The Affinity Bridge is another steampunk novel by George Mann. It was actually written before Ghosts of Manhattan (review) and there is a sequel, The Osiris Ritual (review), which just came out in the US (Four books in the series have been published in the UK). Mann is setting himself up as the master of the steampunk universe. So, how is the book?

In a universe where Queen Victoria lives in a wheelchair with a steam powered life support system attached to the back and zeppelins are the preferred mode of transportation in 1901 London, Sir Maurice Newbury is the royal investigator of occult cases. With a string of killings happening in Whitechapel and a zombie-like plague is spreading through the poorer sections of town, Sir Newbury is asked by the crown to investigate a zeppelin crash. When Newbury and his assistant Veronica Hobbes find out that a mechanical man was flying the zeppelin and is nowhere to be found after the crash, they are led into a much bigger mystery than they thought they were getting into.

Mann sets up a wonderful universe full of steam powered goodies and when you throw in zeppelins, a zombie plague and mechanical men, it’s an overload of goodies in one story. Sir Newbury is a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Fox Mulder and Hobbes is a great character as his assistant. The story works on multiple levels, with the central mystery getting a lot of play and also interacting with the setting. This is not a story that could not be told without the steampunk setting. And the setting is a great character in its own right. It’s a fun read with a decent mystery playing out in the background. Recommended.