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Back Steel Frame
Chapters (41)
  1. Title
  2. Indicia
  3. Steel Frame
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-One
  25. Twenty-Two
  26. Twenty-Three
  27. Twenty-Four
  28. Twenty-Five
  29. Twenty-Six
  30. Twenty-Seven
  31. Twenty-Eight
  32. Twenty-Nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty-One
  35. Thirty-Two
  36. Thirty-Three
  37. Acknowledgements
  38. About The Author
  39. 'Ironclads' by Adrian Tchaikovsky
  40. 'NineFox Gambit' by Yoon Ha Lee
  41. 'Grunt Life' by Weston Ochse

Words are hard but names come easy; Kerry-Lee Skinner, easiest of all. For her patience with me and this story, and her skill in helping shape it from beginning to end, I have nothing but gratitude. To Abi Godsell, my thanks for her work on an early manuscript, and for helping me get my head around the whole writing thing in the first place. To my dauntless agent Jamie Cowen, for keeping me sane, easing my doubts, and putting in the time to get this right. To my editor David Moore, for taking a chance on my slightly mad giant robot novel, and cleaning up the worst of my excesses. To my brothers, Dylan Freeman and Nate Crowley, who have fished me out of stormy waters more than once. To Lesley and Aiden, Lyn and Philip, with love and appreciation.

About The Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrew Skinner grew up in South Africa’s coal-mining heartland, amidst orange dust and giant machinery. He now works as an archaeologist and anthropologist, interested in folklore, rain-making arts, and resistance; but the machines aren’t done with him yet. Steel Frame is his first novel.

'Ironclads' by Adrian Tchaikovsky

IRONCLADS

SCIONS HAVE NO LIMITS

SCIONS DO NOT DIE

AND SCIONS DO NOT DISAPPEAR

Sergeant Ted Regan has a problem. A son of one of the great corporate families, a Scion, has gone missing at the front. He should have been protected by his Ironclad – the lethal battle suits that make the Scions masters of war – but something has gone catastrophically wrong.

Now Regan and his men, ill-equipped and demoralised, must go behind enemy lines, find the missing Scion, and uncover how his suit failed. Is there a new Ironcladkiller out there? And how are common soldiers lacking the protection afforded the rich supposed to survive the battlefield of tomorrow?

A new standalone novella by the Arthur C Clarke Award-winning author of Children of Time.

SOLARIS

'NineFox Gambit' by Yoon Ha Lee

'Ninefox Gambit' cover

When Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for her unconventional tactics, Kel Command gives her a chance to redeem herself, by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles from the heretics. Cheris’s career isn’t the only thing at stake: if the fortress falls, the hexarchate itself might be next.

Cheris’s best hope is to ally with the undead tactician Shuos Jedao. The good news is that Jedao has never lost a battle, and he may be the only one who can figure out how to successfully besiege the fortress. The bad news is that Jedao went mad in his first life and massacred two armies, one of them his own.

As the siege wears on, Cheris must decide how far she can trust Jedao–because she might be his next victim.

‘Starship Troopers meets Apocalypse Now – and they’ve put Kurtz in charge... An unmissable debut.’

Stephen Baxter