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The Janus Affair: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel Kindle Edition

by Pip Ballantine (Author), Tee Morris (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.4 452 ratings

Book 2 of 6: Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences

Goodreads Choice Award nominee

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In the steampunk adventure The Janus Affair, authors Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris carry readers back to an alternate history Edwardian England.

Hang onto your bowler hats, agents Books and Braun of Britain’s top-secret Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences are back.

Suffragettes are inexplicably disappearing in flashes of lightning, and the brainy, intrepid Mr. Books and his partner, the fearless, lovely, weapons-loving Eliza Braun, must get to the bottom of the nefarious matter—while confronting high-flying assassins, a traitorous turncoat, and the Queen of the Underworld herself.

“Provides action, mystery, undercurrents of a personal nature and a pace that is sure to keep a reader’s interest. The blend of story, characters, action, mystery, and humor worked really well. The combination of Eliza Braun’s tough, opinionated exterior and her soft interior with Wellington Books’ bookish, somewhat fumbling exterior and his hidden depths is a wonderful dynamic.” —Night Owl Reviews (Top Pick)

The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences novels

Phoenix Rising (#1)

The Janus Affair (#2)

Dawn’s Early Light (#3)

The Diamond Conspiracy (#4)

The Ghost Rebellion (#5)

Operation: Endgame (#6)

Editorial Reviews

Review

...provides action, mystery, undercurrents of a personal nature and a pace that is sure to keep a reader's interest. The blend of story, characters, action, mystery, and humor worked really well. The combination of Eliza Braun's tough, opinionated exterior and her soft interior with Wellington Books' bookish, somewhat fumbling exterior and his hidden depths is a wonderful dynamic. (Top Pick)
-Night Owl Reviews

I felt The Janus Affair was tailored expertly and tightly woven, not unlike an elegant leather corset with a strong foundation and bright bits and bobs of clockwork brilliance that leaves the reader wrapped securely and held delighted beneath each thread. Highly, highly recommended.-Lit Stack

If you've never read steampunk before, this would be a great introduction. If you've felt steampunk wasn't for you, The Janus Affair will change your mind. If you're tired of books that take themselves too seriously and forget to let the reader enjoy the story and characters, Ms. Ballantine and Mr. Morris had you in mind. -View from Valhalla

Morris and Ballantine just get better and better with Eliza and Welly, and I have difficulty thinking of anything I didn't like about the characters or the world in which these authors set the story. I have read THE JANUS AFFAIR several times now and I am delighted every time. Describing a novel as delightful might sound trite but there isn't a better word to describe a book that keeps your interest and makes you laugh each time you read it.-Book Chick City

The Janus Affair isn't pretentious or overwrought. It seeks nothing but to entertain readers in the smartest and best way possible and to show the love that Ballantine and Morris have for steampunk, for larger-than-life adventurers and big stories. It's engaging, it's a page turner and above all, it's a really fun story to get lost in for a while.
-Sticky Trigger Entertainment

From the Back Cover

Evildoers beware! Retribution is at hand, thanks to Britain's best-kept secret agents!!

Certainly no strangers to peculiar occurrences, agents Wellington Books and Eliza Braun are nonetheless stunned to observe a fellow passenger aboard Britain's latest hypersteam train suddenly vanish in a dazzling bolt of lightning. They soon discover this is not the only such disappearance . . . with each case going inexplicably unexamined by the Crown.

The fate of England is once again in the hands of an ingenious archivist paired with a beautiful, fearless lady of adventure. And though their foe be fiendishly clever, so then is Mr. Books . . . and Miss Braun still has a number of useful and unusual devices hidden beneath her petticoats.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B006IDUOY0
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Voyager (May 29, 2012)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 29, 2012
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4203 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 437 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #265,636 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #253 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #345 in Steampunk Fiction
- #482 in Gaslamp Fantasy (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 452 ratings

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Tee Morris
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Tee Morris began his writing career with his 2002 historical epic fantasy, MOREVI The Chronicles of Rafe & Askana. Tee then released in 2004 The Case of The Singing Sword: A Billibub Baddings Mystery which was earned him honors from ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Awards. It was in 2005 when his idea -- podcasting a novel -- established him as a pioneer in the Social Media movement, becoming the first author to podcast a book in its entirety. That experience led to the founding of Podiobooks.com (with Evo Terra and Chris Miller), and a collaboration with Evo in the popular title, Podcasting for Dummies (later editions featuring Chuck Tomasi). He penned other social media titles including Twitch for Dummies (Wiley Publishing), Discord for Dummies (Wiley Publishing), All a Twitter (Que Publishing) and Sams Teach Yourself Twitter in 10 Minutes (Pearson Education). Other non-fiction titles Tee has contributed to include Making YouTube Videos (Wiley Publishing), Farscape Forever: Sex, Drugs, and Killer Muppets (BenBella Books), The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy series (Dragon Moon Press), and So Say We All: Collected Thoughts and Opinions of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (BenBella Books).
In 2011 Tee Morris returned to his first love -- fiction -- alongside his wife, Pip Ballantine, with Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel (Harper Voyager). This title went on to win the 2011 Airship Award for Best Steampunk Literature, and was a finalist (the only steampunk to make the final round in any category) for Goodread's Choice Awards under Best Science Fiction of 2011. 2012 saw the release of The Janus Affair: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel (Harper Voyager). The sequel was also a finalist in Goodreads' Choice Awards Best Science Fiction of 2012, and went on to win Steampunk Chronicle's Readers Choice of 2012 for Best Steampunk Literature. In 2013, their companion podcast Tales from the Archives received a Parsec Award for Best Podcast Anthology. Also in that year, Tee and Pip successfully funded via Kickstarter the anthology Ministry Protocol: Thrilling Tales of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences and The Ministry Initiative, a FATE-core RPG from Galileo Games. The third book Dawn's Early Light: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel (Ace Books) won RT's 2015 Best Steampunk of the Year, and the fourth in the series, The Diamond Conspiracy: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel, was a Finalist for RT's 2016 Best Steampunk of the Year. The series concluded with The Ghost Rebellion and Operation: Endgame, both independently published by Tee and Pip following a second, highly successful Kickstarter campaign. Presently, Tee and Pip are working through their young adult series, Verity Fitzroy and the Ministry Seven.
Tee can still be heard podcasting short fiction with Tales from the Archives, co-hosting Happy Hour from the Tower: A Destiny Podcast, and co-hosting alongside Pip on The Shared Desk at theshareddesk.com. Find out more about his work and his life at teemorris.com.
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Philippa Ballantine
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Originally from New Zealand, Philippa Ballantine, is a horror, fantasy, and steampunk author.
Her most recent novel, Inferno's Fall, is set in the world of Alien.
She's won an Airship, a Parsec, an RT Book Review Readers Choice, and a Sir Julius Vogel Award, as well as appearing in the Locus Bestseller list, and been in the Goodreads Top Science Fiction books.
She currently resides in Manassas, Virginia with her husband, her daughter, and a mighty clowder of cats. Visit her online at pjballantine.com or follow her on Twitter @PhilippaJane.
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4.4 out of 5

452 global ratings

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Justin Diehl

Fantastic Second Book In a Promising Series

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2012

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With more and more unsolved cases coming in involved the friends and colleagues of the Ministry's new assistant archivist, Agent Books and Braun return in The Janus Affair, the sophomore novel in the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series. Victoria London is brought to life in the latest installment of Tee Morris's and Philippa (Pip) Ballantine's The Avengers meets Steampunk series. Romance, violence, impossible tech and tons of espionage make the novel a wonderful follow up to the opening installment, Phoenix Rising.
Tee and Pip know how to start a story right by bringing in action and mystery. Twisting against the rescue of Phoenix, Janus starts us off with a bizarre kidnapping and a dangerous unknown technology in the very face of our agents. When a reunion between Eliza's old friends, mentor, and a former love from New Zealand brings up old memories, it also brings the ghosts of past unsolved cases screaming from the archives. It's not long before the Eliza and Wellington are knee deep and sinking into another case bringing revealing returning rivals, new villains, and deeper cracks into the meta-plot.
Through the novel the growth in the relationship between our protagonists is reflected in the growth these characters experience in themselves. Not just our heroes' experience growth as the lives of other agents change and close allies risk social status and their lives through the events of Janus. By the time the conclusion hits a perfect mark, you're left with a bigger and bigger picture of the world at large of the Ministry and its twisting world.
One of the refreshing items about the new novel involves my original review of Phoenix Rising. Both novels contain a number of interludes dealing with the larger meta-plot of the series. In Phoenix, I found these heavily distracting and dangling that it impacted my view of the novel at large in a negative way. In The Janus Affair, Tee and Pip manage to perfectly weave these into the current plot while maintaining the strength of the meta-plot secreted away from the protagonist. These not only made me eager to finish up this story, but hunger for more clues of the plot in oncoming books.
I recommend this to fans of Steampunk and spy dramas who like a little tongue in cheek humor mixed with high flying action. The series is fun and the new installment continues this thread. While being a sophomore book a series, The Janus Affair is a strong enough story that new readers can dive into the series from here although that would mean missing the fantastic original story and Eliza and Wellington's introductions. The story in Janus ties up a number of loose ends and provides enough hooks for the upcoming third book in hopefully the first trilogy set in the universe of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences.

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Ria Bridges

A very fun high-action steampunk series!

Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2015

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After enjoying the high-action steampunk adventures of Books and Braun in Phoenix Rising, I figured it was about time to return and continue following along with the escapades of this dynamic duo. This time, however, they’re unofficially investigating the disappearances of women involved in the suffragist movement, women campaigning for voting rights and equality.

Eliza Braun has a personal connection to the suffragist movement and the disappearances occurring within its membership, but even if she didn’t, she’s the sort to follow that lead anyway. She’s not the type to see a mystery and just say, “Well, somebody else will take care of it.” I love that about her. She sees problems and starts working on the solutions. She’s a fantastic character to read about, strong-willed and feisty, always on the go, sure of herself even when others seem bent on forcing her into a mold for which she isn’t suited.

Wellington Books, on the other hand, is a character I love to follow because he’s studious and composed and yet there’s so much more to him than meets the eye. He’s the kind of person I’d have wanted to be when I grew up, had I read these books years and years ago. And put together with Eliza, they make such a great team with a great mix of personalities that you can’t help but want to read more about them. I adore the way they play off each other.

Plot-wise, there’s a lot going on here. While Books and Braun are investigating the disappearances of suffragists (off the record, of course, because they’ve been specifically told not to investigate at all), we also get insight into Eliza’s past and her romantic life, a conspiracy within the Ministry itself, a handful of intertwining subplots to keep things going even when the main plot has come to a bit of a standstill. None of the subplots feel forced or tacked on; they flow quite naturally, since really, when do any of us only have to deal with one thing at a time in life? Combine this with plenty of action and tension and you’ve got yourself a winning formula that keeps the entertainment coming.

Unsurprisingly, there’s a lot of social commentary woven into the story, particularly about the place of women in society and the rights thereof. The Janus Affair is one of those books that can really get you thinking about the history of women struggling for equal rights to men, and the setbacks to the movement. Ballantine and Morris do not go into extreme detail about some of the punishments given to women imprisoned for their campaigns, but they do make mention of historically accurate issues such as being force-fed through tubes after going on hunger strikes. But even the milder refusals to concede that women are equal to men can rankle, especially when it comes from characters you expect better on. Even Books made a comment that seems relatively benign but still relegates women to the realm of the “gentle, lesser sex.” For those who haven’t done much research into the history of women’s right, who have only seen the fights occurring today, some of the content in this book might be a bit of an eye-opener, and a good jumping-off point for further personal research (if you’re anything like me, that is).

I don’t know why I waited so long between reading the first and the second books of this series. Typically I’m not much of a steampunk person, but honestly, the writing and the worldbuilding in the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences books more than makes up for any ambivalence I may normally feel. Twice now I’ve been proven wrong, and that’s convinced me that I need to read the third book soon, in preparation for the release of book four. Even if you’re normally hesitant about steampunk novels, this is a very fun series you definitely ought to try.

Helpful

James Ridgway

Morris and Ballantine are writing the best Steampunk novels out there

Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2012

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Warning - Spoilers below

This story picks up pretty much where the Phoenix Rising leaves off. Eliza and Books are witness to an odd dissappearance and, of course, they must investigate, no matter what the Director says. Off we go again into the amazing steampunk world that has been created by Tee and Philippa.

Pros:
- Great character development! We really get a solid look into what has made both Books and Eliza who they are. The backstories are great and we get a true feel for how they became what they are in the story. The backstory on Books given at the end is good stuff and seeing how his father had such a positive and negative impact on his life is believable and well crafted. We get a little less about Eliza, however the inclusion of the suffragette movement and the hints we receive about her own past - including her first love/lover and her personal challenge to move beyond who she was and fully move into who she has become is once again wonderfully done! Bravo!
- Awesome steampunk technology! From Eliza's Maid to the automatons, airships, steam motorcycle, and of course the electro-transporter, it's all there and more! Truly amazing tech without having to go too deeply into it. The reader can envision it all without challenge and it makes sense. Fun!
- Superb story telling! The story flows, makes sense and most of all, moves. This is a real page-turner!

cons:
- There's not another book out yet - please keep them coming :)

Hope that helps.

Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2024

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Eliza and Wellington are thrust into an investigation. Old friends, new acquaintances, danger, grief, and treachery await them. They will each have to face their own demons to survive.

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Megan Wright

Three Stars

Reviewed in Canada on December 8, 2014

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Not Pip Ballantine's best.

Vicki

Great

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 21, 2014

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Very good- came quickly and in good condition (as I would hope!) yep happy with product- series are a fun read particularly for steam punk fans :)

Isabelle Klein

Teleportation und Suffragetten

Reviewed in Germany on August 18, 2012

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Books & Braun sind auf dem Weg 'back from Scotland', als Eliza mal wieder unvermittelt in äußerst interessante Verwicklungen gerät: Lena Munroe, die sie kürzlich in Edinburgh kennenlernte, explodiert vor aller Augen und verglüht in einem Feuerball, kurz nachdem sie Eliza um Hilfe bat. Schon steht Dr. Sound auf der Matte und betraut zu allem Überfluss Agent Campbell mit dem Fall. (Wir erinnern uns genau jener, der im Dienste des bösen Lords steht). Eliza lässt sich natürlich nicht kleinkriegen und zieht "Lisa" (so hat sie mittlerweile Wellys Erfindung benannt) zu Rate. Und auf einmal reiht sich der Todesfall nahtlos in eine Reihe ungeklärter Fälle, die mittlerweile zehn Frauen umfasst.
Als Welly und Eliza einem Treffen der Suffragetten-Bewegung beiwohnen kommt er zu weiteren tragischen Ereignissen ... Und es nimmt so schnell kein Ende ...

Auch der zweite Teil, der im Dezember auf Deutsch erscheinen wird, vermag einmal mehr zu begeistern und zu bezaubern. Einmal aufgrund der herrlich gezeichneten und skurrilen Figuren, zum zweiten aufgrund des Knisterns zwischen den beiden Protagonisten. Wie wird es wohl weitergehen mit den beiden?
Weiterhin durch den originellen Steampunk-Weltenentwurf mit jeder Menge - äußerst unterhaltsamen - technischem Gerät & Abenteuern á la Indiana Jones kombiniert mit den X-Files.

Diesmal erfahren wir mehr über Elizas Leben in Neuseeland und warum sie nie mehr wird zurückkehren können ...
Auch ihr Verflossener, nebst Mama - eine wichtige Ikone der Suffragetten-Bewegung, zugleich ihre Ex-Chefin - spielt einen entscheidenden Part. Welly hingegen wird lockerer durch Elizas Einfluss und gewinnt Freude an der 'Feldarbeit'. Und wacht nicht zuletzt eifersüchtig über Eliza und kann Douglas (Superman - Schwarm aller Frauen und Weltenbummler) so gaar nicht leiden.

Die Dialoge sind, wie aus Teil 1 bekannt, herrlich spritzig, ironisch und sarkastisch. Sorgt für jede Menge Kopfkino - und ein permanentes Dauergrinsen, ob der Verwicklungen um unseren "colonial pepperpot".
Der Handlungsaufbau ist gekonnt inszeniert durch immer neue Ent- & Verwicklungen bzw. die Suche nach gemeinsamen Nenner der zahlreichen Opfer.

Nicht zuletzt das stimmig kreierte Bild Londons/Englands mit jeder Menge Steampunk-Elemtenten, in diesem Fall Teleportation und Selbstentzündung, unterhält gekonnt und sorgt für heiter-amüsante Lesestunden und zahllose Vermutungen, wer es denn nun wohl war.

Aber für den weiblichen Fan wohl am wichtigsten: wird aus dem Knistern mehr? Passiert in diesem Band mehr zwischen den beiden oder müssen wir warten?

Fazit: Jedem Fan von Eliza & Welly wärmstens zu empfehlen. Ein gelungener zweiter Part mit der Hoffnung, dass noch viele kommen mögen!
Tipp für Neueinsteiger: mit Teil 1 beginnen!

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Mina

Entertaining Steampunk Adventure

Reviewed in Germany on November 27, 2016

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Note: this is book two in an ongoing steampunk-fantasy series and although one could probably start reading here, I'd recommend to start with “Phoenix Rising”.

Review
It's been a long time that I read book one in this series and I have to admit, I wasn't totally drawn to go back to Eliza D. Braun and her nominally boss Wellington Books, who work as archivists for the “Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences”. I remembered liking “Phoenix Rising”, but there were always other books to read... but now I'm glad, I came back to victorian age steampunk London and the two colleagues, whose gender dynamic is so refreshingly different from other books out of that time, because it's Eliza who wields the firearms and the dynamite and Wellington who is the thinker and tinkerer. But I also liked that there were a few things revealed about good old Welly that shake things up a bit.

Eliza was demoted from field agent to junior archivist, which is how she became Books's partner in the first place, but instead of him influencing her to became more rule-abiding, it's Eliza who drags Books into unsanctioned field work. And this continues here: the suffragettes of the empire who fight hard for women's right to vote and have a say in the world, are targeted. More and more of them disappear and the agent assigned to the cases seems to not work too hard to solve their cases. Since Eliza is part of the suffragette movement [well, of course she is], she feels compelled to help them. And so Books is once again roped into a case, as well.

There is a sinister conspiracy at work, with some nefarious master-mind villain who is able to evade the ministry and will surely continue to try to bring it all down. His whole motivation is not yet revealed and I'm keen on knowing what his game is going to be.
But he is not the only enemy engaging the two agents/archivists, there is a whole lot of them and some turn out to be reluctant and unexpected allies, others stay true to their style.

If you're shipping Eliza and Welly, there is some sizzling situations, but things get complicated when Eliza's first love from New Zealand arrives. I have to say, I detest him, but make up your own mind.

If there is something I did not like, it was the at times over-the-top language that made the whole thing seem like a satire. Everything was “dapper” or “dashing” and the like and no, I did not care for that. And the book felt a teeny-tiny bit too long, impairing the pacing at times. But overall, I liked the book, the world and the characters and I think I'll be back.

Shirerealms

Great follow up

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2013

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The book follows on well from their previous work. Developed the characters further. Even the opposition. A good read. Waiting for the next one.

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