Pasquale's Angel

Author: Paul J. Mcauley

The cool thing about McAuley's hard science fiction, spanning biotechnology, alternate history and time travel, is that he's actually a posh botanist with a lovely accent, not a Sheldon Cooper style nerd, as you'd really imagine him. He gives us the old fashioned version of steampunk, in an Industrial Revolutionist Italy. The city is drowned in polluted, tainted rain, and infested with dirty air from its factories. Leonardo da Vinci's steam turbine era, a metropolis Florence, sets the scene. Artists wars, the de' Medicis still scheme. The apprentice, Pasquel, sets out to solve a mysterious murder, where Da Vinci's flying device lies near the body. It turns out; the flying machine is wanted by the Spaniards, who will stop at nothing to gain this technology. The characters are rich and well-drawn, the plot appeals on a science fiction, steam punk, and alternate history level, and the technology fascinates. Love history or murder detective stories? Then you'll love this novel, too. When you finish this novel, you'll be asking yourself why you didn't start it sooner. It's also the 1995 Sidewise Award winner.