The Apparition Trail
© 2004
Dru Pagliassotti
All rights reserved.
The Apparition Trail
Lisa Smedman
Tesseract
Books, 2004
ISBN: 1-894063-22-8
Steampunk meets Native American myth in Lisa Smedman's The Apparition Trail. In this lively alternate-earth novel, the world has been transformed by the discovery of perpetual motion, which permits the development of eternal generators and releases technology from the grip of wood, coal, and steam. Yet in the shining modern age of 1884, certain members of the North-West Mounted Police have begun to suspect that Native American magic may be something more than mere savage superstition. White settlers are mysteriously disappearing, and the Cree and Blackfoot tribes, traditionally enemies, have begun to band together in an unprecedented alliance against the inadequate policies of the Canadian government.
Corporal Marmaduke Grayburn has had premonitory dreams for years, and his superiors have finally taken notice. He's recruited into the new "Q Division" of the force, which consists of Mounties and civilians who share unusual paranormal abilities. Grayburn's first case is to investigate the strange disappearance of Reverend John McDougall, his family, and the legendary Manitou Stone that the reverend set up in front of his house. In the meantime, Grayburn must keep his own secrets from being discovered by his new superiors!
Gregariously narrated without slipping into comedy, The Apparition Trail combines steampunk devices like air bicycles and aerographs with Victorian-era psychic research and Native American legend. The novel swiftly plunges readers into a spirit world of white buffalo, shapeshifting shamans, the Buffalo Woman, and an apocalyptic Day of Changes in which the Native people will wrest their lands back from the settlers. Grayburn and the other members of Q Division must race against time and space if they intend to keep that Day from arriving ... but although the corporal has sworn to keep his people alive, he can't help but be affected by the Native Americans' plight. In the end, Grayburn must stand on the border of life and death and choose which people he will save.
Smedman has skillfully woven history and fiction together to create a vivid and memorable alternate version of the settlement of the North-West Territories that will appeal to a wide range of readers. I especially recommend The Apparition Trail to fans of the TV show Wild, Wild West or the roleplaying game Deadlands (some gamers might recognize Smedman's name from her novels and adventures set in Shadowrun, Forgotten Realms, and other RPG systems). The Apparition Trail is an entertaining and unusual novel, and I hope we'll see more of this alternative history in the future.
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