The Iron Duke (2010) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Characters edit see section history

• Rhys Trahaearn: "The Iron Duke" - "Duke of Anglesey" - Former pirate captain; Captain of Marco's Terror; He freed England from Horde control; Has now built a merchant empire; 36 years old; A very handsome and intimidating man; Is tall and lean with very wide shoulders; Has dark hair, dark eyes and three tiny rings piercing the top curve of each ear
• Mina Wentworth: "Lady Wilhelmina Elizabeth Wentworth" - "The Jade Whore" - Detective Inspector; Daughter of the earl and countess of Rockingham; She is half Horde; A rather pretty, petite woman with smooth black hair and dark eyes; 29 years old
• Cecily Wentworth: "Countess of Rockingham" - "Lady Rockingham" - "Lady Wentworth" - William Wentworth's wife; Mina's mother; A small woman with white-blond hair and prosthetic mirrored eyes in her narrow face
• William Wentworth: "Earl of Rockingham" - Mina's father; A physician and surgeon; Has a brown beard and sharp eyes
• Andrew Wentworth: Mina's youngest brother; 14 years old; A midshipman in the Royal Navy; Has blond-haired gangly boy with freckles across the bridge of his nose
• Henry Wentworth: Mina's brother; A young man with brown hair
• James Scarsdale: "Lord Scarsdale" - "Earl of Scarsdale" - Rhys' friend and his navigator; A tall man with brown hair; A bounder; The eldest son of a marquess
• Yasmeen Corsair: "Lady Corsair" - "Captain Corsair" - A mercenary; Captain of the Lady Corsair; Has an angular face, long black curly hair with braids and cat-green eyes; Always wears a colorful bandana on her head
• Edward Newberry: "The Red Giant" - Constable; Mina's assistant; Temperance's husband; A huge, fit man with very wide shoulders and large hands; Has red hair and a red mustache that droops over the corners of his mouth; 22 years old; A bounder
• Felicity: Mina's best friend; Richmond's wife; Is hugely pregnant; Has blond hair
• Richmond: Felicity's husband
• Temperance Newberry: Edward's wife; Came to London from Manhattan City when she was suffering from consumption; Is now healthy thanks to the nanoagents she was injected with;The youngest daughter of the estranged son of a viscount; A tall woman; 25 years old; A bounder
• Archimedes Fox: "Wolfram Gunther-Baptiste" - An adventurer, salvager and guide; Has shaggy brown hair streaked with gold; Is tall and fit with wide shoulders, narrow hips and a deep tan; About 29 years old; Yasmeen killed his father
• Eben Machen: "Mad Machen" - A mercenary and pirate; Ex-Royal naval officer and surgeon; Captain of the ship Vesuvius; Is big and intimidating, with a thick coarse scar around his neck and another going from his temple to his jaw; Has tanned skin, overgrown dark hair and dark eyes; His right leg from just above the knee is mechanical
• The Blacksmith: Head of the Blacksmith Guild; The only one that can create mechanical flesh; No one knows his real name; Every inch of his skin that is not covered by his clothing is the pale gray of mechanical flesh, shaped to mimic human features; Even his face is mechanical flesh and his eyes are silver prosthetics
• Superintendent Hale: Police Superintendent; Mina's superior; Douglas Sheffield's lover; A tall woman with narrow, pale features and graying auburn hair; A bounder; In Manhattan City she was an assistant to her late husband, a chief inspector
• Douglas Sheffield: An industrialist; Superintendent Hale's lover
• Admiral Baxter: Captain who had conscripted the Iron Duke from a slave ship's crew into the navy; A short, thin gray haired man with a short beard softening his austere features
• Roger Haynes: "Captain Haynes" - Baxter's grandson; New Captain of Marco's Terror
• John Broyles: "Sir John Broyles" - London's police commissioner; Has a heavy jowl and bushy dark brows that always give the impression that he is angry
• Duke of Shrewsbury: The most discerning of the Lord Regents
• Thomas: A marine captain; Scarsdale's lover; Was killed
• Marchioness of Hartington: Bounder
• Mr. St. John: Steward of Rhys' estate on Anglesey; A slight man with poker-straight posture; Has dark hair is slicked back from his narrow face; A bounder
• Wills: Gatekeeper at Rhys' estate on the Isle of Dogs; A grizzled man with a long gray beard and a prosthetic left leg; A former pirate
• Chesley: Footman at Rhys' estate on the Isle of Dogs
• Mrs. Lavery: Housekeeper at Rhys' estate on the Isle of Dogs
• Sally: Part of the Wentworth household; Has blonde hair
• Anne Tinker: Apprenticing for The Blacksmith; 10 years old; Has Horde blood in her; Has black hair and a tinker's chain tattoo around her wrist
• Fitzhop: Rhys' steam coach driver in London
• Trowel: 12 year old boy; Leads a little group of wick-peddlers
• Molly: Part of Trowel's group of wick-peddlers
• Ms. Washbourne: Crew member aboard the Lady Corsair
• Bilson: Was Archimedes Fox's partner; Is now dead
• Mr. Pegg: Crew member aboard the Lady Corsair
• Mr. Siegel: Crew member aboard the Lady Corsair
• Mr. Smiegel: Engine master aboard Marco's Terror
• Mr. Pessinger: Crew member aboard the Lady Corsair
• Captain Seymour: Captain of a naval airship; Is slightly plump and red-faced with a blond beard
• Mr. Charles: Gun captain aboard the Marco's Terror; 18 years old
• Ms. Khouri: Crew member aboard the Lady Corsair
• Beatrice Addle: Lady Wentworth made her a heart
• Halifax: Scarsdale is set to inherit their title
• Mr. Moutten: A wealthy bounder
• Mr. Wright: A handsome-brown-haired boy; Was sailing on the Marco's Terror
• Munro: Owns cotton plantations; Grandfather of one of the boys aboard the Marco's Terror
• Harbor: Owns a boat line in Australia
• Cyclops Cushing: Rhys stole Cerberus out from under him
• Captain Adams: A brutal murdering despot; Was captain of the Unity when Rhys declared a mutiny and declared the ship his
• Dame Sawtooth: "Marguerite Bonnet" - A pirate with a notorious reputation; Former actress turned pirate to seek revenge against Rhys for killing her man, Captain Adams; Is now Jasper Evans' lover; Has brown hair and serrated blades fill her mouth
• Jasper Evans: A mad scientist; Dame Sawtooth's lover; Went crazy after Cornelius Morgan stole his patent to build armored suits; A tall, wiry man with bright blue eyes, a shiny bald scalp and black tufts of hair over his ears making his head seem enormous in comparison to his thin neck
• Jean-Pierre Colbert: A pipelayer; Was the camp commandant on Brimstone Island; An illegitimate relation of the French monarch; Now he runs an auction house in the Ivory Market; Has brown hair, a brown beard and pale blue eyes
• Cornelius Morgan: A bounder; Stole Jasper Evans' patent to build armored suits
• Hunt: Former Royal Navy First Mate; An evil man; Was Adams' first lieutenant before the mutiny
• Duke of Dorchester: Lord High Admiral of England; Has white hair and dark blue eyes
• William Bushke: Founder of New Eden
• Admiral Burnett: of the Gold Coast Fleet

Quotes edit see section history

• “I know that look. A fine ship comes over the horizon, and you want what it's carrying. Let this one sail on, captain.”

  James Scarsdale

• “Should she try to convince a pirate of the importance of law and order? She might as well beat her head against the cobblestones.”

  Mina Wentworth

• “A blacksmith can go anywhere. A detective inspector only goes where the dead bodies are." "But there aren't any dead people here today." "That's why I brought my own.”

  Mina Wentworth and Anne

• “Breathe, Newberry. If you faint in the Blacksmith's laboratory, only the stars above know what might be grafted to your body when you wake up.”

  Mina Wentworth

• “It's worse than I thought. Not just the Horde, not just the police--you're keeping company with someone who has principles." "Unfortunately.”

  Yasmeen Corsair and Rhys Trahaearn

• “And inspector . . .You run. Because I am not taking a zombie into my bed.”

  Rhys Trahaearn

• “You wear your armor even to dinner, Lady Wilhelmina?" "Inspector.Of course I wear armor. I am sitting with a pirate, a mercenary, an adventurer, and a bounder. If a shot is not fired tonight, I daresay that your reputations are nothing but lies.”

  Fox and Mina Wentworth

• “But how is that paying?" "That's not paying anything. That's what I do. But a duke? Baxter said it was what I deserved, though. For my arrogance, for my recklessness, for my selfish anarchism.”

  Mina Wentworth and Rhys Trahaearn

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• “I don’t have a man.” When she saw his triumph, Mina added, “But you have nothing to offer me, sir. I answer to no one. I must make time only for myself. Can you offer better than absolute freedom?”

  Highlighted by 10 Kindle customers

• She was surrounded by people who would die to protect her, and that she would die for in return. He wanted to be one of them. But he needed to take her away from the others, so that she’d see that he could be one of them.

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• Mina’s mouth dropped open, and he bent his head as if to kiss her. She jammed her gun barrel under his chin. He grinned.

  Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers

• “Yes, yes! Protect England by killing Englishmen! Sound logic, sir.”

  Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers

• “I lied on the airship,” he told her instead. “It won’t be enough, only having you until we return to England. I won’t tire of shagging you.”

  Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers

• “So you’re afraid of these people who mean nothing to you. You’re caring about what people think, even if they’ll turn from you for this rubbish. You’re running in fear from the stupidity of people who aren’t worth your time.” His face closed up, hardened. “You’re a coward.”

  Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers

• Mina’s mother had advised her not to waste her anger on things that she couldn’t change. Mina tried, certainly. The problem, however, lay in knowing exactly which things couldn’t be changed.

  Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers

• The first opportunity he got, Rhys was going to shag her blind.

  Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers

• “I heard you say that when two people love each other, they fight through everything together. Every doubt, every challenge, every pain. Fight with me, Mina. Please. You are the only one for me, for as long as I live. And if you love me, fight with me.”

  Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers

• “You. Me. Until we return to London. There will be no ruin to you or your family. I’ll kiss you until we can’t breathe. I’ll strip you naked and taste every inch of you. Then I’ll shag you until neither of us can see straight. And we’ll have had enough of each other.”

  Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Europe
• London, England
• Isle of Dogs: Rhys' land in London
• Marco's Terror: "Unity" - Rhys Trahaearn's ship; Now being used by the Royal Navy
• Lady Corsair: Yasmeen's airship; A long and shallow wooden ship tethered beneath an enormous white balloon.
• Devonshire House: The Marchioness of Hartington's home
• Unity: A fifth-rate frigate patrolling the trade routes in the South Seas; Trahaearn led a mutiny, took over the ship as its captain, and renamed the frigate "Marco's Terror"
• The Ivory Market: A truly terrible and dangerous place on the west coast of Africa
• Bontemps: Dame Sawtooth's airship
• Mary Katherine: An airship
• Josephine: Hunt's skyrunner
• Endeavour: An old English collier; Is wide-bottomed, heavy and square-rigged
• Bellerophon: Admiral Burnett's ship
• Vitruvian
• Atlantic Ocean
• The New World
• France
• Indian Ocean
• South Seas
• Antilles
• Lusitania
• Manhattan City
• Johannesland
• Prince George Island: The long island that lies east of Manhattan City
• Haymarket: in London
• Southwark: Slums in London
• Whitechapel: in London
• Whitehall Police Station
• Anglesey Square
• HMS Indomitable: Ship
• Australia
• Anglesey, Wales
• Marshwall Dock: on the Isle of Dogs
• Xanadu: The Horde capital
• Asia
• Caribbean Sea
• Liberé
• Northampton
• Newgate Prison
• Limehouse
• The Narrow
• Hammer & Chain: A pub
• Admiralty
• Chatham, England
• Charing Cross Station
• Dartford, England
• Kent, England
• Caerwys
• County Clwyd
• Africa
• Dover, England
• Calais, France
• The Gold Coast
• Port Fallow: A notorious walled city built on Amsterdam's remains
• Brimstone Island: in the Antilles; There is a military camp on the island used to hold prisoners
• Port-au-Prince
• South America
• Evans' Fort: in Calais, France
• Ashford
• The Embankment
• Westminster Palace
• Banqueting House
• Leicester Square
• Galicia, Spain
• Venice, Italy
• Habsburg Wall: Stood for almost fifty years as the strongest defense against the Horde's approach into Europe
• Austria
• The Alps
• Antigua
• Mediterranean Sea
• The Orient
• Egypt
• Morocco
• Santa Luzia
• Cabo Verde Islands
• New Eden: A city made of airships tied together usually flying over the Indian Ocean
• Madagascar
• The Congo
• Caerwys, Wales
• Leeds, England
• The White Chamber
• Mecca
• Scotland Yard
• Castile

Organizations edit see section history

• The Horde: Was originally the Mongol Horde, which moved east and west from Mongolia, occupying and taking over territory.
• The Lamplighter Gazette: Add a description of this organization.
• Ladies Reformation League
• The Black Guard: Silent agents of the Horde who steal into buggers' homes during the night, freeze their nanoagents and leave them helpless, or take others away to enslave.
• British Royal Navy
• Blacksmith Guild: The guild's mark (tattoo) is a chain wrapped around a persons wrist and a hammer poised to strike; While a tinker (apprentice) the mark is simply a chain; Once a person becomes a blacksmith the guild's mark is completed with a hammer below the chain.
• Metropolitan Police Force
• The Free Party
• Board of Admiralty
• Lord Regents: The king's regency council
• Lug Party
• Believers: William Bushke's followers

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Bounders: The Brits who are descended from the English who fled the Horde before the towers went up, and who are now returning to England.
• Nanoagents: "Bugs" - The tiny machines that are used like an infection to (a) control and/or alter a population, or (b) create zombies.
• Buggers: The English and Welsh who lived under the Horde occupation and who are infected by nanoagents.
• Megalodons: "Meg" - Giant sharks altered and bred by the Horde until they were aggressive and territorial; A full-grown megalodon could leave a ship rudderless or damage the hull; The shark's armored plating makes it very hard to kill; The best course is just avoiding them.
• Ratcatchers: Horde modified common alley cats into large, vicious ratcatchers; Hound-sized cats that attack anyone with little provocation; They are able to breed and unlike the first generation, the teeth and claws aren't implanted, they are born with them; Somehow, the cats' nanoagents replaced bone with steel, and armored plates protect their lithe, quick forms.
• dargas: Describe this term.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Followed by Heart of Steel.

Preceded by Burning Up, and followed by Heart of Steel.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Meljean Brook (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3602.R64274I76 2010
• Dewey: 813'.6-dc22

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Inappropriate for children due to sexual situations, adult content, and adult language.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Science Fiction › Alternate History

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Meljean Brook: The Iron Seas page

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history