Applied Natural Magic

     Applied Natural Magic is a perfect hybrid of Steam Punk, Mystery, and a touch of Fantasy.  Eric James Spannerman does a wonderful job creating a world where all of these genres can mesh as if they belonged together.  If you would have told me before-hand that Mr. Spannerman was trying to combine all of these genres I would have laughed, and even more tragically, I might have passed on reading the book.  I was oh so surprised to see how well he was able to make the three come together, creating a great read.

     Charles Woodridge, the protagonist, is a junior professor at the Royal Academy.  He lives in a world which is inundated with pollution.  To go outside people need to put on protective clothing, and wear a respirator mask.  Because of the pollution, there is a shortage of food.  The major growers can't grow enough to feed the population, so there are periodic riots.  Charles hopes to solve the problem of rampant hunger by creating a special breed of potatoes which can grow quickly indoors.  

     Being an up and coming businessman, Charles wants to marry well, make a lot of money, gain fame for his work, and live on the nice side of town.  He is well on his way to accomplishing all four of these goals.  He is courting Camilla Mills, the daughter of Sir Anthony Mills.  Sir Anthony is willing to overlook Charles lack of a title if his project does well and becomes a lucrative business.  Sir Anthony is hurting financially, though he doesn't let on to anyone, even his daughter.

     Charles is being evaluated to gain tenure at the academy.  His work is very promising, but he is having difficulty finding an investor among the large growers.  Most of them want to continue doing things the way they've always been done because they know that those methods work.  Charles has peddled his work to many prospects, which becomes a problem later on in the book.  His potential to earn a lot of money is almost guaranteed...  Then tragedy strikes.  There is a break-in at his lab, and all of his research, equipment, and potato breeds are stolen.  To make matters worse, the backup research in the academy vaults is also stolen.  The whole incident wreaks of conspiracy and cover-up, and the list of suspects is almost insurmountable.  

     Charles feels that the police are doing little or nothing to help, the academy won't back him, he may lose his prospective wife, and his whole life is being torn apart.  The only help he has is his strange assistant, Mira Trevarias.  However, Charles even suspects her as a culprit for the theft .  There is something strange about her that everyone suspects, but nobody can quite put their finger on.

     Mr. Spannerman is an incredible author.  I've been reading a lot of Indie and small publisher books lately, and this is the first one I've truly enjoyed.  The characters were rich, intelligent, and real.  The writing was smooth and consistent.  The story was amazing.  The mix of genres was more than impressive.  I was thoroughly impressed.  I was also saddened by the lack of sales Mr. Spannerman has recieved on Amazon.  Perhaps he is selling well elsewhere, but he's well past the one millionth place in sales on Amazon.  This is a tragedy of poor advertising because Mr. Spannerman is as good, if not better, than a lot of the well-published authors I've read recently.  I wish I had the means to advertise for him because this is an incredible read.

     I fully recommend Applied Natural Magic to any reader.  The Fantasy aspect is not corny.  The Steam Punk is not winded and boring like most I've read.  And the mystery is realistic and keeps you guessing.  It's an incredible story.  Read it, and then tell your friends.  If Mr. Spannerman had proper advertising, he'd easily be on the best seller's list.

     I give this book