seeking sources for 1920s alt-reality fantasy
Ok, I am pretty sure that the placement of the story I'm working on is sometime around 1922. Currently all but one of the protagonists are aboard an airship over Vienna, but they are a varied crew of folks with vastly differing experiences of the last decade or so.
My female lead is a Spanish-African engineer who was educated in Britain under the auspices of her father's patron. Also a suffragette, and an occasional agent of His Majesty's super-secret magical investigations bureau. (And gets little respect there, but she's eminently capable and expendable.)
Other characters:
- a British Countess, a suffragette, and a scientist, owner of her own research vessel (that would be the airship mentioned above)
- an archaeologist and scientist seeking ancient tech for military applications
- an RAF veteran, engineer, and test pilot, also a British Earl (and husband of the countess)
- an Irish magician and fellow war veteran, currently missing
- an American veteran amputee, living abroad as an artist, holding a few secrets from the war
- the handler for my female lead when she's working for the bureau
- and her supervisor from the bureau
They are all connected in some way by the war or by British politics, but most of them are living or working on the Continent.
(Some of you sharp-eyed fandomers may recognize some of the influences at play here - there are a few!)
This is not my period, in general, so I am flying kind of blind and much too dependent on movies and History Channel documentaries. (I'm so much more confident wallowing in Europe before the first millennium, so why do I never set any stories then??)
Things that may have some impact on the plot but how do I know yet?
- 1919 women over 30 get the vote in Britain, with conditions, as I understand it?
- Irish Civil War
- the Treaty of Versailles and the disarming of areas of Europe
- Battle of the Somme, and veterans' experiences thereof.
- salon and arts culture (Lost Generation?)?
So I'm looking for some good books/sites about the Great War and the early 20s in Europe, some ideas about how magic might have influenced the conflict, but not TOO much, and how magic and magical technology might change the social and political face of 20s Europe and the British Empire.
Thoughts?
I don't know. Somebody punch holes in all my ideas so I can figure out what's going on.
My female lead is a Spanish-African engineer who was educated in Britain under the auspices of her father's patron. Also a suffragette, and an occasional agent of His Majesty's super-secret magical investigations bureau. (And gets little respect there, but she's eminently capable and expendable.)
Other characters:
- a British Countess, a suffragette, and a scientist, owner of her own research vessel (that would be the airship mentioned above)
- an archaeologist and scientist seeking ancient tech for military applications
- an RAF veteran, engineer, and test pilot, also a British Earl (and husband of the countess)
- an Irish magician and fellow war veteran, currently missing
- an American veteran amputee, living abroad as an artist, holding a few secrets from the war
- the handler for my female lead when she's working for the bureau
- and her supervisor from the bureau
They are all connected in some way by the war or by British politics, but most of them are living or working on the Continent.
(Some of you sharp-eyed fandomers may recognize some of the influences at play here - there are a few!)
This is not my period, in general, so I am flying kind of blind and much too dependent on movies and History Channel documentaries. (I'm so much more confident wallowing in Europe before the first millennium, so why do I never set any stories then??)
Things that may have some impact on the plot but how do I know yet?
- 1919 women over 30 get the vote in Britain, with conditions, as I understand it?
- Irish Civil War
- the Treaty of Versailles and the disarming of areas of Europe
- Battle of the Somme, and veterans' experiences thereof.
- salon and arts culture (Lost Generation?)?
So I'm looking for some good books/sites about the Great War and the early 20s in Europe, some ideas about how magic might have influenced the conflict, but not TOO much, and how magic and magical technology might change the social and political face of 20s Europe and the British Empire.
Thoughts?
I don't know. Somebody punch holes in all my ideas so I can figure out what's going on.