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One specialist who is usually not found among these highly paid people with a low life expectancy is a personal style advisor.

Well, there is now help for the mad scientist of world and taste, since none other than the famed Simon Doonan himself has the following tips of what to wear if you want to be a well-dressed Mad Scientist in the workplace:

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After a little browsing I found a suitable and due to winter sale  reasonably priced pair of boots:

Which I purchased. When they arrived I was most please, not only with the boot but also with the logo, which is this:

This rather interesting logo incited me to visit their website. Now I have to warn you, the site is very modern, very hip, very trendy and I find it quite appaling. Their collection is also rather modern and hip, but… and this is a rather big but, a

BUT

so to speak. There are quite a few shoes and boots compatible with the wardrobe of a gentleman of the Steampunk or Dieselpunk persuasion, and not only the boot pictured above.

Since I need another replacement come warmer weather, I know for which exact model I have to look and I know where to find it.

Quite fortunate I stumbled upon this particular brand of boots and shoes, I think.

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As you may or may not be aware of, there used to be, and basically still are, rules, of when and where a gentleman would wear what type of hat.

Some of the rules are listed here, with hats to match:

I hope you found this piece of vintage advice on correct headwear as enlighting and entertaining as I did when I found it.

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Empire State is not a fun read, it is a fascinating, captivating, action and mystery packed tour de force across the boundaries of reality. The story combines all the best elements of a noir detective story, silver age science-fiction, silver age superheroes, pulp, Dieselpunk and a pinch of Steampunk to create an instant classic.

I can honestly say, I would love to see a sequel to this novel, a prequel or something else set in the same universes, but before I get back to this, I tell you some more on why this book is so outstanding.

The story starts as a pulp crime tale, then has silver age superheroes introduced and from this point on, it is just a rollercoaster ride  across dimensional bounderies.

The cast of characters is impressive, all real and nouanced in their own way. There are no real good guys and bad guys, everybody has, in best noir fashion, some secret, some crime or dark spot in their past, if they have a past at all. You will find out what I mean.

Tension and action never leave the pages, there is not a single paragraph that feels like a filler. Every single detail has meaning. Every weird thing introduced is relevant. Everything makes sense from the very beginning and the sense changes. The story, the people and the occurences evolve.

What I mean by this is the following:

There were several occasions when I thought: “Oh yes, of course it must be…” each time I was wrong. Each time a new facette was introduced and all the previous things made sense in a different way. This happened several times. The tale Mr. Christopher tells in Empire State makes sense in several ways and on several levels. He surprised me each time, sometimes it felt like the story punched me in the face. Some twists are really nasty.

A quick survival guide to Empire State:

• When ever you think you know what is going on, you are very likely wrong. Get used to it.
• When ever you think you know who is in charge, you are very likely wrong. Get used to it.
• There will be a twist when you least expect it.

To sum up:

Empire State has more epic moments, more action, and more tension than a tale should have without being full of clichés. Yet, the only cliché is the machoism of the male protagonists in some situations. This cliché is crucial to the story, however. You will see. Adam Christopher has created one noir, pulpy piece of epic science-fiction the likes of which I have not read before. The sheer genius of blending so many different awesome tropes into one tale and making it better than the sum of its parts.

And just a tiny spoiler: The end is bittersweet but more on the sweet side and there is hope for the guy to get the girl (back).

10 out of 10 Zeppelins (what else could it be) and the first to receive this badge of honour:

And coming back to what I hinted at earlier: Empire State is part of Angry Robot Books’ World Builder, there will be follow-up works. I am looking foreward to this and from some of what Adam had to say at the end of the book, we can draw hope to see a comic adaption.

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The Maschinenmensch at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2009

Interestingly, for all the the praise and following the movie has today, it was not a success when it was first released. The original version was cut and reedited, which changed the rigininal story quite significantly.

Notables such as H.G. Wells ripped it appart in their reviews and in the end it flopped.

Metropolis vanished into near-obscurity for a while but returned with a vengeance in the new millenium. In 2001 it was inscribed into the UNESCO Memory of the World Register and in 2008 a copy of the film containing 30 minutes of never before seen material was discovered in Argentina. This version was restored and released in 2010 to universal acclaim:

It remains a pillar of Dieselpunk cinematography and some of us face the poster of the Maschinenmensch when we pray (the latter is sheer speculation!).

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So, to sum up what this is about: This is an experimental German aircraft (from a completely different time line) powered by a steam turbine.  I actually wonder if it would be possible to create a steam engine efficient enough to get a figher aircraft into the air.

If any of my readers happen to be aeronautical engineers, I would appreciate some input regarding this matter.

The artist, as you can see in the image, is CUTANGUS. Check out his gallery on DeviantArt! He has quite a collection of all sorts of flying machine, some very Dieselpunk, others far more advanced than that.

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The fun tank designs and tracked vehicles are (mostly) real. I guess some of them may be dummies to confuse aerial reconnaissance.

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Now, my preference for Angry Robot Books has several reasons:

1. They’ve got Lavie Tidhar
2. They’ve got Guy Adams
3. They’ve got Dan Abnett
4. They are based in Nottingham (home sweet home…)
5. I have thus far not encountered a single book they released I did not like. To be more exact, there are several I did read but I did not review on this blog in addition to the ones I featured here and not a single one was below eight out of ten.

Now, the evil fiends wonderful people at Angry Robot have posted an update on their blog, giving previews of upcoming releases.

I read them, now I have to wait… In Cthulhu’s name, why do I have to wait? Anyway, to let you share my pain, I give you the excerpts of the two books, I anticipate most:

Lavie Tidhar’s The Great Game

and Adam Christopher’s Empire State

enjoy and be hooked!

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