So this is how I end up spending my Sunday - I knew I wanted to read I just didnt realise how much.So the book - well the first challenge is to say what genre it draws from which is easier said than done. There is noir detection, alternate history, science fiction, urban fantasy and those are the ones I recognise I am sure people can add more to them. But what of the story - well I guess with this many genres the author can pretty much do what he likes and knows that its acceptable under what ev...

If I wanted to read Batman fanfiction, I could probably find better fic on the Internet for free.While the book is set in an old-tymey steampunk universe, everything else is straight from the DC/Batman universe, coated with a quick and slapdash coat of paint. I do not know whether this is 'merely' a steampunk-AU fanfic with the serial numbers filed off, or if it was an official Elseworlds script submission which DC turned down, but either way, it's still Batman, albeit in the Witness Protection

The back copy sold me on this book: new york in the twenties, with a steampunk spin -- and a villain called "the Roman" leaving freshly minted ancient coins on his victims' eyes.We are introduced to the hero, the vigilante named "the Ghost", as he overcomes a band of hoods who work for the Roman. Shortly thereafter we meet a Gatsby-like character named Gabriel Cross who seemed to be his alter ego, only the author seemed to be trying to make me think he wasn't the Ghost, and then eventually just

How to describe this. Take a large scoop of Batman, a pinch of the Great Gatsby, a lot of Dashiel Hammett and a side order of Lovecraft. Mix together and bake in the oven until done.

'Ghost of Manhattan' is George Mann's melding of the pulp genre with that of steampunk. Set in an America embroiled in a cold war with the British Empire, it is a world of coal-powered cars, bi-planes taking off from building tops on rockets, of mobsters and of....The Ghost.The book centres on the vigilante 'The Ghost' and his attempts to thwart the schemes of the insidious mob boss known as 'The Roman'. Armed with a plethora of customised weaponry, he sets out each night to tackle the criminal

For George Mann's sake, I'm glad that I have a tendency to purchase all of the books in a series when I decide to read the first one. He gets my commission, as does my local store. These are both good things. But never have I felt so embarrassed to read a novel since I was a kid first realizing that YA stories no longer held my attention or demanded my suspension of disbelief. And those were the well-constructed stories.I don't like to write negative reviews of anything at all, so I'll keep this...

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)This latest title by our buddies at Pyr has a killer concept, one that's almost impossible to pass up -- basically, imagine "The Shadow" of 1920s pulp fiction, but if his secret identity happened to be Jay Gatsby, the whole story taking place in a steampunk (noirpunk?) alt-history New York, a tech-forward

A fast, furious and ultra-entertaining read set in the alt-steampunk universe of the author's superb series "Newbury and Hobbes" but some decades later and in NYC rather than London; while Ghosts is as pure superhero adventure as it gets with clear-cut heroes and villains, gadgets (steampunk here), non-stop action, high body count and minimal plot, so it lacks the subtlety of Affinity Bridge and Osiris Ritual, the engaging direct style of Mr. Mann makes it work superbly and you cannot help but r...

The year is 1926 and the USA is in a Cold War with Britan. Masked vigilante The Ghost is on the trail of a crime boss called The Roman. Can he evade police long enough to catch The Roman and put a stop to his reign of terror?The easiest way to sum up Ghosts of Manhattan is to say "Steampunk Batman." That's what it is. It's very much a Batman story with steampunk trappings. And the trappings are minimal. If minor details were changed, it could have easily taken place in our 1926.I have to admit I...

Moving ahead several decades and continents in his steampunk universe serves George Mann well in this book which is a mix of superhero story (think Batman) and noir. The book is a pretty interesting read until the end. Mann has knack for writing crazy fight and chase sequences; in this book it's a bi-plane fight. The pace of most of the book is good, mixing the right amount of action and introspection.Where the book lost me (and this is why I'm giving it 3 stars instead of 4) is in the final few...

Picked up for a pittance in a charity shop somewhere, so utterly awful that I may just bin it rather than have the possibility of someone else reading it sitting on my conscience.Stylistically it nearly made me weep, for a book that steals so much from The Great Gatsby you'd hope the author would take more than a few characters and a setting and learn a little from his prose.Also Alan Moore did the whole Cthulu erupts into high society thing a lot better in one of his League of Extraordinary Gen...

[Spoilers. Well, sort of. Honestly, it's not like you're going to be that surprised.]Because this book often shows up on "essential dieselpunk" reading lists (even though the jacket claims it's the first "steampunk superhero"--a claim completely unsubstantiated anywhere in its 230+ pages), I (a sort of dieselpunk cadet) wanted to like it. But as it all-too-frequently happens these days with subgenres trying to find their niche audience, the otherwise appropriate pieces never quite come together

I can't even finish this. It is absolutely dreadful.

CW: burns, gore, description of a corpse, description of injuriesWow, they REALLY buried the lead on that final reveal, huh? I know Mann was going for the element of surprise but I think it was a little too surprising if you know what I mean. Unfortunately, as much as we love a steampunk take on Lamont Cranston featuring (view spoiler)[surprise Lovecraftian entities (hide spoiler)], if you're going to use golems as a supernatural character/plot device, I really want to see some explicitly Jewish...

Steampunk, alternate history, a hero who hides in the shadows of the world's most famous city... This had all the elements of what could have been a great book, but it just sort of fell flat.None of the characters were really fleshed out enough to care about, and the reveal of the Ghost's true identity just didn't work for me. It was too sudden and didn't make sense as presented. Everything wrapped up too easily, and the main love interest's involvement in the whole plot seemed to just be sort o...

Do you like noir, pulp, The Shadow, Watchmen, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, steampunk/ decopunk, Sin City, and Batman? Then I have a feeling that you'll love getting to know The Ghost, our lead character and vigilante of Ghosts of Manhattan. The story moves along at a lightning fast pace and it's a lot of fun, especially when it comes to the fight and chase scenes. The only down side is the characters, they were a little too flat when it came down to it. The tale is very visual and I th...

Added the book to my own 2010 book of the year list!Ghosts of Manhattan is an intoxicating, gorgeous, action packed, adventurous, most entertaining, steampunk hero graphic novel without graphics.You like heroes and steampunk? Then read Ghosts of Manhattan.Read my full review over at Edi's Book Lighthouse

1926 isn't just your everyday, run of the mill, year. Steam powered cars are the rage while the holographic "tube" has become the every day way to stay in touch. The Great War is almost a decade in the past but those who were once our allies have now become our enemies. And crime continues to find a way.Strange deaths have occurred and, while the police seem to be hampered by the laws they are bound to enforce, they are unable to find out who is murdering seemingly unrelated citizens in a bizarr...