Spartan Daily - Serving San Jose State University since 1934

Issue date: 10/14/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Ryan Fernandez A photo of S.M. Peters' "Whitechapel Gods."

Imagine your entire neighborhood cut off from the outside world, encircled by an impassible wall high enough to block out all views of the surrounding city.

Imagine your neighbors infected by a technological plague that's slowly transforming them into mechanical horrors, complete with steel limbs, metal spikes erupting from their skin and oil in place of blood.

Imagine your life under the thumb of mechanical deities who see you as a resource to be consumed.

Welcome to Whitechapel, as envisioned by author S. M. Peters.

Peters' debut novel "Whitechapel Gods" takes a look at an alternate version of the Whitechapel district in Victorian-era London.

In this version of Whitechapel, Jack the Ripper does not haunt the streets, slitting the throats of prostitutes.

Instead, Mama Engine and Grandfather Clock, the titular Whitechapel deities, have seized control of the district, bent on converting the populace into their mechanized minions.

The first thing that attracted me to this book was the cover.

It features a man wearing a top hat and coat, with flames coming out of his chest, a belly covered in gears, and a mechanical spider on his shoulder.

Seriously, would you pass up a book with a cover that awesome?

The central premise is nothing new - the plot follows the final exploits of a ragtag band of resistance fighters waging a campaign to free its home from oppressors.

Oliver, the hero of the story, is a veteran resistance fighter, guilt-ridden over the failure of his previous uprising and the accompanying casualties.

Unfortunately, Oliver's character is overshadowed by the more-motley-than-usual crew comprising his resistance cell.

Missy is a streetwalker with a murderous streak. Tommy is a man rendered nigh invincible by his partial mechanization. And Bergen is a big game hunter with a steam-powered rifle and serious identity issues.

I was tempted to skim - not skip over, heaven forbid I lose the plot - Oliver's parts and go straight to the pages focusing on those characters instead.

While Mama Engine and Grandfather Clock are the overarching antagonists of the story, the real villain is a not-so-common criminal named John Scared.

Continued...

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