Age of Steam series

Dead Iron (Age of Steam -1)-2011-art by Cliff Neilsen — Dead Iron (Age of Steam #1)-2011-Cover Art by Cliff Nielsen

The Age of Steam series by Devon Monk, author of the Allie Beckstrom series and it's spin-off, Broken Magic.

Re-releae: Cold Copper — July 7, 2015 (same cover)

Genres and Sub-Genres[]

Steampunk, Urban Fantasy

Series Description or Overview[]

The series that begins in Oregon in the late 1800s. The story is filled with action, from murderous matics to bullying drunks to a witch-hating mob. The mythology of the Strange is lightly sketched, but if you just keep reading, you'll understand the concept. The story is told in the third person, and it moves from one person's perspective to another. In general, we see things from the standpoint of Cedar, Mae, Rose, Jeb and LeFel. After the climactic ending, the surviving characters head East for their next adventures. ~ Fang-tastic Fiction: Devon Monk's THE AGE OF STEAM SERIES

Lead's Species[]

Werewolf

Primary Supe[]

The Strange

What Sets it Apart[]

Speampuck Urban Fantasy
The Strange

Narrative Type and Narrators[]

Third person, multiple points of view—the there main characters: Cedar Hunt, Mae Lindson, Shard LeFel—plus a few others.

Books in Series[]

Age of Steam series:

Dead Iron (2011)
Tin Swift (2012)
Cold Copper (2013) — re-releae July 7, 2015

Shorts, Anthologies and Guides[]

"Hang Fire" (2013)

Other Series by Author onsite[]

World Building[]

Fang-tastic Fiction: Devon Monk's THE AGE OF STEAM SERIES

Setting[]

The first book is set in Oregon in the late 1800s. Later books will be set in different locations in the U.S. as the story follows the travels of the main characters.

Places:

Hallelujah: A small frontier town in Oregon.

The Supernatural Elements[]

Lycanthrope, The Strange', witches, Matics, talisman-artifact, monsters, evil spirits, faeries, Curses, magic, werewolves, zombies,

Glossary:[]

The Strange: creatures made up of evil spirits that hitched along from the Old World—the primary source of evil.
Matics: gizmos, or tickers—do much of the busywork; made of brass and other metals, and they are run by gears, usually powered by steam
The Holder: seven-piece device made of the seven ancient metals, each piece is an artifact used for good: healing, blessing, peace. Shard LeFel altered it to the dark: sickness, ruin, and chaos fall to any who find it. The holder with all its piece a weapon of great magnitude—a magical artifact that could destroy the world.

Groups & Organizations:[]

World[]

Daily life is much as you would expect it to be in the Old West...except that gadgetry is everywhere, with gizmos called matics, or tickers, doing much of the busywork. These matics are made of brass and other metals, and they are run by gears, usually powered by steam. The people who create the matics—almost always men—are called devisers.

The primary source of evil in this world is the Strange, which is made up of evil spirits who cause trouble in a multitude of ways. Here is one character's description of the Strange: "He had seen the Strange—the true Strange—creatures that hitched along from the Old World, tucked unknown in an immigrant's pocket, hidden away in a suitcase, or carried tightly in the darkest nightmare. He had seen what the Strange could do when set free in this new land." (Dead Iron, p-12)

The series story arc focuses on the retrieval of the Holder, which is described here by Alan Madder—just one of the numerous good and bad guys who are desperate to own it: "The Holder is a device of seven pieces, made of the seven ancient metals. Each piece is a talisman, an artifact, a device to be used for good: healing the sick, blessing crops, bringing peace unto a land. When this New World was discovered, the Holder was brought here as a gift by likeminded men who wanted peace and prosperity for settlers and natives alike. But Shard LeFel caught rumor of it. He sent his Strange to sniff it out...Then they worked their dark devising. The Holder is now a weapon of pain, plague, war. Each piece broken and remade Strangewise, so that nothing but sickness, ruin, and chaos fall to any who find it. And if someone is clever enough to put those seven pieces back together again, then they'll be clever enough to understand the Holder can also be a weapon of a magnitude that has never been seen in these lands." (Dead Iron, p. 333) ~ Fang-tastic Fiction: Devon Monk's THE AGE OF STEAM SERIES

Protagonists[]

✥ Cedar Hunt, a cursed man who’s determined to hunt for a missing boy

✥ Mae Lindson, a grieving widow out for revenge

Sidekick[]

Name: — What: — Sidekick-to: — About: — Book First Seen In:

Characters Chart[]

The Age of Steam Series ~ Shelfari
Fang-tastic Fiction: THE AGE OF STEAM SERIES

Characters	What	About
Cedar Hunt	werewolf	cursed by a Pawnee god to be a werewolf destined to hunt down and destroy the Strange; brother: Wil Hunt
Wil - Wiliam Hunt	werewolf	also a cursed werewolf, but with slightly different characteristics
Rose Small	orphaned young woman	from Hallelujah traveling with Cedar Hunt, his brother Wil and Mae Lindson. budding feminist who can identify the Strange and may have some deviser magic in her
Mae Lindson	witch	widowed in Dead Iron and who is especially skilled with curses and oaths; a love interest for Cedar
Madder brothers	Alun, Bryn, and Cadoc	eccentric devisers who hunt the Strange as they seek to find the Holder, a magical artifact that could destroy the world; fierce and wild and a little creepy;
Shard LeFel	altered, Villian	man at the center of all the unrest in the area
Mr. Shunt	LeFel's right-hand	powerful Strange who is ensconced in a matics body that appears to be human; freaky ability to stitch himself back together;
Alan Madder		desperate to get the Holder;
Jeb

To expand the table, in Edit–Visual mode, right-press on a Row of the table or Column (Control-press on a Mac)—choose add Row or Column.

Devon-Monk-author-pic-1-240x300 — Devon Monk

Author: Devon Monk[]

Website: Devon Monk:

Devon Monk spent her early childhood tucked behind couches or any other place with low light, "ruining her eyes" and reading. Her love of fairytales turned into a love of adventure, magic, future science, romance, mystery, humor, noir, and anything else she could get her hands on.

She wrote her first story when she was six. When her teacher praised its quality, Devon was surprised. She looked it over again and all she thought was, "I can do better than this."

And thus, a writer was born. ~ Devon Monk FF

Devon Monk has one husband, two sons, and a dog named Mojo. She lives in Oregon and is surrounded by colorful and numerous family members who mostly live within dinner-calling distance of each other. She has sold over fifty short stories to fantasy, science fiction, horror, humor, and young adult magazines and anthologies. Her stories have been published in five countries and included in a Year’s Best Fantasy collection. When not writing, Devon is either knitting, remodeling the house-that-was-once-a-barn, or hosting a family celebration. ~ Meet The Dames ~ Deadline Dames

Cover Artist[]

Artist: Cliff Nielsen

Publishing Information[]

Publisher: Roc Trade, New American Library
Author Page:
Bk-1: Trade Pb, 337 pages, ISBN 045146396X | MM-Pb: 349 pages, ISBN 0451464273
Bk-2: MM-Paperback, 384 pages, Pub: July 3rd 2012—ISBN: 0451464532
Bk-3: Paperback, 383 pages, Pub: July 2nd 2013—ISBN: 0451418603

Book Cover Blurbs[]

✤ BOOK ONE BLURB—Dead Iron: Welcome to a new America that is built on blood, sweat, and gears... 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. ~ Goodreads | Dead Iron — Excerpt: Dead Iron

✤ BOOK TWO BLURB—Tin Swift: In steam age America, men, monsters, machines and magic battle to claim the same scrap of earth and sky. In this chaos, one man fights to hold on to his humanity--and his honor. 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. ~ Goodreads | Tin Swift — Excerpt: Tin Swift

✤ BOOK THREE BLURB—Cold Copper: In steam age America, men, monsters, machines, and magic battle to claim the same scrap of earth and sky. In this madness, one man struggles to keep his humanity, his honor, and his hell-bent mission intact. Bounty hunter and lycanthrope Cedar Hunt vowed to track down all seven pieces of the Holder—a strange device capable of deadly destruction. And, accompanied by witch Mae Lindson and the capricious Madder brothers, he sets out to do just that. But the crew is forced to take refuge in the frontier town of Des Moines, Iowa, when a glacial storm stops them in their tracks. The town, under mayor Killian Vosbrough, is ruled with an iron fist—and plagued by the steely Strange, creatures that pour through the streets like the unshuttered wind. But Cedar soon learns that Vosbrough is mining cold copper for the cataclysmic generators he’s manufacturing deep beneath Des Moines, bringing the search for the Holder to a halt. Chipping through ice, snow, and bone-chilling bewitchment to expose a dangerous plot, Cedar must stop Vosbrough and his scheme to rule the land and sky. ~ Goodreads | Cold Copper — Excerpt: Cold Copper

First Sentences[]

Dead Iron (2011) — Cedar had stared straight into the killing eyes of rabid wolves, hungry bears, and charging bull elk, but Mrs. Horace Small had them all topped.
Tin Swift (2012) — Cedar Hunt stared down at his blood-covered hands.
Cold Copper (2013) — There were plenty of good ways to die.

Quotes[]

Goodreads | Devon Monk Quotes (Author of Magic to the Bone)

Trivia[]

Special Lists:

Awards[]

Read Alikes (suggestions)[]

— If you like these, you may like this:

Notes[]

External References[]

Books:

Age of Steam ~ Author
Age of Steam series by Devon Monk ~ Goodreads
Devon Monk ~ FF
Cedar Hunt / Age of Steam - Series Bibliography ~ ISFdb
The Age of Steam Series ~ Shelfari
The Age of Steam | Series | LibraryThing ~ LibraryThing
FictFact - Age of Steam series by Devon Monk ~ FictFact
Devon Monk - Summary Bibliography ~ ISFdb (author)