The first review of my book on Amazon.

A highly intelligent and observant gentleman has kindly posted a review about my exploits on Amazon.co.uk.  Whatever that is. My only experience with Amazons was a frightful bore, a group of bare -breasted harridans seemingly immune to my charms. Their loss. I digress. My scribe has insisted I post the review here and for once I will defer to her judgement.

'I hate demons, faeries, mages, necromancers, the works! Hate 'em. It's lazy fiction as far as I'm concerned. Fantasy is an emotional desert to me, irrespective of whether your fantasy happens in the ruins of Minas Tyrith or along a Steampunk Embankment circa 1862. I-just-can't-be-bothered.

Until, of course, I decided to read this book by Raven Dane.

The one paragraph pitch: Cyrus Darian desires to find the ultimate source of occult and actual power: the Technomicron. He enlists a rag tag group accomplices including the most brilliant inventor of his age, a half human shape shifter and his on/off squeeze, Belial the Prince of Hell! Their quest is constantly threatened and thwarted by an unholy legion of varied, imaginative and well-realised foes.

Raven's character Cyrus is about as far from a sympathetic character as is possible to get. This philandering, nonchalant, kleptomaniac, ghost-conjurer lives possessed by L'esprit de l'escalier - in short, he will always have the last word and usually at everyone else's expense. You'll love him.

The writing is taut and efficient something of an unexpected bonus (I really did have a low opinion of fantasy writers!). The plotting is both in the great tradition of thrillers and affords us a generous number of witty asides that keeps the entire business of reading a treat.

Remember that? A book that is actual fun to read?

Raven displays her vast knowledge of thing occult, spiritual, ancient religion and demonic as well as technological, physical and biochemical without creating a confusing mish-mash that puts the reader off. Her feel for the pretentions of the mid-industrial age is spot on whenever she names a mechanism devised by Hardwicke, the inventor and it sounds just like the advertised inventions of the day.

Steam punk has a new fan and it's all Raven Dane's fault, blame her.

I thoroughly recommend this wonderful novel to you. It took me a total of 46 hours to read.'