Welcome to A World of Æther and Rust
Marcel lost his lover and his leg fighting for æther-oil, the magical substance that fuels everything in his war-torn world. In peacetime he’s been working as a detective, desperate to be the hero of days past—until a beastwoman Engineer comes into his office with proof that the crimes Marcel thinks he’s solving are fictions, and that the people he’s arrested have been disappearing without a trace.
Her name is Sylvaine and she’s the first Ferral to ever wield the æthers of technology, a power gained by Faustian pact with one Lazarus Roache. Marcel knows Lazarus, he’s a famous æther-oil tycoon, fellow war hero, and personal friend, but if this engineer is telling the truth, then Lazarus is the man behind the kidnappings, using slave labor, grisly experiments, and political assassinations to advance a plan of domination with Marcel as just another pawn.
The first novel of The Slickdust trilogy, The Sightless City out now. It won a First Place Award in the 2019 OMZA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction. You can find more at Tinyfoxpress.com
“With one foot in the seemingly magical and the other in SF, The Sightless City hits that same sweet spot that Tamsyn Muir mines so successfully in Gideon the Ninth. Lemelson revives and updates the gestures of science fantasy to make it a truly 21st century form. Funny, dark, irreverent, and endlessly entertaining, The Sightless City is a rustpunk wonder and a first-rate debut.”
- Brian Evenson (Author of Last Days and A Collapse of Horses)
“Stellar worldbuilding and quick pacing. This is sure to entertain any fan of gritty speculative fiction.”
– Publishers Weekly
”A gripping mystery with an exceptionally fleshed-out world.” - Kirkus Reviews
- Brian Evenson (Author of Last Days and A Collapse of Horses)
“Stellar worldbuilding and quick pacing. This is sure to entertain any fan of gritty speculative fiction.”
– Publishers Weekly
”A gripping mystery with an exceptionally fleshed-out world.” - Kirkus Reviews