Book picks similar to
Greaveburn by Craig Hallam


steampunk
fantasy
goodreads-first-reads
history-and-alternate-history

The Blood of Kings


Douglas Seacat - 2016
    Dominating the field of battle are rare individuals who have mastered both arcane and martial combat and who boldly lead mighty armies in the ongoing struggle to claim victory over these ancient lands.Three men who would be king threaten to sunder a kingdom, provoking a war that will drown its lands in blood. Amid the backdrop of a new Cygnaran civil war, the fate of the kingdom depends on the outcome of a covert struggle between two powerful warcasters—the gun mage Allister Caine and the mercenary warlord Asheth Magnus. Caine faces a moral quandary as he seeks to kill the bastard son of Cygnar's former king, knowing he must end an innocent life to preserve the peace. But Magnus is equally determined to see the bastard crowned as king—and is willing to kill anyone who gets in his way. Regardless of who emerges the victor, the blood of kings must be spilled to end an otherwise interminable war.

Fighting Out of Mobberley, England


G.B. Hope - 2012
    The reason: to pretend they are hiding away from an apocalyptic zombie plague.

The Great Darkening


R.G. Triplett - 2014
    For thousands of generations the reaches of its borders have been lit by a mysterious power in the form of a great, burning tree. Aiénor knows no sun, nor moon, nor stars; the great tree is its only source of unmade light. Then, without warning, the unthinkable happens. This immortal burning tree begins to fail one burnt, lifeless branch at a time. With each felled branch, the reach of its light is diminished. Soon there will be no power left to keep the hidden evils of Aiénor bound to the edges of the shadows.Haven, the once bright and blessed city, has turned into a greying corpse of its former glory. Beauty has been exiled and fear has taken up its pious reign over its citizens. The forests of Haven have been ravaged and decimated in attempt to bring temporary illumination to the impending dark. But when the timber has been consumed, what will the people of this once-shining city do to light their world? Though fear rules with hardened resolve and darkness eagerly awaits its victory, hope still remains. For in the face of such insurmountable odds, there are a few who still hold on to the prophecies of old and still seek the promised light. Cal, a young groomsman in service to the Citadel of Haven, is one of the hopeful. A series of events orchestrated by a power greater than Cal draws him out of the city of Haven and into a tale of darkness and prophecy and legend. As his journey brings him maturity and wisdom, it also clearly reveals his quest: to seek the light. This story, the story of Calarmindon, “Bright Fame”, begins to unravel the mysteries of the fast-darkening world of Aiénor. Cal discovers a colony of long-lost dreamers, an ancient race of terrible and powerful birds of prey, and a remnant of forgotten sprite-people trapped for centuries underneath a mountain fortress. The hope and promise of new light propel him into an expedition across the Dark Sea, where he encounters a taste of the monstrous evil that awaits Haven when the light of the great tree is finally extinguished forever. How far will fear go to keep hope hidden? How long will the light of the great tree hold? And how will Haven find its new light unless there is one brave enough to seek it out from with in the bowels of darkness?

Unbreakable


Will McIntosh - 2017
    All she knows of the outside world is a mysterious audience that files through the gates once a week to watch her and the other residents attempt to break world records. Celia’s record-breaking feats require an iron will more than any special talent, and she will need every ounce of that will when she escapes her town to help a dying friend, because outside the walls lies a shocking truth. Accompanied by a tall, scarred stranger, and a hostile clown whose brightly-colored face makeup does not wash off, Celia confronts an enemy that will test her limits and threaten the survival of everyone she loves. Fans of The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games will love this explosive, action-packed dystopian thriller from Hugo Award winning science fiction author Will McIntosh.

The Pearl Savage


Tamara Rose Blodgett - 2011
    alternate cover edition of ASIN B00563HRPMSeventeen-year old princess, Clara Williamson, lives an old-fashioned existence in a biosphere of the future.When her sadistic mother, Queen Ada, betroths her to an abusive prince of a neighboring sphere, Clara determines to escape Outside, where savages roam free.Clara escapes tyranny only to discover the savages are not the only people who survived the cataclysmic events of one hundred forty years prior.Once Outside, Clara finds herself trapped, unable to return to the abusive life of the sphere while facing certain danger Outside.Can Clara find love and freedom with the peril that threatens to consume her?Cover art by Phatpuppyart.com

Reign of Stars


Tim Pratt - 2014
    Accompanied by his only friend, a street-savvy thief named Skiver, Alaeron must head north into Numeria, a land where brilliant and evil arcanists rule over the local barbarian tribes with technology looted from a crashed spaceship. Can Alaeron and Skiver survive long enough to unlock the secrets of the stars? Or will the backstabbing scientists of the Technic League make Alaeron's curiosity his undoing?From Hugo Award-winner Tim Pratt comes a fantastical adventure of science, savagery, and the vagaries of the human heart, set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and tied into the Iron Gods Adventure Path.

Knight of the Realm


Anthony Reynolds - 2009
    Heroic fantasy tale of the gallant knights of Bretonnia, set in the world of Warhammer, by Mark of Chaos author, Anthony Reynolds.

Arena Mode


Blake Northcott - 2013
    Until one morning, after a dangerous fall lands him in the emergency room, he discovers that a tumor is pressing against his brain.Unable to afford experimental but potentially life-saving surgery, Moxon takes drastic action; he volunteers for Arena Mode: 2041's most vicious sporting event, where thirteen superhumans fight in an urban combat zone for a multi-billion dollar prize.Moxon is forced to battle opponents possessing ungodly speed, strength, and abilities once thought to exist only across the pages of superhero comics - and he's armed with nothing more than his rapidly-diminishing brain cells.With the odds stacked impossibly against him, Moxon fights to not only survive the wrath of the other competitors, but to unlock the mysteries buried within the Arena itself.Discover the series that has been nominated for the prestigious BSFA Award (Arena Mode, Best Novel of 2013), has been ranked #1 on Amazon in the US and the UK (Arena Mode, Superhero and Dystopian categories, May 2015) and is currently part of the high school curriculum in the state of Florida.

Fuzzy Dice


Paul Di Filippo - 2003
    Visited one morning by a dimension-hopping artificial intelligence named Hans, Paul is given the ability to jump instantly to any world he can envision. But without truly knowing himself, Paul soon discovers that framing a wish that gets the expected results is not as easy as it first appears. From the depths of the Big Bang to a world where hippies rule; from a land of Amazons to one where life is a video-game; from a society where cooperation means everything to one where individual chaos rules-across these bizarre dimensions and many others, Paul races in the search for happiness, love, wealth, status... and the answer to the Ontological Pickle. Acquiring comrades and enemies along the way, our feckless alternaut reaches a cul-de-sac from which the only exit is death. And then his adventures really begin....

The Edge Chronicles: Vol. 1 Beyond the Deep Woods and Vol. 2 Stormchaser


Paul Stewart - 2004
    

The Silver Metal Lover


Tanith Lee - 1981
    In this unforgettably poignant novel, Lee has created a classic tale--a beautiful, tragic, erotic, and ultimately triumphant love story of the future.For sixteen-year-old Jane, life is a mystery she despairs of ever mastering. She and her friends are the idle, pampered children of the privileged class, living in luxury on an Earth remade by natural disaster. Until Jane's life is changed forever by a chance encounter with a robot minstrel with auburn hair and silver skin, whose songs ignite in her a desperate and inexplicable passion.Jane is certain that Silver is more than just a machine built to please. And she will give up everything to prove it. So she escapes into the city's violent, decaying slums to embrace a love bordering on madness. Or is it something more? Has Jane glimpsed in Silver something no one else has dared to see--not even the robot or his creators? A love so perfect it must be destroyed, for no human could ever compete?

An Average Curse


Rue - 2016
    Magick is her only hope. As of this morning, she still can’t cast a single spell.On an island hidden from the rest of the world, Flynn Hawthorn, the ninth daughter of the ninth daughter, lives under a curse. In a land filled with magick, Flynn is forced to live her life as a Watcher—born into magick, but unable to wield it.Her birth fulfills an ancient prophecy that’s waited nine generations to be satisfied. Flynn must reunite the separated halves of the Book of Shadow and Light to restore balance to her world.Dark forces oppose her purpose and as the threat from the Shadow Coven of Southeil touches her shores for the first time in generations, Flynn must pretend—with the help of her best friend Hazel—that she actually has magick. Hazel would do anything for Flynn, but the game they are playing may cost them their lives…

Beasts of the Walking City


Del Law - 2012
    Martin...It’s not easy being a color-shifting, bourbon-loving Beast, even when you can travel between your own world and Earth’s past. Even when you’re working for the gangster Al Capone.Now, Blackwell is on a one-way trip into the ruins of a flying city to steal an ancient craft from one of his world’s biggest gangster families—a family you just don’t want to cross. But the ship is just the beginning, and Blackwell isn’t prepared for everything that comes next. First, he's hunted by a cult who wants to wipe his race out for good. Then, he’s a pawn stuck between powerful gangster families at each other’s throats. Who can he trust? There’s the beautiful and seductive double-agent named Mircada who will steal his heart? A huge fire-belching family kingpin named Nadrune who wants him for her pet? The mysterious woman Kjat, who loves him—and who’s filling up with crazy demons from another world? The crazed general who’s after him for revenge? (Not him, at least that's pretty clear.) Then there's the mystery of a legendary flower that once belonged to his race, a flower that might change the world—if only he can find it.Beasts of the Walking City is fast-paced, funny, sexy adventure with steampunk cities that float and walk and fly, exploding gangsters at each other’s throats, pyrotechnic magical battles, time travel, crazy new alien races and the fate of two worlds hanging in the balance.

Brass Sun


Ian Edginton - 2012
    But the once-unified collection of worlds has regressed into eccentric fiefdoms, and ice is encroaching on the outer planets as the sun is dying. Wren and Eptimus must find the key to restart the sun, but first must escape the world known as The Keep.... This is a wholly original new SF-clockpunk series from the bestselling artist of New Deadwardians and the hit writer of Scarlet Traces and Hinterkind.

Outlier: Rebellion


Daryl Banner - 2014
    Poor, starved, and armed with only their lowly powers, an unlikely crew of slum-born form a secret rebel group with the sole purpose of assassinating the Banshee King, who rules from the Lifted City above where those born rich—and with great powers—live in luxury. When all seems hopeless, the rebellion discovers that their newest member—a boy who CAN sleep and dream—just might be the key to their victory.*THIS IS BOOK #1 IN THE OUTLIER SERIES**It is recommended to read this series in order**Some portions of the book end in cliffhangers*OUTLIER: REBELLION (#1)OUTLIER: LEGACY (#2)OUTLIER: REIGN OF MADNESS (#3)OUTLIER: BEYOND OBLIVION (#4)OUTLIER: WEAPONS OF ATLAS (#5)OUTLIER: GIFTS OF THE GODDESS (#6)