You may recognize our very own J.L. Gribble from all the Sound Off! posts she writes for Speculative Chic, but if you’ve followed us for any length of time, you know J.L. is also a published author. Last year we had the privilege of announcing her third book release, and we enjoyed it so much we asked if we could do it again! J.L. has published a book every year since 2015, and we’re so proud of her. If you enjoy an alternate history twist to your urban fantasy, then J.L.’s Steel Empires series is right up your alley.
Without further adieu, may we present Steel Time, the fourth book in Steel Empires. Come take a look at the premise, and then check out a brief interview with J.L. below!
The Book:
Steel Time (2018)
Written by: J.L. Gribble
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Alternate History
Series: Steel Empires (Book 4)
Publisher: Dog Star Books
The Premise:
You’re never too young or too old to experience a paradigm shift.
Toria Connor is 25 when tripping over an artifact in the ruins of Nacostina thrusts her a century into the past, before the city is destroyed during the Last War. Now, she finds herself alone. Adrift in a time where she must hide everything important to her, from her mercenary career to her true magical ability.
Victory is over eight centuries old when she follows her adopted daughter. She has seen empires rise and fall, but never anything like this. She must survive alone in a city inhospitable to vampires, dodging friends and foes from her past alike.
Both of them know the clock is ticking down to the moment when the city is wiped off the map. Now, they’re in a race against time. To find each other. To escape the past. And to save the future.
Congratulations on breaking loose of the confines of a trilogy! How does it feel to be publishing the fourth book of the Steel Empires series?
Publishing four books in four years is pretty crazy. When I started working on the first book, Steel Victory, back in graduate school, it was meant to be a stand-alone. Afterward, I played around with the idea of a trilogy, but once I finally signed the first contact, I knew I was looking at a 7-book arc. You’d think that being over halfway done (and technically the fifth book is already drafted at this point) would be a relief, but when the stakes keep getting higher, the pressure is still on to create the best stories I possibly can.
I remember hearing that each book in your series has a different focus. Steel Time is obviously a time-travel conceit, but what have the previous books focused on? And what might book five have in store?
Steel Victory is a political thriller at a local level and also features strong themes of a mother-daughter relationship between Victory and Toria. In Steel Magic, Toria sets off on her own to explore more of the world. While I call it a female coming-of-age novel, multiple characters have their own evolution over the course of the story.
The mother (Victory) comes back to the forefront in Steel Blood. As an English major at heart, twisting the Romeo and Juliet story to fit my world in a political setting between werewolves and weredragons seemed like a blast. It gets even more fun when you realize that the point of view character is a cranky vampire mercenary standing in for Nurse.
Steel Time is a time-travel story, but I also come full circle with my mother-daughter relationship. We’re returning to those themes from a different perspective as the characters have to relate to each other on a more equal footing.
And if Victory thinks time travel is a paradigm shift in Steel Time, she’s got a lot more in store when Steel Shadows comes out next year. She’s only just learning that the limits of the world she’s known for almost a thousand years are much broader then she ever realized.
Your back cover tells us a bit about where and when your characters travel in time, but your world is so varied that the HOW could be anything. Magic? Technology? Can you give us a hint?
The mechanism of time travel I use is part of the mystery Toria and Victory are up against in this book, so no spoilers here! However, the adventure starts very early in the story. You can check out the opening scene today on my blog, along with information about where to pick up your own copy of the book.
Excellent! Are you caught up on the series and ready to plunge in? Or do you need to start at the very beginning? Check out details for Steel Victory here, Steel Magic here, Steel Blood here, and finally, grab your copy of Steel Time here!
No Comments