The Light Ages

Author: Macleod, Ian R.

A world that’s just on the cusp of the industrial revolution, but one not powered by electricity, but magic. It is aether, not electricity, that powers everything, from telegrams to clocks. However, for the most part, the industrial revolution has failed to take off, as the secrets to aether are jealously guarded by guilds who maintain a power monopoly over the substance. This control has stagnated society; social mobility is unheard of and there are some devastating side affects to aether – some babies are born with strange deformities. It’s a raw take on an alternative Dickensian world and an engrossing world. This book makes for some heavy reading, but it’s worth it.

Similar Recommendations

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The Swan's War trilogy seems both similar to, yet different from Lord of the Rings. The mysterious and rare nature of magic is a trait shared by both books, as is the beautiful prose that seems half poetry, half fiction (though Russell's work is more “modern and novelistic”).

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