Blurb:

The wars of the future will be fought not by men on horseback, not with lances or with cannon or with ships, but with weapons fashioned from the very stuff of creation.

Scholars of military and international history have long held the destruction of the British Empire’s 4th Skyfleet above the pirate town of Liberty in 1866 to be the first recorded use of modern aetherweaponry and to constitute a turning point in international and interdimensional politics.

The pertinent documents, declassified in 1958 and compiled here in a new edition, are not only an invaluable resource for the interested amateur, but also a fascinating tale in their own right, revealing as they do the story of Captain George England’s hitherto secret work for the Aethermatic Operations Executive, his infiltration of the now legendary aethership Shadowless, and his final confrontation with the historically controversial pioneer of militarised aethermancy, Samuel Hardinge.

In these times of social unrest and multiversal upheaval, the events of 1866 have a new relevance, and it is our hope that the modern reader will find this narrative as pertinent as it would have been a hundred and fifty years ago.

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Review:

A great bookend bringing a close to the Prosperity series.

This is told in a series of documents consisting of letters and court testimony mainly circling heinous events that lead to a trial of one Captain George England–who we’ve not seen previously and who may or may not be found guilty of treasonous acts and muuuurrrrder.

I found this highly enjoyable with testimony most hilarious offered up by the extraordinary characters I got to know over the course of the series.

It was wonderful to see them all again and hear their voices, their wit & witticisms–Piccadilly especially.

I’m sad to see this end. Bummed.

In fact, I’ve found myself floundering, at a loss as to where to go next.

If I had my wish, Alexis Hall would make this an ongoing series.

I’m also kicking my own ass for ignoring this for as long as I did after discovering this author last year. I wanted to gobble up all of his words but was afraid of this Steampunk business. I have one more book of his to read that I’ve been putting off because it’s paranormal…with mermaids…and I’m a coward. But, if I’ve learned anything–and I’ve learned loads from this author–I know when I finally take the plunge (soon-ish) I’ll get an incredibly spun tale that I won’t want to end.

Review posted on GoodReads and Amazon.