Triumff: Her Majesty's Hero

In the world of alternate history story telling Turtledove is the most obvious choice. Make room on the shelf for Dan Abnett with this sword fighting, swash buckling adventure. Set in London in 2009, is an alternate world where Spain and England joined forces in the 1600s and colonized most of the known world--except for Australia which became a modern metropolis on its own. In this alternate world magic is rife and used by those who desire or are already in power. The adventurer Triumff who has just returned from Australia stumbles onto a secret that threatens the Queen and the Empire, he is recruited to help his country and stop the assassination of the Queen. This is one of the best alternate history books out there. It might not be as in depth as Turtledove's work, but it still explains the important changes that have happened. It is a humorous read, with Triumff is forced to be a hero he doesn't always want to be. All in all a humorous and action packed novel. Reviewed by Kevin Winter

Yes, he does, and he does it quite well. However, for those of us on this side of the pond, be aware that it's British humor and sometimes might slip under your radar. The basis of the story is that magic was rediscovered during the Renaissance and completely altered the course of human history. With magic able to accomplish many wondrous things, the Industrial Revolution never really happened. Firearms are limited to primitive flintlocks, the British Empire merged with the Spanish Empire to dominate the world, Australia developed independently (as discovered by our hero Repurt Triumff) and abandoned magic in favor of technology to create an unblemished paradise. It is Triumff's primary goal to prevent the despoiling of Australia by the Empire. In his reticence and refusal to divulge the nature of his discoveries, suspicion falls upon him and he thus is easily blamed for crimes of which he is in fact innocent. He is thus thrust into an adventure to save the Queen and the Empire as a whole from a treasonous plot. He will encounter magic, muscle, blood and pain in his pursuit of justice. Abnett is a master, there is no doubt. His characters are well-drawn and always fun to read. With the humor, in places it is very reminiscent of Terry Pratchett's Discworld in form and substance, such as with the footnotes describing various non-story relevant tidbits of this alternate present's history. However, I don't think he's quite as adept at this as Pratchett, else this book would have five stars. This one's got it all: magic, intrigue, suspense, mystery, swordfighting, humor, the struggle of the little guy against the indomitable forces of governmental authority... There's more, but I think you get the gist of it. This book is a fun read, and it's also something of a challenging read, what with the particular idioms and jargon that as an American were somewhat new and required a touch of thought to puzzle out. They only added to the immersion in the universe, though. I highly recommend this book to fans of Abnett who might want to get a different flavor of story, and to fans of swashbuckling fiction and fantasy.

Triumff: Her Majesty's Hero takes place in a goofy alternate reality, in which the merged British & Spanish Empires rule the world. Magic has precluded any use of technology, Elizabethan culture still prevails and Shakespeare (or pornographic updates thereof) is still on stage. The book stars Sir Rupert Triumff. Triumff returned from discovering Australia about a year ago, and is doing his best to avoid the attention of court (mostly by drinking himself senseless). Unfortunately, he can't keep Australia to himself - too many of the court factions need him to essentially 'sign back in' so that the official, Imperially-blessed looting can begin. To add to Triumff's woes, he's also caught in the middle of a dastardly plot. Under the leadership of a necromantic Bishop, a group of disgruntled noblemen are making a bid for power. Triumff, much to his chagrin, is set up as their bait/victim/fall-guy/pawn. With the help of his friends and (often-unexpected) allies, Triumff has to save the Queen, Britain, Australia and the whole rest of the Empire. This is all, incidentally, completely irrelevant to the book. Triumff is actually about comic footnotes, slapstick humor, dirty jokes and bad puns. The plot, as outlined above, is essentially a vehicle that allows all the characters to run around like "Carry On" out-takes - fighting amongst themselves, mistaking identities, putting on outrageous accents, kicking in the privates and wearing silly outfits. And, believe it or not, it works. For one, Dan Abnett - previously known for cranking out Warhammer fiction - has a fairly impeccable sense of comedic timing. From the wry footnotes to the surreal Swiss-army-sword, malapropisms and apples-on-strings, the book had me chuckling from start to finish in a way that Terry Pratchett hasn't succeeded in doing for a decade. There's a lot of obvious humor here, but if Abnett should be ashamed of his puns (and he should), he should also be proud of their delivery. Triumff is an unexpectedly adept contribution to the subgenre of humorous fantasy, one that should find more than a few fans. It is also, by far, the best I've read from this publisher. Whether or not Triumff is her Majesty's hero, he will certainly be Angry Robot's...