Very cool; original. Fans of Jules Verne and Sherlock Holmes would like it I think. ( )

This collection contains six substantial stories featuring Erasmus Darwin, the polymathish ancestor of the more famous theorist of evolution. The elder Darwin (1731-1802) was arguably the most famous English medical practitioner of his era, a poet and a talented dabbler in the natural sciences. Here he is a kind of 18th-century Sherlock Holmes, complete with a Watson-style assistant in the form of one Col. Jacob Pole, an ex-military man and irascible treasure hunter. Darwin is an amiable, opinionated, fascinating fellow. The saturnine Jacob Pole is a perfect foil. And although the depiction of the era is superficial—not inaccurate, just not overly deep—a sufficient sense of the roots of the Industrial Revolution (which in its turn birthed science fiction) comes across. -- Paul di Filippo, Sci-Fi.com "Off the Shelf". [Because he said so gracefully everything I wanted to say!!] ( )

baen ebook

Sample Chapters: http://webscriptions.net/chapters/074343529X/074343529X.htm