Book picks similar to
The Gears of Madness by Iain Grant
steampunk
free-reads
fantasy
fiction-general
Driftmetal
J.C. Staudt - 2015
A lost city, a deadly sabotage, and a series of narrow escapes will force him to choose between his freedom and the lives of thousands. A high-flying adventure full of gadgetry, treachery and intrigue; a pleasing blend of steampunk and cyberpunk.
Curse the Dark: The Harstone Legacy Book 1
Leonie Gant - 2019
That was until she was kidnapped and dragged into a world where the monsters and legends of her childhood walked the streets. Certain that a mistake has been made, Sadie struggles to understand what is happening to her and why, but there is one thing that is becoming clear. Despite what she has believed her entire life, she does have family, and her family needs her. Unfortunately, this family could also get her killed.
Paradigm Rift
Randy McWilson - 2014
Denver Wayne Collins, Afghanistan War veteran, is struggling to maintain the deteriorating pieces of his fractured personal life. And then...it happens. During an electrical storm, he is violently thrown back to 1956...to the quiet town of Normal, Illinois. Is this nightmare real, or is this an elaborate governmental fabrication? Denver discovers a fragile alliance of time jumpers from across the last six decades. The group has been desperately seeking the technology to return each of them back to their proper places in the space-time continuum. But will they succeed before the relentless forces of the CIA and a female KGB assassin find them? Who can they trust? Can they trust each other? From Roswell in 1947, to Area 51 and far beyond, the Back to Normal series will challenge the way you understand contemporary world history...and even time itself. If you are fascinated by conspiracy theories, then the Back to Normal series is your newest escape. Back to Normal will tease your mind with shocking conclusions about the famous Roswell event, Area 51, the Philadelphia Experiment, and even...the Kennedy assassination. You will never look at history the same way again...it's time to get challenged, it's time to get the whole story, it's time to get Paradigm Rift: Book One of the Back to Normal series.
The Little Cottage by the Sea
A.L. Jambor - 2016
A short story by A.L. Jambor When Meg’s sister dies, she is devastated. The last of three children, Meg misses her siblings and has never felt so alone. She’s an author, but her emotional state hinders her ability to write, and she can’t sit in front of her computer without trembling. A trip to Port Revere, MA recalls memories of the summers spent there with her family when she was a girl, and Meg decides to buy the Christmas Cottage, an abandoned little house on a bluff near town. She refurbishes it, and with the help of her nephew Zack, starts to come out of her shell. But then the holidays, a time for families and celebrations, arrive, and Meg must again face her loneliness, and guilt over something she can't forgive herself for – she wasn’t there when her sister died and never had a chance to say goodbye. With the cottage almost completed, Meg has one last thing to do; she has to find out if her plumbing is up to snuff, and arranges for a plumber to visit the cottage. On Thanksgiving Day, she is sipping a cup of coffee when someone knocks on the door. She looks out the window and sees an old man, an old truck, and an old dog. Lettering on the truck announces that Angus O’Malley, Plumber Extraordinaire, is standing on her doorstep. What she doesn’t know is that Angus is on a mission and that his appearance heralds the beginning of something wonderful, and the best Christmas Meg has ever had. The Little Cottage by the Sea was formerly published as The Christmas Cottage. The content has not changed. It is a short book of 20,000 words.
Preemption
Marion G. Harmon - 2011
Astra has finished her training and is now a full-fledged Sentinel, but things are not going well. She suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the public revelation of her relationship with Atlas has caused her popularity to nose-dive.To complicate things, the Teatime Anarchist's intervention has changed the course of events--leaving her with lots of knowledge about the way the future was before the Big One, a complete future-history that is now out of date.And just when she thinks she's getting a handle on things, unfolding events (a bank-robbery and a horrific murder) show that one of the nastier pieces of the old future isn't so out of date after all; unless she solves a murder before it happens, Blackstone is going to die.
Kate on a Hot Tin Roof
Niall Teasdale - 2015
The product of a mad scientist of great talent, she is the fusion of man and beast only made possible but the power of the Wonder Metal, Unobtainium. When Charles Barstow-Hall’s grandfather discovered Unobtainium in Scotland, he had no idea that it would change the world, and even less idea of the extent of that change. Thirty-five years later Charles still spends much of his time cleaning up after the messes made by those with less moral fibre than himself. When he discovers Kate, a truly ungodly use of his grandfather’s discovery if ever there was one, he determines that she must be cured of her unnatural condition. But there are other men with other ideas about Kate’s future and soon Kate and Charles, together with their friend Antonia Wooster, must brave the perils of the Dark Continent to bring an end to the vile schemes of evil men.
Illusionarium
Heather Dixon Wallwork - 2015
But then—as every good adventure begins—the king swoops into port, and Jonathan and his father are enlisted to find the cure to a deadly plague. Jonathan discovers that he's a prodigy at working with a new chemical called fantillium, which creates shared hallucinations—or illusions. And just like that, Jonathan is knocked off his path. Through richly developed parallel worlds, vivid action, a healthy dose of humor, and gorgeous writing, Heather Dixon spins a story that calls to mind The Night Circus and Pixar movies, but is wholly its own.
The Keeper of Edelyndia
Benjamin J. Denen - 2014
He is welcomed in by a simple family after saving their ten-year-old daughter, Lyra. When the Keepers, the enforcing arm of the Church, launch an unprecedented raid on their village in Havanshae Valley, Orron is faced with taking up arms to fight for those he loves. In doing so, he must confront the reality of who he truly is and the purpose for his very existence.Draedon, a Legion Commander of the Keepers, struggles with his duty as an officer and his role as a father. Standing up for what he believes in feels like the right thing to do, but what if it endangers the life of his beloved daughter? He must choose between the life he has always known and the life for which he has bee
The Dulwich Horror and Others
David Hambling - 2013
P. Lovecraft, this stylish new collection of adventure stories fizzes with wit and invention. They can be enjoyed separately, but read them in one sitting and the pieces fit horribly together into a larger and more terrible nightmare. †These tales constitute David Hambling’s initial foray into the realm of Lovecraftian fiction. The fertility of imagination, the crisp character delineations, and the smooth-flowing prose that we find in these seven tales leave us wishing for more of the same, and Hambling will no doubt oblige in the coming years. For now, we can sit back and relish a brace of stories that not only evoke the shade of the dreamer from Providence, but which that dreamer himself would have enjoyed to the full. —S. T. Joshi(from his foreword)
The Dream Engine
Sean Platt - 2014
In the gleaming steampunk world of Waldron's Gate, citizens aren't meant to dream -- and those who eschew their daily Crumble and dare to do so anyway face madness … and imprisonment in Joffrey Columns, the asylum of towers.And yet, "Dreaming" of a very specific sort is what Eila does every day at the Ministry of Manifestation with her mind hooked to the great engine, called the Blunderbuss. She's accustomed to using her thoughts to Build all that the city needs … but never before have her thoughts been so dark, so laced with demons and shadows. Now those nighttime visions hint at dark conspiracy, a millennium of lies, and a fathomless secret hiding beneath the quiet streets.As Eila follows the boy down the rabbit hole, she discovers secrets that were meant to remain hidden. She discovers an unknown caste of underlings, an unknown place underneath the city. And she learns of her terrible destiny as her own dreams and reality blur, as "what is real?" becomes something uncertain.
The Lady Astronomer
Katy O'Dowd - 2011
He is commanded by the king to build the grandest telescope in the land. Unfortunately for Lucretia, she is introduced to his majesty as her brother's assistant. Her nights spent on rooftops gazing at the stars are replaced by adventure and danger. In a race to build the Forty-foot telescope on time for the king, her misfortunes take their toll. When Lucretia finds herself held hostage at the Clockwork Court, the innocent country girl doesn't know who to trust. The lady astronomer finds court life to be more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. Even if her brothers manage to build the telescope on time, she might not live to earn her freedom.With the help of her brothers, Freddie and Al, and her constant companions Leibniz the Lemur and Orion the Eagle Owl, Lucretia embarks on a journey that could change her life forever. Can she find the strength inside to balance her new life and overcome the obstacles threatening her destiny? Only the stars will tell.* * *Special Note:We are proud to publish our first novel from an author who lives outside of North America. Katy hails from Ireland. When reading this novel, please keep in mind that English is not spelled the same everywhere! Because she is from Ireland and her characters also dwell in Europe, we maintained her uses and spellings. Enjoy!
Janus and The Prince: A LitRPG Saga (The Nightmares of Alamir Book 2)
Noam Oswin - 2020
Reincarnating as a worm in the madness that is Alamir, the man who spat in the face of a god turns and spits in the face of destiny.He ascends, from battle and bloodshed, to find favor in a Witch of the Night just as mad, if not far madder, than he. Baptized on the eve of the genocide of her people, he is bestowed the name Janus - and is reborn with the power to explore the road not travelled.The power to eat his cake and have it, to split the timeline as he desires, and pave his own path towards his chosen future.That chosen future, awaits his bony, skeletal hands.War cometh for the defiant. War between cosmic horrors and ubermensch, apocalypse seekers and twisted messiahs, reincarnated madmen and avatars of extinction -And the man who defied a god, stands in the center."Hero, villain, monster, savior, king, slave, good or evil - all irrelevant when the Nightmares of Alamir come midnight, wielding a dim lantern, rasping with a croaky voice as their unholy fingers rap against your door.""Now, tell the world... How shall you answer?"
Zombie Youth: Playground Politics
H.E. Goodhue - 2012
With no guidance or supervision the students are left to recreate society as they see fit. But not everyone shares their vision of the future...Zombie Youth:Playground Politics is the first novel in a new series following a group of survivors struggling to stay alive in a world where there are things far worse than zombies.
Time Travel Adventures Of The 1800 Club
Robert McAuley - 2011
Dressed in clothes their ancestors might have worn during the 1800s, members enjoy foods of the period and read periodicals featuring news of a particular date in 1865. However, the 1800 Club also has an astounding secret . . . Time Travel. Members travel back in time nudging famous persons and key events just enough to ensure history unfolds, as it should. Guardians-of-the-future, who send robotic probes back through the ages, discover that, at critical time-junctures, pivotal figures stray from vital tasks and actions. Then an 1800 Club member is sent back to guarantee that events get back on track. The 1800 Club’s members aid Lincoln, Roosevelt, Bat Masterson, Mark Twain and many others. Without subtle interventions by these unknown agents, the famous might have been only footnotes, rather than giants of history
The Fighter King
John Bowers - 2009
The Fighter Queen saga starts here. A military science fiction action adventure. Rated "R" 139,000 words. Roughly equivalent to 521 pages in a mass market paperback. This book is the first of the Fighter Queen saga. The books in the series may be read in any order (each is complete within itself), but if you wish to read them in chronological order for the best experience, we suggest: 1. The Fighter King 2. The Sword of Sophia 3. A Vow to Sophia 4. Star Marine 5. The Fighter Queen