Steampunk Stories

From the Phantom of the Louvre collection
When a Hamlet-loving crime lord visits Copenhagen on business, a trip to Elsinore looks like a sure thing. For Jeptha Walker, it seems outrageous fortune intervenes. But then, this is not the 1890's we thought we knew. ~4,850 words.

Miracles to order was a fine way for the paratimers to get mining concessions--but Nature can sometimes pull counter-miracles. And so can men, for that matter....

From the Phantom of the Louvre collection
In the final months of the nineteenth century, Paris revels in being the City of Light. Yet it is hard, and often dirty, work to maintain its place as the pinnacle of civilization. Someone must deal with mysterious sightings, thieves falling from the sky and breaches in State security. Someone like M. Vautrin, confidential investigator... ~9,000 words. [Advisory: aeroships and orange cats play significant roles in this story]

Only two small groups of people-enemies-survive the vast desolation of the Final War.

From the Phantom of the Louvre collection
What is a routine study for his parents leaves a much deeper impression on a 12-year old. A lifetime of loss, disappointment and betrayal is balanced by recollections of a single act of bravery and sacrifice. ~ 4,100 words.

A short tale of relationships: faithful vs fractious, human and automaton, father vs son. A companion story to The Brothers Keeper. ~ 2,900 words.

From the Phantom of the Louvre collection
London, 1829. Two criminal enclaves battle for supremacy south of the Thames. Second in a steampunk collection from 2015 (notice: no real or virtual steam was applied in this particular story). ~5,200 words.

There came to our pigmy planet a radiant wanderer with a message--and a jest--from the vasty universe.