NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT: Steampunk Alternative History Epistolary Novel Coming In Spring

Brain Lag’s sixty-third title and first release of 2027 brings an award-winning author into its stable with the alternative history steampunk novel The False Queen’s Archive by Terri Favro.

In Favro’s version of 19th- and 20th-century North America, where dirigibles roam the skies and clockwork servitors perform all manner of labour, the War of 1812 raged for eighty-seven years before the U.S.A. returned to the British Empire as the United Kingdom of America. Half a century after the Reunification, the Crown sets out to create a definitive archive chronicling the end of the ill-documented war. However, secrets and lies abound about the war’s conclusion, and official redactions and “creative” interpretations threaten to undermine the sordid history that built the consolidated empire. A handful of rogue archivists are determined to get the real story, but exposing the kingdom’s lies could result in exile, or worse.

Told through diary entries, promotional material from various entities, and fictional book excerpts, the novel explores themes of official suppression and subversion, chronic exploitation of those on the fringes of society, and how those in power use their own definition of history to keep their hold on power. Advance readers are raving about the book:

• Aurora Award-winning author Sally McBride calls it “A delightful, sometimes shocking, combo of fractured history, dismayingly relevant politics, and an unlikely love story – [with] a dash of classic sci-fi.”
• Jade Wallace, author of ANOMIA, says, “it offers up a parallel world that confronts us with profound and troubling questions about our own, while simultaneously taking us on a rollicking, page-turning ride that almost makes us forget the seriousness of the venture.”
• Katie Welch, author of Mad Honey and Ladder to Heaven, says, “this blend of history and fantasy is steeped in intrigue and full of surprises.”
• Chris Kuriata, author of Sacrifice of the Sisters Lot, says, “Filled with fantastic visuals (dirigibles, a robotic Monarchy, tightrope-walking foot soldiers), The False Queen’s Archive is both the glorious dream of an impossible past, and a solemn reminder of the ever-present threat of invasion.”
• Hugh A. D. Spencer, Aurora Award-winning author of Why I Hunt Flying Saucers and Other Fantasticals, says, “Terri Favro has established herself as a Grand Master of the Multiverse. You can’t help but wonder if a United Kingdom of America might be a much better thing than what we have now.”

The False Queen’s Archive will be releasing March 26, 2027 in trade paperback (270 pages, ISBN 978-1-998795-36-9, $28.99 CAD) and ebook (ISBN 978-1-998795-37-6, $7.99) formats.

Favro’s work has appeared on the Globe & Mail 100 Books of the Year list, Quill & Quire recommended books, CBC Books Top 10 Books of the Year, the shortlist for the Sunburst Prize for Excellence in Canada Literature of the Fantastic, and the longlist for CBC Canada Reads. Favro’s essays and short fiction have been published in numerous literary magazines and anthologies, including On Spec, Room, Humber Literary Review, and Voices from the FOLD, the publication of the Festival of Literary Diversity. Raised in the Niagara region, Favro now lives in Toronto.

The False Queen’s Archive is Milton, Ontario-based science fiction and fantasy publisher Brain Lag’s 63rd title. It will be the publisher’s first release of 2027 and is its first from the author. Brain Lag welcomes Favro into its stable of authors among twenty-two others, including fifteen other Canadians, eight of whom are from the Greater Toronto Area.

Media inquiries and requests to contact the author can be directed to publishing@brain-lag.com.