The Sky Done Ripped

Lansdale puts his gift for pulp to great use in the rollicking third installment of the adventures of Ned the Seal (after 2010’s Flaming Zeppelins). Following previous escapades hopping through time between parallel universes, Ned, a seal with surgically enhanced intelligence, and H. G. Wells attempt to return to their own times using Wells’s time machine. Instead, the machine shunts them into a parallel America populated by sentient apes. There, Ned and Wells meet Lord Jack Bloomingdale, aka Tango the Monkey Man, and get caught up in his scheme to steal the Golden Fleece. Tango hopes to use the magical fleece to cure his wife’s illness, but the fleece is also wanted by She Who Must Be Obeyed and Eats Lunch Early, the mutant daughter of America’s “President Dunderhead.” Lansdale combines elements from classic sci-fi adventure stories and mythology into a high-energy steampunk romp. Readers will revel in the humorously purple prose and spot-on illustrations by Timothy Truman. Agent: Danny Baror, Baror International. (Jan.)