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Space: 1889 & Beyond Season 1 #4
Abattoir in the Aether
Book Four of Series One.
Fresh from their adventures on Mercury, Nathanial Stone and his ward, Annabelle Somerset, are limping through the aether in a dilapidated flyer when they unwittingly stumble upon a heliograph station in solar orbit between Earth and Mars.
Now in the sinister clutches of Dr Henry van den Bosch, a hulking nightmare of a man with a penchant for destroying those who cross him, Nathanial must race against time to prevent the station from falling into a massive aether vortex or risk van den Bosch's wrath.
But unseen forces hold sway on Peregrine Station, and before the two can even settle in, an attempt is made on Nathanial's life. Annabelle investigates, and in doing so sets off a chain of events that could destroy the station before it ever reaches the vortex.
Fresh from their adventures on Mercury, Nathanial Stone and his ward, Annabelle Somerset, are limping through the aether in a dilapidated flyer when they unwittingly stumble upon a heliograph station in solar orbit between Earth and Mars.
Now in the sinister clutches of Dr Henry van den Bosch, a hulking nightmare of a man with a penchant for destroying those who cross him, Nathanial must race against time to prevent the station from falling into a massive aether vortex or risk van den Bosch's wrath.
But unseen forces hold sway on Peregrine Station, and before the two can even settle in, an attempt is made on Nathanial's life. Annabelle investigates, and in doing so sets off a chain of events that could destroy the station before it ever reaches the vortex.
124 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 4, 2012
3 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
L. Joseph Shosty
47Ìýbooks29ÌýfollowersL. Joseph Shosty has twenty-plus years in publishing, doing everything from writing in a host of genres to stints as a literary critic and a freelance editor. He is the creator of several series, including The Hardwood Case Files (hardboiled mystery), The Adventures of Achilles & Swiss (science fiction), Boomtown Novellas (novella-length genre stories), and The Books of Magus (short story collections). He lives in Texas with his family and is a member of International Thriller Writers.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 17, 2012
After Space 1889 & Beyond’s strong start, deep plunge and somewhat recovery with Ghost of Mercury, I started reading Abattoir in the Aether by L. Joseph Shosty with mixed feelings. This novel would basically decide whether or not I would read the next and the rest of the first series. The case has been settled.
The events of Abattoir in the Aether take place on the secret heliograph Peregrine Station. Annabelle and Nathanial happen to stumble upon it while limping through the Aether, trying to reach Mars. The station is manned by British and Austrians and some others employed by the two empires.
Let’s start with the things I did not like, it is basically sloppy scholarship again. Franz Joseph is not the King of Austria, he is the Kaiser, just like Friedrich III is Kaiser of Germany. Austrians do not talk Austrian among each other, they speak German in very much the same way people from Tennessee do not speak Tennesseeian but English (although I sometimes find it hard to believe�). And there are also some token Bavarians on board and Annabelle is instantly able to distinguish between Bavarian and Austrian� There is virtually no difference between Lower Bavarian and Austrian and most Germans would be hard pressed to distinguish an Austrian from a Bavarian (pet psychotic hatred alert!).
None of the above diminished my reading pleasure in any way, so I happily continue with the good things:
Mr. Shosty manages to create a really wonderful and strange setting for his tale. Peregrine Station is a human outpost near an aether vortex and the vortex is just about to swallow the station due to some techical difficulties. The station is lavishly decorated and everybody is very clean and perpetually happy. A feeling of unreality is created. The scientist in charge, Professor van den Bosch, a Dutch scientist, is behaving strangely to say the least and hides a monstrous secret. His command crew are clourful but also rather excentric characters and I could not shake the feeling there was something seriously wrong with the whole gang. Then, a murderer fails and the station turns into a claustrophobic maze where Nathanial and Annabelle cannot be sure who is a friend and who is not. A cat and mouse game literally on the edge of the abyss.
The story has quite a few surprises and revelations in store and as many twists and turns as the hallways of Peregrine Station. It is a very captivating read. There is enough action and mystery in the pages to keep the reader on edge and it never gets tiresome. L. Joseph Shosty manages to keep his audience in the dark about what is really going on almost until the last page.
The only thing I found disagreeable was the motivation of the true villain. It is a bit too one-sided, out of the blue and historically incorrect. Never mind.
Mr. Shosty has created a little gem you can easily finish over the course of an afternoon and evening and it offers a glimpse on the lesser known facettes of the Space 1889 universe.
The events of Abattoir in the Aether take place on the secret heliograph Peregrine Station. Annabelle and Nathanial happen to stumble upon it while limping through the Aether, trying to reach Mars. The station is manned by British and Austrians and some others employed by the two empires.
Let’s start with the things I did not like, it is basically sloppy scholarship again. Franz Joseph is not the King of Austria, he is the Kaiser, just like Friedrich III is Kaiser of Germany. Austrians do not talk Austrian among each other, they speak German in very much the same way people from Tennessee do not speak Tennesseeian but English (although I sometimes find it hard to believe�). And there are also some token Bavarians on board and Annabelle is instantly able to distinguish between Bavarian and Austrian� There is virtually no difference between Lower Bavarian and Austrian and most Germans would be hard pressed to distinguish an Austrian from a Bavarian (pet psychotic hatred alert!).
None of the above diminished my reading pleasure in any way, so I happily continue with the good things:
Mr. Shosty manages to create a really wonderful and strange setting for his tale. Peregrine Station is a human outpost near an aether vortex and the vortex is just about to swallow the station due to some techical difficulties. The station is lavishly decorated and everybody is very clean and perpetually happy. A feeling of unreality is created. The scientist in charge, Professor van den Bosch, a Dutch scientist, is behaving strangely to say the least and hides a monstrous secret. His command crew are clourful but also rather excentric characters and I could not shake the feeling there was something seriously wrong with the whole gang. Then, a murderer fails and the station turns into a claustrophobic maze where Nathanial and Annabelle cannot be sure who is a friend and who is not. A cat and mouse game literally on the edge of the abyss.
The story has quite a few surprises and revelations in store and as many twists and turns as the hallways of Peregrine Station. It is a very captivating read. There is enough action and mystery in the pages to keep the reader on edge and it never gets tiresome. L. Joseph Shosty manages to keep his audience in the dark about what is really going on almost until the last page.
The only thing I found disagreeable was the motivation of the true villain. It is a bit too one-sided, out of the blue and historically incorrect. Never mind.
Mr. Shosty has created a little gem you can easily finish over the course of an afternoon and evening and it offers a glimpse on the lesser known facettes of the Space 1889 universe.
November 30, 2016
Very good book in the SiFi series. Good entertaining read that is surprisingly does have a predictable plot. Nice story that has the feel of reading a golden age SiFi story from one of the old digests. Recommended
June 8, 2017
Protagonist 1: He is a ! We must stop him at ALL costs!
Protagonist 2: But what about that we will have to blatantly outright?
Protagonist 1: Bugger the lot of them.
And then they had some tea.
This book was disappointing on a lot of levels. The initial setup is good - space station in trouble. But then it gets darker and darker with every minute until the tragic climax. I don't recall the previous books being so dark, that's for sure. Both Annabelle and Nathaniel spend a lot of time running through the plot twists until the final one leaves them no other choice but to . What was the damn point of all this, then, if they didn't do anything remotely useful in the end?
The other big problem is two confrontations with the antagonists. Both of them just blabber their mouths until the corresponding protagonist sticks a knife in their guts. I would maybe tolerate one antagonist blabbermouth but two is just silly.
Protagonist 2: But what about that we will have to blatantly outright?
Protagonist 1: Bugger the lot of them.
And then they had some tea.
This book was disappointing on a lot of levels. The initial setup is good - space station in trouble. But then it gets darker and darker with every minute until the tragic climax. I don't recall the previous books being so dark, that's for sure. Both Annabelle and Nathaniel spend a lot of time running through the plot twists until the final one leaves them no other choice but to . What was the damn point of all this, then, if they didn't do anything remotely useful in the end?
The other big problem is two confrontations with the antagonists. Both of them just blabber their mouths until the corresponding protagonist sticks a knife in their guts. I would maybe tolerate one antagonist blabbermouth but two is just silly.
November 29, 2012
Abattoir in the Aether by L. Joseph Shosty is very fine sci-fi space adventure, served up in a smart steampunk style. It was an enjoyable read, a lovely mix of fantasy, steampunk and science fiction blended to distinction.
The book is the fourth in the Space: 1889 & Beyond series,(each book penned by a different author), but is written so you can read it as a stand-alone book (although after reading this one, I am quite curious about the rest of the series). It continues the adventures of Nathanial Stone and Annabelle Somerset -beginning with the rescue of their crippled space flyer- as they become the slightly unwilling guests on a heliograph station in solar orbit between Earth and Mars. The pair must unearth the sinister secrets of this place, before they, the station and all its inhabitants are sucked into an aether space vortex.
I thoroughly delighted in reading this book. The author took anachronistic history and Victorian science fiction and created a fascinating and full-blown steampunk setting that makes its own perfect fictional bubble of reality. Add to that some wonderfully interesting characters, very Victorian villains, a well-rendered plot full of nice twists and a great ending, you have a splendid novel. I highly recommend Abattoir in the Aether to any fans of steampunk, or anyone who likes a great read.
The book is the fourth in the Space: 1889 & Beyond series,(each book penned by a different author), but is written so you can read it as a stand-alone book (although after reading this one, I am quite curious about the rest of the series). It continues the adventures of Nathanial Stone and Annabelle Somerset -beginning with the rescue of their crippled space flyer- as they become the slightly unwilling guests on a heliograph station in solar orbit between Earth and Mars. The pair must unearth the sinister secrets of this place, before they, the station and all its inhabitants are sucked into an aether space vortex.
I thoroughly delighted in reading this book. The author took anachronistic history and Victorian science fiction and created a fascinating and full-blown steampunk setting that makes its own perfect fictional bubble of reality. Add to that some wonderfully interesting characters, very Victorian villains, a well-rendered plot full of nice twists and a great ending, you have a splendid novel. I highly recommend Abattoir in the Aether to any fans of steampunk, or anyone who likes a great read.
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