Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg
Girl Genius, Book Four
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4.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $24.99
Publisher Description
In a time when the Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, mad science rules the world—with mixed success.
In Agatha H and the Siege of Mechanicsburg, Agatha Heterodyne, the last of the Heterodyne family, has returned to her family’s hereditary town with the might of the Wulfenbach Empire hot on her heels. The only thing holding off an outright attack is Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, the heir to the Empire, who has joined Agatha and her friends inside the great artificially intelligent fortress of Castle Heterodyne. Now they must race to repair the mechanisms that once allowed the Castle to defend Mechanicsburg, before the rest of Europa shows up to take all the revenge the mad Heterodynes of the past so richly earned.
From the Hugo Award–winning Girl Genius online comics comes this fourth book in the Agatha H. series, and like the previous three books, it will engage you in a unique world of adventure, romance, and mad science!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Husband-and-wife team Phil and Kaja Foglio continue the adventures of Agatha Heterodyne (following Agatha H. and the Voice of the Castle) with this gleefully manic steampunk tale of mad science, warfare, and love. In the bowels of the Castle Heterodyne, a confrontation rages between Agatha's villainous mother, Lucrezia Mongfish who is inhabiting Agatha's body and Lucrezia's niece, Zola Malfeazium. Lucrezia jumps into Zola's body and uses it to escape the castle. Once Agatha regains control of her own body, she sets to work repairing the castle's artificial intelligence with the help of, among others, her two suitors, Gilgamesh "Gil" Wulfenbach, heir to the Wulfenbach Empire, and Prince Tarvek Sturmvoraus, claimant to the mantle of Storm King. The castle's defenses are the best hope for Agatha to protect the folks of Mechanicsburg consisting of "humans and clanks, constructs and monsters" from the besieging forces of Gil's father, Baron Klaus Wulfenbach, who is also being influenced by Lucrezia. The authors do an admirable job of balancing the action sequences with Terry Pratchett like humor and romance. New readers will struggle with the sprawling cast and lengthy backstory (only partly explained by comical footnotes), but series fans will rejoice in this return to Mechanicsburg.
Customer Reviews
Required reading for Girl Genius fans
Like the other three books in the series, this novelisation of the comic books covers the same ground as the web comics, but fills in a lot of background detail. The writing is concise and humorous, and the many digressions in the book help paint a richer picture of the world of the Heterodynes.