This title offers a rip-roaring steam-punk adventure that will have you one the edge of your seat to the very last page. In 1880 women are not allowed to vote, much less dress up in costume and fight crime. But twenty-year-old socialite Sarah Stanton still dreams of becoming a hero. Her opportunity arrives in tragedy when the leader of the Society of Paragons, New York's greatest team of gentlemen adventures, is murdered right before her eyes. To uncover the truth behind the assassination, Sarah joins forces with the amazing mechanical man known as Automaton. Together they unmask a conspiracy at the heart of the Paragons that reveals the world of heroes and high society is built on a crumbling foundation of greed and lies. When Sarah comes face-to-face with the megalomaniacal villain behind the murder, she must discover if she has the courage to sacrifice her life of privilege and save her mechanical mate. "The Falling Machine" takes place in a Victorian New York transfixed by the discovery of 'Fortified Steam' a substance that allows ordinary men to wield extraordinary power and which can corrupt even the strongest. The secret behind this amazing substance is something that evil men will gladly kill for and one that the redoubtable Sarah must try and protect no matter what the cost.
Andrew P. Mayer is the author of The Falling Machine and Hearts of Smoke and Steam, books 1 and 2 of the The Society of Steam trilogy. He is also the author of a short comic story titled "Creepy: Om Nom Nom" published by Dark Horse Comics that was anthologized in Myspace Dark Horse Presents, vol. 3, and in New Creepy Anthology. He is the chief creative officer for Mob Science games, where he creates social games for Facebook. Previously he worked as a game designer and creative director for Sony Psygnosis, the Cartoon Network, and PlayFirst. Visit him online at www.andrewpmayer.com
"The Falling Machine is quite simply the coolest steampunk superhero book I've ever read. . . . Imagine if Gangs of New York had been directed by Jules Verne, instead of Martin Scorsese, [and] you're probably not too far off." - Portland Book Review "If Stan Lee had lived in the 1880s, [The Falling Machine] is the book he would have written- steampunk superheroes. Filled with larger-than-life characters, cliff-hanger action, and ingenious gadgets so richly realized you'll feel the steam hissing from them, at its heart, it's a two-fisted meditation on the mythic glories of heroism and the tragic frailties of the heroes themselves." -Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith, authors of the Vampire Empire trilogy "[A] glorious conceit. . . steampunk superheroes in Gilded Age New York City. [The Falling Machine] offers cocked-eyed adventure and the high camp of steampunk wrapped around a story of moral choice, family loyalty, and the ultimate question of who gets to be counted as a person. A ripping yarn that strikes all the right notes, [it] will delight and entertain you." -Jay Lake, Campbell Award-winning author of Mainspring and Green
