I fell I love with this novella, maybe because it landed during a dry, dull reading period but probably not. This is exactly the type of fantasy/new weird story that I like, burgeoning with evocative ideas, dark yet full of humanity, a tantalising hint of the world with just enough to get the imaginative juices flowing. There is magic here, and heroes and quests but it's not your standard fantasy.. and I haven't even mentioned the illustrations because Kirk is primarily a wonderful artist and he has added some truly gorgeous drawings.. the cover below is only a hint.

The premise sounds dark;
"Lumsden Moss steps put of a plague ravaged prison armed only a collection of notebooks of murdered children and a will to track down their killer. He will travel to the City of Steps and beyond accompanied by a silent, unsettling stranger.“ Really though it's a bittersweet tale, about revenge, friendship and attaining peace. The characters are wonderful, the writing great and the plot fits nicely in the short space (ok slightly obvious towards the end).

This jumps up to the top books of the year, I don’t think it will be beaten.

Now if you want to buy a copy you will need to go to his website (worth a trip just for the artwork), Amazon doesn’t sell it: http://www.richardakirk.com/lost_machine.html ( )