#FearlessWomen: By Fire Above by Robyn Bennis Spotlight & Exclusive Excerpt

Women are shining in every genre of speculative fiction, and it is no longer enough to say “Women arehere.” 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.

By Fire Above by Robyn Bennis

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

Mistrals’ starboard rail might have been the wettest place on the hurricane deck, if not the entire world, but Bernat clung to it with one hand as tightly as he held his safety line in the other. Apart from drawing some small comfort form the familiar place, he felt a vague sense that this was his station, and as important a station as any other aboard the ship—the pesky fact that he had no official function notwithstanding. Besides which, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to make his way anywhere else in the dark, with the ship being buffeted and the deck swinging randomly underfoot.

Below, the streetlights of Kuchin were just visible through the clouds, still lit inside their ornate glass casings. They went by at a fantastic speed, and rather more sideways than Bernat would have preferred. “Are we meant to be moving right to left?” he asked.

“Yes, actually.” Josette must have seen his incredulous expression in a flash of lightning, for she went on, “With our steamjack in the condition it’s in, it’s too late to run straight away from the storm. It’ll only sweep us in. So we’re going to use the storm’s own vortex to slingshot around the worst of it and come out the back.”

Her unrattled confidence made him feel quite a bit better. “So you’ve done this before?”

She didn’t answer, but only looked briefly toward him in the darkness, and he hoped to God she was rolling her eyes, or at least shooting him a nasty expression. Anything, really, but the cocky smirk he was imagining—the one that said she was learning as she went.

About the Author

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.

Join the Conversation

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!

Be sure to also check out the other blogs on the #FearlessWomen tour to read more exclusive content and reviews!

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