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The Red Plague Affair
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The Red Plague Affair
Unavailable
The Red Plague Affair
Audiobook8 hours

The Red Plague Affair

Written by Lilith Saintcrow

Narrated by Jane Collingwood

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

The service of Britannia is not for the faint of heart--or conscience...

Emma Bannon, Sorceress Prime in service to Queen Victrix, has a mission: to find the doctor who has created a powerful new weapon. Her friend, the mentath Archibald Clare, is only too happy to help. It will distract him from pursuing his nemesis, and besides, Clare is not as young as he used to be. A spot of Miss Bannon's excellent hospitality and her diverting company may be just what he needs.

Unfortunately, their quarry is a fanatic, and his poisonous discovery is just as dangerous to Britannia as to Her enemies. Now a single man has set Londinium ablaze, and Clare finds himself in the middle of distressing excitement, racing against time and theory to find a cure. Miss Bannon, of course, has troubles of her own, for the Queen's Consort Alberich is ill, and Her Majesty unhappy with Bannon's loyal service. And there is still no reliable way to find a hansom when one needs it most...

The game is afoot. And the Red Plague rises.

The fantastic follow-up to The Iron Wyrm Affair, set in an alternate Victorian world where magic has turned the Industrial Revolution on its head.

Bannon and Clare
The Iron Wyrm Affair
The Red Plague Affair
The Ripper Affair
The Damnation Affair (e-only)
For more from Lilith Saintcrow, check out:
Gallow and Ragged
Trailer Park Fae

Dante Valentine Novels
Working for the Devil
Dead Man Rising
Devil's Right Hand
Saint City Sinners
To Hell and Back

Dante Valentine (omnibus)
Jill Kismet Novels
Night Shift
Hunter's Prayer
Redemption Alley
Flesh Circus
Heaven's Spite
Angel Town

Jill Kismet (omnibus)
A Romance of Arquitaine Novels
The Hedgewitch Queen
The Bandit King
Blood Call (coming August 2015)
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 21, 2013
ISBN9781478978220
Unavailable
The Red Plague Affair
Author

Lilith Saintcrow

Lilith Saintcrow was born in New Mexico, bounced around the world as an Air Force brat, and fell in love with writing in second grade. She is the author of the Dante Valentine and Jill Kismet series, as well as the bestselling author of the Strange Angels YA series. She lives in Vancouver, Washington, with her children, dogs, and assorted other strays.

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Reviews for The Red Plague Affair

Rating: 3.638888888888889 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

90 ratings16 reviews

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  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Slow to develop and confusing... I gave this up...
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Really surprisingly lovely.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Synopsis: Bannon and Clare are once more in league to save England from falling. What they find is that the red plague is a weaponized disease that leaves on one unscathed, Clare nearly dies, as does Bannon, plus they lose one of the shields and find that mystery surrounds their survival.Review: This story still doesn't answer the questions about the beginnings of Bannon's main shield.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is a tough book for me to rate...it's definitely a 3.5, but not quite a 4. I liked it every bit as much as the previous Bannon & Clare book, The Iron Wyrm Affair, but I found this one more confusing and hard to follow. Perhaps that was my fault, reading it late at night, but it just didn't seem to have the plot cohesion of its predecessor. That said, I really like these characters and will definitely snatch up a further book in the series. There's a lot of very interesting stuff going on in both the setting and the lives of the characters, and I love the world the author has created.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I love Emma. The rest of the story was fine, but I think what may keep me reading the series is her backstory.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    For me, this book held together much better than the first book featuring Bannon & Clare. I still long for more world-building, but I'm feeling more secure in what I do know about this world, and Saintcrow is giving us more hints about its history. I still quite like Emma Bannon and have come to like Archibald Clare. Emma remains the strongest part of these books to me and its for her (and the brewing conflict between her and Victrix/Britannia) that I keep reading.

    (ARC provided by NetGalley)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Archibald Clare has run himself down and Emma Bannon rescues him, then they both get caught up in investigating a weaponised plague that is sweeping through London, this causes them both to get caught in politics that they don't want to. Archibald comes close to death several times and Emma finds that she cares about him.It's not a bad read but occasionally it felt like it was lagging a bit. Enjoyed it but kinda wanted more. Don't feel that i really know the characters all that well. Want more from this.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another nicely wrought plot. Continue to really like these characters.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This series is much more a Lord Darcy feeling for me and I dearly loved those books. Emma serves the Queen and Britannia [the spirit of England] with all her might she is more than willing to sacrifice anything in order to get the job done. There is the overlay of Sherlock Holmes as well but Emma is no Watson to Archibald's Sherlock and that is what I like about it so much. Emma is much more in control of the plot and what is going on around her. That she makes decisions that he may not care for she is doing it in the best interests of the crown, who he also serves as well. Not as much steampunk feel to this one as to the last but I love the idea of the clockwork horses. And that there is no angst over lovers in the books makes it a nice change of pace. I need to get the book that is set in the same universe but different characters and try that one out as well.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    As Clare pursues his own nemesis, the infection of one of her shields draws Bannon into a dangerous quest to stop a plague without compromising her loyalty to Britannia. As the infection spreads, the pair team up to find the source of the plague but there is no evidence that both will survive. Like the previous novel, the magical elements and action as well as the awkward relationship between the witch and the mentath carry the story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Clare and Bannon are back, and just as shaky about the nuances of their exact relationship as anyone else, apparently. Bannon's never questioned her dark service to Queen Victrix, but the depths of the threat to Britannia will take both her and Clare places neither have gone. A fanatical quarry, a deadly plague, and of course, there's Clare's nemesis to deal with - a good, but not great follow-up to the first installment. Certainly entertaining enough to make me hope a book three is forthcoming, though.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Red Plague Affair was a great second installment featuring Saintcrow's Emma Bannon and Archibald Clare. Having immensely enjoyed the first book in this series, I had high hopes for this installment, and Saintcrow definitely did not disappoint. The book begins with action, and the suspense never lets up from there. I really enjoy Saintcrow's world of Londinium full of wonder, sorcery, and logic. She does an amazing job at drawing the reader into this world and making them feel a part of Emma's quest to protect Britannia. The character development for the leading characters continues with Saintcrow giving her readers a hint of Emma's past, revealing a bit more of the mystery of Mikal, and Clare's trying to make sense of his relationship with Emma. I am hoping that we get to learn more about these intriguing characters with the next installment. The book's plot is well done full of enough twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. Overall this was a fabulous read that I would most definitely recommend. The Red Plague Affair is a fine example of why Saintcrow is one of my favorite authors.Received from Net Galley for an honest review
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Emma Bannon, Archibald Clare, and their band of associates are at it again, this time trying to stop a biological weapon that has brought the Red Plague to Londinium. Archibald finds that he must team up with his arch-nemesis, Dr. Vance, in order to find a cure before it's too late for all of them. I didn't quite enjoy this one as much as the first in the series, although I'm not quite sure why. I think perhaps I was a bit put off by the way Emma is portrayed in portions of this book. Emma is an incredibly intelligent and powerful woman, but she is less than perceptive in many cases, such as when she exposes Brittania and her Vessel to contagion. I understand that Emma is supposed to represent the opposite of science, but how could she have failed to noticed that some of her cohort have contracted the illness? It seems that Emma is loosing her touch, and this is only the second novel in the series. I am very intrigued by Emma's relationship with Mikal as well as the mystery surrounding his origins. I find it hilarious that Clare is basically portrayed as elderly at the ripe old age of 35.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: A dark and tragic novel that takes a few chapters to set up the plot but once it starts it never stops.Opening Sentence: I am too bloody old for this.The Review:The Red Plague Affair once again takes us into a world of magic and mentaths. Set in the 1800s Victorian England, this novel has a touch of steampunk, although it is not heavily set up like in the first book in this series. Magic users such as Emma Bannon use aether that is given off at dusk and dawn to power jewelry and such that holds their magic. Emma is a Prime, the most powerful of her kind of magic, which just so happens to be Dark Magic. Archibald Clare is a mentath, a human that is extra intelligent, almost to the point of being an over-analytical supercomputer. If a mentath’s mind isn’t being challenged or put to some task they will easily go insane.This novel takes place three years after The Iron Wyrm Affair. Emma Bannon and Archibald Clare are still working for Queen Victrix and have gotten quite used to each others company (just as friends nothing sexual between them). So when Clare is possibly dying from a heart attack Bannon uses her magic to heal him because they have a new assignment from the queen. (Plus, she is a little attached to the strange mentath). Unfortunately, Clare has been neglecting his duties and has been on the hunt for a mentath thief named Vance. Bannon quickly puts him back on track with the search for a missing physicker (just a mere genius not quite at the mentath level). Bannon and Clare have unwittingly been drawn into this search for a madman who releases a deadly plague. After its tragic release, Clare must do all he can to find a cure, even if he has to suffer the help of his mortal enemy, Vance.Emma Bannon goes through a lot of emotions in this novel. She has really been put through the ringer of tragedy and she makes some rash decisions but she is still the character that I really liked from The Iron Wrym Affair. Archibald Clare is not as robotic, as seen with the many health issues that he faces in this novel and I really enjoyed his wit. It helped with adding some lightheartedness to this really dark novel. The chapters alternate between Bannon and Clare’s point of views.The Red Plague Affair is not for the squeamish. There are some disgusting scenes especially when describing the plague and what some people are going through.This novel is a little slow on the upstart – before it finally moves on to the mystery of finding the missing physicker and then the red plague. Even though it felt slow in the beginning, it ended up being a really fast read for me. The action and mystery kept me hooked and I couldn’t wait until the final resolution. I did feel that several plot points were left out in the end but overall the book had a satisfactory ending.One note: This novel has an air of highborn supremacy. Emma speaks as if she was born from nobility. The language that is used is often overwhelming and because this is set in an alternate era – many of the names have been changed (people and places) such as Alexandrina Victrix for Queen Victoria, Prince Consort Alberich and the Mad King Georgeth. It may take some time to get used to the language used but it really sets the overall mood and atmosphere that this series has going for it.In the end, I really did enjoy The Red Plague Affair. I wish some events hadn’t happened but I can’t wait to see how these events set up the next novel in the series, The Ripper Affair.Notable Scene:“Bastarde,” the Neapolitan whispered. “Move, or cast one of your filthy sorceries, I slit your throat.”“I advise you to believe him.” Emma rose. Her skirts made a low sweet sound, and the curtains, fluttering, closed themselves without the benefit of hands. A Master Sorcerer was no match for a Prime, but still, caution was required. And the morning’s light should not shine on this work. The sudden gloom was a balm to her sensitised eyes. “Now, Timothy – may I address you as such? Thank you. Timothy, Mr Clare and I require you to be absolutely truthful. And if you are absolutely truthful, you will survive this encounter.”It pained her to lie, but the man’s face had turned cheesy-pale. He would be of absolutely no use if he knew the likely outcome of the morning’s visit.Britannia wished Morris taken alive, but she had said nothing about this man. And Emma was of the opinion that leaving behind anyone to be questioned was rather a bad idea at this juncture. It was necessary, she reminded herself, because she did not know if Kim Rudyard had left for his own part of the globe… or if he was still in Londinium, with a plan that hinged on some canisters and a certain physicker.Clare glanced at her, but he did not, thank God, give voice to his plain certainty that she was being misleading.“Mr Clare?” She kept her tone level. “Please question him thoroughly. I hope you don’t mind if I interject every so often? Oh, but before you begin, one small thing…”Mikal’s fingers clenched. The crunch of cartilage collapsing was very loud in the hush. Emma’s low hummed note caught the sound, wrapping the flat in a smothering veil. It wouldn’t do to have the neighbours inconvenienced. The dark Shield suffocated, his heels drumming the floor, and Mikal glanced up. His gaze, yellow as the Ganges-dust of Indus, met hers.FTC Advisory: Orbit provided me with a copy of The Red Plague Affair. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    So I got this electronic freebe from Net Galley as one of my firsts from there. I really wanted to like the book and finish it but I just couldn’t. I really wanted to give this book a full review. However, this series maybe I really should have started with the first one in the series. But when I requested it, I didn’t realize it was the second in the series.

    That being said, it was ok. However, I gave up about when I got to about 25%. Mostly what bothered me was the wording which was overly flowery and a bunch of sentences that were just annoyingly long and confusing. I admit some of my confusion may have been from not having read the first one in the series, but seriously, i shouldn’t have been getting confused. I really wanted to like this book, but the writing was just too annoying.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.allthingsuf.comLilith Saintcrow’s flavor of simmering emotion, significant glances, and dramatic mystery is a perfect compliment to the Victorian alternate timeline that contains her Bannon & Clare series. And while this tone makes for deliciously satisfying unspoken devotion, both romantic and platonic, it can also obscure the magical elements of the story beyond understanding.Luckily, while Bannon’s magic may be the engine driving her exploration, the lynch pin of the story is the familiar scientific method. Despite some of the more esoteric magic flying right over my head (Mikal’s origins and at least two mysterious deaths never clicked for me), there was enough relatable content to carry the story. Saintcrow doesn’t take any shortcuts when it comes to defining her characters’ relationships, and rivalries pop up between allies and enemies alike. These twists and turns kept the plot intellectually interesting, but only Bannon and Clare’s friendship really touched my emotions.And in turn, despite the hand waving and portents, only the surface events made sense to me. Whatever terrible past endangers Mikal didn’t resolve itself to anything I could understand, though Bannon’s crumbling devotion to her Queen was touched my heart. THE RED PLAGUE AFFAIR was a a slower read than its predecessor, though as long as the friendship at the core of this story is intact, so too is my interest.Sexual Content: References to prostitution.