H.M.S. Thunder Childs Last Voyage.

In the War of the Worlds novel, the British Empire is powerless to defend itself. The vast navy that protected the island nation from other countries was useless against the Martians. The aliens simply fell from the sky and assembled their fighting machines to wreak havoc upon mankind. People tried to flee the island country and during one such incident HMS Thunder Child, the plucky ironclad, comes to the rescue of a paddle steamer, full of terrified refugees.

Above is a great artistic impression of the dramatic moment when Thunder Child attacked. It is also the basis for a pastiche story; The Last Days of Thunder Child by C.A. Powell. It follows the old Victorian ironclad on its final voyage before her battle with three Martian tripods. Read the exciting novel and join the crew as the brave ship cruises into legend and glory.

It is a tale that might appeal to SciFi and Steampunk fans.  

The story sells well in the USA, but I've always wanted to see how it would do in the UK. 

Under EU law the pastiche can't be published until September of 2016. 

This pastiche SciFi story was inspired by H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds set in Victorian Britain in the year of 1898. I suppose it crosses a number of genres in this day and age. Obviously Science Fiction, but also Alternative Reality and even Steampunk. 

I went on a journey of discovery trying to imagine what H.M.S. Thunder Child might have looked like and fell fancifully in love with the first revolving turret ship without sails. It was H.M.S. Devastation - blogs of which are featured here. She also had a sister ship called HMS Thunderer.

At first these revolving ship's had muzzle loading guns with short stumpy barrels that barely protruded from the gun ports. I wanted to keep these on the ship of 1898. Even though they were obsolete by such times. I used poetic license to do such thing and used a credible excuse.

The whole endeavour of this written work was done during an evening school writing class and it sort of developed from there. It was a wonderful project that I found most absorbing. I got it edited properly and a front cover picture from an artist living in Cambridgeshire.

It cannot be published in the UK or the EU until September 2016, but the USA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA and NEW ZEALAND are selling the novel now.

Read H.M.S. Thunder Child's adventure against the Martian tripods. Victorian Britain is now a dystopian land. The world has gone mad and the British Empire is exposed for all the weakness it has against an alien technology it cannot compete against. One small out dated ironclad steps up to the mark with a brave crew. In the River Blackwater, Thunder Child makes a defiant stand. Follow the crew and her last voyage.

My Pastiche novel about H.G. Wells' fictional battleship H.M.S. Thunder Child (The Last Days of Thunder Child) was based on H.M.S. Devastation. In my imagination, I could see this design for Thunder Child going into battle against three Martian tripods on the River Blackwater in the county of Essex, England, UK in 1898.

Muzzle loading guns went obsolete around 1889. All Royal navy ships, including Devastation were converted to Breech loading. However, I invented a political excuse to keep Thunder Child antiquated and still retaining the short stubby muzzle loading guns inside revolving turrets. 

This was to give Thunder Child a feeling of being behind the times, but still plucky when the occasion demanded. The diagram above, was found in a library book and then I was fortunate enough to find it on line. This gives a great internal view of the working of H.M.S. Devastation and I used this plan for my vision of H.M.S. Thunder Child in: The Last Days of Thunder Child by C.A. Powell. 

The book is only on sale in the USA at the moment but will be able to be sold in the EU and other places in 2017. On USA kindle, the novel is available for download and it can be bought in print too. Check out the advert below.

Colonel J.D.H. Stewart of Gunboat Abbas

Sometimes there are events in history that are overshadowed by bigger events. We all know of General Gordon’s fate at Khartoum in 1885. The city fell to the Mahdi’s forces when a traitor was said to have opened a gate during the night. Most of the Egyptian soldiers were overpowered before the alarm could be raised. It is believed that Gordon fell around dawn on the North East stairwell of the Palace. Obviously, some of General Gordon’s bodyguards were able to mount some form of resistance before the Mahdi’s tribesmen could execute total surprise, even though Gordon’s bodyguard were eventually overpowered and killed.

Some days before the city fell, Colonel John Donald Hamill Stewart took all the remaining westerners in Khartoum aboard a fortified paddle steamer called the Abbas. It was a desperate attempt to run the gauntlet of Manasir tribesmen who were on both sides of the Nile. They got past the most heavily fortified part of the blockade, but they were running low on fuel when the steamer struck a rock close to the Island of Kaniett.

The Abbas paddle steamer was in a desperate situation after stubbornly fighting its way past the most dangerous part of the blockade. Their destination was a place called Dongola and they were still some way off. A little further along the river was a smaller island called Um Dewarmat and an Arab named Sulieman – wad – Gamur invited them to land. They were offered hospitality which they accepted. While they refreshed themselves, Silieman and his tribesmen overpowered the passengers and crew of the Abbas after a brief fight.

There were many civilians among them and all were believed to have been executed including Colonel John Donald Hamill. Not much is known of the fate that befell the unfortunate people of the gunboat Abbas, but their final moments at the hands of Sulieman’s tribesmen must have been very ghastly if their captures were allied or part of Ahmed Al-Mahdi’s Manasir tribesmen.

Two days after Khartoum fell to Ahmed Al-Mahdi’s forces; the relieving British forces arrived and forced the Mansir tribesmen to leave. Ahmed Al-Mahdi died a few months afterwards.

The terrible fate that befell the passengers and crew of Abbas can only drown in speculation – flooded away by the fact of the many wretched people in the city of Khartoum who would have been accused of defying Ahmed Al-Mahdi met an equally horrific end. History does not dwell too much on the last journey of the Abbas. Unfortunately, we like heroics that are packaged right. The Abbas paddle steamer does not fit the Retro British mould of noble defeat. However, I can’t help thinking that the lot of the passengers and crew of the Abbas steamer was extremely tragic.