S.M. Stirling's acclaimed hardcover debut-and a top ten Locus bestseller for two months-The Peshawar Lancers takes readers to an alternate 21st century earth, where boats still run on steam, messages are exchanged by telegraph, and the British Empire controls much of the world from India. But the Czar of all Russias is preparing for global conquest...
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First Sentence
Captain Athelstane King rinsed out his mouth with a swig from the goatskin water bag slung at his saddlebow. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Captain Athelstane King rinsed out his mouth with a swig from the goatskin water bag slung at his saddlebow. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This is an excellent read. It combines elements of the classics of Hope, Kipling and Haggard, into an alternative universe of the 21st Century.
The basic premise is a meteorite strike in the 1870's essentially scoured civilisation from Europe and North America. The remains of the British empire have decamped to the Jewel in the Crown, India. A century latter, the author carefully recreates the world which results from this event, as a backdrop to a trilling adventure story. It was interesting of the author, an American, not to have the US present except as a collection of struggling city states. Also the empire is not an English empire, but more an Indian one, where the former conquerors have been blended and mixed into the gloriously diverse makeup of the subcontinent.
I have not been really a fan of the author, lukewarm to his Drakkan series & finding his Islanders fairly okay. Hopefully, this will the start of a new series.
The basic premise is a meteorite strike in the 1870's essentially scoured civilisation from Europe and North America. The remains of the British empire have decamped to the Jewel in the Crown, India. A century latter, the author carefully recreates the world which results from this event, as a backdrop to a trilling adventure story. It was interesting of the author, an American, not to have the US present except as a collection of struggling city states. Also the empire is not an English empire, but more an Indian one, where the former conquerors have been blended and mixed into the gloriously diverse makeup of the subcontinent.
I have not been really a fan of the author, lukewarm to his Drakkan series & finding his Islanders fairly okay. Hopefully, this will the start of a new series.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By JA Fairhurst
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
After massive cometary impacts in the late 1800s that had made life in the Northern Hemisphere effectively impossible most of the British upper classes and military had been evacuated to British India.
Now, more than a hundred years later, India is the centre of a new Empire holding the subcontinent, Australasia, the coastal areas of North America and even the old Home Islands of the British Isles. However, as ever, the Raj's greatest threat lies to the North in the shape of the Czar of all the Russias with his Seat at fabled Sammerkand. A Czar who worshipped, not Christianity, but the foul Tchernobog who demanded that his followers eat human flesh in remembrance of the time they spent under the Dark.
Although still calling themselves English, and appearing as such on the surface, the rulers of India retain few of their ancestors' ways and have become greatly Indianised in the time spent as the rulers of the vast subcontinent. As Athelstane King and his sister make their way through the twisted threads that make up the attempt of a Russian agent to destroy the ruling dynasty, we get to look at the strange civilisation that is still being formed in this new empire, for just as the Indians had their effects on their foreign rulers, those rulers had had their own effect on those they ruled. _The Peshawar Lancers_ is a great book however you look at it - a brilliant adventure story in the old Imperial style of derring do and great world building, making a truly alien world appear real.
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
After the Fall (multiple asteroids or comets impacting the Earth at high speed in 1877) the Western civilization survives in British India and is menaced by a true evil empire, a Czar ruling from Samarkand and worshipping the Black God with human sacrifices. As a character says, the plot has "vile villains, a beautiful princess and a valiant knight" in it, but on the background you can appreciate the meticulous research which led to a successful world building: history, politics, religion, technology, all subtly different from ours. The only flaw lies IMHO in too much clearcut good vs. evil characters, unlike the more ambiguous, but more rich in depth, characters of his former novels, like Eric von Shrakenberg in the Draka trilogy or Isketerol in the Nantucket series.
All in all, another must for AH buffs (and not only for them) from a leading author
All in all, another must for AH buffs (and not only for them) from a leading author
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3.9 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
.A wish list presant for my son .
I did not read this book as it was for my 25 year old son whom did ask me to buy it . He seemed satisfied with it's contents.
Published 4 months ago by minnow
5.0 out of 5 stars
An absoloute gem of a novel
Love this book, the idea behind it is fascinating. Makes an interesting change for one of these historical fictions NOT to be based around America. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Andy Watkins
3.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Alternative History; Shame About The Story
'The Peshawar Lancers' is my first S.M. Stirling novel and I'm afraid to say that it's likely to be my last. Read more
Published 18 months ago by C. Green
3.0 out of 5 stars
An exciting adventure story, but could have been better.
This is a Biggles-style action adventure story for grown-ups, set in an alternate world where violent meteor strikes have altered the course of history as we would recognise it. Read more
Published on 7 April 2011 by HeecheeRendezvous
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book...waiting for it sequel(s)
Hi all,
Don't get me wrong. This is purely a standalone book...with happy ending and all.
To be honest the world described by Stirnling is so interesting.... Read more
Don't get me wrong. This is purely a standalone book...with happy ending and all.
To be honest the world described by Stirnling is so interesting.... Read more
Published on 15 Jan 2011 by D. Tan
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hard to put down
This is a very readable tale of daring heroes, of beautiful and gutsy heroines determined to foil the dastardly plots of abominable and traitorous baddies - believe me you wouldn't... Read more
Published on 10 Jun 2009 by Horrocks
5.0 out of 5 stars
Steampunks everywhere, read this!
Alternate history, India 2025, western Europe and America devastated by a comet, Exodus to India from Britin, Empire lives on. Read more
Published on 7 Aug 2008 by T.
5.0 out of 5 stars
rollicking read
thoroughly enjoyed it.
interesting parallels with the Flashman series, for instance Ignatieff as the main protagonist is straight out of one of the flashman books... Read more
interesting parallels with the Flashman series, for instance Ignatieff as the main protagonist is straight out of one of the flashman books... Read more
Published on 5 Oct 2007 by abcclub
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Raj as it might have been
A rollicking adventure, complete with Russian Satanists and prophetesses, and - most interestingly - the Raj as it might have been, if the British had been compelled to take up... Read more
Published on 20 July 2007 by Stephen
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Book
What an excellent read this was! Well written, fast paced and exciting.
The feel of the Indian Army was just right and the playing of "The Great Game" was given a whole... Read more
The feel of the Indian Army was just right and the playing of "The Great Game" was given a whole... Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2006 by Carr
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