Airship Daedalus

April, 1925 finds ace pilot Jack McGraw fleeing hostile fighter planes and a mysterious zeppelin over the skies of New Jersey. Then a woman from his past invites him to dinner at Thomas Edison's home and drafts him into the A.E.G.I.S. foundation.And that's just Monday.Jack's mission is to fly an experimental aircraft and lead a crew consisting of his comrades from the Great War against a well-funded secret society bent on pillaging history's great treasures and amassing dangerous power.Together with their crewmates, Jack McGraw and Dorothy "Doc" Starr encounter sky pirates, Haitian voodoo, terrifying creatures of the deep, an Amazon tree-city, rocket zombies, and an ancient temple where Aleister Crowley attempts to open a dimensional portal and summon a bloodthirsty demon!Based on the Airship Daedalus comic strip by Todd Downing and Brian Beardsley, A Shield Against the Darkness is the origin story of the Daedalus crew, and a prequel to Assassins of the Lost Kingdom by E.J. Blaine.It's a retro-pulp action yarn in which mages, mad science, secret societies, occult threats, and lost worlds meet globe-trotting, sky-high aerial action and two-fisted heroism, like the pulp novels of old! Todd Downing is the primary author and designer of over fifty roleplaying titles, including Arrowflight, RADZ, Airship Daedalus, and the official Red Dwarf RPG. A fixture in the Seattle indie film community, he is the co-creator of the superhero-comedy webseries The Collectibles, and the screenwriter behind The Parish and Ordinary Angels (which he also directed). His first feature film, a supernatural thriller entitled Project, was included in a PBS young directors series in 1986. He has written for stage, screen, comics, audiodrama, short-form and long-form, interactive and narrative, in a career spanning three decades. The father of two adult children, Downing spent several years in the videogame industry, working on games such as Spider for the Playstation, Allegiance for the PC, and Casino Empire. He also creates book covers and marketing art for fellow authors and corporate clients, and has done voiceover work for Microsoft and the Seattle Seahawks Pro Shop.Widowed to cancer in 2005, Downing remarried in 2009 and currently enjoys an empty nest in Port Orchard, Washington, with his wife and three rescue cats. Fortunately, he has an office with a door that closes. "Indiana Jones meets The Rocketeer!"The retro pulp adventures of Dorothy "Doc" Starr, Captain "Stratosphere" Jack McGraw and a diverse crew of compatriots from the Great War, as they are recruited by AEGIS to foil the evil machinations of Aleister Crowley's Astrum Argentum. Weird science, Lovecraftian horror, dangerous dames and two-fisted heroics. A rip-roaring, action-packed series in the dieselpunk/decopunk vein.

July, 1926 finds ace pilot Jack McGraw and scientist Dorothy "Doc" Starr, hot on the trail of evil agents murdering prominent captains of industry-a trail that leads them to face an old enemy they thought vanquished. With the backing of Thomas Edison's A.E.G.I.S. foundation, Jack and Doc use their light reconnaissance airship Daedalus to travel to the Himalayas, where a deeper mystery unfolds. Together with their crewmates, suave English radioman Edward "Duke" Willis, curmudgeonly Bronx mechanic Carl "Rivets" Holloway and laconic Cherokee sharpshooter Charlie "Deadeye" Dalton, they delve into local customs and ancient lore surrounding the "Eye of the World", a hidden kingdom in the heart of the mountains known as Shambala, where the only antidote to the world's deadliest poison still grows wild.Based on the Airship Daedalus retro pulp comic strip by Todd Downing and Brian Beardsley, Assassins of the Lost Kingdom is the first novel from author E.J. Blaine, who brings the fun and excitement of classic adventure stories to the fore. Mobsters, mad science, secret societies, occult threats, and lost worlds meet globe-trotting, sky-high aerial adventure and two-fisted heroism, like the pulp novels of old!"Airship Daedalus: Assassins of the Lost Kingdom has everything you'd hope for in a pulp adventure. Crafted in the mold of its predecessors from the 1920s, the book has a bit of everything. Adventure, intrigue, danger-and most of all, atmosphere. I'd recommend it to fans looking for hints of late-era steampunk, 1920s pulp adventures, Indiana Jones, or just people looking for a fun, fast adventure."- Jeffrey Cook, author of the Dawn of Steam trilogy E.J. Blaine has enjoyed a writing career best described as "eclectic." While working as a trade journalist covering the telecommunications and energy industries, he moonlighted for a major media company, covering upcoming genre films for its print publication and writing movie reviews and other content for its web site. He produced background material and scenarios for a number of role playing games, and occasionally published short fiction. He attended the prestigious Clarion workshop for science fiction and fantasy writers.He lived in Vancouver, British Columbia for several years where he attended film school and worked in the Canadian film industry as a story editor. While there, he also wrote film and comic book scripts, and did development work for animation and live action television.Currently, Blaine lives in Virginia with his wife and infant daughter, where he is massively overextending himself in an attempt to write fiction while dealing with a very demanding baby.E.J. Blaine tells stories because it's fun, and the best part of that is sharing them with readers and getting their reactions. You can find him online at ejblaine.com "Indiana Jones meets The Rocketeer!"The retro pulp adventures of Dorothy "Doc" Starr, Captain "Stratosphere" Jack McGraw and a diverse crew of compatriots from the Great War, as they are recruited by AEGIS to foil the evil machinations of Aleister Crowley's Astrum Argentum. Weird science, Lovecraftian horror, dangerous dames and two-fisted heroics. A rip-roaring, action-packed series in the dieselpunk/decopunk vein.

A lost airship. A buried city. A new threat.April, 1927 finds adventurer-pilot Jack McGraw and occult expert Dorothy "Doc" Starr extracting a priceless Celtic artifact from a long-sealed tomb on a windswept Scottish island.Following a shootout with Silver Star commandos and a desperate dogfight into the eye of a storm, the airship Daedalus limps back to London - only to discover a former crewmate has gone missing, along with his own airship and its crew!Using nothing but a few scant clues and their own wits, Jack, Doc and the Daedalus crew must locate the airship Percival and their old friend "Duke", encountering myriad dangers along the way - and culminating in a chaotic battle through ancient ruins beneath the Egyptian desert.Based on the Airship Daedalus comic strip by Todd Downing and Brian Beardsley, The Golden City is book #2 in the Airship Daedalus saga, and a sequel to ASSASSINS OF THE LOST KINGDOM by E.J. Blaine.It's a retro-pulp action yarn in which mages, mad science, secret societies, occult threats, and lost worlds meet globe-trotting, sky-high aerial action and two-fisted heroism, like the pulp novels of old!WWW.AIRSHIPDAEDALUS.COM Todd Downing is the primary author and designer of over fifty roleplaying titles, including Arrowflight, RADZ, Airship Daedalus, and the official Red Dwarf RPG. A fixture in the Seattle indie film community, he is the co-creator of the superhero-comedy webseries The Collectibles, and the screenwriter behind The Parish and Ordinary Angels (which he also directed). His first feature film, a supernatural thriller entitled Project, was included in a PBS young directors series in 1986. He has written for stage, screen, comics, audiodrama, short-form and long-form, interactive and narrative, in a career spanning three decades. The father of two adult children, Downing spent several years in the videogame industry, working on games such as Spider for the Playstation, Allegiance for the PC, and Casino Empire. He also creates book covers and marketing art for fellow authors and corporate clients, and has done voiceover work for Microsoft and the Seattle Seahawks Pro Shop.Widowed to cancer in 2005, Downing remarried in 2009 and currently enjoys an empty nest in Port Orchard, Washington, with his wife and three rescue cats. Fortunately, he has an office with a door that closes. "Indiana Jones meets The Rocketeer!"The retro pulp adventures of Dorothy "Doc" Starr, Captain "Stratosphere" Jack McGraw and a diverse crew of compatriots from the Great War, as they are recruited by AEGIS to foil the evil machinations of Aleister Crowley's Astrum Argentum. Weird science, Lovecraftian horror, dangerous dames and two-fisted heroics. A rip-roaring, action-packed series in the dieselpunk/decopunk vein.

May, 1927 finds the combined crews of the airships Daedalus and Percival in coordinated pursuit of the Silver Star commando forces that murdered Duke's original crew and took Rivets hostage.Intervening in a tribal uprising in Kenya, "Captain Stratosphere" Jack McGraw & Dorothy "Doc" Starr find their replacement mechanic in the form of a young Kikuyu woman and technical prodigy.Fighting their way through the markets of Bombay to the streets of Bangkok, braving storms and enemy attacks at every step, Jack, Doc, and the rest of the Daedalus crew must voyage to the far side of the world, where a mysterious island and its inhabitants are in dire peril. Along the way, they must learn to trust new allies and set aside old notions of empire.Based on the Airship Daedalus comics by Todd Downing and Brian Beardsley, Legend of the Savage Isle is book #4 in the Airship Daedalus Saga, a sequel to The Golden City.It's a retro-pulp action yarn in which mages, mad science, secret societies, occult threats, and lost worlds meet globe-trotting, sky-high aerial action and two-fisted heroism, like the pulp novels of old!www.airshipdaedalus.com Todd Downing is the primary author and designer of over fifty roleplaying titles, including Arrowflight, RADZ, Airship Daedalus, and the official Red Dwarf RPG. A fixture in the Seattle indie film community, he is the co-creator of the superhero-comedy webseries The Collectibles, and the screenwriter behind The Parish and Ordinary Angels (which he also directed). His first feature film, a supernatural thriller entitled Project, was included in a PBS young directors series in 1986. He has written for stage, screen, comics, audiodrama, short-form and long-form, interactive and narrative, in a career spanning three decades. The father of two adult children, Downing spent several years in the videogame industry, working on games such as Spider for the Playstation, Allegiance for the PC, and Casino Empire. He also creates book covers and marketing art for fellow authors and corporate clients, and has done voiceover work for Microsoft and the Seattle Seahawks Pro Shop.Widowed to cancer in 2005, Downing remarried in 2009 and currently enjoys an empty nest in Port Orchard, Washington, with his wife and three rescue cats. Fortunately, he has an office with a door that closes. "Indiana Jones meets The Rocketeer!"The retro pulp adventures of Dorothy "Doc" Starr, Captain "Stratosphere" Jack McGraw and a diverse crew of compatriots from the Great War, as they are recruited by AEGIS to foil the evil machinations of Aleister Crowley's Astrum Argentum. Weird science, Lovecraftian horror, dangerous dames and two-fisted heroics. A rip-roaring, action-packed series in the dieselpunk/decopunk vein.

A fierce battle at the top of the world, against a most ferocious enemy.November, 1928 finds Dorothy "Doc" Starr and Jack McGraw raising their daughter Ellen on a ranch in the Hollywood Hills, when the local AEGIS bureau chief taps them for a new assignment – investigate the source of a strange radio signal originating from somewhere off the northern coast of Greenland.When their home is attacked by agents of the Silver Star, they know Aleister Crowley has gone on the offensive.In an upgraded Daedalus, the crew recruits an Inuit guide and heads into the Arctic expanse, where they encounter savage storms, ravenous predators, Russian mercenaries, the mysterious descendants of Viking explorers, and hordes of the reanimated dead.With wounded crewmembers, a disabled airship, and the Silver Star in the vicinity, Jack and Doc must race to find the source of the signal and prevent a ghoulish apocalypse. Todd Downing is the primary author and designer of over fifty roleplaying titles, including Arrowflight, RADZ, Airship Daedalus, and the official Red Dwarf RPG. A fixture in the Seattle indie film community, he is the co-creator of the superhero-comedy webseries The Collectibles, and the screenwriter behind The Parish and Ordinary Angels (which he also directed). His first feature film, a supernatural thriller entitled Project, was included in a PBS young directors series in 1986. He has written for stage, screen, comics, audiodrama, short-form and long-form, interactive and narrative, in a career spanning three decades. The father of two adult children, Downing spent several years in the videogame industry, working on games such as Spider for the Playstation, Allegiance for the PC, and Casino Empire. He also creates book covers and marketing art for fellow authors and corporate clients, and has done voiceover work for Microsoft and the Seattle Seahawks Pro Shop.Widowed to cancer in 2005, Downing remarried in 2009 and currently enjoys an empty nest in Port Orchard, Washington, with his wife and three rescue cats. Fortunately, he has an office with a door that closes. "Indiana Jones meets The Rocketeer!"The retro pulp adventures of Dorothy "Doc" Starr, Captain "Stratosphere" Jack McGraw and a diverse crew of compatriots from the Great War, as they are recruited by AEGIS to foil the evil machinations of Aleister Crowley's Astrum Argentum. Weird science, Lovecraftian horror, dangerous dames and two-fisted heroics. A rip-roaring, action-packed series in the dieselpunk/decopunk vein.