St. Martin's (1987), cover art Wayne Barlowe Signet (1987), 239 pages, cover art [J.K. Potter?]

A MAD VICTORIAN FANTASY
A CLOCKWORK WORLD GONE MAD -

That was the way life suddenly seemed to George Dower, a proper Victorian London gentleman unhappily caught up in highly improper doings. It all began when the Brown Leather Man, a mysterious being with a secret older than humankind, asked Dower to repair a device George's genius father had created years before. How could George have known that this was but one of many infernal devices his father had built, or that he himself would soon be pursued by other former clients of Dower, Sr.? For George had always been the unsuspecting key to his father's incredible plans, a key that many would now like to possess -- from the automaton who wore George's own face but had the personality of Casanova... to the mad Lord Bendray, bent on using George to destroy the entire Earth...

"When I got done with INFERNAL DEVICES I said to myself, 'That does it. I am sick of all this Victorian language and Victorian bullshit. I'm never going to write another Victorian novel again.' Like most resolutions, a year later I was thinking of a sequel to INFERNAL DEVICES, 'cause it was fun to write and the characters are reusable." - K. W. Jeter "Odd twists and turns render the bizarre believable ... Jeter's brand of l'absurdité has moments of poignancy as well as hilarity, sometimes achieving both simultaneously." - Locus "...weird, complicated, and often very funny roller-coaster of a Victorian fantasy... Mad plotlines burst forth from this skillfully handled, wonderfully inventive, and agreeably witty adventure." - Kirkus Reviews "A true mindfucker and, perhaps, sf's definitive steam punk statement." - Forced Exposure "...madcap sf...amazing romp...well written and witty, with a good deal of sex." - Booklist

---

|Home|Introduction|Bibliography|Quotes|Links|Updates|Official K.W. Jeter Website|

---