The Adventure of the Dux Bellorum by Cynthia Ward

I'm pleased to announce the release of The Adventure of the Dux Bellorum, a novella by Cynthia Ward, as the sixty-second volume in Aqueduct's Conversation Pieces series This is a sequel to The Adventure of the Incognita Countess (published by Aqueduct in 2017).


 Intelligence agent Lucy Harker receives the most dangerous assignment in the world—keeping Winston Churchill safe on the Western Front. Despite her unique abilities as Dracula's daughter, she loses Churchill to Kaiser Wilhelm's inhuman allies. If she's to recover Britain's greatest leader, Agent Harker must gain the aid of her Austrian lover, Countess Karnstein—better known as Carmilla. But the notorious vampire is keeping secrets that might doom the British Empire.


You can read a sample of the book as well as purchase it at http://www.aqueductpress.com/books/978-1-61976-153-7.php.




What the critics say about The Adventure of the Incognita Countess:

"[G]rand and smashing recursive steampunk in the manner of Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and a splendid romp indeed."
  —Asimov's SF, Paul Di filippo,

"It's a story that defies the pressure to be a queer tragedy, and plays with that trope rather heavily, calling to mind the ways that queerness is often an element of the monsters depicted in Victorian literature, but here it's allowed to be reclaimed and celebrated...[A]n impressive bit of world building, and it almost begs for further exploration. At least, I would be more than willing to return to this world of monsters, intrigue, and spies. An excellent read!"
  —Quick Sip Reviews, Charles Payseur,