At last, The Eternal Machine will be released tomorrow, Friday 14th January! I’m excited, a little bit scared and happy to have nearly met the goal I made 14 years ago. If you like weird steampunk, gothic urban fantasy with lots of strong female characters, and a little bit of Leibniz, then this may be for you.

Edited by Amanda J Spedding and Pete Kempshall.

I must admit the scariest part was putting it up on NetGalley via BooksGoSocial a couple of months ago. But I bit the bullet and jumped in, and received an interesting mix of reader reactions, which are now on Goodreads. I took a few risks with this book by including themes that I care about and are as much a reflection of the present world as the novel’s nineteenth century setting; but that’s what a lot of steampunk is about, isn’t it? Taking risks.

Anyhow, allow me to introduce you to some of my girls.

Starting from Top Right and moving Clockwise:

1. Em is an underpaid & underemployed mechanic who dreams of being a designer, but has little chance in a city owned by industrialists; so becomes a rebel instead.

2. Solly is a resistance fighter, Em’s friend and mentor; and is a wise and natural leader.

3. Lottie is a shapeshifter trapped in the body of a human. She is wise, irreverent, witty, flippant and loves smoking cigars.

4. Phidelia is on a mission, but her unconventional behaviour has many tongues wagging against her. She ignores this narrowmindedness with all the contempt it deserves.

5. Orla is spectacularly badass and somewhat corrupted. She wants to rid the city of industrialists, but cares little about who she hurts along the way.

6. Myrtle has worked as a horologist for 24 years. She is a rebel, Em’s mentor and is fiercely protective of her younger brother who is very very tall.

Furthermore, there are also some kick-ass male characters, some good, some bad, and some a bit of both.

THE ETERNAL MACHINE: ebook and paperback from Amazon US   Amazon AU   Amazon UK   ebook only from Barnes & Noble  Kobo US  Kobo Au and  Kobo UK

Image Credits:

Damask Wallpaper No-longer-here
Oval Picture frame: Darkmoon_Art
Gold Rectangular Picture Frame: Aventrend
Em: Kiselev Andrey Valerevich
Solly: Atelier Sommerland
Lottie: VikkiB
Phidelia: Atelier Sommerland
Orla: Darksouls1
Myrtle: Ollyy

Images edited by Carol Ryles