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The Ghost #2
Ghosts of War
Ghosts of War picks up the story a month after the end of Ghosts of Manhattan. New York City is being plagued by a pack of ferocious brass raptors – strange, skeleton-like creations with bat-like wings that swoop out of the sky, attacking people and carrying them away into the night. The Ghost has been tracking these bizarre machines, and is close to finding their origin: a deranged military scientist who is slowly rebuilding himself as a machine. However, this scientist is not working alone, and his scheme involves more than a handful of abductions. He is part of a plot to escalate the cold war with Britain into a full-blown conflict, and he is building a weapon – a weapon that will fracture dimensional space and allow the monstrous creatures that live on the other side to spill through. He and his co-conspirators – a cabal of senators and businessmen who seek to benefit from the war – intend to harness these creatures and use them as a means to crush the British. But the Ghost knows only too well how dangerous these creatures can be, and the threat they represent not just to Britain, but the world. The Ghost’s efforts to put an end to the conspiracy bring him into an uneasy alliance with a male British spy, who is loose in Manhattan, protecting the interests of his country. He also has the unlikely assistance of Ginny, a drunken ex-lover and sharpshooter, who walks back into his life, having disappeared six years earlier in mysterious circumstances. Suffering from increasingly lucid flashbacks to WWI and subjected to rooftop chases, a battle with a mechanized madman, and the constant threat of airborne predators, and with the fate of the world hanging in the balance, can the Ghost derail the conspiracy and prevent the war with the British from escalating beyond control?
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
5 people are currently reading
551 people want to read
About the author
George Mann
368 books675 followersGeorge Mann is an author and editor, primarily in genre fiction. He was born in Darlington, County Durham in 1978.
A former editor of Outland, Mann is the author of The Human Abstract, and more recently The Affinity Bridge and The Osiris Ritual in his Newbury and Hobbes detective series, set in an alternate Britain, and Ghosts of Manhattan, set in the same universe some decades later.
He wrote the Time Hunter novella "The Severed Man", and co-wrote the series finale, Child of Time.
He has also written numerous short stories, plus Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes audiobooks for Big Finish Productions. He has edited a number of anthologies including The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, The Solaris Book of New Fantasy and a retrospective collection of Sexton Blake stories, Sexton Blake, Detective, with an introduction by Michael Moorcock.
A former editor of Outland, Mann is the author of The Human Abstract, and more recently The Affinity Bridge and The Osiris Ritual in his Newbury and Hobbes detective series, set in an alternate Britain, and Ghosts of Manhattan, set in the same universe some decades later.
He wrote the Time Hunter novella "The Severed Man", and co-wrote the series finale, Child of Time.
He has also written numerous short stories, plus Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes audiobooks for Big Finish Productions. He has edited a number of anthologies including The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, The Solaris Book of New Fantasy and a retrospective collection of Sexton Blake stories, Sexton Blake, Detective, with an introduction by Michael Moorcock.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
September 18, 2011
You might have an amusing time reading other reviews of this book. A lot of people hate it.
I admit it is not the best. The writing is kind of derivative and shallow and all of the characters are unapologetically stereotyped.
However, I don't think the author was setting out to write the next Great Gatbsy. No, the author was intent on writing a multi-genre mash-up and on that point, this book must be regarded as an unadulterated success.
In fact, I would argue that Ghosts of War is surely the Citizen Kane of superhero/steampunk/hardboiled mystery/Lovecraftian horror novels.
Yes, author George Mann seeks to graft all these genres together in this second installment of his "Ghost" series. The titular character himself is somewhat of a mash up of 1930's Batman and the Watchmen's Rorschach.
So if you want to read quality serious literature go pick up something by Herman Melville or John Updike.
If you want to read about rooftop bottles between a gas-powered masked vigilante and demonic mechanical gargoyles, this is the book for you
I admit it is not the best. The writing is kind of derivative and shallow and all of the characters are unapologetically stereotyped.
However, I don't think the author was setting out to write the next Great Gatbsy. No, the author was intent on writing a multi-genre mash-up and on that point, this book must be regarded as an unadulterated success.
In fact, I would argue that Ghosts of War is surely the Citizen Kane of superhero/steampunk/hardboiled mystery/Lovecraftian horror novels.
Yes, author George Mann seeks to graft all these genres together in this second installment of his "Ghost" series. The titular character himself is somewhat of a mash up of 1930's Batman and the Watchmen's Rorschach.
So if you want to read quality serious literature go pick up something by Herman Melville or John Updike.
If you want to read about rooftop bottles between a gas-powered masked vigilante and demonic mechanical gargoyles, this is the book for you
August 12, 2016
3.5
Mechanical raptors are taking people from the streets. Nobody knows where they are taking them or why. The one thing which seems common to them all is that they aren't coming back. Of course it is a job for the Ghost. This time he is not alone. Donovan, Ginny and one British spy are in the middle of everything.
Nothing is as they thought. New York is not the only thing that needs saving.
Mechanical raptors are taking people from the streets. Nobody knows where they are taking them or why. The one thing which seems common to them all is that they aren't coming back. Of course it is a job for the Ghost. This time he is not alone. Donovan, Ginny and one British spy are in the middle of everything.
Nothing is as they thought. New York is not the only thing that needs saving.
September 23, 2024
I read the first one and wanted to keep going because the characters are quite interesting and the action scenes are good.
The Ghost is apparently indestructible and his sidekicks must have invisible shields as nothing damages them except themselves with their excessive smoking and alcohol consumption.
There are memorable images, it is quite cinematic, but parts of it are a bit of a slog to read.
The Ghost is apparently indestructible and his sidekicks must have invisible shields as nothing damages them except themselves with their excessive smoking and alcohol consumption.
There are memorable images, it is quite cinematic, but parts of it are a bit of a slog to read.
October 20, 2011
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)
Regular readers will remember last year's Ghosts of Manhattan, from genre veteran and Doctor Who scriptwriter George Mann, and how I found it only so-so when originally reviewing it myself; and now its sequel is out, Ghosts of War, which I decided to go ahead and read as well, partly because a copy was nicely sent to me by our buddies at Pyr and partly because I've always suspected that I didn't give the first volume a fair shake. And indeed, the good news is that this "Art Deco Steampunk" actioner came off this time as much better than the original, I suspect partly because both Mann and myself have grown more into these characters and setting; for those who don't know, it's set in an alt-history 1920s New York, in which a Shadow/Batman-style crimefighter is assisted by lots of fanciful tech gear, while facing complications not from German spies but ones from a still-strong and now antagonistic British Empire, who has been locked into a cold war of sorts with the US for decades on end by now. Of course, in my defense, it's also clear that this sequel is simply better than the original as well, and very specifically addresses some of the problems that I mentioned about the first book; for example, while I found what Mann actually did with this milieu in the original to be rather uninspiring, this time he comes up with a real corker of a dilemma, one I'll let remain a surprise but let's say ties in nicely with the work of HP Lovecraft, who in real life was writing his best-known stories right in these same years. Essentially more of the same but now just a little sharper, a little brighter and a little smarter, it comes recommended to both traditional steampunk fans and aficionados of Early Modernist noir serials, a rousing thriller that stands strongly against the Victorian setting where most of these types of novels are usually placed.
Out of 10: 8.4
Regular readers will remember last year's Ghosts of Manhattan, from genre veteran and Doctor Who scriptwriter George Mann, and how I found it only so-so when originally reviewing it myself; and now its sequel is out, Ghosts of War, which I decided to go ahead and read as well, partly because a copy was nicely sent to me by our buddies at Pyr and partly because I've always suspected that I didn't give the first volume a fair shake. And indeed, the good news is that this "Art Deco Steampunk" actioner came off this time as much better than the original, I suspect partly because both Mann and myself have grown more into these characters and setting; for those who don't know, it's set in an alt-history 1920s New York, in which a Shadow/Batman-style crimefighter is assisted by lots of fanciful tech gear, while facing complications not from German spies but ones from a still-strong and now antagonistic British Empire, who has been locked into a cold war of sorts with the US for decades on end by now. Of course, in my defense, it's also clear that this sequel is simply better than the original as well, and very specifically addresses some of the problems that I mentioned about the first book; for example, while I found what Mann actually did with this milieu in the original to be rather uninspiring, this time he comes up with a real corker of a dilemma, one I'll let remain a surprise but let's say ties in nicely with the work of HP Lovecraft, who in real life was writing his best-known stories right in these same years. Essentially more of the same but now just a little sharper, a little brighter and a little smarter, it comes recommended to both traditional steampunk fans and aficionados of Early Modernist noir serials, a rousing thriller that stands strongly against the Victorian setting where most of these types of novels are usually placed.
Out of 10: 8.4
August 24, 2020
CAUTION - There are Minor Spoilers Ahead...Enter at your own risk!!!
It's been a little over one short month since the events in GHOSTS OF MANHATTAN. Gabriel Cross, otherwise known as the GHOST, is still recovering from the sacrifice that his one true love, Celeste made...a sacrifice that prevented evil from entering our world.
But...life goes on, and with it new evil and new horrors. Flying creatures...part mechanical, part flesh and bone...are stealing citizens off the streets of Manhattan. For whatever nefarious reason is unknown; as well as where they are being taken as the Ghost has been unable to stop even one of them.
Meanwhile...Gabriel's best friend in the police department, Inspector Felix Donovan has been tasked with the mission of stopping the activities of a foreign spy who, if not captured might throw the world back into another terrible conflict.
Soon, the two find their missions overlapping with new discoveries pointing toward the previous evil destroyed being only a small pebble in the road compared to the Mt. Everest that is looming over the end of the world.
This is the second entry in George Mann's GHOST series. No sophomore jinx here as this story takes the elements of the first book and refines and builds upon the foundation that Mann laid in that story. A blend of steampunk, dieselpunk, and horror thrown into a flashback to the pulp heroes of the 1930s. Mann captures the feel and atmosphere of both those long gone heroes as well as opening up an gritty, alternate world of coal burning, steam driven vehicles...hologram phones...and cross city aircraft as a daily fact of life where the citizens live in a cold war that threatens to engulf the world in flames once more.
Mann shows that, should he have been born 80 years earlier, he would have been one of the stars of the pulp era.
New Readers **** you could very well pick this up as a cold read and thoroughly enjoy the story without having read the original. The author gives more than enough connecting backstory to fill in the gaps...BUT...what the heck...now go back and buy the inaugural flight of fantasy.
It's been a little over one short month since the events in GHOSTS OF MANHATTAN. Gabriel Cross, otherwise known as the GHOST, is still recovering from the sacrifice that his one true love, Celeste made...a sacrifice that prevented evil from entering our world.
But...life goes on, and with it new evil and new horrors. Flying creatures...part mechanical, part flesh and bone...are stealing citizens off the streets of Manhattan. For whatever nefarious reason is unknown; as well as where they are being taken as the Ghost has been unable to stop even one of them.
Meanwhile...Gabriel's best friend in the police department, Inspector Felix Donovan has been tasked with the mission of stopping the activities of a foreign spy who, if not captured might throw the world back into another terrible conflict.
Soon, the two find their missions overlapping with new discoveries pointing toward the previous evil destroyed being only a small pebble in the road compared to the Mt. Everest that is looming over the end of the world.
This is the second entry in George Mann's GHOST series. No sophomore jinx here as this story takes the elements of the first book and refines and builds upon the foundation that Mann laid in that story. A blend of steampunk, dieselpunk, and horror thrown into a flashback to the pulp heroes of the 1930s. Mann captures the feel and atmosphere of both those long gone heroes as well as opening up an gritty, alternate world of coal burning, steam driven vehicles...hologram phones...and cross city aircraft as a daily fact of life where the citizens live in a cold war that threatens to engulf the world in flames once more.
Mann shows that, should he have been born 80 years earlier, he would have been one of the stars of the pulp era.
New Readers **** you could very well pick this up as a cold read and thoroughly enjoy the story without having read the original. The author gives more than enough connecting backstory to fill in the gaps...BUT...what the heck...now go back and buy the inaugural flight of fantasy.
August 27, 2019
I have not read the first book on this series. I doubt I will.
This is a novel that has a lot of ideas. It contains more than one genre. It could have put all these ideas together and become something that many people should want to read.
It isn't. The plot is bland and the characters blander. What should be moments of great suspense and action become just words on a page. The writing style just doesn't lead itself to excitement. Near the end there is what could have been a Hollywood style action scene which people would always remember. In this book it just happened.
There is some good ideas in this book. None of them were particularly well executed. The author obviously does sell novels. This seems to be a bad example of his talent.
This is a novel that has a lot of ideas. It contains more than one genre. It could have put all these ideas together and become something that many people should want to read.
It isn't. The plot is bland and the characters blander. What should be moments of great suspense and action become just words on a page. The writing style just doesn't lead itself to excitement. Near the end there is what could have been a Hollywood style action scene which people would always remember. In this book it just happened.
There is some good ideas in this book. None of them were particularly well executed. The author obviously does sell novels. This seems to be a bad example of his talent.
December 18, 2014
I have not read Mann's first novel about The Ghost, Ghosts of Manhattan, so I'll go drone, waffle, blegh. However I have just finished Ghosts of War. So here's a little review of it.
Gabriel Cross, millionaire playboy and ex-soldier, is also The Ghost, a mysterious vigilante who patrols the rooftops and skies of 1920's New York, righting wrongs and performing deeds of derringdo. So far, so Batman. But then Mann introduces the Steampunk elements that skew the story into an alternative reality where Queen Victoria has only recently died, her daughter Alberta is on the throne, and Britain and America are locked into a deadly cold war. Flying automatons called Raptors are abducting people seemingly at random. A British spy is on the loose with dangerous information. And a crooked Senator is spoiling to start war with the British Empire.
Mann then ramps it up even more by going all Lovecraftian and confronting the reader with nightmare creatures from another dimension, who like the taste of human blood. Oh and a leper who has replaced his limbs with mechanical ones of his own design. By himself. Yeah, me too. How the hell he wired them into his nervous system so that his brain can control them is ever explained. In fact the are some major plot points that are never satisfactorily explained.
Mann's writing is pedestrian and he has a tendency to repeat the same character motivations over and over through the book. Yeah, Cross is a war damaged, driven vigilante mourning the loss of his lover, I get it. No need to repeat ad infinitum.
This is basically 21st Century pulp fiction. Moving Steampunk away from Victoriana into the decadence of 20's New York is a nice idea, but he never comes close to capturing the hedonism of that decade, and his ideas are half formed and ill-thought out.
So, a noble failure then. It's okay if you like this sort of thing, but I'm sure there are better Steampunk novels out there.
Gabriel Cross, millionaire playboy and ex-soldier, is also The Ghost, a mysterious vigilante who patrols the rooftops and skies of 1920's New York, righting wrongs and performing deeds of derringdo. So far, so Batman. But then Mann introduces the Steampunk elements that skew the story into an alternative reality where Queen Victoria has only recently died, her daughter Alberta is on the throne, and Britain and America are locked into a deadly cold war. Flying automatons called Raptors are abducting people seemingly at random. A British spy is on the loose with dangerous information. And a crooked Senator is spoiling to start war with the British Empire.
Mann then ramps it up even more by going all Lovecraftian and confronting the reader with nightmare creatures from another dimension, who like the taste of human blood. Oh and a leper who has replaced his limbs with mechanical ones of his own design. By himself. Yeah, me too. How the hell he wired them into his nervous system so that his brain can control them is ever explained. In fact the are some major plot points that are never satisfactorily explained.
Mann's writing is pedestrian and he has a tendency to repeat the same character motivations over and over through the book. Yeah, Cross is a war damaged, driven vigilante mourning the loss of his lover, I get it. No need to repeat ad infinitum.
This is basically 21st Century pulp fiction. Moving Steampunk away from Victoriana into the decadence of 20's New York is a nice idea, but he never comes close to capturing the hedonism of that decade, and his ideas are half formed and ill-thought out.
So, a noble failure then. It's okay if you like this sort of thing, but I'm sure there are better Steampunk novels out there.
September 27, 2014
First off looking back this is probably the first one star I have ever given and in some respects this isn't the worst piece of literature I've ever read. But by about 2/3s of the way through I was hating the story and almost didn't bother finishing.
And the reason? Well it all comes down to the ridiculous plot. I like the steampunk genre and can happily read stories bordering on the ridiculous as long as they make sense and unfortunately the foundation of the entire plot here just didn't.
We are in New York and there are raptors flying around kidnapping people never to be seen again. Why? So they can have their blood tested against a tentacled monster that eats people. Ok that I can get excited about until it turns out... and this isn't a spoiler it's obvious from the first scene he's in... That the man responsible is in charge of the city and instead of subtly arranging these people to be kidnapped in the traditional non-raptor way he decides to create mass panic.
And there's another thing We are led to believe New York is under seige by these creatures but at the end of the book everyone is enjoying an evening at the fair.
It is a contradictory story which relies on every steampunk cliche for action and reason without ever setting that great ambiance a good steampunk novel has.
Couple this with a handful of monotone uninspiring characters this book quickly becomes a lame Doctor Who episode and maybe on screen it would work but on paper it is just utter nonsense.
If you have never read a steampunk novel stay clear of this one it doesn't do the genre justice.
And the reason? Well it all comes down to the ridiculous plot. I like the steampunk genre and can happily read stories bordering on the ridiculous as long as they make sense and unfortunately the foundation of the entire plot here just didn't.
We are in New York and there are raptors flying around kidnapping people never to be seen again. Why? So they can have their blood tested against a tentacled monster that eats people. Ok that I can get excited about until it turns out... and this isn't a spoiler it's obvious from the first scene he's in... That the man responsible is in charge of the city and instead of subtly arranging these people to be kidnapped in the traditional non-raptor way he decides to create mass panic.
And there's another thing We are led to believe New York is under seige by these creatures but at the end of the book everyone is enjoying an evening at the fair.
It is a contradictory story which relies on every steampunk cliche for action and reason without ever setting that great ambiance a good steampunk novel has.
Couple this with a handful of monotone uninspiring characters this book quickly becomes a lame Doctor Who episode and maybe on screen it would work but on paper it is just utter nonsense.
If you have never read a steampunk novel stay clear of this one it doesn't do the genre justice.
February 15, 2012
Ghosts of War was somewhere between dieselpunk and steampunk, a nicely written adventure tale that takes place in the same (future) world of Mann's Newbury & Hobbs novels. But unlike the previous novels, this series holds some Lovecraftian elements with its Cthulu type monstrosities. Why did I only give it two stars when I've enjoyed Mann's past novels so much? The main character, the Ghost himself, reminded me far too much of Batman, sure all superhero type characters will share some characteristics, but this was uncanny. The second element of the novel that distracted me was the language itself... unlike the language of the characters in his previous books, those in the Ghosts of War lack definition. They do not sound like they're from New York in particular, no idiomatic speech patterns or hints of accents - of the city or the 1920's. There were even a few times that a character sounded suspiciously British (excluding the British characters). But Mann still knows how to write a rousing good adventure and ties up the plots... but I hope he returns to the world of Newbury and Hobbs, as the folks in there had there own voices and unique backgrounds.
September 18, 2011
You might have an amusing time reading other reviews of this book. A lot of people hate it.
I admit it is not the best. The writing is kind of derivative and shallow and all of the characters are unapologetically stereotyped.
However, I don't think the author was setting out to write the next Great Gatbsy. No, the author was intent on writing a multi-genre mash-up and on that point, this book must be regarded as an unadulterated success.
In fact, I would argue that Ghosts of War is surely the Citizen Kane of superhero/steampunk/hardboiled mystery/Lovecraftian horror novels.
Yes, author George Mann seeks to graft all these genres together in this second installment of his "Ghost" series. The titular character himself is somewhat of a mash up of 1930's Batman and the Watchmen's Rorschach.
So if you want to read quality serious literature go pick up something by Herman Melville or John Updike.
If you want to read about rooftop bottles between a gas-powered masked vigilante and demonic mechanical gargoyles, this is the book for you.
I admit it is not the best. The writing is kind of derivative and shallow and all of the characters are unapologetically stereotyped.
However, I don't think the author was setting out to write the next Great Gatbsy. No, the author was intent on writing a multi-genre mash-up and on that point, this book must be regarded as an unadulterated success.
In fact, I would argue that Ghosts of War is surely the Citizen Kane of superhero/steampunk/hardboiled mystery/Lovecraftian horror novels.
Yes, author George Mann seeks to graft all these genres together in this second installment of his "Ghost" series. The titular character himself is somewhat of a mash up of 1930's Batman and the Watchmen's Rorschach.
So if you want to read quality serious literature go pick up something by Herman Melville or John Updike.
If you want to read about rooftop bottles between a gas-powered masked vigilante and demonic mechanical gargoyles, this is the book for you.
Read
January 20, 2023Oh my goodness, it gets worse. All five points I described in my review of Ghosts of Manhattan are turned up to 11 in the second volume of Mann's The Ghost adventures. Even with my level of OCD in having to complete books that I purchase, I had to stop a little over halfway in. I tried to keep pushing and pushing, but I was afraid that George Mann would kill my love of reading before bed.
This is clearly not a review, but a comment. My review is linked above, and holds doubly so for Ghosts of War. I can't wait to get these out of my house. Sorry, George.
This is clearly not a review, but a comment. My review is linked above, and holds doubly so for Ghosts of War. I can't wait to get these out of my house. Sorry, George.
July 5, 2011
This one was better than Ghosts of Manhattan. It seemed to flow a little better (maybe b/c the character development was taken care of already).
The only problem I really had was the ending seemed brief and a little rushed, though I'm not sure what I would have changed. I'm referring to the confronting of the main antagonist.
I do enjoy this series b/c it's semi-steampunky, but in a different time period. It's a nice change.
The only problem I really had was the ending seemed brief and a little rushed, though I'm not sure what I would have changed. I'm referring to the confronting of the main antagonist.
I do enjoy this series b/c it's semi-steampunky, but in a different time period. It's a nice change.
January 8, 2018
George Mann always spins a great story.
This is the third book in the Ghost series and focuses on raptor that are snatching random people off the streets of New York. Why are they doing that ? Who is making them do that ?
None of the people snatched have ever been found and there is no common thread.
A rousing adventure all around
George Man HIGHLY recommended as is this series
This is the third book in the Ghost series and focuses on raptor that are snatching random people off the streets of New York. Why are they doing that ? Who is making them do that ?
None of the people snatched have ever been found and there is no common thread.
A rousing adventure all around
George Man HIGHLY recommended as is this series
July 29, 2011
The second adventure of the Ghost. Partially breath taking.
I liked the insights of the Ghost and inspector Felix Donovan. Impressive what a writer can achieve within 214 pages!!
I liked the insights of the Ghost and inspector Felix Donovan. Impressive what a writer can achieve within 214 pages!!
October 25, 2021
A solid enough book, nothing too special. I really liked the setting and how the main character was written with Ghost and Gabriel being written as different characters. I also liked the side characters, they were kinda cool. One thing that was kinda annoying was that the story was a little bit far fetched. Like I know it's set in steampunk new york but like... interdimensional monsters??? That's just a little bit too far for me sorry.
Overall pretty solid, blasted the whole book in a day which I haven't done in a while so that was cool. I also didn't realise this was a sequel until like halfway through so take that as you will.
3.5/5
Overall pretty solid, blasted the whole book in a day which I haven't done in a while so that was cool. I also didn't realise this was a sequel until like halfway through so take that as you will.
3.5/5
November 23, 2024
I really liked that in this second instalment of the series, there is fairly even split in perspective between Donovan & The Ghost. It felt a bit more like reading a noir detective novel set in steampunk era with a flair of espionage and a big dash of aliens. The ending of this novel was explosively smashing! I look forward to be reading more of this duo: the upright police inspector and the vigilante with flexible moral.
November 27, 2014
Gabriel Cross, the erstwhile Ghost, is still in mourning from the loss of his love Celeste. She did what he would have done in her situation, but that doesn't mean his heart is so easily healed. But luckily for Gabriel New York is a city under siege. The newest devilment takes the form of winged creators, half brass, half dark magic. These raptors swoop out of the sky and kidnap people, for what evil purpose no one knows. They aren't just the bane of the police, with over fifty people missing, but Gabriel as well, they are too strong and too fierce for him to kill and too fast for him to follow back to their nest in order to rescue the captives, if they should still be alive. Gabriel's friend on the police force, Donovan, is surprised when his boss pulls him off the raptor case a puts him on the case of a missing British spy at the request of Senator Isambard Banks. Yet the more Donovan looks into things with the help of Gabriel, the more it looks like the two cases aren't so separate as the Senator would like them to appear.
The fact of life is that sometimes life itself gets in the way of a good book. This past week I've been bedeviled, luckily not by raptors, but by deadlines and holiday preparations. A few times perhaps I would have liked a raptor to swoop me away from my work, but only if it was to a cosy bed and not where the Ghost finds their victims... but alas, I don't think they'd play ball. Therefore a lot of the peril and immediacy of the book was lost due to the sad fact of setting it down. Sometimes when this happens I picture the characters in the book standing around and looking bored waiting for the story to begin again, like actors waiting for the director to shout action. Silly though this thought is it does show how attached I become to my stories. But enough about me, I'm sure that's not why you're reading this.
Ghosts of War was a solid second outing in George's Ghost series, though it might have veered a little towards a certain trope that every penny dreadful and every horror story has utilized, the big bad that everyone though vanquished returning. Yes, yes, I get that this is more a tradition of the genre then anything else, and I will admit that George gave enough of a spin on a certain evil creature's return that it didn't overly annoy me, it's just that at a certain point credulity sometimes gets strained. The villain, who definitely was totally dead, I mean 100% totally for sure dead magically goes, "but wait," can really become a really tiresome trend.
Yes, their are villains we grow to love, but lets look at Doctor Who as an example. Am I the only one who thinks that the Daleks and the Cybermen should be put on hiatus for AT LEAST five years? No! Because new is more unique then old told in a different way. Though George tells the old in a new and different way, so I will allow it this once because yes, it did work, but I don't want to see these Cephalopod-esque aliens for quite awhile now, thank you.
But what I felt was the flaw in the book was oddly it's creepy reflection of reality. A group of wealthy men and politicians war mongering. Where there is war or the possibility of war, no matter how disgusting it is to us, no matter how unpalatable, there are people looking to either make money or secure power. Even if their means are supernatural verging on the extraterrestrial, well, their motives are sadly all too common. Everyday in the news their is something like this. Or at least I feel that way. Politician's are more and more looking out for their own interests and their own pocketbooks than doing the altruistic job of helping their fellow man. I read, for the most part, to escape the real work, the news that could easily bring on a panic attack. To have the news seeping into my story... well, yes, it's realistic and shows that humans haven't changed, but it kind of puts a damper on my escapism.
That doesn't mean that I am any less enamoured of the Ghost. In fact I have kind of gotten maybe a little overly attached to him and one thing in particular is making me worried about him. What is that one thing? It's the breaking down of his identities. I don't mean breaking down as in having a break down, but as in Gabriel and the Ghost merging, coming together and accepting that they are both needed in order to become who Gabriel once was, before the war shattered him; and before he created careful facades in order to survive. I am liking that he's coming to terms with himself, growing and becoming more functional...
But at the same time I'm worried. With this acceptance of who he really is, this inclusion of both halves I'm worried that he might be in danger. By being seen with Donovan as Gabriel and not the Ghost, might people start to wonder? Is his safety at risk? His old flame Ginny shows up out of the blue and within minutes he's all, I'm the Ghost! There's a reason superheroes have secret identities. The secret is their for protection. Sure the secret might weigh on you and cause psychological issues, but wouldn't you rather be safe then sane? I guess I'll have to wait for more of his adventures to find out!
The fact of life is that sometimes life itself gets in the way of a good book. This past week I've been bedeviled, luckily not by raptors, but by deadlines and holiday preparations. A few times perhaps I would have liked a raptor to swoop me away from my work, but only if it was to a cosy bed and not where the Ghost finds their victims... but alas, I don't think they'd play ball. Therefore a lot of the peril and immediacy of the book was lost due to the sad fact of setting it down. Sometimes when this happens I picture the characters in the book standing around and looking bored waiting for the story to begin again, like actors waiting for the director to shout action. Silly though this thought is it does show how attached I become to my stories. But enough about me, I'm sure that's not why you're reading this.
Ghosts of War was a solid second outing in George's Ghost series, though it might have veered a little towards a certain trope that every penny dreadful and every horror story has utilized, the big bad that everyone though vanquished returning. Yes, yes, I get that this is more a tradition of the genre then anything else, and I will admit that George gave enough of a spin on a certain evil creature's return that it didn't overly annoy me, it's just that at a certain point credulity sometimes gets strained. The villain, who definitely was totally dead, I mean 100% totally for sure dead magically goes, "but wait," can really become a really tiresome trend.
Yes, their are villains we grow to love, but lets look at Doctor Who as an example. Am I the only one who thinks that the Daleks and the Cybermen should be put on hiatus for AT LEAST five years? No! Because new is more unique then old told in a different way. Though George tells the old in a new and different way, so I will allow it this once because yes, it did work, but I don't want to see these Cephalopod-esque aliens for quite awhile now, thank you.
But what I felt was the flaw in the book was oddly it's creepy reflection of reality. A group of wealthy men and politicians war mongering. Where there is war or the possibility of war, no matter how disgusting it is to us, no matter how unpalatable, there are people looking to either make money or secure power. Even if their means are supernatural verging on the extraterrestrial, well, their motives are sadly all too common. Everyday in the news their is something like this. Or at least I feel that way. Politician's are more and more looking out for their own interests and their own pocketbooks than doing the altruistic job of helping their fellow man. I read, for the most part, to escape the real work, the news that could easily bring on a panic attack. To have the news seeping into my story... well, yes, it's realistic and shows that humans haven't changed, but it kind of puts a damper on my escapism.
That doesn't mean that I am any less enamoured of the Ghost. In fact I have kind of gotten maybe a little overly attached to him and one thing in particular is making me worried about him. What is that one thing? It's the breaking down of his identities. I don't mean breaking down as in having a break down, but as in Gabriel and the Ghost merging, coming together and accepting that they are both needed in order to become who Gabriel once was, before the war shattered him; and before he created careful facades in order to survive. I am liking that he's coming to terms with himself, growing and becoming more functional...
But at the same time I'm worried. With this acceptance of who he really is, this inclusion of both halves I'm worried that he might be in danger. By being seen with Donovan as Gabriel and not the Ghost, might people start to wonder? Is his safety at risk? His old flame Ginny shows up out of the blue and within minutes he's all, I'm the Ghost! There's a reason superheroes have secret identities. The secret is their for protection. Sure the secret might weigh on you and cause psychological issues, but wouldn't you rather be safe then sane? I guess I'll have to wait for more of his adventures to find out!
January 24, 2020
Second instalment in Mann's ghost series. I really enjoyed this book. The Ghost and Donovan investigate mysterious abductions and a plot to start a war between America and the UK.
March 7, 2017
Just a bit of fun - ridiculous as heck, but who cares? I liked this better than the first book - a bit more over the top, took itself even less seriously :)
July 3, 2012
It seems that the latest craze in fantasy fiction is steampunk. Half a dozen new steampunk titles seem to hit shelves every month. With so many titles in the new field, it only seemed natural for several to take on pulp sensibilities. Most steampunk has a late nineteenth and/or early twentieth century setting, which puts it in just the right place to crossover into new pulp.
While my previous steampunk review Society of Steam: The Falling Machine was a tale of Victorian heroes in a superhero-esque team, George Mann’s Ghosts of War is straight up pulp heroics set in an alternate 1930s. The Ghost is a hero in the vein of the Spider, though with the emotional damages that drove him to vigilantism more prevalent.
The world of Ghosts of War has the US and England in a Cold War after England introduced massive war machines to win World War I. The early twentieth century setting is filled with steam-powered automatons, holographic phones and other bits of steampunk tech.
Massive cybernetic monstrosities called raptors are kidnapping and murdering people on the street. Only the Ghost and his allies, a police officer and his girlfriend, stand against them. The commissioner and a major businessman want all the focus on a British spy, but Ghost and his cop ally immediately suspect everything isn’t as it seems.
The Ghost’s battle with the raptors, the cop’s investigation of his own precinct and the spy’s attempts to save himself all lead into the discovery of the true nature of the raptors and their master.
Ghosts of War is actually a sequel to Mann’s previous book Ghosts of Manhattan, a fact of which I was unaware until I was a few pages into the book. Like so many great pulp stories, I never felt lost without the previous story, though the book did leave me intrigued to learn more about The Ghost’s origin.
Ghosts of War by George Mann is available now from Pyr Books.
While my previous steampunk review Society of Steam: The Falling Machine was a tale of Victorian heroes in a superhero-esque team, George Mann’s Ghosts of War is straight up pulp heroics set in an alternate 1930s. The Ghost is a hero in the vein of the Spider, though with the emotional damages that drove him to vigilantism more prevalent.
The world of Ghosts of War has the US and England in a Cold War after England introduced massive war machines to win World War I. The early twentieth century setting is filled with steam-powered automatons, holographic phones and other bits of steampunk tech.
Massive cybernetic monstrosities called raptors are kidnapping and murdering people on the street. Only the Ghost and his allies, a police officer and his girlfriend, stand against them. The commissioner and a major businessman want all the focus on a British spy, but Ghost and his cop ally immediately suspect everything isn’t as it seems.
The Ghost’s battle with the raptors, the cop’s investigation of his own precinct and the spy’s attempts to save himself all lead into the discovery of the true nature of the raptors and their master.
Ghosts of War is actually a sequel to Mann’s previous book Ghosts of Manhattan, a fact of which I was unaware until I was a few pages into the book. Like so many great pulp stories, I never felt lost without the previous story, though the book did leave me intrigued to learn more about The Ghost’s origin.
Ghosts of War by George Mann is available now from Pyr Books.
December 13, 2014
I have to say I did enjoy Ghosts of War but not as much as Ghosts of Manhattan. The Ghost once again is an interesting character and I still view him more of a Shadow/The Spider analogue than a Batman rip off (which most people say). Looking at him from a pulp perspective makes me like him more especially since he is not the perfect man (he smokes too much, does not win fights cleanly not the greatest detective in the world). But in this book I just thought the villains (a corrupt senator, a mad scientist with leprosy) just weren't as interesting at the Roman and his Moss Men from the first book. Also I would have liked an origin story on how Gabriel Cross became the Ghost; fine Mann did not do this in his first book but he did not do it in this one either which disappointed me. I do love Felix Donovan and his relationship to Gabriel and also liked Ginny but not sure if the British spy(Rutherford) was really needed since he just allowed us to discover the conspiracy that was going on thru him which was not that fascinating. I will still read more Ghost books if Mann decides to write more of them but next time please tell us why Gabriel decided to walk this path.
January 7, 2012
3/5
I'm in what seems like the majority here. This is a fun book that moves about at a brisk pace and is really never boring. But I guess that's where it stops. It doesn't go above and beyond in any way; from the writing (I felt like it could have been more atmospheric) to the plot... everything is good but not great.
Actually that's not true; the mash-up of things -- it's described by different people as a combination of jazz-age superhero-steampunk-occult thriller, film noir and 1920s decadence -- is very nice, and mixing all this stuff interests me. It just doesn't do as much as it should, but I suppose it was trying to be pulp-y?
But it's definitely worth a read. It's one of those books that you read after you just read something like Ulysses by James Joyce... something to give you a quick jolt of energy, and nothing else.
(I also didn't know this was a sequel, but still enjoyed it).
I'm in what seems like the majority here. This is a fun book that moves about at a brisk pace and is really never boring. But I guess that's where it stops. It doesn't go above and beyond in any way; from the writing (I felt like it could have been more atmospheric) to the plot... everything is good but not great.
Actually that's not true; the mash-up of things -- it's described by different people as a combination of jazz-age superhero-steampunk-occult thriller, film noir and 1920s decadence -- is very nice, and mixing all this stuff interests me. It just doesn't do as much as it should, but I suppose it was trying to be pulp-y?
But it's definitely worth a read. It's one of those books that you read after you just read something like Ulysses by James Joyce... something to give you a quick jolt of energy, and nothing else.
(I also didn't know this was a sequel, but still enjoyed it).
September 9, 2012
A second post-steampunk adventure set in the New York of the 1920s, again featuring the vigilante called the Ghost. As last time, this is a straightforward action story, in this case 'shady cabal have horrifying ambitions and must be stopped'. That's pretty much what happens, and it's a brisk, pacy read. There is exactly one plot, and everything that happens feeds it. It helps the novel be what it wants to be - pulp action - but it's also a little empty. There's not much mystery to the story, and as little else is happening but the race to defeat the villains, it feels like a snack more than it does a meal. As a quick shot of steampunkish heroics spiced with Lovecraftian horror, it works, but I still prefer the far richer tapestry Mann creates in the Newbury & Hobbes series (set a few decades before the Ghost books).
March 1, 2015
As a big fan of George Mann, I absolutely loved Ghosts of Manhattan so when I was given the chance to review the second one in the series, I jumped at it.
Yes there are some campy moments yet Mann's assured writing style makes each moment feel completely at home in the world that he has created for the characters themselves.
If you are expecting another novel in the same vein as his Newbury and Hobbes books then you will be a little disappointed because these ones are completely different. Think film noir detective meets a steampunk Batman and you would be halfway there.
Well worth checking out.
For the full review please visit my blog.
http://curiosityofasocialmisfit.blogs...
Yes there are some campy moments yet Mann's assured writing style makes each moment feel completely at home in the world that he has created for the characters themselves.
If you are expecting another novel in the same vein as his Newbury and Hobbes books then you will be a little disappointed because these ones are completely different. Think film noir detective meets a steampunk Batman and you would be halfway there.
Well worth checking out.
For the full review please visit my blog.
http://curiosityofasocialmisfit.blogs...
March 13, 2015
Very enjoyable book, different to my usual choices of books to read however it was certainly most entertaining. It had a good steady pace so you could easily follow the plot and get clues as to where it may be going in the end. When you near the last seventy pages, you start to feel the pace picking up and it becomes inreasingly difficult to not want to finish the book straight away.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read something a little different in its setting and ideas, however make sure to read Ghosts of Manhattan first as it will help you to understand the plot a little better although this isn't entirely necessary as I did not and followed the story perfectly well.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read something a little different in its setting and ideas, however make sure to read Ghosts of Manhattan first as it will help you to understand the plot a little better although this isn't entirely necessary as I did not and followed the story perfectly well.
January 24, 2016
A guilty pleasure, this one. This book is pure 100% pulp fiction. It's a harkening back to the 30's & 40's, with clearly defined good, and evil characters, and not a lot of plot to get in the way. It's a steampunk New York, in 1927, where cars run on coal, and dirigibles fill the sky, along with flying automatons(imagine skeletal flying monkeys, ala OZ, in brass) wreaking havoc on the populace. Our hero, "The Ghost", is a vigilante, with a secret identity(very much like Batman, even with a police inspector friend.). So, okay, Mann "borrowed" a lot from those before him, but he put it together in a rip-roaring narrative, told at machine gun pace. Certainly not great literature, but a fun read, nonetheless.
October 19, 2016
The first book in the series Ghosts of Manhattan, had some merit, but also some flaws. (
My review.
) I bought both that one and this one at the same time, so I gave this author a second chance.
I thought the author had a good idea here, with a series rooted in an alt-Earth history loosely based on a mash-up of the fantasy/aviation/mystery genre serial films of the early-mid 1930's. However, he failed in the execution.
I won't continue with the series.
I thought the author had a good idea here, with a series rooted in an alt-Earth history loosely based on a mash-up of the fantasy/aviation/mystery genre serial films of the early-mid 1930's. However, he failed in the execution.
I won't continue with the series.
June 22, 2016
Okay so this is the second installment in the ghost series. Having just finished it I have to say George Mann does an awesome job making climatic endings full of action and suspense. I found I missed the feeling of the mob being a heavy presence that I felt in the first book a long with a bit of a slower pacing made me a little apprehensive to finish the book but with a new love life sprouting and more dimensions to the characters I got what I asked for with a sequel and when there was action, it was impossible to put the book down. I definitely give this book 4 stars with confidence and high exceptions for the next book
March 24, 2013
What to say? This is not an elegant, sweeping masterpiece. However, it was actually pretty fun to read. I don't think the intention is to be the kind of book that changes your life. And mechanical raptors flying around is kind of so ridiculous it's awesome. Post-steampunk isn't a huge genre, so that different take is a bit fun for me too. There's nothing really standout, but there's also nothing that is completely annoying. It's sort of like, cheap, dark escapism, and I think it works. Also, it doesn't really get slow or boring; something is always going on to keep my interest.
April 12, 2012
Surprisingly good. I only picked it up on spec as it looked a bit different. Set in 1920's New York but in a revised history with giant airships and coal fired cars, the story has the feel of a graphic novel without the pictures. A vigilante hero (the alter ego of a rich playboy), beatiful women, nasty villains, mechanical monsters and plenty of action; all present and correct. Fast paced and exciting, its only downside is that it is very predictable. Still exciting though.
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