“End of the Century” by Chris Roberson. Release Date: January 27, 2009. Published by Pyr Books. Cover art provided by Dan Dos Santos.
Three people. Three eras. One city. Endless possibilities. “End of the Century” is a novel of the distant past, the unimaginable future, and the search for the Holy Grail. Set in the city of London, the narrative is interlaced between three ages, in which a disparate group of heroes, criminals, runaways, and lunatics are drawn into the greatest quest of all time.
Twilight — Londinium, Sixth Century, CE:
Galaad, a young man driven by strange dreams of a lady in white and a tower of glass, travels to the court of the high king Artor in Londinium, abandoned stronghold of the Roman Empire in Britain. With the dreams of Galaad as their only guide, Artor and his loyal captains journey west to the Summerlands, there to face a threat that could spell the end of the new-forged kingdom of Britain.
Jubilee — London, 1897:
Consulting detective Sandford Blank, accompanied by his companion Roxanne Bonaventure, is called upon to solve a string of brutal murders on the eve of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. The police believe that Jack the Ripper is back on the streets, but Blank believes that this is a new killer, one whose motive is not violence or mayhem, but the discovery of the Holy Grail itself. And what of the corpse-white Huntsman and his unearthly hounds, who stalks the gaslit streets of London?
Millennium — London, 1999:
At the eve of the new millennium, American teenager Alice Fell is on the run, and all alone. On the streets of a strange city, friendless and without a pound to her name, Alice is not sure whether she's losing her mind, or whether she is called by inescapable visions to some special destiny. Along with a strange man named Stillman Waters who claims to be a retired occultist and spy, she finds herself pursued by strange creatures, and driven to steal the priceless “vanishing gem” that may contain the answers to the mysteries that plague her.
The three narratives—Dark Ages fantasy, gaslit mystery, and modern-day jewel heist—alternate until the barriers between the different times begin to break down, and the characters confront the secrets that connect the Grail, the Glass Tower, and the vanishing gem. And lurking behind it all is the entity known only as Omega…
About the Author:
Chris Roberson's novels include Here, There & Everywhere; Paragaea: A Planetary Romance; X-Men: The Return; Set the Seas on Fire; The Dragon's Nine Sons; Iron Jaw and Hummingbird; and Three Unbroken. His short stories have appeared in such magazines as Asimov's, Interzone, and Subterranean, and in anthologies such as Live Without a Net, FutureShocks, and Forbidden Planets. With his business partner and spouse Allison Baker, he is the publisher of MonkeyBrain Books, an independent press specializing in genre fiction and nonfiction genre studies, and the editor of the anthology Adventure, Vol. 1. He has been a finalist for the World Fantasy Award three times: once each for writing, publishing, and editing; twice a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer; and twice for the Sidewise Award for Best Alternate History Short Form—winning in 2004 with his story “O One”.
Three people. Three eras. One city. Endless possibilities. “End of the Century” is a novel of the distant past, the unimaginable future, and the search for the Holy Grail. Set in the city of London, the narrative is interlaced between three ages, in which a disparate group of heroes, criminals, runaways, and lunatics are drawn into the greatest quest of all time.
Twilight — Londinium, Sixth Century, CE:
Galaad, a young man driven by strange dreams of a lady in white and a tower of glass, travels to the court of the high king Artor in Londinium, abandoned stronghold of the Roman Empire in Britain. With the dreams of Galaad as their only guide, Artor and his loyal captains journey west to the Summerlands, there to face a threat that could spell the end of the new-forged kingdom of Britain.
Jubilee — London, 1897:
Consulting detective Sandford Blank, accompanied by his companion Roxanne Bonaventure, is called upon to solve a string of brutal murders on the eve of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. The police believe that Jack the Ripper is back on the streets, but Blank believes that this is a new killer, one whose motive is not violence or mayhem, but the discovery of the Holy Grail itself. And what of the corpse-white Huntsman and his unearthly hounds, who stalks the gaslit streets of London?
Millennium — London, 1999:
At the eve of the new millennium, American teenager Alice Fell is on the run, and all alone. On the streets of a strange city, friendless and without a pound to her name, Alice is not sure whether she's losing her mind, or whether she is called by inescapable visions to some special destiny. Along with a strange man named Stillman Waters who claims to be a retired occultist and spy, she finds herself pursued by strange creatures, and driven to steal the priceless “vanishing gem” that may contain the answers to the mysteries that plague her.
The three narratives—Dark Ages fantasy, gaslit mystery, and modern-day jewel heist—alternate until the barriers between the different times begin to break down, and the characters confront the secrets that connect the Grail, the Glass Tower, and the vanishing gem. And lurking behind it all is the entity known only as Omega…
About the Author:
Chris Roberson's novels include Here, There & Everywhere; Paragaea: A Planetary Romance; X-Men: The Return; Set the Seas on Fire; The Dragon's Nine Sons; Iron Jaw and Hummingbird; and Three Unbroken. His short stories have appeared in such magazines as Asimov's, Interzone, and Subterranean, and in anthologies such as Live Without a Net, FutureShocks, and Forbidden Planets. With his business partner and spouse Allison Baker, he is the publisher of MonkeyBrain Books, an independent press specializing in genre fiction and nonfiction genre studies, and the editor of the anthology Adventure, Vol. 1. He has been a finalist for the World Fantasy Award three times: once each for writing, publishing, and editing; twice a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer; and twice for the Sidewise Award for Best Alternate History Short Form—winning in 2004 with his story “O One”.
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2 comments:
I might have to look into this one and give it a try. Thanks!
You're welcome :) Chris is a really talented writer and everyone should check out at least one of his books!