The Light Ages - Softcover

MacLeod, Ian R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743462440 ISBN 13: 9780743462440

Publisher: Gardners Books, 2004

Synopsis

In the year 1678, Joshua Wagstaffe discovered aether, and the Industrial Revolution began. Not the Industrial Revolution of our world; but one fuelled by magic. Aether, its secrets jealously guarded by the Guilds, became the glue that bound English society together. Now, after three hundred years, change is finally in the air. The talk on the streets of London is of Revolution, of overturning the Guilds, of a New Beginning. The Third Age of Industry is ending, in fire and in death... Raised in the Yorkshire town of Bracebridge, and seemingly destined to follow his father into the aether factories, Robert Borrows witnesses the dark side of aether when his mother is transformed into a changeling; monstrous and pitiful. Fleeing to London, Robbie joins the revolution, working to bring about the Fourth Age, an era of equality and plenty. Roaming the vast, Brobdignagian city, all colours, smells and danger, exploring its myriad social layers, from petty criminals and revolutionaries to salon mistresses and opium dreamers, Robbie discovers secrets that threaten the very fabric of society; secrets that involve the deepest mysteries of aether. He becomes embroiled in the glittering social circle of the mysterious Anna Winters - beautiful, mercurial, beguiling - and finds that the past is not so easily cast off. For Robbie and Anna's fates have been intertwined since before their birth - since the infamous day when the aether engines of Bracebridge stopped working, and the world was deafened by the roar of silence. The day the seeds of change were sown...

About this title

About the Author

Ian R. MacLeod is the author of THE GREAT WHEEL, and his short fiction has appeared in INTERZONE, ASIMOV'S and FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION, and has been shortlisted for almost every major science fiction and fantasy award including the Hugo and the Nebula. He is twice winner of the World Fantasy Award for his alternate history novella, THE SUMMER ISLES, and his short story, THE CHOP GIRL.

From Publishers Weekly

Several hundred years ago a magical substance known as aether was discovered in England, and it changed the world in this beautifully written, complex fantasy novel, British author MacLeod's second (after the underrated The Great Wheel). Kings were overthrown. Aether-based industries flourished. Now, near the end of the Third Age of Industry (roughly the equivalent of our Victorian Age), great Guilds run the nation. Powerful captains of industry live like nobility, while the impoverished masses risk their lives mining, refining and working with the dangerous substance that supports the economy. Cracks are beginning to show in society, however. The poor are getting poorer. Quality workmanship is hard to find. Those who come into too much contact with aether often mutate into sometimes monstrous creatures called changelings. Worse still, there are dark rumors that the aether may be running out. The narrator, Robert Borrows, who rises from near-poverty as the son of a humble guildsman, falls in love with a changeling, participates in the revolution that brings the Third Age to its end and winds up among the masters of the new world that rises out of its ruins. With its strong character development and gritty, alternate London, this book won't attract fans of Robert Jordan or Terry Goodkind, but should hold great appeal to readers who love the more sophisticated fantasy of Michael Swanwick, John Crowley or even China Mieville.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Gardners Books
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0743462440
• ISBN 13: 9780743462440
• Binding: Paperback