We have had two new reviews of Airship Shape & Bristol Fashion come in during the past week. They are both very pleasing.
This one, by Jonathan Hicks at RPG.net, says:
I enjoyed the stories here and found them fulfilling and thought provoking. Most of them hit the mark for me and even those that didn’t were a good read. In all, there are plenty of stories covering plenty of different ideas, styles and moods so there’s a lot of material that’ll suit most fans of the steampunk genre. I can easily recommend it.
And this one at Crinoline Robot notes:
One thing all the stories have in common is a good, focussed engagement with Bristol and its history, including its role as a slave port, and a city which was home to prominent pro-emancipation campaigners. Many characters have African heritage. Steampunk is often criticised for not engaging enough with the reality of 19th century history, with slavery and Empire, with the treatment of women and the working classes. These things are not ignored in this volume.
Adding:
I very much enjoyed reading the whole thing. Here’s hoping the BristolCon Foundation is able to support more books by local writers.
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Apocalypse Array is many layered and fluid, only demanding that the reader believes the Hosts of Heaven and Hell come to Earth to be incarnated into emotionally fraught domesticity. The idea is bizarre but well worth pursuing to the end.
I can highly recommend Apocalypse Array for its original edge, lack of cliché and cleverly spun plot. – Jane Palmer
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“I am personally quite surprised by the lack of publicity and praise for Morehouse’s books. I don’t know if her publishers have pushed her books enough, because to me they are refreshing in a genre that sometimes rehashes old ideas and the author has got a writing style that makes reading her books very addictive. I would recommend Morehouse to anyone who likes near future science fiction, give it a try and I am sure that you won’t be disappointed.” – Vegar Holman, The Alien Online
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“I think that I would have ended up recommending Lyda Morehouse’s cyber-apocalypse series even if she had made a total hash of the ending. To start with, you just shouldn’t be able to get away with what she has done. It shouldn’t be possible to get published with a cyberpunk detective series in which several of the characters are angels. And even if it was you should not be portraying Gabriel as a black Muslim and Uriel/Ariel as a cross-dressing Buddhist. Nor should you have your angel characters consistently refer to God as “Mother”. Not in America, anyway. Someone at RoC had a serious case of suicidal bravery when they bought this series, and I’m so glad that they did.” – Cheryl Morgan, Emerald City
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“The End Times are at hand and the world is abuzz with speculation. Is celebrity Inquisitor Emmaline McNaughton the Antichrist? Who is the messiah? Where are we going and why are we in this hand-basket? Conspiracy theories abound as Morningstar and Monsignor Emmaline carry out their plans for Armageddon in style.”
“An entertaining read, alive with Morehouse’s deliciously irreverent humor and a provocative cast of characters.” – A.M. Dellamonica, Internet Review of Science Fiction
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“You’ve gotta love a futuristic fantasy that opens with a lightly humorous church wedding between Satan and the Antichrist….” – Carolyn Cushman, Locus
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“Apocalypse Array is as entertaining as its predecessors, with snappy dialogue, a fast-paced plot that serves up some nice surprises, and many well-drawn characters — Amariah, the teenage Messiah, an engaging blend of stubbornness, uncertainty, and conviction; Diedre, both hardheaded and vulnerable; Mouse, sly and self-serving but as oddly likable as ever (it’s really nice to see a sympathetic portrayal of a practicing Muslim); and of course the magnetic Morningstar, notable not just for his demonic powers but for his sardonic sense of humor.” – Victoria Straus, SF Site
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“In Morehouse’s hands, turn-of-the-21st-century Earth is cleverly and carefully built.” – Jen Talley Exum, Romantic Times