The Great Eastern

It's Captain Nemo vs. Captain Ahab in this brainy, history-twisting thrill ride!

Imagine that Captain Ahab of Moby Dick fame didn’t die at the end of the story.  And imagine that Captain Nemo of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea did indeed build a submarine to wreak havoc among land-dwellers, but the sub was so poorly designed that he needed the help of an engineering genius to make it succeed.  Now imagine that the engineer in question was none other than Isambard Kingdom Brunel, builder of the mighty ship Great Eastern that laid the first transatlantic cable after several failed attempts.  And, finally, suppose that Captain Ahab has been hired to hunt down and destroy whatever has been causing those cable-laying failures.

This is a steampunk-flavored historical fantasy that mixes real-life figures with fictional characters almost like a seafaring - and much more violent - version of Scooby-Doo Meets the Harlem Globetrotters.

I really can’t suggest any similar titles because I’ve never read another book like this.