Steamborn

How it reads

Steamborn is fantasy (steampunk fantasy, specifically), and its dominant mood is adventurous. It's driven by momentum, discovery and getting into trouble. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in an invented world, in no single period, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are friendship, coming of age and power and politics. In weight it's light and escapist — easy to fall into.

It opens a series. It ends on a cliffhanger, so have the next book ready. At 294 pages it's a quick read. It's a hidden gem — known to relatively few readers.