THE SETTING

The Extraordinaires begins with The Extinction Gambit in London, 1908 at the time of the great Franco-British Exhibition and the Olympic Games. This period is the height of the Edwardian period. London was the largest city in the world and the centre of the vast British Empire. It was a financial, political and scientific powerhouse, but this era was coming to a close. Only four years away, the Great War would change everything.

Into this world, I’m adding another, shadowy realm, that of the Demimonde. The Demimonde is the haunt of those outside the norms of civilised society. It’s the home of the outcasts, the outlaws and the outlandish. It’s the place where magic works and where forbidden knowledge is supreme.

The normal world and the Demimonde sit side by side but are separate. Some manage to move between the two, but for most, the affairs of the normal world and the Demimonde never intersect.