In 1898 London, British Intelligence recruiter Campion Bond assembles a covert team of Victorian literary figures to defend the Empire against a rising criminal threat. The group includes Mina Murray, the former pirate Captain Nemo, the invisible man Hawley Griffin, the aging adventurer Allan Quatermain, and the dual personality of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They first retrieve a stolen gravity-defying substance known as cavorite from an opium den overlord. However, the mission shifts focus when they discover their true adversary is a megalomaniac operating within the British secret service itself.
Readers of classic fiction and revisionist fantasy turn to this volume for its dense web of literary references and historical pastiche. It appeals to those interested in how legendary characters act when stripped of their moralistic nineteenth-century veneer. By the end, the reader understands how these disparate icons function as an early prototype for the superhero team while witnessing a cynical critique of Victorian colonialism and technological expansion. It offers a reconstructed vision of the nineteenth century that balances pulpy action with intricate, era-specific world-building.
Outward-looking and escapist; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Curious Generalist. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2000
- Language
- EN
