My lovely editor, Christy Ottaviano, sent me through the full jacket of SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB: front cover, back cover, spine, and internal flaps all in one lovely, lovely image. I think it’s absolutely awesome. I love all the little details like the airships holding up the text panels. The art is by Jeremy Holmes (who also did the internal artwork, which is just as awesome) and the cover design is by Eileen Savage. (TBH, I don’t know exactly which of them did exactly what on the cover, but clearly they are both incredibly talented!)

While we’re at it, here’s one of the interior illustrations, showing Cousin Freddie inspecting a mysterious invention, the water abacus (click on the picture to see it larger):

Reviews

A week or two ago I put up an extract from the School Library Journal review of SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB, but I didn’t put it all up because it wasn’t online. Well, now it appears to be Amazon and everywhere else, so I might as well share it here:

“Twelve-year-old Edward Sullivan wishes his life on 19th-century British Mars were more like the adventures he reads about in his Thrilling Martian Tales magazine. Sadly, it’s school break and instead of being off with his friend Matthew Harrison, he’s staying home trying to keep his family on track. His father is a brilliant yet absent-minded mechanician, and his mother’s main concern is gaining back the family status she lost when her own father lost the family fortune. When dim-witted cousin Freddie literally comes crashing down, Edward wonders how much worse things can get, but before he knows it, he is tangled up in a madcap adventure with even more action than his magazines.

“It seems that Edward’s father’s latest invention, the water abacus, is thought to be the key to perhaps one of the last of the great dragon tombs of Mars. In the past, it was these tombs that held the wonderful Martian technology that enabled British Mars to thrive—and made the tomb explorers rich. There are many who want to use the water abacus for their own purposes, which leads to fights, kidnappings, attempted murder, and a great chase. All of this is set in a perfectly delightful steampunk and fantasy world complete with clockwork automatic servants, dragon paths, and spaceships. Deeper topics of race relations and colonization are deftly explored through the political unrest among the British, the French, and the Martians.

“VERDICT A smart addition for middle grade collections; be prepared to purchase planned sequels.”

And while we’re at it, here’s an extract from the ALA Booklist review:

“Engaging characters and an action-packed plot are bolstered by some meaningful observations on Martian colonialism … this will appeal to fans of zany adventure tales.”

Giveaway

And, in case you missed it, I’m giving away a SIGNED ARC (ADVANCE READER’S COPY) on Goodreads.

That’s all!