The Hammersmyth Tales: A Steampunk Short Story Collection by Keith W. Dickinson

A collection of tales to delight and amuse, introducing readers to the steampunk world of Hammersmyth and the many characters that live there. Meet Dexter the mechanical cat, Nomko the engineer, and Agnes Goodenough, everyone's favourite muscle for hire. And get to know Hammersmyth itself, a city at the forefront of the great steam revolution, and the setting for the two steampunk novels DEXTER & DETECTING AGENTS and THE DRAGONFLY DELIVERY COMPANY.

Petition by Delilah Waan

SPFBO9

A 2023 SELF-PUBLISHED FANTASY BLOG-OFF (SPFBO9) SEMI-FINALIST! In the Dominion of Aleznuaweite, anyone can rise to the greatest heights—if they are willing to pay the price. Failure is a luxury Rahelu can’t afford. Her family sold everything, left their ancestral home, and became destitute foreigners for the sake of her resonance skills. Now she can manipulate emotional echoes to discern truth from lies, conjure the past, and even foretell the future. But an act of petty revenge by her rival destroys her chance at joining one of the great Houses. Desperate to prove her family’s sacrifices were not in vain, Rahelu calls upon the most dangerous magic of all—altering fortune. A slight twist of fate is enough to restore her way forward…with deadly consequences she never bargained for. The Houses make a pawn of her in their bitter struggle for control of the Dominion. A shadowy cult grows ever closer to completing an ancient ritual. And Rahelu discovers that fulfilling her oath to her family might come at the cost of her mother’s life.

Mud Crab Kingdom: The Soft-Shelled Prince by Dr. Joel Anthony Hamilton

In a time ruled by fair-skinned kings and racial divides, the son of a fair-skinned king and mud-skinned peasant, Marcious Leojé, spends his days far beyond his father's kingdom in the muddy mangroves with his best friend, Etel Duetman. Here, they form an unusual kinship with the native crabs and build a mud kingdom. These two mud-skinned teenagers feel invincible within this playground-sized fortress. The discrimination within the kingdom cannot reach them and the mud walls provide a sense of security. However, they soon learn that their kingdom is nothing more than a mud wall, as it is unable to protect those they love. Cast into despair and the unknown world, they must learn to build a kingdom capable of protecting those they love. Along their journey they encounter people who show them the products of love, war, and despair. However, Marcious cannot envision his product, his own kingdom. Everywhere, being mud-skinned is worse than murder, and being "different" is worse than being mud-skinned. Will his vow to create a kingdom withstand the rising tides or will it wash away like that of his childhood?