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Secrets in the Mist by Morgan L. Busse:
I just finished reading Secrets in the Mist by Morgan L. Busse. I originally pre-ordered it, and I had to wait a couple of months for it to come in. This is a terrific little book that was definitely worth the wait!
Busse is a two-time Christy Award finalist and she recently won the INSPY and the Carol Award for the best in Christian speculative fiction... so she is kind of my hero. While it was my love of airships that originally led me to read Steampunk genre fiction, I've often found Steampunk to be a dark and foreboding genre whose themes are often less-than-Christian in their moral premises.
The setting is a world where humanity must live in the sky to avoid the deadly mists covering the earth. The protagonist is a woman named Cass who is employed as a diver to explore the ruined cities that lie below the mist and discovers some means to prevent or even eliminate the deadly fog that turns people into the undead. But most importantly, she writes of the beautiful airship "Daedalus" that has become home to Cass and her motley crew.
Busse hits all the Steampunk archetypes; deadly mists, undead "Turned," turn of the century technology complete with masks and goggles... but she does so in a way that is hopeful and uplifting rather than cynical and macabre.
My last comment is directed straight to the author: The Daedalus, how could you?!? You left me with a mighty cliffhanger, and now I've got to wait again until Book 2 in the Skyworld series comes out. If you want to know what I'm talking about, you're going to have to buy the book.
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Book 1 - Secrets in the Mist
Book 2 of the Skyworld Series - Sign up below and I'll let you know when it comes out!
