Jeapes has written a book that will require a genre footnote; I don’t know that we have an historical science fiction category! It is 1645. Oliver Cromwell is on the rise. King Charles I is embroiled in a civil war. John Donder (pronounced Dhon Do in his native Holekhor) is a general and with the discovery of a new portal, he has returned to annex England for his Lord the Domon’el of Golekh.

Dhon Do has machine guns and he commands the fleet of airships that will annihilate the English. Cromwell has his wits and the help of Mistress Connolly who hates the Golekhi with a passion for the crimes visited upon her people in the Holekhor world. Wild cards include Dhon Do’s miraculous son (no one believed the Golekhi and the English could produce children) and the Wise whose abilities are centered in the geophysical alignment of the lines of power.

Despite the seeming anachronisms and improbabilities in this short summary, the events described feel historical and we get swept into believing that King Charles or Cromwell could very well have spoken and acted as presented; Jeapes places us firmly in the mid sixteen hundreds with language that will challenge and not discourage teen readers! Jeapes includes a postscript explaining (and inventing) the mix of history and fiction. You have to read this one to believe it. It is a significant literary accomplishment. ( )

A quite fun story of England if aliens invaded during the civil war. The Roundheads and Cavilliers having to band together to fight the invaders. Interesting and well done. ( )

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