“It is our corner of the sky, men!” Captain Hink said. “Let’s give ‘em hell!”
“Aye, that, Captain!” Mr. Guffin shouted from the starboard door of the Swift.
“Mr. Ansel, ready the wings,” Captain Hink said. “We’re about to make Mr. Mullins regret jumping our claim.”
“Aye, Captain,” Mr. Ansel answered in deep baritone.
Captain Hink knew he didn’t have to tell Mr. Seldom what to do. His second seemed to be one step ahead of Captain Hink on most things, and wasn’t one to spare a word for anything but the most pertinent information.
They were climbing, running due north toward their stake in the glim fields high above the clouds. If they kept this heading, they’d hit glim in just a few minutes. Les Mullins’s big brawler of a ship, the Iron Draught, had changed headings so that she too was running northward. Toward the glim. Hink’s glim.
The Swift was fast, but the Iron Draught had the guns to blow the smaller airship’s tin bones to dust.
It took a crazy-headed man to run down a ship that outgunned him, and out-powered him three to one.
Captain Hink just so happened to be that kind of crazy-headed.
“Ready the canon, Mr. Guffin.”
“Ready, Captain.”
Captain Hink adjusted his breathing gear up to buttoned over the lower edge of his goggles. “Brace for it, men!” He hit the bell wire, two long rings, one short. Code for glim.
He knew Molly Gregor would bail in the last drop of glim they still had.
Glim. Wasn’t a rarer thing in the world. It made fire burn hotter, crops grow stronger, and was said to extend a man’s life well beyond his God-given years.
And it most certainly did its part to keep airships in the sky.
Behind him, he heard his crew latching harnesses to side beams, and buckling breathing gear tight.
Ahead of him, he saw the Iron Draught, a wood, leather, and canvas open-hulled airship with a big balloon of an envelope, crewed by a dozen men and women. Men and women set on stealing his glim stake.
The Swift seemed to pause, wings snapping out to steady her for the drive they were about to take. Captain Hink could feel the shudder of glim vibrate through her bones like an exhalation of pleasure.
And then they bulleted forward, straight at the Iron Draught at ramming speed.
Captain Hink aimed at the bigger ship’s envelope.
Gun fire blasted smoke and fire from the ship’s hull, aiming to tear the little Swift to bits. But the Swift was made of tin, light, fast, and armored. She could take a hit or two.
And she did.
“Hold,” Captain Hink said, though his men couldn’t hear him over the sound of her tin bones singing. Just a little closer. Just a little more sky to go.
Captain Hink ripped off his breathing gear. “Now!”
...read chapter 14 at: Literal Addiction www.literaladdiction.com
Chapter 1. June 19 ~ Candace's Book Blog
Chapter 2. June 20 ~ Fiction Vixen
Chapter 3. June 21 ~ Tote Bags 'n' Blogs
Chapter 4. June 22 ~ The Qwillery
Chapter 5. June 25 ~ A Book Obsession
Chapter 6. June 26 ~ Fantasy Literature
Chapter 7. June 27 ~ I Smell Sheep
Chapter 8. June 28 ~ All Things Urban Fantasy
Chapter 9. June 29 ~ Rabid Reads
Chapter 10. July 2 ~ Rachel Vincent
Chapter 11. July 3 ~ The Deadline Dames
Chapter 12. July 4 ~ My Bookish Ways
Chapter 13. July 5 ~ Magical Urban Fantasy Reads
Chapter 14. July 6 ~ Literal Addiction
Chapter 15. July 8 ~ Larissa's Bookish Life
Chapter 16. July 9 ~ My Life In Not So Many Words...
Chapter 17. July 10 ~ Dark Faerie Tales
Chapter 18. July 11 ~ That's What I'm Talking About
Chapter 19. July 12 ~ Bookshelf Bombshells
Chapter 20. July 13 ~ The Bibliophic Book Blog
Dead Iron
The Age of Steam #1
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
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…
Blog ★ Twitter ★ Facebook
Devon Monk Q&A
Phobia? Centipedes
Twitter or Facebook? Both
Most visited website? In the last month - Ravelry
Kindle or Nook? Undecided
Cats or dogs? Like both. Have a dog.
Favorites:
Movie? Can't choose! Love too many!
Book? Impossible to narrow the list. All! I love all the books!!
Superhero? Yes, please.
Season? Autumn
Youtube video? Music. Love discovering new bands/songs.
All time fave TV show? All time favorite right now: Sherlock (BBC)
Which would you be willing to kiss; scares you the most; and willing to ally with in an apocalypse? Between alien, vampire, werewolf, zombie and Faery.
- Alien - Scares
- Vampire
- Werewolf - Apocalypse buddy
- Zombie
- Faery - Smoochin'
1. copy of Tin Swift
2. Tin Swift magnet
3. Handmade (by me) signed steampunk airship bookmark
Open US shipping ONLY! Giveaway ends July 14, 2012 at 11:59pm EST.
I'm really enjoying Hang Fire. Can't wait for the next chapter.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on Devon's newest book. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm very happy to continue collecting these little shorts. Are you going to do this for the next book too? Hint hint!
ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt.
ReplyDeletebn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
I'm looking forward to reading this series.
ReplyDeletejjlm97302(at)msn(dot)com
GREAT post and excerpt from Hang Fire! Looking forward to reading the other excerpts as well as the entire series from Devon.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your giveaway Bookluvr!!! :-)
Joe P.
joep@heritageccu.com
I'm loving this story and I can't wait to read Tin Swift!
ReplyDeleteBarbed1951 at aol dot com
Looking forward to reading the new book. I still have a couple Allie Beckstrom books to catch up on, first, though ;)
ReplyDeletelonejedi70(at)gmail(dot)com
That's such a cool idea.. with short chapters at every blog that you visit. No, I take that back, it's an awesome idea.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the giveaway!!! :D
I love the Allie Beckstrom series and am really looking forward to giving this one a try. Thank you for sharing and for the wonderful giveaway opportunity.
ReplyDeletedz59001[at]gmail[dot]com
Sounds great. Looking forward to reading it.
ReplyDeletebacchus76 at myself dot com
can't wait for the rest of Hang Iron, so then I can go a read Tin Swift. Loved Dead Iron, and Devon's other books.
ReplyDeleteThanks for some great writing!
Al
acs.GraphicDesign(at)gmail.com
I am loving Hang Fire, and really loved Dead Iron, looking forward to Tin Swift.
ReplyDeleteLoving the story so far. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteGreat story so far such an awesome idea for a tour. Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteGreat story so far such an awesome idea for a tour. Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThe story has been great so far! Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeletethrouthehaze at gmail dot com
Hang Fire has been such a great story so far and it keeps getting more exciting.
ReplyDeletefelanskyz@hotmail.com
BBC's "Sherlock" is an excellent, albeit short, series!
ReplyDeletecgnemesis [at] yahoo [dot] com
I'm enjoying the story. Thanks for the giveaway.
ReplyDeletemarlenebreakfield(at)yahoo(dot)com
great post loving the story:-) and Raverly is AWESOME!!!!!! well if your a knitter I guess its awesome
ReplyDeletevbarton24 at gmail dot com
thanks for the fab giveaway! i can't wait to read this! :)
ReplyDeletejennzahling@gmail.com
Is it just me or does captain Hink remind you of Malcolm Reynolds?
ReplyDeleteAkeldamach (at) gmail (dot) com