Gaslamp Stories

Junos was, for a lack of better words, screwed. If she didn't produce results worthy of her rank, then surely the Auditors would be forced to strip her from her sorceress license, her workshop, her everything. She couldn't afford to fail, not with the fact that the livelihood of her apprentices was also at stake. With the clues given by her trusted peers, the sorceress and the twins would traverse the far reaches of the country in search for a solution. What they didn't expect was a fateful encounter with a solitary girl, non-human in origin, who would play a major role in Junos' life in the coming months.

Orennox is a wizard who has been around since the world was made. As technology progresses, magic tends to wane and Orennox adapts to the trends. Now called Oren Knox, he is mostly known as a gunfighter, a notoriously cheap gunfighter who will use magic to make one bullet do the work of many so he doesn't have to keep buying ammunition. His quest is to locate the last Earth Nodes, the last strongholds of magic, and harness their power with the goal of bringing back his trapped wife. In order to find these Earth Nodes, he must use the services of the female Diabolists (night witches) who can sense the magic from long distances. Only, Diabolists are extremely rare and there is a psychopathic killer out there who wants them all dead. After losing one Diabolist to fate, Oren must protect his new asset from those who would hunt her down and kill her so he can find enough magic to complete his quest. However, he is not the only wizard left looking for Diabolists, Diabolists have minds of their own, and, according to him, everyone Oren comes in contact with is a sidewinding, low down, scoundrel.

In the fog-drenched city of Aures, where flickering gas lamps cast long shadows and forbidden magic simmers beneath the cobblestones, private investigator Vittorio Esposito walks the line between the mundane and the arcane. He's used to tracking liars, ghosts, and things the Ecclesia Aeterni would rather the world forget-but when a brilliant scholar vanishes after uncovering secrets tied to the city's divine origins, the case drags Vittorio into a conspiracy that could shatter the foundations of faith itself.

Even as she opens the letter, Aurelia knows it is already too late. Still, she has no choice but to answer the summons, though she fears she already knows what she will find. High in a cold and crumbling castle, a bitter man discovers the secret substance of life. A hideous creature opens its eyes. A mechanical golem finds his heart. This pair of abominations of science know they were destined for each other, but they continue to live only at their maker's pleasure. Only Aurelia can save them from the fractured mind of her former friend. But first, she has to save herself. And far away, an ancient feud draws closer.

In the bowels of a city called Reidier, Mella makes a mistake. She loses her temper. To avoid the oncoming shit storm that results from that, she finds shelter- with the secret Incognita revolution. But their leader is missing, and tensions are high. Anything can happen. Meanwhile, far away on the east coast, the Archheir Astall attends another boring high society function. That turns out to be a bad idea. Before the night is over his parents are dead, and a coup d'état brews on the horizon. There is only one thing that might help him win back his innocence and his city- the sacred Mandate, a magical document which names the rightful heir- and that, conveniently, is locked inside a box no one has seen since his father became the Archduke of Yvette. No matter how much the six cities of Derwent wish themselves separate, they are tied together. Consequences stretch past city borders and walls. These two events were set into motion a long time ago- when a simple serving girl made a decision. Now, ancient forces are awakened, and change is coming. A Game of Thrones meets the Infernal Devices. (kind of)

Romance, action, adventure, Shades, and clockwork. When unexpected events proceed the Viscount's Ball, Annabelle Esperbane —daughter of a lord— finds herself thrown into the world her affluent childhood sheltered her from.

Arj's father broke Valacia's oldest law: never let the world know we exist. Valacia is an island of steam and gears, hidden in a medieval world of swords and stone. A secret worth killing for. For eight years, Arj has run from Drossmark-the black-iron enforcer who murdered his parents and won't stop until he's erased the last witness. Now he has nowhere left to hide. Tavian Duskbane was raised to inherit his father's crown, but conspiracy festers in Stormcrag's court. When their paths collide in blood and betrayal, they'll learn that some legacies are survived-and others kill you. Prologue + Chapters 1-2 available now. Full book launches January 7, 2026. Perfect for readers who love: Morally gray heroes making impossible choices (Joe Abercrombie, Mark Lawrence) • Steampunk secrets hidden in sword-and-sorcery worlds (Mistborn meets Fullmetal Alchemist) • Found family forged in fire • War hounds with kill counts and loyalty that breaks your heart 📖 FREE PREQUEL: "Drossmark: The Hunt" - experience the villain's perspective the night of the prologue: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/qu8odd6rsa

Short stories that are romantic or love-focused and are in Fantasy, Gaslamp, or Sci-fi Settings

Cavnal has been at peace for nearly a century. Magic, once revered, is now the object of contempt. And anyone unfortunate enough to be born with its powers has been banned from the nobility and pushed to the fringes of society. All his life, Prince Tarik has known that if the world discovered his secret--that he was born a mage--he would lose everything. But when a wave of violence in the city points back to an underground society of mages, everything changes. Only Tarik has the power to infiltrate their ranks. Only he can learn the truth about a plot that could destroy everything he loves. But nothing can prepare him for the life of lies he will have to live to win a place in that society. Or for Hayli, a shape-shifter mage who is unlike any girl he has ever met. She might be the one to destroy all his plans...or she may be the only one who can save him from himself. Together they face a dangerous web of sedition, crime and violent ambition, where nothing is as simple as either of them believed. And what they discover will challenge everything they thought they knew about loyalty and betrayal, love and honor. [Note: This is a complete novel available on Amazon.]

Two hundred years ago, the Monotopias overthrew the empire that had controlled them for centuries. Many more Monotopias have risen and fallen since, but the cities still stand, riddled with strife and rotten at the core.

Who is Elle Black? Elle Black, an unconventional psychic detective in an unconventional Victorian marriage, leaves her lovely lesbian wife to answer a desperate plea. Guests are vanishing in a mechanical hotel known as the Sundark, and Elle must use her 'anomalous perturbationist' gift–the ability to move objects with her mind–to save herself and the remaining hotel residents from malevolent, sidereal powers. But with apparitions appearing, magnetic lines disrupted, and clairvoyant guests lurking, who is the true murderer . . . or murderess? Add to your collection of female detective mysteries: A gaslamp fantasy in a steampunk, paranormal London, follow the telekinetic Elle Black, a twenty-two year old, happily remarried widow, as she solves mysteries in the same alternate world as the Dark Victorian series by Elizabeth Watasin. Where Secret Commission agents Artifice and Jim Dastard haven't time to tread, Elle Black will take up the lead and follow. Learn more about this thrilling, lesbian historical fiction series: Deep in London's Chiselhurst lies the Sundark, a magnificent, mechanical manor built in earlier times by a master illusionist and his occultist wife. Its guests have been known to stay, only to never be seen again. Now converted into a hotel, is this rumor some publicity lure or a cover for fleeing, non-paying residents? Elle Black, a housewife and telekinetic among London detectives and Secret Commission agents, is summoned to solve this mystery as more victims vanish, faster than before.

The Island is about a lady whose baby dies. She struggles to recover. She goes to an island to do scientific studies. She and her automaton assistant Nartis must winter over on the isolated island.

Doncia sees what no one else can: colours bleeding through walls, creatures flying over the city at night. Her father's final gift--a pocket-watch that can blink the visions away--might be the only thing keeping her sane. When the beautiful boy begins to appear and vanish, belief itself becomes dangerous. The demon's purpose is stirring--and the world will break if she can't face it first.

The celebrated detective, Mr. Roderic Llewellyn, has been inundated for far too long with interesting problems, sticky situations, and suspicious characters. It's...well, frankly, it's becoming a bit dull. And so, putting his massive intellect to work at solving the situation, he makes a decision. A decision that will impact him in ways even he cannot predict. He decides to take the day off.

Life during The Raj can be full of perils for an English girl, even one raised in India with a parasol in one hand and a rifle in the other. Bunny Spencer's father sends her to London, but the moment she reaches British shores, a nightmarish beast attacks from the shadows. Now stranded in an unfamiliar land with her companion, Anju, she fears for their lives - until she meets a dashing stranger in pilot goggles. Jim Penderry is a reporter. He's also a monster hunting enthusiast with a passion for fine dining and a good mystery - not necessarily in that order. When a werewolf appears in London, Jim is determined to catch it. Or at the very least, find out why the creature is stalking Miss Bunny Spencer. With the help of the journalists at Penderry's Bizarre magazine, he chases the menace from the foggy streets of London to the colourful bazaars of Bombay. But nothing prepares Jim and Bunny for the secret they're about to uncover. Or the danger afoot. Mystery, monsters and science collide in this rip-roaring tale of adventure, romance and smoked eel.

Elias and Kristen, two teens who have dreams of exploration are unexpectedly taken by pirates and are shoved into an adventure across the Cloud Sea. Aided by a mysterious book from centuries ago, the two will learn to adapt to these new surroundings and try to find their way around the situation.

This is the original version of The Inventor's Son, the first book chronicling the adventures of young Ethan Stanwood, the son of a brilliant and eccentric inventor and scientist who lives in a Victorian London that might have been. When his father abruptly departs London one Monday morning, it is up to Ethan and his trusty android sidekick Sam to unravel the clues his father left so that he might eventually reunite with him. But there are terrible villains that will stop at nothing to gain his father's greatest invention, and Ethan finds there are very few people he can trust around him either. Will he be able to find his father before calamity finds him?

A train conductor with the same old routine relies on his trusty pocket watch that he received from the railroad to get him through his days. When his watch breaks one of his fellow workers recommends he gets it fixed at a unique shop. When the conductor gets his watch fixed he relies that not only does his watch run like new but strange yet wonderful things are starting to happen around him. This is the first story in a three-part series called Gears of Time from the book, Of Gears and Gaslight: A Steampunk Adventure Novel which is available on Amazon. *The cover is the 2022 Shrimpy Award Winner for Best Cover on the author website Diabolic Shrimp.

After four centuries of absence, magic has returned. But people have forgotten about it. They have moved on, a new religion has destroyed old grimoires, and humankind now lives by coal, steel and science. In this age of machines, there is no place for old legends. But now magic is back, why not use it for profit? Scientists open laboratories to study this mysterious energy. Soon, everybody is talking about it, the loudest being those who understand little about its principles: politicians, entrepreneurs, religious leaders or fashion icons. Professor Imlay is one of the new researchers. Born an outcast in the crumbling old city of Gandarah, she spent her childhood evading the terrible Guardians and hiding the secret of her shamanic gift. She has cheated death more times than she cares to remember while scouring the mysterious Ruins for any relic to sell. Now a brilliant scientist, she wants only one thing: to work in peace, away from politics. But with elections looming, magic suddenly becomes the chief topic of the debate. In her lab, strange things start to happen: she has to rescue the soul of one of her colleagues, trapped in a railway timetable. Another scientist wants to build a banned machine whose blueprints are buried in Adrienne's childhood memories. This project attracts unhealthy interest. Soon, she is pursued by a charismatic politician, a magic enforcer, a sinister pack of werewolves and even an ancient god. But just like physics, magics have laws of their own. The first one is: everything has a price.