Deep Mettle Volume I: Pipes and Fusils
Community Rating
Description
Forgetting the world, I dreamed machines . . .
The Inwold is broken. Years have passed since the Rath invaded Naemia, and the 'holy' Celestri closed their doors to the world. Only Vorth, the lonely outland of the desert, remains a nation.
But Rath are moving again. Desert forces have retreated to the fortress Antissa - seat of the Satrap and of high engineers - where, under constant threat of siege, the Chief Engineer holds order.
Now, as last Naemian survivors take refuge at the fortress, Florian Flint is divided from his people in exile. A boy as wilful and broken as the Inwold realm itself, and astute beyond his years, he is thrown upon the mercy of the Engineering Guild. But he brings something more than his will to survive . . .
. . . A strange piece of metal that may hold anewthreat.
Cover art byNatasa Ilincic
Additional images, inc. maps:https://photos.app.goo.gl/CdNo1rEjvR7RdVzD7
Pipes and Fusilsis the 1st volume of Deep Mettle, a 2-volume fantasy fiction. The story concludes in the 2nd volume,Tools of War.
AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON in hardcover, paperback & eBook formats.
Find out more athttps://www.voidstep.com/
Information
- Status
- Completed
- Year
- 2022
- Author
- Jay Campbell
Royal Road Stats
- Rating
- 4.3/ 5.0
- Followers
- 54
- Views
- 14,605
Chapters(27 total)
Reviews
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Community Reviews(1)
- Kit CraneRoyal Road★★★★★ 4.5I grew up reading fantasy, it's a genre that will always have a special place in my heart. That said, I'm very picky about what I read because I don't have a huge amount of time for it these days. If a book doesn't immediately grab my attention, I'll more than likely put it down and forget about it. That wasn't the case with Pipes & Fusils. I was hooked from the start.
Readers are immediately thrown into this new world, seen through the eyes of Florian Flint -- the young protagonist of the story. What I loved about this story is how much my knowledge of the world, the culture and society, and everything grew as Florian learned more about it. It really helped me relate to him, because while he's thrust into a new environment early on, so is the reader, and Antissa's society is one where you WANT to know the rules as soon as possible, to avoid the consequences otherwise.
There's a sense I get from a lot of fiction these days of...rushing. World building is hurried, we're meant to believe character chemistry despite the characters barely knowing one another, that sort of thing. That's not what you get with this book. The author took the time to really develop everything, but not in a way that it ever reads as info dumping or filler. It helped immensely to have me as a reader invested in the stakes and in the characters, because the author took the time to make me care about the characters and the setting they are in.
It's also very apparent that in terms of writing, this author is very skilled. Grammar and pacing? Dialogue and action? All of it was top notch.
While Pipes & Fusils is the first volume in the series, there is a sense of a conclusion at the end of it, rather than being left off in a giant cliff hanger. There's enough questions at the end that makes me need to get started on Tools of War as soon as possible, while at the same time I feel like I'm far more knowledgable about this exceptionally interesting world and its history and various peoples. Here you'l