Aetheric Mechanics

Warren Ellis (writer)
Gianluca Pagliarani (artist)
Avatar Press

The year is 1907, and Britain has entered into a terrifying war with Ruritania, whose strange metal planes darken the skies, and whose monstrous war engines cast looming shadows from across the channel. Doctor Robert Watcham, lately returned to London from the front, makes his homecoming to Dilke Street. There lives his old friend and England's greatest amateur detective, Sax Raker. Even as his beloved city prepares for war, Raker is himself about to embark on the strangest (and, perhaps, the most important) investigation of his career: the case of the man who wasn't there. Is the mysterious, vanishing killer, at last, evidence for Raker's long-held belief in a secret criminal mastermind? Is it some apparition uniquely belonging to this city, a place that seems to have lost all semblance of sense two years ago? Or do all the signs point to something much, much worse?

Warren Ellis did a good few of these one off books for Avatar of which I've only read a couple; not from lack of interest more from just completely missing them.  This time out he's channelling Arthur Conan Doyle with a steampunk, sci-fi Sherlock Holmes riff.

Britain is at war with Ruritania (the fictional country where 'The Prisoner of Zenda' is set) whose giant robot war machines have seen Doctor Richard Watcham fleeing from the front back to the company of his detective friend Sax Raker and immediately into a case concerning a man who wasn't there.

There's a similarity here to Mark Hodder's first 'Burton and Swinburne' book which comes to light in the finale but here there is a much more classic sci-fi feel.  It's a bit of a giggle and shows that Warren would write a formidable Holmes story should he ever wish to.  This one, on first read, I tended to spend wondering why it's so Sherlockian until it all becomes clear in the end so a second reading is essential purely for fun allows it to show it's colours more strongly.

The second time through also gives you the chance to bask in the glory of Pagliarani's artwork.  His incredibly detailed line work is a joy to the eyes and feels entirely at home in the setting of the book.  Just check out this (I think unused) alternative cover he drew for the book.

A short but fun read with plenty of eye candy.