The Brass-Knob Universe: A Clockwork Heart

1899. Victorian London. But the skies shimmer with nebulae, not gaslight. Airships powered by steam and clockwork sail the celestial seas, and Queen Victoria reigns over a star-spanning empire. This is the Brass-Knob Universe, where corsets and cogs coexist, and adventure awaits.

Captain Mirabel Fosse, haunted by a past tragedy, helms the *Fairweather*, flagship of the Interstellar Fairweather Society. Her mission: to reach the mythical Clockwork World, a celestial machine whispered to hold the key to perpetual energy. This is her chance at redemption, her opportunity to prove the power of analog ingenuity. Guiding her is an ancient alien map, salvaged from the very shipwreck that shattered her life.

Her crew is a motley collection of eccentrics. Elias Thorne, a brilliant cartographer, communicates solely through the clicks and whirs of a punch card system. Lady Beatrice Ashworth, a disgraced noblewoman, finds solace amidst the engine room’s gears. And perched upon Mirabel’s shoulder, Cogsworth, a clockwork parrot, offers whimsical pronouncements and surprising insights.

But a darker force stalks the stardust. The *Iron Leviathan*, a monstrous dreadnought commanded by the ruthless industrialist Commodore Alistair Pike, covets the Clockwork World's power for his own dominion.

The *Fairweather*’s journey becomes a desperate race across the celestial canvas, a thrilling pursuit through storms of molten metal and asteroid fields haunted by the ghosts of forgotten civilizations. Each challenge reveals not only their ingenuity but the vulnerabilities hidden beneath their carefully constructed facades. Beatrice’s icy exterior thaws, Elias finds his voice, and Cogsworth's pronouncements reveal a surprising depth.

The closer they get to the Clockwork World, the more Mirabel realizes it's not simply a source of power, but a sentient entity, a celestial being whose delicate balance could be easily disrupted. Her desire for redemption clashes with the chilling possibility of repeating her past mistakes on a cosmic scale.

In a symphony of steam and steel, brass and iron, the *Fairweather* and the *Iron Leviathan* clash amidst the Clockwork World’s intricate mechanisms. Mirabel must choose: unleash the World's power and risk catastrophe, or find a path that honors the delicate balance of the universe. The fate of the Brass-Knob Universe hangs in the balance.

© 2025 PublishDrive (Ebook): 6610000702282

Release date

Ebook: 10 January 2025