Not often do I come across a new sub-genre, but I hadn't
previously read bronzepunk. Well, why not? Greek legends
contain mechanical owls, wooden Trojan horses, plenty of
bronze and cunning inventors, and we've lately discovered
the splendid bronze Antikythera mechanism which tracked
astronomical movements.
ACHILLES VS. MECHA-HECTOR is a tale based on the Trojan
War. We enter as citizens of the besieged town of Troy
glower at Greeks camped outside the gates, stopping the
sea
trade which Troy taxed, stopping supplies and
reinforcements coming to their aid. All this fuss over
abducting a woman. There's some crude language, as we'd
expect from a camp of irate soldiers, as Hector, repaired
by the bronze-smiths after a battle, meets with Achilles
and they decide the auguries mean a duel is best
postponed.
Paris is King of Troy and we see his lovely Spartan wife
Helen, tender-hearted and lonely since raffish Paris
started philandering as kings do. Her brother-in-law
Hector
feels sorry for her; it's enough to get him steamed up
thinking about her unfortunate situation. Twelve years of
siege war have taken a toll on Troy's influence and
Hector's refusal to fight today infuriates Paris.
Kalkeus is a gifted inventor of his time, who scribbles
designs on papyrus and builds them; he was responsible for
reconstructing the broken Hector as a moving metal and
flesh man. When Hector goes to the man's secret workshop
in the palace, he finds that the good Kalkeus has been
murdered most brutally. As a Prince of Troy Hector is
bound
to avenge the death, so this starts a crime-noir story in
most entertaining fashion as the bronze man prowls around
the city. A brothel madam sails through the crowd like a
trireme cutting through the waves, the occasional god
marches into the room, while a statue called the Palladium
has been stolen and must be recovered. Don't you just want
to be there?
Bronze Age geo-politics show us why the siege was begun
and
pursued, with the balance of power in the Aegean and Black
Sea regions, including Asia Minor, now called Turkey,
shifting towards the Greeks every year it lasted. Helen's
elopement was a convenient excuse. Jesse Beeson Tate
easily
makes this clear in the background of his tale, because
after twelve years there are few other topics of
conversation in the city. This is an adult war story and a
crime story, a cunning fiction using the bronzepunk device
to catch our attention and make it clear that this is an
alternate timeline. ACHILLES VS. MECHA-HECTOR is, Jesse
Tate tells us, the Trojan War with everything Homer left
out. He's planning a series and I love it so far, I can't
stop laughing and admiring the ingenuity shown. Bronzepunk
rules!
Bullfinch meets Tarantino in what readers are calling "a
thrilling alternative to the traditional narrative of the
Trojan War, jam packed with action and humor!"
After his fatal duel with Achilles, Prince Hector of Troy
is brought back to life by a rogue adherent of Vulcan.
Thrust back into a world he no longer understands, Hector
and his geriatric companions must navigate the mystery
surrounding his resurrector’s death, a sinister plot by
Lovecraftian gods from Troy’s dark past, and their own
alcohol-induced incompetence. All the while, the assembled
Greek nations still seek the utter destruction of Troy.
Brilliantly conceived and executed, this gloriously
irreverent reimagining of the ancient world will send
readers on a wild ride through one of the strangest What
If? scenarios to hit to the genre in decades.
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy