The Wrench in the Machine

Book excerpt: Get ready to enter a multiverse of Comic Mystery and Steampunk Adventure. Investigate the mysteries and explore strange new worlds. In 1875, Inspector Ol'Barrow of Dover's borough police is still coming to terms with the advent of radio dramas when he is confronted by a murder mystery. During their investigation, he and his colleague Bigsby come eye to eye with an assassin with otherworldly origins. Spurred on by his sense of duty and a desire to redeem himself, Inspector Ol'Barrow collaborates with a clandestine organization called the Association of Ishtar. They claim to be mere advisers who aid the authorities with the containment of anomalies known as Rifts. These are harmless gateways to other worlds but also provide access to the many threats lurking inside the multiverse. Ol'Barrow's eyes are opened to a reality in which Napoleon used futuristic weapons to bombard England. Companies have been developing out-of-this-world technology. And worst of all, everyone is taking the progress it created for granted. Humanity is advancing into an increasingly technocratic future. Where will it end? As far as certain groups are concerned, biology is a dead end, and humanity needs to ascend. About the series Created in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars, the Association of Ishtar is a clandestine organization of volunteers who have taken it upon themselves to explore the Multiverse... AoI is a series of Steampunk and Lovecraftian short stories by Bonsart: the creator of the Steampunk Beginners Guide documentary series. On the RRF podcast, he has interviewed over a hundred members of the Steampunk Community, including writers and other creators.