The Amber Rooms PDF
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The Amber Rooms Book Three of the Saskia Brandt Series IAN HOCKING Copyright © 2012 by Ian Hocking http://ianhocking.com http://twitter.com/ian_hocking Unless otherwise stated, this story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author. Ian Hocking has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. Line-edited and proofread by Olivia Wood of TextMender.com. Cover design support by Toby James Creative. Published by Writer as a Stranger Version 98723445 Table of Contents Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-One Chapter Thirty-Two Chapter Thirty-Three Epilogue Acknowledgements Looking Glass, Chapter One Aliya Whiteley’s Interview with the Author Summary of Déjà Vu Summary of Flashback Also by Ian Hocking About the Author During his writing career, Ian Hocking’s fiction has been published both in print and online. His first novel, Déjà Vu, received the 2011 Red Adept Award for Science Fiction. ‘A new voice in Brit SF that we should all be taking an interest in.’ Joe Gordon, Forbidden Planet International The Amber Rooms Saskia Brandt illustrated by Pia Guerra Dedication For Jessica: Cool as. Author’s Note The Saskia Brandt Series You are reading the third book of the Saskia Brandt series. It may be read as a standalone novel, but it will spoil aspects of the first two books, Déjà Vu and Flashback. If you intend to read them at all, I recommend doing so before you continue. Have you lost the plot? I’ve included summaries of Déjà Vu or Flashback at the end of this book. There you will also find an author interview. At the end of Flashback, Saskia Brandt has used Jennifer Proctor’s time band to escape 2003. Her last moments in that book feature a vision of forested land and eastern European myths. Characters and Events The keystone historical event in this book is real. The 1907 Tiflis (now Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi) heist, known also as the Yerevan Square Expropriation, took place on the 26th June, 1907 (Old Style calendar) and shocked the world for its daring and the unprecedented sum of money stolen. It was enacted by Bolshevik paramilitaries as a way of procuring funds for seditionist activities. The courageous, chivalrous and murderous psychotic Bolshevik known as ‘Kamo’ is real. In our own world-line, Kamo languished after the revolution and passed through a series of jobs secured through his boyhood connection to Joseph Stalin. He was briefly a member of the feared All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for the Struggle against Counter-revolution and Sabotage—its acronym is Cheka—but was forced to leave when his behaviour was considered too brutal even for them. As an old man, Stalin said, ‘Kamo was a truly amazing person… A master of disguise.’ In 1922, Kamo had returned to Tiflis to write his memoirs, which would include Stalin’s days as a bandit, when he was killed under mysterious circumstances. It seems likely that he was removed to protect Stalin’s image as a statesman, and likely that Stalin gave the order. His fate in my book is somewhat different.
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