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{{work}}
{{Infobox book
The Peshawar Lancers is a 2002 [[Alternate History]] novel by [[S.M. Stirling]], author of the ''[[The Draka]]'', ''[[Island in The Sea of Time]]'' and the ''[[Emberverse]]'', ''[[The Peshawar Lancers]]'' takes place in a world where [[Colony Drop|a series of comet strikes]] destroyed much of Western Europe and North America in 1878, the resulting long winter finishing off most of civilization in those areas. Most of the survivors that didn't become [[I'm a Humanitarian|cannibal savages]] fled to their overseas colonies, in particular the French remnants relocated to their North African possessions and the British to India, South Africa and Australia. By the early 21st Century, the latter (at least in India) have gone native to the point of referring themselves as the Angrezi Raj.▼
| title = The Peshawar Lancers
| image =
| caption =
| author = S.M. Stirling
| central theme =
| elevator pitch =
| genre = Alternate history, Steampunk, Post-apocalypse
| franchise = The Peshawar Lancers
| preceded by = Shikari in Galveston
| publication date = 2002
| wiki URL =
| wiki name =
}}
▲'''''The Peshawar Lancers''''' is a 2002 [[Alternate History]] novel by [[S.M. Stirling]], author of the ''[[The Draka]]'', ''[[Island in The Sea of Time]]'' and the ''[[Emberverse]]'', ''[[The Peshawar Lancers]]'' takes place in a world where [[Colony Drop|a series of comet strikes]] destroyed much of Western Europe and North America in 1878, the resulting long winter finishing off most of civilization in those areas. Most of the survivors that didn't become [[I'm a Humanitarian|cannibal savages]] fled to their overseas colonies, in particular the French remnants relocated to their North African possessions and the British to India, South Africa and Australia. By the early 21st Century, the latter (at least in India) have gone native to the point of referring themselves as the Angrezi Raj.
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{{tropelist}}
* [[After the End]]: in the style of Rudyard Kipling.
** The latter parts of the story concern the threat of a second impact (not [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|that one]]).
* [[Alternate History]]: When "God Save the King" is replaced with "God Save the Padishah" ([[Dune|no, not that one]]), take a wild guess.
* [[Alternate Universe]]: The Sisters are mentioned to not only see the future, but ''different'' futures as well. {{spoiler|Including a snapshot of ''our'' 21st Century.}}
* [[Anything That Moves]]: Queen Victoria II (reigned 1921 - 1942), based on what's mentioned of her, probably caused the term "Victorian" to mean something rather different from in OTL.
* [[Artistic License Chemistry]]:
** One character despises guncotton because of its tendency to sweat nitroglycerin. That's dynamite, which is nitroglycerin absorbed into kiselguhr. Guncotton is pure nitrocellulose, which does not contain nitroglycerin.
** The hydrogen in the Empire's airships is spiked with "sulfur-rich methane" to make leaks detectable. Methane contains no sulfur and is completely odorless (natural gas, a mixture of mostly methane and ethane, needs to have odorants added for this very reason).
* [[Big Bad]]: Count Ignatieff.
* [[The British Empire]]: Known in the book either as the Angrezi Raj or the New Empire, based in Delhi. Australia-New Zealand and South Africa are Viceroyalties (each having their own colonies).
** The old British accent vanished long before. Since the "Imperial English" used (at least in India and the elite) is mentioned as a pidgin language with heavy Hindi borrowings. Australia and the Cape use more "conservative" versions closer to the Victorians.
* [[Chivalrous Pervert]]: Athelstane is an unrepentant womanizer, but also an [[Officer and a Gentleman]].
* [[Colony Drop]]: The Fall
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* [[Dances and Balls]]: On special occasions the Angrezi would revive old pre-Fall traditions, such as the waltz. The Royal Palace in Delhi actually has a Victorian-style ballroom specifically built for this purpose, with the men dressing in "classical" attire; out of convenience, however, women still prefer the sari.
* [[Disney Villain Death]]: {{spoiler|Count Ignatieff is stabbed by Athelstane and thrown from a zeppelin, and is described as splattering when he hits the ground.}}
* [[Eats Babies]]: Count Ignatieff, literally; at one point, he thinks that the food he's been given isn't nearly as tasty as "roast suckling Uzbek."
* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: the cult of Malik Nous in the remains of Russia worships one and believes {{spoiler|bringing about the destruction of humanity will please him}}
* [[Everything Trying to Kill You]]: A reader could be forgiven for thinking the book is an RPG transcript; Athelstane and co. have to deal with attacks from devil-worshippers, Afghans, ninjas,
** {{spoiler|And practically all of them were bribed/manipulated/set up by Count Ignatieff.}}
* [[Everything's Better with Princesses]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by Athelstane, chatting with Sita, when he remarks that every adventure story needs a beautiful princess.
* [[Expy]]: The Kapenaar (Anglo-Afrikaner South Africans) are essentially [[The Draka|Draka]] if the British managed to restrain them. With the added touch of them being the only ones left wearing Pith helmets. They're even called the "Bad boys" of the Empire by Stirling himself.
* [[Feudal Future]]: It's more of a Victorian [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]]
** The French are described as more or less pristine-European with some Islamic tinge (they've kept Marseilles the whole time though).
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* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: Sita's bodyguard and {{spoiler|King-Emperor John}}.
* [[Huge Guy, Tiny Girl]]: Yasmini only comes up to Athelstane's chest.
* [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]: Yasmini's precognition tells her the precise direction to point her gun and the exact moment to squeeze the trigger. She's got her eyes closed as she does.
* [[Incest Is Relative]]: The Dreamers are deliberately and forcibly inbred by their masters to ensure their talent is passed on. This includes both [[Brother-Sister Incest]] and [[Parental Incest]]. [[Squick]].
* [[In Spite of a Nail]]: Australians, Afghans, Jews and Brazilians are implied to be more or less recognizable.
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** Also consider the fact that while the Angrezi (at least) are nominally a constitutional monarchy, the current royals wield ''much more'' power than Victoria ever did.
* [[Shout-Out]]: Many, given the book's status as a homage to old-fashioned swashbuckling adventure fiction. Referenced works include [[Flashman]] and [[Beau Geste]].
** The main character is named for Talbot Mundy's ''King of the Khyber Rifles'', and his friend Narayan Singh for a character from Mundy's ''Jimgrim'' series. Yasmini was also the name of a [[Femme Fatale]] in ''King...'' '''and''' (apparently the same woman) the ''Jimgrim'' stories.
** Dai-Nippon is ruled by [[The Mikado]].
* [[Steampunk]]: Aside from the obligatory airships (see below), the book features giant mechanical Babbage-style primitive computers.
** The more old-fashioned among the Angrezi (along with some Indians) still tend to wear top hats and frock coats. French fashions meanwhile have hardly changed since the 19th Century (complete with corsets), though with a ''very'' slight desert/Islamic tinge.
* [[Take That]]: If [[
** Said forum is also working on alternative (and more realistic) scenarios, including bits like a surviving USA and a German Holy Roman Empire in Eastern Europe.
** scarcely more realistic, given the initial premise. The basic rule of thumb is that anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere where it snows in the winter has three to five years with killing frosts -every month of the year-, followed by a decade of lousy weather. You have to get south to where oranges grow before there aren't catastrophic crop failures for -years on end-.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Literature of the 2000s]]
[[Category:Alternate History Literature]]
[[Category:Science Fiction Literature]]
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