~ finding the right voice ~
When a priceless invention is stolen half a world away, four unlikely adventurers are caught up in an international intrigue that could cost them their lives. Only Pauline Spiegel, a gifted young engineer and artificer, possesses the knowledge to maximize the weapon's potential. With the help of the man she loves, the soldier she is supposed to marry, and her best friend, she must see its schematics to safety. Their only obstacle: a gauntlet of asylum inmates long on "modifications" and short on conscience, who will stop at nothing to deliver both Pauline and the plans to Kaiser Bill. At Pauline's side fight a ragtag group of semi-mechanical veterans, and an army of jewel-encrusted micro-mechs who have swarmed London to retrieve the device with the power to control the world. Immerse yourself in this Steampunk retelling of a Shakespearean classic, replete with the newfound wizardry of alternative Victorian technology, mistaken identities, love triangles, and deadly peril, set against the backdrop of a world bracing itself for war, and Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.