Hunchback Clarissa Stark and minister Aiden Fleischer pose as missionaries and are assigned to an island of suspected cannibals, launching them on an interplanetary journey of terror and suspense. Original.
Anglican priest Aiden Fleischer and hunchback Clarissa Stark, assigned as missionaries to visit a South Pacific island, find a world with two suns based on Victorian London and try to help when its existence is threatened by the dangerous Blood Gods.
An original psychological adventure from the the author of the Philip K. Dick award-winning Burton & Swinburne series.
A tale of Good and Evil, where neither is what it seems!
Aiden Fleischer, a bookish priest, finds himself transported to an alien world. With him is Miss Clarissa Stark, a crippled hunchback of exceptional ability, wronged by an aristocrat and cast out from society.
On the planet Ptallaya, under two bright yellow suns, they encounter the Yatsill, a race of enthusiastic mimics who shape their society after impressions picked up from Clarissa's mind. Creating a faux London, the alien creatures enroll Clarissa in their Council of Magicians and Aiden in the City Guard. But why does the peaceful city require guards? After a day that, in earthly terms, has lasted for months, the answer comes, for on this planet without night, a red sun also rises, and brings with it a destructive evil.
The Blood Gods! Hideous creatures, they cause Aiden to confront his own internal darkness while trying to protect his friend and his new home.
With a sharp eye for period detail and a rich imagination, Mark Hodder establishes a weirdly twisted version of Victorian London on a convincingly realized alien world, and employs them to tackle a profound psychological and moral question. This book breaks new ground by combining the "Sword & Planet" genre with Victorian steampunk while adding an edgy psychological twist.
