Synopsis

As the city that produces the most selium - that precious gas that elevates airships and powers strange magic - Hond Steading is a jewel worth stealing. To shore up the city's defenses, Detan promises his aunt that he'll recover Nouli, the infamous engineer who built the century gates that protect the imperial capital of Valathea. But Nouli is imprisoned on the Remnant Isles, an impervious island prison run by the empire, and it's Detan's fault.

Detan doesn't dare approach Nouli himself, so his companions volunteer to get themselves locked up to make contact with Nouli and convince him to help. Now Detan has to break them all out of prison, and he's going to need the help of a half-mad doppel to do it.

About Megan E. O'Keefe

Megan E. O'Keefe was raised amongst journalists, and as soon as she was able joined them by crafting a newsletter which chronicled the daily adventures of the local cat population. She has worked in both arts management and graphic design, and has won Writers of the Future and the Gemmell Morningstar Award. Velocity Weapon, the first novel in her Protectorate series, was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award for Best Novel. Megan lives in the Bay Area of California.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Althea on December 06, 2016

An excellent sequel to the excellent "Steal The Sky." I highly recommend reading "Steal the Sky" first however, as it contains a lot of fairly necessary character generation and background information which will definitely enhance your enjoyment of this one. Pretty much all the main characters from t......more

Goodreads review by Beth on August 14, 2016

I received this from the publisher via NetGalley. The book will be released in October 2016. Steal the Sky was one of my favorite books last year, a steampunk mash-up of lovable rogues and magic with a Firefly-like vibe. Therefore, I was really excited to get to read the sequel early. It lived up to......more

Goodreads review by John on February 24, 2020

Break the Chains sees Detan, Tibs and the rest of the crew reunited for another adventure in which they must infiltrate a prison in order to break out a scientist. I thought the writing in this book to be much improved than Steal the Sky and along with the plot was much tighter. Enjoyable characters......more

Goodreads review by Ubiquitousbastard on June 08, 2017

I kind of forgot I was reading this last year. That's not a great endorsement for a book, the fact that I completely forgot it existed until I saw its sequel was coming out. I wasn't overly in love with the first book for a few reasons, and this book unfortunately suffered from similar problems. One......more

Goodreads review by Bethany on January 27, 2025

A little over a year has passed since conman Detan escaped Aransa. He, along with his trusty companion Tibs, reunite with selium illusionist Pelkaia with a plea for help. Former watch-captain Ripka and former salt spa attendant Enard are prisoners at a remote island prison. Detan and Tibs need her s......more