premise seemed rather steampunk. Victoria is somehow still queen after almost 200 years, there's a very bioshock feeling submarine cruise liner, and the characters are 19th century caricatures - all stuff that should get a steampunk like me hooked. But steampunk has this beautiful dichotomy about it. Although it is obsessed with an earlier time, where social morality was not a thing and the poor were treated as less than human, the actual steampunk community are some of the most inclusive, socially liberal, wonderfully egalitarian people in the world. This book is not that. This book is racist, sexist, ablist, and I suspect only not homophobic because it didn't come up (edit: read the novella at the back of the book - it came up - it is homophobic, and possibly promotes incest). If you consider yourself a good person and you find nothing hateful about this book, I would suggest you take a long hard look at your unconscious bias. This is a book for those who want to go back to a simpler time, when "good British men" could do what they wanted and women and foreigners had to shut up and take it. It is not for people who wonder at the infinite possibilities of the imagination, and the world we could build if we only had the vision. That's what steampunk is. This is trash.

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was much improved over the first book of the series. The pacing was better, the clunkiness of the prose less noticeable. During the first book I kept saying to myself, I should be enjoying this more. I didn't have that problem here. Quite enjoyable.

Our Hero's sidekick still seems extraneous, and man, our guy has terrible luck with the ladies. Still. looking forward to more steampunky goodness.

[Devon Gambrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a while to get through this book

I am not a technical reader so this story was a little harder for me to get through but it was entertaining and the mystery kept me intrigued.

[Teddi]

1/3 read. I enjoyed the first book in series but this one just isn't for me. It started out good but once I realized the direction it was taking, I quit. I think old movies about marine disasters ruined me for this theme.

[Kate Gillogly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love scifi and alternative histories, so I thought I had a winner when I started this book. The prologue is set on a tramp ship smuggling opium TO Britain (google "steps to opium production" to see why this thrilled me!).

If you read because you like good writing, then avoid this book. After the promising prologue, you'll be dropped into a world of writing in which characterizations consist of the hero going around the dinner table listing key points of each character to himself, and the author has never met an adjective he didn't like and use. For instance, at the height of a scene in which the horrible monster - perhaps a Kraken, perhaps the result of horrible scientific experiments - is being attacked by giant sharks, Green writes: "There wasn't one thought to the contrary in his mind that the sharks' attack against the Kraken was a happy accident as far as those on board the Nemo were concerned but then serendipity was playing its part quite nicely nonetheless, and suddenly the facility was a viable objective again, the open hole of its docking gate within reach." In the first 1/5 of the book, Green repeatedly refers to the shadow of the cleavage of the female romantic's lead about 5 times. She is, by the way, svelte AND curvaceous. And a range of discriminatory comments about people who are not Anglo flow out of character's mouths or the hero's internal dialogue. Historically accurate? Ironic? Perhaps, the way Green writes it seems that these are simply acceptable ways to refer to Indians, Chinese, and so on.

I haven't read the earlier book in Green's series, which means that in my reading experience of this book there was no world-building whatsoever. Darwinists of some sort are bad, and Queen Victoria has been ruling for 160 years. Green might want to spend a little more of his words on showing his world, and far fewer passages like: "The other more senior ladies of the party had wisely kept to more traditional, and therefore, restrained designs."

Oy.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

With his Ulysses Quicksilver character, Jonathan Green appears to want to have some sort of steampunk James Bond, with superpowers, in mind. Unfortunately the idea has gone very stale very quickly.

The characterisation is flat and, although I ploughed through until the end of the book, I really didn't find myself caring about what was going to happen. The identity of the villain was so apparent from so early on that I'm not sure whether the final reveal was supposed to be a surprise or not.

[John Montagne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another dreadful attempt to write steampunk by Green. Author has the main character (the lame hero named Ulysses Quicksilver), pretty much lead the reader by the hand in regard to other characters/events. No new ideas really... this leviathan is amongst the flotsam of steampunk. The writing itself is dull and the characters even more so.

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very predictable....figured it out in the first 100 pages...will try one more to see if they are more satisfying.

[Philip Chaston · Rating 2 out of 5]

Those who gasp at the theatrical unmasking of the "villain" here need psychiatric help. Never was insanity so implausible!