Ebook606 pages
City of the Saints: A Scientific Romance
By D.J. Butler
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this ebook
In this steampunk historical fantasy, literary legends choose sides in the oncoming Civil War in an action-filled adventure.
City of the Saints is a four-part gonzo action steampunk adventure tale. 1859. War among the states looms. Sam Clemens, US Army agent, is tasked with getting Brigham Young’s Kingdom of Deseret, with its air-ships and phlogiston guns, into the war on the side of the Union. Clemens rides west aboard the amphibious steam-truck the Jim Smiley, but his competition is fierce: the explorer Captain Richard Burton for Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and as agent of the clandestine Confederate leadership, Edgar Allan Poe, who travels disguised as an exhibitor of Egyptian antiquities, armed with cunning clockwork weaponry. But will even the hypnotic hypocephalus and the flesh-eating scarabs be enough when the machinating Danites spring their coup?
City of the Saints is a four-part gonzo action steampunk adventure tale. 1859. War among the states looms. Sam Clemens, US Army agent, is tasked with getting Brigham Young’s Kingdom of Deseret, with its air-ships and phlogiston guns, into the war on the side of the Union. Clemens rides west aboard the amphibious steam-truck the Jim Smiley, but his competition is fierce: the explorer Captain Richard Burton for Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and as agent of the clandestine Confederate leadership, Edgar Allan Poe, who travels disguised as an exhibitor of Egyptian antiquities, armed with cunning clockwork weaponry. But will even the hypnotic hypocephalus and the flesh-eating scarabs be enough when the machinating Danites spring their coup?
Read more from D.J. Butler
Hellhound on My Trail Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Crow Jane Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDevil Sent the Rain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Goodness and the Mysteries: On the Path of the Book of Mormon's Visionary Men Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBand on the Run: Rock Band Fights Evil Vols. 1-3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEarth Angel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThis World is Not My Home Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Road to Hell: Rock Band Fights Evil Vols. 4-6 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Good Son Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUrbane: A Dystopia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to City of the Saints
Fantasy For You
Tress of the Emerald Sea: Secret Projects, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sarah J. Maas: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nettle & Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Empire of the Vampire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lord Of The Rings: One Volume Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Phantom Tollbooth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mistborn: Secret History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lovecraft Country: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Sun Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wizard's First Rule Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Eyes of the Dragon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piranesi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Desert: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Immortal Longings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Pirate Lord: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Titus Groan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for City of the Saints
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
3 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If there were a genre for a book that includes the Old West, an alternate American history, a rebel Mormon kingdom, a slave-free Confederacy, more than a bit of steam punk, fantasy, and an all star cast of historical-larger-than-life-and-truth-is-stranger-than-fiction characters, I don't know what it would be called, but City of the Saints by D.J. Butler has invented it.
And did I mention that it was explosive, fast, and action packed?
On the eve of the American Civil War, the Kingdom of Deseret is the destination for for diplomats, spies, and explorers, Pinkertons, criminals, and mountain men as agents of Queen Victoria, the United States, the Confederacy, and Mexico converge on Salt Lake City. War is imminent, and each is seeking an edge.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I opened City of the Saints. I met Dave Butler at Salt Lake Comic Con in 2013, and then ran into him again at Life, the Universe, and Everything (LTUE)earlier this year. The first time I met Butler, he had been on a panel discussing themes in Lord of the Rings. Then, at LTUE he started off a panel on folklore in modern fiction by informing the other panelists that he was in the mood for a good debate...which it was.
I couldn't help but like Butler's style, and I opened his book that night, not sure what to expect, but with promises from Butler that I would enjoy it.
And Butler did not oversell. From the first pages, City of the Saints is fast paced, with a swirling and full cast of colorful action figures. Pulling a whose who of the mid-nineteenth into the ranks of his characters, Butler cleverly saves himself time in character development by leveraging the very real lives of some of the most vibrant characters of the time. From Captain Richard Burton to Edgar Alan Poe, Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) to Porter Rockwell, Butler weaves in nods to American history, western lore, and Mormon heroes, villains and misfits, including Eliza R. Snow, John D. Lee, Brigham Young, and John Moses Browning, whose guns are among the most famous, even today.
This isn't to say that Butler doesn't develop his characters. In fact, Butler does very well building a large cast, multiple protagonists, streaming the plot lines together, and building on the relationships each has with others. For any novelist, its a feat. For a first time novelist, it's most impressive.
And despite the setting in the early Mormon west, this is not a "Mormon" book. Quite the contrary. Featuring swearing Irish, mad scientists, and an almost endless supply of thuggish Pinkertons, it's a mix that defies a simple description, niche, or market, but is well-written, engaging, and, surprisingly, self-published.
Yeah, I know. Self-published. I don't get it. Well written, a romp to read, and thoroughly and carefully conceived: I guarantee I'll be reading another Butler book soon.
Book preview
City of the Saints - D.J. Butler
c book_preview_excerpt.html }ےF@z1ˬNOK")5E~"3 \*zX~}Y?/Y?=@V%LL$_//}ճO?}ȧ_&]\ׯ~ON0elB{;|-ƣ/8|^䎛u/~(ƩoM1F^GMxS_qmdHo{7{_r:yPylcyT]u)n(/EϾ/\9X>2CZY^SpQn*/"CX_tN/E}Q?5?q2T&x%RWcanJ^faҵmlːytIj(c(C?R2∇51Bwv ߆oB/WbVF~.zjL8~]p:&sP]_Ϧ~p]{o
Ce2 C|[ ktW㋷yYN0^VɟIޱwƼU\Q'}}ȶO,яSdi"SX~pxLE!)v+/K.SWP`k?ލ\izP튝\Ipҵq%><8yXxW(D?Pl,(uMra{y^"k'!1?}]g./r7Ȳ;|NTX|8=C<;^v#[1,zv_G/O{ {+>Oem|
apì}?wno?}sF
w`u E2yb9LimvHn>>GAI"Q=b52[ڡ #F HadE]&QNit#*멂4w8RNq}){7wgb?mkwˬQ2q}it
)+E6v%ygQ-+21M*qX,^^ɞJw02Tiu|ӛy%3CVZ]"lJAD]0%l>+&ǩKcOaj{JYs7WKx Qo'q9嬍''ԴvuѦxՖy)ŏoo>z Ҵ))~ϿWJW~X{)/=!?议D%o~
KKywܤII젷<\ ?M)2ϏՈԽieӥ_z//^+OĽz^5
/+ǐBTsg;q~~QfC8~aK.72kC95?!.zYv3
.x{Ge7?A]s(r]VKZ|'v7t_/gs?xCʩrw6+Mz)V:'w(ŖQrD,k9pzk?9}}wb:O?w0`OMkB_K~)$ ~t !D/ם\\ąc7}| q)i-47_C::x&{Uu:vjC+Xi ͡+O|]w"Kk+j2ċ{z?XM^:Alc1w=(.?8`N)/w牋5:xzr*D}#FE~J\:IrYטJu(ej:&!lBǑ?н}sG/=FW{<Ũp>)uv1C=8M2b<˧])sĵ=`1amJsg;ʄK!Cn2J 6cJ+D_,w7,p0W*&nwbz88'W|+*HKnK!}$u@Gjy7DZPyF]G+IaQ /W#1](% t$
ǯ{ULrV#BYD
G'5)lvyFD0k+wl #@(ۦ!H0*|efG CQ̓ ë+\D"2Fd8{|#
%-ǭDmuƋߡ ao)O`D9(:%IMM[
)ףAsH)ڀw1o
PE-ZT -kvX *6Uڽ[.6h/3yُglq9qDw߈ie"x@xƆ0xD+CQ龐I|V|vĘd(d/TnTlaZ/&Y%^J>F5