BooksForABuck.com source for free and $1 books



Search
Booksforabuck

Powered by FreeFind


Site search
Web search

    Review of THE PESHAWAR LANCERS by S. M. Stirling

    ROC, January 2002

    Review by Jennifer Vilches

    A large meteor shower struck Earth in 1878, halting technological development and creating years of winter and starvation, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. With the help of the British merchant fleet, a large portion of the population of England relocated to British India. Fast forward to the 21st century, India is the center of the British Empire, France rules southern Europe and North Africa, and Russia has become an evil empire ruled by ritual-cannibalist Satan worshippers. The other major world powers are Dai-Nippon (Japan and China) and the Caliphate (an Arab-based Muslim nation that stretches up through eastern Europe).

    Athelstane King, an Imperial army officer, and his scientist sister Cassandra have mysteriously become the targets for assassination. They must overcome their many attackers and solve the mystery of why they are targets. During this action filled romp across British India, the Kings pull several other interesting characters into their quest, including the royal heir, Prince Charles, his sister Sita, the French ambassador, Henri de Vascogne, and a Russian seerist.

    Alternate history author S. M. Stirling's (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by Stirling) descriptions of the technology, geography and cultures of this alternate world are detailed and fairly believable. The action sequences are good and the story moves along at a fair clip, but I never really connected with the characters. They all seem a bit too cliched and don't seem to evolve during the course of THE PESHAWAR LANCERS. The villians are very bad indeed, the heroes are brave, the royalty is noble, and the sidekicks are trusty. It might be more enjoyable for someone who likes Edwardian style novels or the Kipling British Raj stories.

    Two Stars

    Reviewed 1/14/04

    Ready to buy it? Click the button:

    Want to learn more?
    Click this link and see more reviews, similar books, and other Amazon information on THE PESHAWAR LANCERS from Amazon.com.

    Rather buy it from Barnes and Noble?
    Click this link for THE PESHAWAR LANCERS from Barnes and Noble.com