The Fata Morgana
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Doomed ParadiseThe ancient tales of European Man, carefully recorded by pious monks and hedge wizards alike, are insistent about the Western Isles. One of the tales of Doubting Thomas, the apostle, has it that he Christianized these islands and stayed there until the end of his days. The Arthurian legends clearly state that Arthur's father, Uther, came from the Western Isles.Ancient and Medieval maps agree in showing them as being off the Western Coast of France. Lyonnesse was a part of the Western Islands, as was the City of Ys, Avalon, and the Land of Dahout.Up until the time of the First Crusade, there are records of pilgrims visiting the Holy sites of the Western Islands. The remains of mercantile records of those days hint of trade with the islands of the west. Irish records and legends, which are generally regarded as reliable back to preChristian times, have many references to great floating islands being pushed by ocean currents and winds alike past the Emerald Isle, and sometimes becoming snagged there for a time.The Icelandic Eddas make similar references.Modern sailors and travelers sometimes sight great, many tiered cities near the ocean's horizon, but these people are rarely believed. It is easier for modern, technocentric man to believe in an optical illusion, the Fata Morgana.This book is about two modern, hardheaded engineers who find the Western Islands.At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This unabashedly politically incorrect male technophile's wet dream has all the elements designed to make a man good with tools feel like a genius--and to aggravate anyone who believes that racism, sexism or poverty are real problems without easy solutions. Nguyen Hien Treet, second-generation American and owner of a small Special Machinery business, has strange and unpleasant things happen to his company and ends up on the open sea with his best buddy, Adam Kulczyinski, in a fabulous yacht that unfortunately develops a gaping hole in its hull. As luck would have it, these stalwart technicians are soon rescued by the inhabitants of a floating island. On the isolated island of 2000 souls, a Duke reigns over property and marriages; the population of "real women" ostentatiously shows off its cleavage; a Warlock is in charge of technology and progress; and an Archbishop is rigorous about keeping his people religiously pure, even if it kills them. Treet, with Adam's help, must figure out how to keep the island from sinking, avoid getting murdered by religious fanatics and hammer out out a trade deal that will make both men wealthy and powerful. Since the motto of the book seems to be, as Adam puts it, "You're bleeding from twenty places, but that shouldn't bother a determined engineer," all things tend to work out in favor of the book's technically savvy heroes. Frankowski has a knack for writing amenable prose with enjoyable characters. Those not alienated by his Engineers-Know-Best attitude, and most especially those who share his women-as-eye-candy, religion-is-silly worldview, will find this to be a fun fantasy.
