If you're a regular reader here at Fantasy Book Critic, then you've probably been getting an eyeful lately about The Drifting Isle Chronicles fantasy series from all the authors who worked on it. And now, if you'll indulge me, you're going to get a little more.

The Kaiser Affair is an old-fashioned crime thriller, a chase story about cops and robbers, but set within a fantastical industrial city called Eisenstadt and a magical flying island called Inselmond. I once wrote another book similar to this called The Burning Sky, but fans kept saying that book needed more romance. So I waited two years to lull them into complacency and then wrote this. Just for them! (Not really, but I it doesn't hurt to let them think so.)

The Kaiser Affair is about a brilliant thief who escapes from prison just three weeks before his scheduled release after a lengthy incarceration Why would he do that? Maybe it has something to do with the rivalry between him and his older sister, the Minister of Justice? Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that a pioneering inventor has just built a machine capable of flying all the way to the legendary drifting isle, an ancient foreign land ripe for plunder?

Whatever the reason, the Minister assigns detectives Bettina Rothschild and her husband Arjuna Rana to re-capture the thief, not just in the name of law and order but also to protect the Minister herself. The chase leads them all over the city, from cemeteries to factories, from farms to opera houses, and of course into the skies as well. It's fast and light, with plenty of action and laughs, and more than a few amorous moments between our happily married heroes. After all, what's the point of having your own personal steam carriage if you don't steam up the back seat from time to time?

(Too cheesy? That last line sounded pretty cheesy to me. Let's ignore it and move on.)

If you're excited about this new series, you should probably start with Black Mercury by Charlotte E. English and read my book second. But if you're on the fence, I highly recommend checking out my book first, and not just because it has a cool cover by Elsa Kroese, the Über-talented artist behind the Spindrift webcomic. No! You see, part of the idea behind my story was to give readers a tour of the city of Eisenstadt and to introduce you to many of the important characters featured in the other titles. So reading my book first will actually give you a little preview of the other books (including the books that won't be released until later this year).

For example, when our detectives need information about a secret society of assassins, they turn to Professor Adewole, the hero of The Machine God. And when our detectives need a flying machine of their own to chase their prey into the sky, they ask Hildegard Goldstein, one of the central characters of Black Mercury.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

So if you've ever thought that fantasy novels needed a little less epic drama and a bit more in the way of steam-car chases, electro-gun fights, and highly unprofessional lovemaking on the job, then I hope you'll check out The Kaiser Affair.

Official Author Website
Official Drifting Isle Chronicles Website
Order Black Mercury HERE
Order The Kaiser Affair HERE
Order The Machine God HERE
Read The Drifting Isle Chronicles - A new way to tell new stories ( A guest post by Joseph R. Lewis)
Read When Collaborating, Say Yes! (A guest post by Meilin Miranda)
Read On Machines And Talking Birds (A guest post by Charlotte E. English) 
Read FBC's Review of Omar The Immortal
Read FBC’s Review of Zelda Pryce: The Razor’s Edge
Read FBC’s Review of Zelda Pryce: The Clockwork Girl
Read FBC’s Interview with Joseph Robert Lewis

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Joseph Robert Lewis was curious about world mythology since a tender age and  so he then decided to write stories in which history, mythology, and fantasy would collide in unpredictable ways. He also likes writing about heroines that his daughters can respect and admire. Joe was born in Annapolis and went to the University of Maryland to study ancient novels, morality plays, and Viking poetry. He graduated with a degree in English Literature and currently lives in Maryland with his family, a needy cat, and a zombie fish.

NOTE: Author picture courtesy of the author himself. Spindrift prologue artwork courtesy of Elsa Kroese.