Description

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“An exciting new steampunk adventure” featuring living machines, murderous betrayals, and Ireland’s most ruthless family (School Library Journal).

The slow collapse of the British Empire in the nineteenth century meant opportunity for anyone with ammunition and wit. Now the Wildensterns are by far the most powerful family—and the most ruthless. Trained from childhood in the arts of assassination and conspiracy and endowed with the supernatural ability to live for more than a century, the clan has grown rich, vicious, and seemingly invincible.
 
After nearly two years away, eighteen-year-old Nate has returned. But his homecoming is shattered when his eldest brother, Marcus, is mysteriously killed. Following the Rules of Ascension, which allow one male family member to murder another, Nate is being blamed. Nate knows he isn’t the murderer, but who is? With the help of his sister-in-law, Daisy, and his cousin Gerald, Nate intends to find out. Their investigation brings them into the underbelly of the Wildenstern empire, where living machines, conspiring relatives, and undercover mercenaries do their dirty work. But when a disaster uncovers the ancient remains of Wildenstern ancestors, the lives of the family members and their struggle for power will take a bizarre and gruesome turn.

About the Author

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Oisín McGann was born and raised in Dublin and Drogheda, County Louth, in Ireland. He studied art at Senior College Ballyfermot and Dún Laoghaire School of Art, Design & Technology. Before becoming an author, he worked as a freelance illustrator, serving time along the way as a pizza chef and a security guard, as well as a background artist for an animation company and an art director and copywriter in an advertising agency.

In 2003 McGann published his first two books in the Mad Grandad series for young readers, followed by his first young adult novel, The Gods and Their Machines. Since then, he has written several more novels for young adults, including the Wildenstern Saga, a steampunk series set in nineteenth-century Ireland, and the thrillers Strangled Silence and Rat Runners.

A full-time writer and illustrator, McGann is married, has three children, and lives somewhere in the Irish countryside.

Praise For…

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“An exciting new steampunk adventure. . . . Resembles the powerful Russian sagas written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy . . . [with] spunky characters, accessible dialogue, and nonstop action.” —School Library Journal

“Despite intense action sequences and comic-relief robots, McGann’s focus on tradition, power, and primogeniture makes this a read that may appeal more to adults than teenagers.” —Kirkus Reviews

“McGann impressively blends the futuristic engimals with Victorian Ireland. . . . Ancient Appetites illustrates a writer who is without doubt going from strength to strength. Watch this space!” —Inis magazine

“Combines the rich details of a 19th-century novel with science fiction . . . Impressively imagined . . . A well-plotted and absorbing story.” —The Irish Times

“Nate is an interesting character for readers to champion, and there are plenty of imaginative contraptions and detail for readers to enjoy.” —Write Away! Literary Magazine

“One is well and truly hooked. Unexpected plot twists fill the pages.” —Through the Looking Glass

“We’re in the realm of very imaginative science fiction with this one. . . . Highly recommended.” —Flipside Extra