Welcome to Nick Valentino, author of Steampunk novel, Thomas Riley!

Today, we enter an alternate universe, the world of THOMAS RILEY, (Quake/Echelon Press, Oct. 2009), a new Steampunk-adventure novel by author Nick Valentino.

For more than twenty years, West Canvia and Lemuria have been battling one another in a constant war.

From the safety of his laboratory, weapons designer Thomas Riley has cleverly and proudly empowered the West Canvian forces with his brilliant designs.

But when a risky alchemy experiment goes horribly wrong, Thomas and his wily assistant, Cynthia Bassett, are thrust onto the front lines of battle.

Forced into shaky alliances with murderous sky pirates in a deadly race to kidnap the only man who can undo the damage—the mad genius behind Lemuria's cunning armaments—Thomas' own genius is put to the ultimate test.

Miniature lovers stay tuned - you're in for a unique treat! But let Nick tell you:

"Quake/Echelon Press just released my new Steampunk adventure novel, THOMAS RILEY. What is Steampunk? I’ll show you.

"Ms. Verstraete has enabled me to write a blog on a more visual subject matter than my past few guest blogs. It’s easy to get lost in the dozens of posts about miniature things here. I literally just spent the last hour scrolling, gazing at all the fine detail of The 12 Days of Halloween in Miniature. (My favorite holiday by the way.)

"These amazing small recreations made me look up 'Steampunk miniatures.' And wow, did I find some good examples.

"This time instead of telling you what Steampunk is I’m going to show you… in miniature! "

Small Steampunk

Here is a wonderful example of Steampunk in miniature. Think Sherlock Holmes but with advanced technology all based on steam.

You’ll notice that this one has a little green creature on his shoulder.

If the genre of Steampunk is going to embellish on technology, why not everything else?







Steampunk Fashion

This is another nice example of Steampunk fashion and sense of adventure.

Here a man, complete with old world pipe, sports an African mask and stands atop a lion pelt.

Obviously this one is a safari hunter and explorer, a very prevalent subject matter in the genre.








Steampunk Villainy!

The Villain! Possibly a nemesis explorer holding a pointed parasol and three canopic jars.

You can tell right away that this fellow is up to no good and possibly has a very shady past.

Watch out for that dagger!

I usually only have fashion pictures or the cover of THOMAS RILEY to describe visually what Steampunk is, but this time we have some good third party examples. (Sculptures by Clavilier Gregory.)



The great thing about Steampunk is no one knows what it is until they see it.

Sure we can describe it as an alternative history with advanced technology, but you really get the picture when you see it for yourself.

If you enjoy debonair Sky Pirates, and high flying adventure, you will probably enjoy this genre. If you care to learn more, take a look at Thomas Riley’s website.




** BUY a signed copy from Nick.

** BUY from QUAKE