She’s wanted for crimes against the throne. He’s the empire’s most notorious assassin. With bounties on their heads and soldiers hunting them, they’re not likely candidates for heroics. But when they unearth a plot against the military’s premier ice breaking ship, they may be the only ones who can thwart the saboteurs…if the soldiers don’t kill them first.
When outlaws Amaranthe and Sicarius chance upon spies stealing military prototypes, they immediately give chase. Well, immediately after Amaranthe talks Sicarius, former assassin and all-around non-altruistic type, into the mission. She wants an imperial pardon, and what better way to attract the emperor’s favor than by looking after the empire’s interests?What seems like a straightforward mission develops a hitch when the spies flee to Darkcrest Isle, a forbidding chunk of land reputed to be haunted. Amaranthe isn’t quick to believe in tales of malevolent spirits, so she’s startled when the ever-pragmatic and unflappable Sicarius shows reluctance at setting foot on the island. Only when it may be too late to escape does Amaranthe come to understand why.The Assassin’s Curse is a 12,000-word short story.
A Parasol Protectorate Prequel Short From the comedic mind of New York Times bestseller Gail Carriger comes the much requested prequel short story to Soulless.
Alexia Tarabotti attends what appears to be a very dull London party, until the new werewolf Alpha turns up, is unconscionably rude to her, and sits on a hedgehog.
Don’t miss this charming novelette featuring the very first encounter between the Parasolverse’s most popular power couple, preternatural Alexia and supernatural Lord Conall Maccon.
Look out for cheeky appearances from other much beloved characters, not to mention the strategic application of a certain wicker chicken.
A Note On Chronology
Set in the spring of 1872 this story occurs just prior to events chronicled in The Parasol Protectorate series (featuring Alexia and Conall) and after those in Defy or Defend. Alexia also appears briefly in Romancing the Inventor, and Conall and England’s most scandalous wolf pack is referenced in The Finishing School series. Want more hot gruff werewolf gentlemen and practical tough ladies? Try How to Marry a Werewolf.
This is a quick read at 9000 words (about 15 printed pages) available in print only as part of Fan Service (collected Supernatural Society omnibus). It is best read if you are already familiar with Gail Carriger’s gaslight universe and comedy of manners style, as it was written specifically with her fans in mind.
...ageless tales were told from one generation to the next, filled with both wonders and warnings. Tales of handsome princes and wicked queens, of good-hearted folk and evil stepmothers. Tales of danger and caution and magic...classics that still echo in our hearts and memories even to this day, told from old, cherished books or from memory at Grandma's knee.
Oh yes, tales have been told...but never quite like these. Journey with us through the pages of Gaslight and Grimm to discover timeless truths through lenses polished in the age of steam.
contains: In Wolf’s Clothing by James Chambers When Pigs Fly by Christine Norris From the Horses (sic) Mouth by Bernie Mojzes The Steamy Tale of Cinderella by Danny Birt The Clockwork Nightingale by Jean Marie Ward ! The Walking Horse by Jeff Young The Patented Troll by Gail Z. Martin and Larry N. Martin A Cat Among the Gears by Elaine Corvidae The Steam-Powered Dragon by David Lee Summers All for Beauty and Youth by Kelly A. Harmon The Giant Killer by Jonah Knight The Hair Ladder by Diana Bastine The Perfect Shoes by Jody Lynn Nye
In this prequel episode from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials universe, Lee Scoresby -- Texan aeronaut and future friend to Lyra Belacqua -- is 24 years old. The story reveals the origins of Scoresby's friendship with Iorek Byrnison as well as Scoresby's aeronautical career.
After winning his hot-air balloon in a poker game, Scoresby finds himself floating north. On the Arctic island of Novy Odense, Scoresby and his dæmon Hester become involved in a deadly plot involving an oil magnate, a corrupt mayoral candidate, and a hired killer who is Lee's longtime nemesis from the Dakota Country. Forming an alliance with one of the island's reviled armored bears, Scoresby fights to break up the conspiracy.
This clothbound volume features the illustrations of John Lawrence, a removable board game on the inside back cover, and the story that offers a glimpse into the origins of the friendship of two beloved characters in the His Dark Materials trilogy.
From the co-editor of Steampunk'd comes an all-new collection of adventure and romance amid Victorian steampunk settings. Sparks fly in these original stories of a steam-driven airship searching for a lost city, a crazy inventor in a powered wheelchair with a plot to take over the world, and a love story set in an alternate history version of America. Adventure abounds in these stories of love, loss, and danger- and there is plenty of steam!
Five erotic steampunk stories. Lust & leaping 'technologie' meet in a Victorian era that never was. Jason Rubis, Thomas S. Roche, Vanessa Vaughn, Peter Tupper, and Kaysee Renee Robichaud create fascinating tales of airships, corsetry, mad scientists, and drama. [ explicit sexuality.]
Looking to the future through the lens of the past, here is a second fantastic collection of over 30 typically anarchic mash-ups that push the boundaries of steampunk from the same editor of the bestselling Mammoth Book of Steampunk.
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