The Reckless Skies (The Society for General Inquiry Book 1)

It is unknown if the ailing Prince Albert had been cured by the magical ministrations of the court wizard or the precise prescriptions of the court doctor, but his miraculous recovery 1861 brings about a rise in popularity of both disciplines in Queen Victoria’s England. Spiritualists and Scientists vie for newspaper space and royal patronage, as the former seek to make contact with the dead and study the mysterious force known as the ignotum, while the latter march along with the progressive thunder of a steam engine, filling the sky with airships and factory smoke.

In September of 1879, Dr. Clarence Duncan aims to take his airship, the Victorious Skies, across the ocean in the first successful transatlantic flight. Reporters, including the fashionably French Charlotte Beauchene, flock to London to write about the airship and her motley crew of ambitious aeronauts.

Young pilot Jonathan Farrow joins the project in the hopes of leaving behind the tragedies of his past. Drawn to the passion and genius of the eccentric Dr. Duncan, Farrow readies himself for the journey of a lifetime. However, days before the airship’s maiden voyage, he is confronted by a man from his past, a man he had hoped to never see again.

Will Farrow obey this dastardly man’s orders and betray his colleague? What secret is Clarence Duncan hiding? Is Charlotte Beauchene really French?
Find out the answers to these questions and more in THE RECKLESS SKIES, being the first novella of THE SOCIETY FOR GENERAL INQUIRY.