Revolution of Air and Rust

1915. Teddy Roosevelt is building an empire. Only Pancho Villa stands in his way.

 The American Expeditionary Force under the command of General "Black Jack" Pershing has invaded Northern Mexico. Pancho Villa leads his revolutionary army in a desperate raid against the American force only to be outflanked. Just as Pershing's airships prepare to deliver the death blow, Pancho Villa is transported to a parallel Earth where he finds an unexpected ally and the technology that might just turn defeat into victory.

Revolution of Air and Rust is a stand-alone novella set in the Empires of Steam and Rust world created by Robert E. Vardeman and Stephen D. Sullivan. A story filled with military action, espionage and gadgetry that's sure to satisfy fans of steampunk and alternate history.


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Heart of Steam & Rust

Russian agent Pavlina Ivanova wakes up in a strange hospital with no memory of how she got there, surrounded by people who might be her enemies. Worse, she quickly discovers that someone is out to kill her. Now Lina must navigate a maze of plots and counter-plots and even face Rasputin himself if she is to save her own life. Fortunately, Lina has an advantage that none of her foes suspect....

Heart of Steam & Rust is a stand-alone novella set in The Empires of Steam and Rust world created by Sullivan and renowned SF writer Robert E. Vardeman. Filled with intrigue, betrayal, and plot twists, this story will satisfy even the most hard-boiled steampunk, action, and espionage fans. The story features Pavlina Ivanova, from Sullivan’s Steam Nations stories.

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Gateway to Rust and Ruin

Empires of Steam and Rust marks a new series with the short novel First Passage: Gateway to Rust and Ruin by Robert E. Vardeman

Sir Francis Barstow has unlimited funds from the alchemist's dream--he can transmute lead into gold with a special ray confined to a Cornish coal mine.  To exhaust generated fumes from the electrical equipment, he uses a strange black portal only a foot in diameter--the portal opens onto an entire new dimension, the World of Rust.

Other, larger holes have appeared across the world.  The Kaiser uses one to smuggle contraband from the United States into Switzerland in preparation for launching a great war, but he is opposed by a brilliant scientist unwilling to thrust the world into such devastation.  To achieve his ends, the scientist explores the Rust World to scavenge technology unavailable anywhere else.

Sir Francis, with the lovely French aviatrix Nicole Larouse, find themselves in conflict with the Kaiser, his subjects and those who would use the strange black portals to a different world for their own purposes.

As a bonus, the short story "The Transmogrification Ray" detailing Sir Francis' researches (originally published in the anthology Steampunk'd) is included, along with notes on this exciting new steampunk universe.

Welcome to the Age of Steam – Welcome to the World of Rust

It is 1915, but not the one you know...

In Europe, the old empires stand on the brink of war, and war zeppelins darken the skies. In the East, China has spread its influence as far as the South American Coast, and may soon come into conflict with America, which has annexed Mexico, and is looking further south. But the plans of the great powers may all soon come to naught, for something new has come into the world.

On every continent, in every nation, holes have appeared, in the sky, in the ground, in the water, that seem to lead to another world. Some are no more than pin-pricks in reality. Some could swallow a battleship whole. Some seem to provide an instant conduit from place to place. A man entering one in Zurich might well come out another in the wilds of the Canadian Rockies an instant later. Others have no exit, and those who enter them are never seen again.

All are leaking.

Some emit strange gasses. Others birth weird animals and insects. Still others alter the environment around them in subtle, unsettling ways, and may eventually change the whole world.

Empires of Steam and Rust is a shared world e-publishing venture featuring the writing talents of Bob Vardeman, Steve Sullivan, Jean Rabe, Mike Stackpole, David Lee Summers, and Sarah Bartsch.   Every month (or so), one of us will publish a new story that will explore the world that we have created and bring fresh wonders and horrors sure to thrill and amaze.

Each story will be available from its respective author as an e-book, and there may be a compilation somewhere down the line.