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Gaslights and Graves
Steampunk with a twist!
SIX paranormal steampunk adventures from today’s bestselling and award-winning authors. There’s something for every steampunk lover in the collection of mad science, twisted fairytales, myths, ghosts, vampires, shifters, magic, techno-fantasy with settings such as gothic romance, urban fantasy, Victorian, and so much more.
SIX paranormal steampunk adventures from today’s bestselling and award-winning authors. There’s something for every steampunk lover in the collection of mad science, twisted fairytales, myths, ghosts, vampires, shifters, magic, techno-fantasy with settings such as gothic romance, urban fantasy, Victorian, and so much more.
- GenresSteampunkAnthologies
935 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 8, 2018
33 people are currently reading
100 people want to read
About the author
Melanie Karsak
90 books1,705 followersNew York Times and USA Today best-selling historical fantasy author Melanie Karsak is the author of the Celtic Blood series, Steampunk Red Riding Hood, Steampunk Fairy Tales, the Road to Valhalla Series, and other works of fantasy and fiction. The author currently lives in Florida with her husband and two children.
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Join my newsletter and get Under the Strawberry Moon for FREE: https://bit.ly/37y35RS
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Webpage: http://www.melaniekarsak.com
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Instagram: @karsakmelanie
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 3, 2018
This is a box set of fantasy stories with a steampunk twist (individual reviews below). All of them were well-written and good reads (although some needed more editing as there were spelling/grammar errors in them), but I especially loved the first story, which is a retelling of Rapunzel by Melanie Karsak. I'd definitely recommend this boxset to all steampunk and fantasy lovers.
Individual story reviews:
Book 1 - Golden Braids and Dragon Blades, Melanie Karsak
This short story is the latest in the steampunk fairytale series by Melanie Karsak, and is her version of Rapunzel. I LOVED it, and really hope Melanie expands it into a full series of full-length books (as she's doing with her Red Riding Hood stories), as there's so much potential for these characters. I'm not going to give away ANYTHING about the story, as it's just awesome to read coming into it with no expectations (and no spoilers - my pet hate!!) but I will recommend it to anyone who loves fairytale and myth retellings, steampunk, a twist of romance, and of course a happy ever after. More please!!
Book 2 - Of Tinkers and Technomancers by Katherine McIntyre
A fab story that has characters with sass, a steampunk London adventure to keep them busy, and a twist of romance to give the HEA all good stories deserve.
Book 3 - Airship X by SJ Davis
For a short story this sure packs a lot of punch! With vampires, genetic manipulation and mutation, a potential apocalypse event, love, hate and that essential steampunk twist, it has everything you could want in a story and more. A great read, and I can't wait to see what the author does with the characters next.
Book 4 - City of Light and Steam by Lexi Ostrow
I really enjoyed this story, which was very absorbing. There's vampires (but they're people who are ill with a disease, not supernatural beings), LOADS of fabulous steampunk goodies, and some sex and romance too. I'd love to read more and find out what happens next!
Book 5 - Ensnared by Katie Hayoz
This short story about a man who has to find his brother after he's been kidnapped by sirens, and the fallout from that, was a great quick read. I liked the characters and the author's writing style, and I'd definitely be interested in reading more stories from the world that this this one is set in.
Book 6 - Love Like Clockwork by EB Black
This final book in the boxset is much more violent than the others, but also portrays an intriguing society and group of people. I enjoyed reading it, and would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy stories with lots of supernatural/paranormal characters involved.
Individual story reviews:
Book 1 - Golden Braids and Dragon Blades, Melanie Karsak
This short story is the latest in the steampunk fairytale series by Melanie Karsak, and is her version of Rapunzel. I LOVED it, and really hope Melanie expands it into a full series of full-length books (as she's doing with her Red Riding Hood stories), as there's so much potential for these characters. I'm not going to give away ANYTHING about the story, as it's just awesome to read coming into it with no expectations (and no spoilers - my pet hate!!) but I will recommend it to anyone who loves fairytale and myth retellings, steampunk, a twist of romance, and of course a happy ever after. More please!!
Book 2 - Of Tinkers and Technomancers by Katherine McIntyre
A fab story that has characters with sass, a steampunk London adventure to keep them busy, and a twist of romance to give the HEA all good stories deserve.
Book 3 - Airship X by SJ Davis
For a short story this sure packs a lot of punch! With vampires, genetic manipulation and mutation, a potential apocalypse event, love, hate and that essential steampunk twist, it has everything you could want in a story and more. A great read, and I can't wait to see what the author does with the characters next.
Book 4 - City of Light and Steam by Lexi Ostrow
I really enjoyed this story, which was very absorbing. There's vampires (but they're people who are ill with a disease, not supernatural beings), LOADS of fabulous steampunk goodies, and some sex and romance too. I'd love to read more and find out what happens next!
Book 5 - Ensnared by Katie Hayoz
This short story about a man who has to find his brother after he's been kidnapped by sirens, and the fallout from that, was a great quick read. I liked the characters and the author's writing style, and I'd definitely be interested in reading more stories from the world that this this one is set in.
Book 6 - Love Like Clockwork by EB Black
This final book in the boxset is much more violent than the others, but also portrays an intriguing society and group of people. I enjoyed reading it, and would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy stories with lots of supernatural/paranormal characters involved.
May 12, 2018
I haven't read the other stories yet, but I have read Lexi Ostrow's City of Light and Steam. And so, my review is of just that story. I'll read the others later on and review them as well.
City of Light and Steam is a paranormal dystopian story. It is romantic, filled with inventions, and sets up the reader into a dark world filled with disease and vampires. That's right, vampires.
Sometime before the events of the book, the world has been plagued with a disease carried by the wind currents. This disease somehow made people who breathed it in into vampires. The vampires are very similar to other vampires in vampire lore. They drink blood, get weakened without it, have some extra strength and speed, and are susceptible to the sunlight. They are also organized.
But, the vampires is only a piece of the narrative. The real story deals with the two leaders of the rivaling guilds: Steam and Electricity. Steam Guild leader, Raven, goes on a dangerous mission to make peace with her rival guild. There, she meets who she believes is Christopher, the Electricity Guild leader. That's right, she believes him to be Christopher. In actuality, he is Benjamin, Christopher's cousin and the unwilling next leader of the guild.
You can fairly well imagine what happens in a story that has a dangerous disease, infected monsters, a rivalry, and secret identity. What's more, this isn't the only book in the series, just the first.
All in all, I found the story easy to get into and a quick read. I did find myself loving Ben, but not so much Raven. I can see how Raven will start to grow on me, but for now, she's not up to Ben's standards.
This is a romance and the attraction between the characters is there.
This is a good beginning to a series and I will be looking forward to reading the sequel when it comes out.
Final rating: 3/5
City of Light and Steam is a paranormal dystopian story. It is romantic, filled with inventions, and sets up the reader into a dark world filled with disease and vampires. That's right, vampires.
Sometime before the events of the book, the world has been plagued with a disease carried by the wind currents. This disease somehow made people who breathed it in into vampires. The vampires are very similar to other vampires in vampire lore. They drink blood, get weakened without it, have some extra strength and speed, and are susceptible to the sunlight. They are also organized.
But, the vampires is only a piece of the narrative. The real story deals with the two leaders of the rivaling guilds: Steam and Electricity. Steam Guild leader, Raven, goes on a dangerous mission to make peace with her rival guild. There, she meets who she believes is Christopher, the Electricity Guild leader. That's right, she believes him to be Christopher. In actuality, he is Benjamin, Christopher's cousin and the unwilling next leader of the guild.
You can fairly well imagine what happens in a story that has a dangerous disease, infected monsters, a rivalry, and secret identity. What's more, this isn't the only book in the series, just the first.
All in all, I found the story easy to get into and a quick read. I did find myself loving Ben, but not so much Raven. I can see how Raven will start to grow on me, but for now, she's not up to Ben's standards.
This is a romance and the attraction between the characters is there.
This is a good beginning to a series and I will be looking forward to reading the sequel when it comes out.
Final rating: 3/5
June 23, 2018
Outstanding steampunk paranormal selection of stories to keep me happy. Received a free copy and reviewed because the stories were superb.
June 23, 2018
Overall 1.5 Stars. Pretty disappointed in this purchase. But, I learned a lesson... no more preordering books unless I'm familiar with all (or most) of the authors. I thought an anthology would give me a chance to try a bunch of new-to-me authors, but it back-fired on me. Here's the break down of the 6 stories in this book though~
GoldEN Braids and Dragon Blades = 3.5 Stars. My favorite story in the book. (Why did they make the "en" in Golden capital?) I'd read more from this author.
Of Tinkers and Technomancers = 3 stars. I liked the romance elements.
Airship X = 0 stars. Had to DNF because the writing didn't work for me.
City of Light and Steam = 0 stars. Another DNF. This one is written like a soap opera and I strongly dislike that style.
Ensnared = 2.5 stars. Not bad, but not for me. I don't feel I was the target audience for this one.
Love Like Clockwork = 0 stars. Yet another DNF. I just didn't like it.
GoldEN Braids and Dragon Blades = 3.5 Stars. My favorite story in the book. (Why did they make the "en" in Golden capital?) I'd read more from this author.
Of Tinkers and Technomancers = 3 stars. I liked the romance elements.
Airship X = 0 stars. Had to DNF because the writing didn't work for me.
City of Light and Steam = 0 stars. Another DNF. This one is written like a soap opera and I strongly dislike that style.
Ensnared = 2.5 stars. Not bad, but not for me. I don't feel I was the target audience for this one.
Love Like Clockwork = 0 stars. Yet another DNF. I just didn't like it.
August 11, 2018
Not why I expectd
I loved the first story. Honestly that author is the reason I bought it. Two other stories were good but a little too detailed with steamy scenes & I didn't even finish another story. It's disappointing when you get a collection of stories like this and there are very little similarities between them.
I loved the first story. Honestly that author is the reason I bought it. Two other stories were good but a little too detailed with steamy scenes & I didn't even finish another story. It's disappointing when you get a collection of stories like this and there are very little similarities between them.
May 22, 2018
A nice variety of steampunk. Some were a little more erotic than expected, not complaining - just caught off guard. Already picking up additional stories by some of the authors. Would recommend
August 17, 2018
Once again, loved Melanie Karsaks steampunk fairytale. The others were just okay. I mainly bought it for her story.
June 12, 2019
A mixed bag
This collection gets a mediocre overall rating. Two stories were excellent. One was so bad I couldn't finish it -- a rarity for someone who has made it all the way through that infamous abuse of inappropriate adjectives, "The Eye of Argon" by Jim Thies, at least three times.
First, we have a retelling of Rapunzel. This was an excellent read. At times, it seemed a trifle contrived, but that may just be the original story. At any rate, the blend of Grimm and Arthurian tales is a unique and fascinating experiment.
Next is another pretty good story, this one about a girl who can animate machinery. Imaginative, well told, and just the right pacing. It's a bit heavy on romance for my taste, but that's just personal preference.
Then we hit the rotten egg. I made a valiant effort to finish this one, but ultimately gave up. This vampire story could have been good. The concept of vampirism as a disease is pretty imaginative. Unfortunately, the action drags and the characters aren't people I could care about. Add in the plethora of typos that plague most e-books, and you get a story that is basically unreadable.
Interestingly, the next story uses the same premise of vampirism as illness. It is much better done here, however. The romance is believable, and I found myself pulling for the couple. My initial reaction after giving up on the previous effort was, "oh, no, more vamps." It worked out in the end as a pretty good read, but its placement after such a turkey is unfortunate.
The monster hunter story is okay. Not bad, but not really good, either. This story accomplishes an interesting feat -- the action both drags and rushes simultaneously. This one has the opposite problem from the heavy-handed romance -- the romance is foreshadowed, but never delivered. Still, I enjoyed reading this one.
Once again, I found myself groaning at the vampires in the last story. Again? Really? I suppose it would have been okay if the story had been better. Unfortunately, I found it a cliche done in a rather juvenile and amateurish manner.
So, as I said, a mixed bag of good and bad stories. Definitely worth a look, but don't expect too much.
-- Matt
This collection gets a mediocre overall rating. Two stories were excellent. One was so bad I couldn't finish it -- a rarity for someone who has made it all the way through that infamous abuse of inappropriate adjectives, "The Eye of Argon" by Jim Thies, at least three times.
First, we have a retelling of Rapunzel. This was an excellent read. At times, it seemed a trifle contrived, but that may just be the original story. At any rate, the blend of Grimm and Arthurian tales is a unique and fascinating experiment.
Next is another pretty good story, this one about a girl who can animate machinery. Imaginative, well told, and just the right pacing. It's a bit heavy on romance for my taste, but that's just personal preference.
Then we hit the rotten egg. I made a valiant effort to finish this one, but ultimately gave up. This vampire story could have been good. The concept of vampirism as a disease is pretty imaginative. Unfortunately, the action drags and the characters aren't people I could care about. Add in the plethora of typos that plague most e-books, and you get a story that is basically unreadable.
Interestingly, the next story uses the same premise of vampirism as illness. It is much better done here, however. The romance is believable, and I found myself pulling for the couple. My initial reaction after giving up on the previous effort was, "oh, no, more vamps." It worked out in the end as a pretty good read, but its placement after such a turkey is unfortunate.
The monster hunter story is okay. Not bad, but not really good, either. This story accomplishes an interesting feat -- the action both drags and rushes simultaneously. This one has the opposite problem from the heavy-handed romance -- the romance is foreshadowed, but never delivered. Still, I enjoyed reading this one.
Once again, I found myself groaning at the vampires in the last story. Again? Really? I suppose it would have been okay if the story had been better. Unfortunately, I found it a cliche done in a rather juvenile and amateurish manner.
So, as I said, a mixed bag of good and bad stories. Definitely worth a look, but don't expect too much.
-- Matt
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews