To Rescue General Gordon (a steampunk short story) (Clockwork Imperium Book 1)
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Henry Emerson didn’t plan on disobeying orders, stealing an airship, and facing down a savage army of religious fanatics led by a man who believes he’s the Prophet reborn. But he’s about to.
The famous General Gordon is trapped in a city under siege by the Prophet’s soldiers. Henry and his friend James, two young officers in Her Majesty’s Royal Air Navy, along with the hulking Sikh, Raheem, decide to rescue him. Their methods aren’t exactly “cricket.” Their superiors call it insubordination. They prefer to think of it as following orders…creatively.
The adventure will either bring them glory and fame, or doom them to a painful death at the hands of savage tribesmen… If their own commanders don’t get to them first!
To Rescue General Gordon is an 8,000 word (35 pages) steampunk short story and the first tale in the Clockwork Imperium series.
A good story – apologies about the discussion of swearing,
One character says “Posh”, when dismissing objections to his plan; surely this should be “Bosh” – meaning rubbish or nonsense.
At one point the word “taught” is used for tight, full, canvas. I think this should be “taut”.
In deciding to agree to something another person says “Bugger all”, which, like similar expletives ending in ” … all”, actually means “nothing”; as in “I’ve got bugger all to show for my work”. So the expression is nonsense in context. No British person would use it in that situation. The character is basically dismissing his worries, deciding there is nothing else to do: “blow it”, “bugger it”, “sod it”, etc.; all make much better sense. It is an expression of resignation, not anger, like the dated “blast it!” might be.
These mistakes are odd – since the author wrote the expression you would expect him(?) to be familiar with its usage, similarly with posh/bosh. It is possible, of course, that the author is not really familiar with British slang/expletives, but has read or heard these expressions somewhere without really understanding them. But little else indicates that. Perhaps the author is American, as the ship has a Gatling Gun. I am not an expert on the period, but I am not aware the British were ever issued them.
I like Steampunk, but authors should really try to get period detail and vocabulary right – the alternate reality and technology only permits so much leeway. As a British reader it is frustrating to read poorly written dialogue as it jars against the story. I guess Americans feel the same when foreigners try to write Westerns or American Detective fiction.
If these details really don’t matter, then write SF or Fantasy and use vocabulary you’re sure of or make up your own language.
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|Great little short story,
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|Interesting and enjoyable.,
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