Today, I’m excited to share another #FearlessWomen title. It’s an excerpt from By Fire Above by Robyn Bennis, which releases today. I’ve read the first book in the series, The Guns Above, and am looking forward to reading this one as well. Quite a fun series!
About FearlessWomen
(from Tor Books)
Women are shining in every genre of speculative fiction, and it is no longer enough to say “Women are here.” Instead, #FearlessWomen everywhere are taking a stand to say “Women will thrive here.”
Highlighting major titles from bestselling authors V.E. Schwab, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jacqueline Carey as well as titles from acclaimed and debut authors such as Mary Robinette Kowal, Tessa Gratton, Sam Hawke, and Robyn Bennis, #FearlessWomen will be a coordinated social media celebration encouraging fans to start a dialogue about women in publishing, their worlds, their voices, and their unique stories.
Tor Books’ handles across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@torbooks) will be using the hashtags #FearlessWomen (and #FearlessFantasy and #FearlessSF) to promote excerpts, exclusive content, quizzes and giveaways beginning in May. There will also be exclusive giveaways at BookCon, San Diego Comic-Con, and New York Comic Con. Follow Tor Books online, join the conversation – and get reading!
About the Book
By Fire Above is the rip-roaring new adventure in Robyn Bennis’s Signal Airship military fantasy series that Patricia Briggs hails as “full of sass and terrific characters.”
“All’s fair in love and war,” according to airship captain Josette Dupre, until her hometown of Durum becomes occupied by the enemy and her mother a prisoner of war. Then it becomes, “Nothing’s fair except bombing those Vins to high hell.”
Before she can rescue her town, however, Josette must maneuver her way through the nest of overstuffed vipers that make up Garnia’s military and royal leaders in order to drum up support. The foppish and mostly tolerated Mistral crew member Lord Bernat steps in to advise her, along with his very attractive older brother.
Between noble scheming, under-trained recruits, and supply shortages, Josette and the crew of the Mistral figure out a way to return to Durum—only to discover that when the homefront turns into the frontlines, things are more dangerous than they seem.
Exclusive Excerpt:
Clouds stretched far below them, running away to the north like a snow-covered mountain range. The storm was lit from above by the moon and stars, and intermittently from within by flashes of lightning. Bernat’s breath fogged the icy but untroubled air. Soft, calming moonlight illuminated the deck. Mistral’s superstructure did not bend. The envelope was still, the girders unperturbed.
And everything was perfectly quiet. Even the steamjack had stopped.
“We’ve gone up two miles in ten minutes,” Josette said, still whispering. “We’re so high, we had to vent a quarter of the gas so the bags wouldn’t burst in the low pressure.”
The serenity he’d been cultivating for the past few seconds evaporated. “Isn’t that quite a long way up? How will we get back down again, after losing all that gas?”
“Less gas makes it quite a bit easier to get down, actually.”
“I mean, without crashing.”
She shrugged. “We have ten thousand feet to think of something.”
“Oh God,” he said, closing his eyes again.
“Not so loud. We’re so high he might hear.”
About the Robyn Bennis
Robyn Bennis has done research and development involving human gene expression, neural connectomics, cancer diagnostics, rapid flu testing, gene synthesis, genome sequencing, and systems integration.
She wrote most of The Guns Above within sight of Hangar One at Moffett Airfield, which was once the West Coast home to one of America’s largest airships, the USS Macon.
She currently resides in Madison, WI, where she has one cat, two careers, and an apartment full of dreams.
You can find her online at according2robyn.blogspot.com or on Twitter at @According2Robyn.
Check out more #FearlessWomen content, reviews and excerpts at these blogs:
- This is a Metaphor
- Dark Faerie Tales
- Cherry Blossoms & Maple Syrup
- SciFiChick
- Books, Bones, & Buffy
- The Bibliosanctum
- Itching for Books
- Across the Words
- Fantasy Literature