Ethinium's Vault: Steam & Aether, Book 1

Steam and Aether #1

by Jaxon Reed

He came from another world....

Sergeant Ripley Coulter leads the army's E-Squad, defending the metaverse from online attacks in NeuralNet, a completely immersive reality.

When enemy fighters take him out in a massive explosion, he wakes up in a strange new world powered by steam and primitive electronics. Fortunately, his game implant is still operable....

In this world, London is Ethinium. The UK is Greater Umbria. And the empires of Europe reign supreme atop ancient steam vaults filled with dark secrets.

Coulter joins the Royal Venture Society and aligns with the king’s forces fighting Darhaven, a mysterious source of corruption deep inside the vaults....

Don’t miss this thrilling steampunk gamelit adventure! Veteran science fiction and military fantasy author, two-time Kindle Scout winner Jaxon Reed presents an exciting all-new series set in a fantastic gaslamp universe! Featuring fistfights, machine guns, gang warfare, dungeon crawls, and sci-fi adventure, Steam & Aether garnered tens of thousands of reads on Royal Road and was a 2022 Writathon winner!

Genres: Steampunk, Fantasy

Audible Audio

Published November 6, 2022

About the author

Jaxon Reed is a speculative fiction author and two-time winner of Amazon's Kindle Scout program.

Jaxon is an Aggie, living in Texas on a ranch with his wife and boys, several cats, and one pound dog.

Sign up for new release alerts, sales and freebies at https://jaxonreed.substack.com

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Initially I really didn't like this book but i figured out it was the person ding the reading i wasn't liking. Switched to a e-book and it became and OK read. Nothing great but a fun read. Recommended

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book WOW what’s to come?
I love a good steam punk story and this fit the bill so well. What I really liked was how it incorporated themes. I adore fantasy and this one had it and it also had the feel that it could be a game. I had my son read some parts and he could really see this as a game. I found the characters were awesome with great dialogue and interaction between them. There is action, adventure and a bit of danger too. It is written so well it was entertaining book from start to finish. I did receive a free copy of this book from Booksprout and voluntarily chose to review it.

[Christinaraven · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was a riot to read. It mixes steam punk with a bit of gaming and a dash of fantasy as poor Rip ends up in an alternate place and has to figure out what is going on and how to survive it all. The story was intriguing and fun to read. Lots of good characters and a mystery to be solved involving vaults. Lots of action and funny references to make me laugh. Started out with lots of action and danger and kept up the fun throughout. Enjoyed it and cannot wait to see where the story goes.

[Michael Wooten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steam punk with a twist

The premise is solid for science fiction. By combining with a bit of gamer and alternate Earth, it makes for a well crafted read. My only complaint is the levels of "enhancement" giving almost super human qualities

[Nick Pugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

This book would be an amazing movie. The visuals and the characters would be amazing on the big screen. I really enjoyed reading it.

[Glenda]

Oh my goodness!!

This is an incredible book! Borderline steam punk/futuristic! If you want adventure, excitement, fights and amazing things, then this is for you!

[stephanie huntington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining and engaging, looking forward to reading more in this series

[Debbie Eyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steampunk meets fantasy gaming! This was incredible. A fantasy storyline with gaming and steampunk mixed in as we meet Rip who is torn out of his immersive gaming world to a place that is powered by steam and is so not at all what he is used to. It’s fast paced and full of action, intrigue, danger and plenty of mystery to be solved. It’s also fun and exciting and totally holds your attention from start to finish. The world building is descriptive and incredible and you can easily visualise yourself in this world as we follow this fantastic character on his adventures. A great read and I look forward to more.

[Gene Steinbacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is for the entire series.

It was a fun read. A very interesting way to combine steam punk with litrpg. I am usually not a fan of litrpg but this series did a good job of incorporating it without messing up the flow of the story. The entire series is full of action and adventure. I will definitely be reading more from Jaxon Reed.

[Karen Collyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am enthralled

All through reading, I intended to remove one star for errors in spelling, word usage and formatting.

I can't do it. Yes, there are occasions that will make grammatical peasants grind their teeth. There are also some intriguing and well rounded characters and a storyline that romps ahead, dragging the reader in its wake.

I was hooked before Dr Oggolopoli snatched Rio Counter out of one world and into another.
I shall definitely be looking for book 2.

Now.

[Sandra Tonkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic start to the series.

The characters are wonderful. The plot is interesting. The world building is superb. I can't wait to read the next book!

[Rick Gellman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fun! I downloaded the free sample. I like steampunk. It looked potentially interesting. I started reading the sample--and I didn't like it. It starts off in a virtually reality game. I have nothing against that. It wasn't what I was looking for. I had no complaint with Jaxon Reed's ability as a author. So I almost quit part way into the sample. But, I decided to hang on a little longer. Good decision! A little after I might have given up, our protagonist finds himself in an alternate timeline that has steampunk technology. He starts in the U.S. but lands in an analog London (Ethinium), England (Greater Umbria). Then the story took off for me. I liked the characters,, the setting, the writing, the plotting, the fast pacing, etc. It has science fictional and fantasy elements. There's a romance undercurrent. Some of what goes on I find unbelievable. I don't care. I'm willing to consciously suspend my disbelief for the sake of enjoying reading the book. Reed has a take on a steampunk world I haven't seen before. The energy to run this society in analog England comes from underground vaults. There is a society living underground that supplies the heat the above ground society runs one. People out of work can go work in the vaults, the underground. This is voluntary. There are many levels, the number unknown above ground. There are a permanent population who has no contact with above ground. Some of them, perhaps in league with hostile above ground opponents are starting to attack above ground society. Sgt. Ripley Coulter, the visitor from our world, immediately finds himself allied with the kingdom's forces. His military background and training make him an asset. This world has both steam driven airships and machine guns. It's not all 19th century technology. Lots of adventure. Lots of learning about his new society. Lots of learning to fit in. Lots of military action. All small scale and personal. The book does not end with a cliff-hanger. It does end with a blatant continued in the next book. I'm eagerly waiting for Jaxon Reed to publish the second volume of what looks like a series to me. I want to continue reading this story. His name didn't ring a bell with me. But, in looking through m Kindle Fire Library I discovered I already had another series by him that I hadn't read. I started reading the first volume of that on another of my Kindle Fires. Totally different story. Pure adventure SF. I also just purchased another series by him because I enjoyed his story telling so much in this book that I wanted to read more that he's written. He has written a lot. A no caveat recommendation if any of what I described sounds like the kind of book you'd be interested in reading.

[Richard Kendrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steampunk and LitRPG? Yes, please. Only...

The steampunk elements of this story didn't feel terribly authentic to me. The setting just didn't ring true. The LitRPG elements seemed kind of pointless, as leveling up didn't seem to make any noticeable difference.

The enhancement idea was interesting, but seemed over powered. People shrugging off 100 rounds of machine gun fire strains my suspension of disbelief and saps action scenes of a sense of danger.

The politics of the steam vaults is confusing, and seems to have several plot holes. The biggest being, if the residents of the vaults wanted to sow chaos, why didn't they just cut off power to the city? Follow up thought: if the vaults are so critical to the city and their residents hostile, why doesn't the city launch a military strike to capture it?

I don't expect LitRPG adventures to be high art, but my enjoyment was further diminished by the repetitive nature of the plot action and a very distracting audiobook narrator. The narrator paused awkwardly, hesitated often, and mispronounced many common words. My opinion of the book might be slightly more favorable if I had read it to myself.

The book ends at a break in the action, but definitely not with much of a resolution. I'm sure more books are intended in this story, but I'll give them a pass.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off let me disclose that I am not a fan of steampunk. I don't have anything against it, I just don't read much of it. Honestly, I'm not sure this book would be considered steampunk, but that is what it seems to be to me. There are many twists throughout that make it appealing to fans of Reed's prior work. The book starts with a soldier in a virtual battle getting sucked into an alternate universe that is way behind ours, technology wise. Our hero quickly saves a band of trapped fighters in this new world. They take him in, and adventures abound. One interesting twist is our hero has an implant which keeps track of his various skills as if he is still in a virtual (game?) world.
Oddly others in this world are familiar with different skills and how to level up even though presumably they don't have implants?!? There are a few other fun bits like the interspatial wallet, that allows the holder to essentially have unlimited storage space for any gear they might need. Seems like a bit of cheat, but I'm willing to suspend disbelief. The story is entertaining and well-paced. It's not my favorite book by this author, but I am ready for the next in the series and would encourage everyone to give a read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Douglas Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our hero is a soldier protecting the multiverse, but he never expected to end up in a steampunk world. Fortunately, he is very adaptable, something that will be put to the test almost immediately.

This is book one of the series, so a fine place to start.

This is a science fiction action story with a steampunk setting. The story is well written and easy to read with a fast paced action plot that starts fast and builds. Steampunk settings are always fun to explore with little surprises around every corner and this one is no exception. The characters are also very well done, particularly our hero. The journey has lots of twists and turns to it that kept me turning pages to see what was coming next. Overall, a highly enjoyable story and I look forward to the next book in the series.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout for review purposes.

[MGB · Rating 3 out of 5]

All you gamers out there, here's your story. A world where real battles are fought in the virtual world. Only it's a virtual world with real consequences. You could die!

But with the simple twist of 1,581 punchcards you can travel to an adjacent universe and bring your skills with you. You will however need real skills. They can be augmented, but if you don't have something to start with you will be just as dead.

[R Grisham-Whitehouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

overall interesting

I find the premise of this book very unrealistic. While I imagine there will be cyberwars, I find videogaming military highly unlikely. The main world itself seems to be a video game, but that makes little sense. It was very long and drawn out. However it was well written and the characters created were enjoyable.

[Anne]

I can't believe all the good reviews. Only 30% through and I don't know if I can bring myself to finish it. It's really, really bad.

At this point I am just giving up. The narrator sounded great in the preview. Terrible as the book progressed. The female lead sounds like a very old lady (she's not). So there goes my $5. Do Not Recommend.

[albert olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

New world read for me

Good story, moved along at good pace. Statics reading a little annoying to those of us that are not "gamers". But that can be avoided, make a good read.

[CJ Redding · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author was clearly inspired by the Isakai genre. I've read my fair share in Japanese and Korean media, but despite the genre's potential I've always found every iteration of it a bit lacking. A Western take on it's tropes could be refreshing, but if someone gets this genre to work for me it isn't this book.

So, I like Isakai in theory, I love Steampunk, attractive man on the cover, where could you go wrong? Well, our main protagonist is Ripley, who more commonly goes by his nickname Rip - which was given to him in his world because he was so, well, ripped. Maybe this wouldn't have been so cringe if Rip's interactions with every women in this book weren't so: Clueless-gentleman-turns-every-female-character-into-love-sick-fool-due-to-abs (the vampires were an insult to modern literature - they couldn't have been more cartoonishly seductive).

How Rip gets into the other world is acceptable given that there's a certain amount of suspension of disbelief one must have for any fantasy. Once there however, our all too accepting protag meets an all too accepting group of friends who hold valued positions in the Adventure's Guild (another trope I'm not particularly fond of). Rip learns a little about this new world from them, is easily accepted by the governing body, and learns all the rest he needs to know by reading books in his host's library.

That's it - that's all Rip has to do to navigate this new world. To me, one of the most interesting aspects of the Isakai genre - of going to another world - is the challenge of adapting to a whole new reality. But for some reason, this is where Isakai's often fail. This is why I've yet to read one that actually does it for me. Everything's too easy. There's no satisfying conflict. There's no language to learn, struggle with customs, non-hilarious misunderstandings, or incapability to fit in. It's always the same tired tropes.

His host, of course, is the main love interest, and her classification is "spy" - although I can't think of a single spy-like thing she does in this book. Naturally, Rip gets multiple classes - which is unique. That's to be expected, but I didn't really understand the power system well enough for me to be excited that Rip was overpowered.

The plot was serviceable, although I had questions there too - some which likely have answers in future books. I don't know if I enjoyed this one enough to read more though. The writing and characters were a bit too juvenile for my tastes. It wasn't an awful book, but I feel like it really squandered it's potential with flat characters, even shallower 'villians,' and overly simplistic writing.