Today we have an amazing post up as part of the
Tin Swift Tour.
Tin Swift is the second book in The Age of Steam series by Devon Monk. I really enjoyed
Dead Iron and can't wait to read more! I am so privileged as to be the very first stop on this epic tour. You know why it's epic? Because we get a first hand look at this short story. Here, I'll let Devon explain:
HANG FIRE is a steampunk short story set in late 1800's America. It
takes place between the Age of Steam book #1, DEAD IRON and book #2 TIN
SWIFT. The story is broken into 20 "chapters" and posted, one chapter at
a time, on 20 awesome blogs. To read the whole story, start at chapter 1
at www.candacesbookblog.com (that's here!) and follow the "read the next chapter" links at the end of the post.
Sounds awesome right? Well here goes!
HANG FIRE - Chapter 1
They were being followed. Cedar
Hunt thumbed the gear at the edge of his goggles, flipping a darker
lens into place. He scanned the high, rocky hills, looking for a glint
of sun off a gun barrel, listening for the shift of horse and leather
against the scrub here on the eastern curve of the Oregon territory.
His curse would do him no good today. The beast the Pawnee had
planted in his bones only came out at the full moon, and was no more
than an unsettled anger now.
Still, it might be a fair bit
easier to hear if an ambush were imminent if the Madder brother’s wagon
wasn’t making enough noise for an entire troupe of tinkers. At least the
brothers weren’t drunk and singing. Yet.
“Trouble, Mr. Hunt?” Alun, the eldest Madder called out over the
clatter of oddments stashed inside the big wagon pulled by their two
draft horses.
“Not that I see,” he answered.
All three of
the brothers were miners. Short, bearded, bull-shouldered and tougher
than the mountains they blasted their way through. They were rich too,
from all the silver they dug out of Hallelujah, though a man wouldn’t
know it from the state of their clothing or belongings.
But only a fool would mistake them for anything other than clever.
They had an eye for the Strange, a knack for measuring a man’s soul, and
a way with the wild sciences that had gotten Cedar out of–and into–too
many tight spots.
He’d made them a promise to find a very dangerous weapon. Of course, he’d made a lot of promises lately.
“Mr. Hunt?” a softer voice called out.
Mae Lindson, the beautiful, sad-eyed widow urged the mule she was
riding up ahead of the Madder’s wagon so she could better talk to him.
He’d promised to take her to the coven of her witch sisters, off Kansas
way. He hoped to do so before she lost her mind to the madness the
sisters had set upon her.
At the sight of her, his heart hammered hard and reckless. She was a
need he’d found no fix for, a thirst he couldn’t quench. And his desire
had only grown stronger all their days on the trail.
“Mrs. Lindson,” he said as she stopped just short of a comfortable distance. “Where’s Rose?”
Rose Small, the young woman who rode with them looking for adventure
in the big cities beyond the small town of Hallelujah was often at
Mae’s side. Even horseback, Rose tended to occupy herself with a bit of
metal, cog and spring, making whimsical curiosities of metal. She had a
deviser’s quick fingers and quicker mind.
“I don’t know,” Mae said, her eyes gone cloudy with concern. “Rose disappeared.”
...read chapter 2 at: Fiction Vixen www.fictionvixen.com
Dead Iron (The Age of Steam #1) by Devon Monk
Welcome to a new America that is built on blood, sweat, and gears...
In steam age America, men, monsters, machines, and magic battle for the
same scrap of earth and sky. In this chaos, bounty hunter Cedar Hunt
rides, cursed by lycanthropy and carrying the guilt of his brother's
death. Then he's offered hope that his brother may yet survive. All he
has to do is find the Holder: a powerful device created by mad
devisers-and now in the hands of an ancient Strange who was banished to
walk this Earth.
In a land shaped by magic, steam, and iron,
where the only things a man can count on are his guns, gears, and grit,
Cedar will have to depend on all three if he's going to save his brother
and reclaim his soul once and for all...
Tin Swift (The Age of Steam #2) by Devon Monk
In steam age
America, men, monsters, machines and magic battle to claim the same
scrap of earth and sky. In this chaos, one man fights to hold on to his
humanity--and his honor. . .
Life on the frontier
is full of deceit and danger, but bounty hunter Cedar Hunt is a man
whose word is his bond. Cursed with becoming a beast every full moon,
Cedar once believed his destiny was to be alone. But now, Cedar finds
himself saddled with a group of refugees, including the brother he once
thought lost.
Keeping his companions alive is proving to be no
easy task, in part because of the promise he made to the unpredictable
Madder brothers—three miners who know the secret mechanisms of the
Strange. To fulfill his pledge, Cedar must hunt a powerful weapon known
as the Holder—a search that takes him deep into the savage underbelly of
the young country and high into the killing glim-field skies defended
by desperate men and deadly ships.
But the battles he faces are
just a glimmer of a growing war stirring the country. To keep his word
Cedar must navigate betrayal, lies, and treacherous alliances, risking
everything to save the lives of those he has come to hold dear…
Giveaway:
The publisher and Devon Monk are generously giving away:
1. A magnet of the cover of TIN SWIFT
2. A hand-made by Devon Monk (and her husband) one-of a kind, signed bookmark.
3. A copy of TIN SWIFT
One winner
Must be 16 or older to enter.
Open to US only.
Fill out the rafflecopter to enter.
