Welcome to the teaser chapter of my work in progress, The Eyelet Dove, currently in the final stages of revision.

The Eyelet Dove is a Dieselpunk fantasy novel about a people’s revolution. Avalice’s impoverished middle class grows restless with the indulgences and warmongering of their King and nobles in their flying fortresses and chateaus in the sky.

Etienne, an engineer and former union leader drives the citizens of Avalice into a people’s revolution. He allies himself with the Paddlewheel Queen, a woman with grudge and a lot of money to spend on it. Above the city, on the flying aircraft carrier Omnipotent, hangar deck crew member, Claire sets her sight on the skies. She’s determined to become Avalice’s first woman fighter pilot. When Michel, ace pilot and the Admiral’s errant bastard son, grants Claire’s wish, Claire knows he’ll exact payment from her one day.

In the meantime, as rebellion stirs, rumours of a sabateur known as The Eyelet Dove reach the Admiral. The Eyelet Dove is to cripple the king’s forces when the rebels attack, and the Admiral must find and arrest this man before Etienne and his rebels are ready.