The Dream of Perpetual Motion
Imprisoned for life aboard a zeppelin floating above a fantastic metropolis, greeting-card writer Harold Winslow pens his memoirs. His only companions are the disembodied voice of Miranda Taligent, the woman he loves, and her cryogenically frozen father, Prospero, the genius who drove her insane.
Harold's story unfolds in an alternate reality where the wealthy have mechanical servants, fairy tale realms are built from scratch, and deserted islands exist within skyscrapers. Over twenty years, his childhood infatuation with Miranda evolves into obsession, while Prospero's inventions transform their world from music and miracles to machines and noise. Harold’s final confrontation with Prospero, to save Miranda, makes him a key player in creating the ultimate invention: the perpetual motion machine.
Imprisoned for life aboard a zeppelin floating above a fantastic metropolis, greeting-card writer Harold Winslow pens his memoirs. His only companions are the disembodied voice of Miranda Taligent, the woman he loves, and her cryogenically frozen father, Prospero, the genius who drove her insane.
Harold's story unfolds in an alternate reality where the wealthy have mechanical servants, fairy tale realms are built from scratch, and deserted islands exist within skyscrapers. Over twenty years, his childhood infatuation with Miranda evolves into obsession, while Prospero's inventions transform their world from music and miracles to machines and noise. Harold’s final confrontation with Prospero, to save Miranda, makes him a key player in creating the ultimate invention: the perpetual motion machine.
Imprisoned for life aboard a zeppelin floating above a fantastic metropolis, greeting-card writer Harold Winslow pens his memoirs. His only companions are the disembodied voice of Miranda Taligent, the woman he loves, and her cryogenically frozen father, Prospero, the genius who drove her insane.
Harold's story unfolds in an alternate reality where the wealthy have mechanical servants, fairy tale realms are built from scratch, and deserted islands exist within skyscrapers. Over twenty years, his childhood infatuation with Miranda evolves into obsession, while Prospero's inventions transform their world from music and miracles to machines and noise. Harold’s final confrontation with Prospero, to save Miranda, makes him a key player in creating the ultimate invention: the perpetual motion machine.
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Hardcover
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March 2, 2010
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352 pages
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St. Martin's Press
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978-0312558154
