Category Archives: Senta and the Steel Dragon

The Price of Magic – Chapter 11 Excerpt

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The Price of Magic - NewTokkenoht walked wearily toward the hearth room, intent on nothing more than plopping down on her sleeping mat and letting blessed sleep take her. She stopped short when Szakhandu, who was standing beside the doorway, held up her hand.

“What is it?”

“Don’t go in yet. Hsrandtuss is mating with Ssu.”

“Again?”

“Yes.” She shrugged. “The king wants to mate… he needs to, and neither of us is ready. Kendra doesn’t want to and so that leaves Ssu. I wish I was ready.”

“Why is that, do you suppose?” muttered Tokkenoht.

“Why what? Why do I want to mate? Or why doesn’t Kendra?”

“No. Why are you and I not ready? This isn’t our first season.”

“I have an opinion,” said Szakhandu.

Tokkenoht motioned for her to continue.

“I think it is stress.”

“What is stressing us? We have plenty to eat and drink.”

“Mental stress. You are high priestess and I am chief diplomat. I don’t know about you, but this whole mess with the humans is worrying my tail.”

“You’re not on about that again, are you?” growled Hsrandtuss, his bulk suddenly filling the doorway. “I’ve sent a message to the human city. Either they can pay a ransom, or I will mark humans’ tails and banish them. We should hear back from them by the next bright face.”

“Great King,” said Szakhandu. “I hesitate to point it out, but the soft-skins have no tails for you to mark.”

“Well figure out a place for me to mark them!” he hissed, pushing past them. “Do I have to do everything myself?”

“The humans mark thieves here,” said Tokkenoht, pointing to the webbing between her thumb and forefinger. Then she stepped through the doorway and collapsed on her mat, asleep in seconds.

The high priestess jerked awake when someone grabbed hold of her. She thought she was being attacked for a moment, but when she opened her eyes, it was only Szakhandu.

“What? Why are you waking me?”

“You have slept late. It is past the morning meal.”

“So?”

“The prisoners want to speak to you.”

“What prisoners?” wondered Tokkenoht.

“The human prisoners—the soft-skins.”

“Why do they want to talk to me?” she wondered. “How do they even know me?”

“They want to talk to the high priestess,” said Szakhandu. “You are the high priestess, aren’t you?”

The Price of Magic: Iolanthe Dechantagne Staff

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The Price of Magic - NewWe continue to look at the long list of characters who appear in The Price of Magic. Most have appeared in previous books in the series. I’m not going to tell you what happens to them in The Price of Magic, but if you haven’t read the earlier Senta books, Spoiler Alert.

 

Iolanthe is one of the primary characters in the story of Senta and the Steel Dragon.  She drives the action in book 0:Brechalon and book 1: The Voyage of the Minotaur.  She has large parts to play in Book 3: The Drache Girl and Book 5: The Two Dragons.  Though she has taken a back seat to much of the action in the last two books, she remains a hugely important character to the overall story.

Some readers have complained to me that they find Iolanthe a bit one-sided.  There’s no doubt that her main feature is that she’s a bitch (and so she’s incredibly fun to write).  On the other hand, there is a different side to her when she’s dealing with her and her brother Terrence and her second husband Radley Staff. I think readers might detect another side to her in this book.

New powers are rising in Birmisia. Far to the south, the strange lizardmen of Xiatooq are making themselves known. Closer to home, the new lizzie city Yessonarah finds itself rich in gold—gold the humans covet. As tensions rise, many in Port Dechantagne seem eager to teach the lizzies a lesson in humility. Fourteen year old Iolana Staff finds herself in the center of it all, as she is pulled between her conscience and the conventions of society. Unconcerned with the conflict between human and lizzie, sorceress Senta Bly prepares for her own war, unaware that events will pull her into a life and death confrontation with an old enemy.

The Price of Magic is the latest in a series that chronicles a world of steam power and rifles, where magic has not yet been forgotten. A new colony in a distant lost world has grown from a tiny outpost to a center of civilization in a vast wilderness. The Price of Magic continues a story of adventure and magic, religion and prejudice, steam engines and dinosaurs, angels and lizardmen, machine guns and wizards, sorceresses, bustles and corsets, steam-powered computers, hot air balloons, and dragons.

Find The Price of Magic wherever fine ebooks are sold, including HERE at Amazon.

The Price of Magic: Esther and the Household Lizzies

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The Price of Magic - NewWe continue to look at the long list of characters who appear in The Price of Magic. Most have appeared in previous books in the series. I’m not going to tell you what happens to them in The Price of Magic, but if you haven’t read the earlier Senta books, Spoiler Alert.

The aboriginal people of Birmisia, the lizzies, play a large part in the story of Senta and the Steel Dragon.  They appear in every book, as enemies, as heroes, as friends, and frequently as household servants.  Most of the wealthy families of Birmisia have lizzie servants.  The Dechantagne household has several, including Garrah and Kayden.

Of the lizzies in the book, Esther stands out.  Raised from a tiny preadolescent by Iolana Staff, she speaks fluent Brech and unlike any other lizzie, wears clothing.  She also becomes the first lizzie to do several other things in The Price of Magic.

New powers are rising in Birmisia. Far to the south, the strange lizardmen of Xiatooq are making themselves known. Closer to home, the new lizzie city Yessonarah finds itself rich in gold—gold the humans covet. As tensions rise, many in Port Dechantagne seem eager to teach the lizzies a lesson in humility. Fourteen year old Iolana Staff finds herself in the center of it all, as she is pulled between her conscience and the conventions of society. Unconcerned with the conflict between human and lizzie, sorceress Senta Bly prepares for her own war, unaware that events will pull her into a life and death confrontation with an old enemy.

The Price of Magic is the latest in a series that chronicles a world of steam power and rifles, where magic has not yet been forgotten. A new colony in a distant lost world has grown from a tiny outpost to a center of civilization in a vast wilderness. The Price of Magic continues a story of adventure and magic, religion and prejudice, steam engines and dinosaurs, angels and lizardmen, machine guns and wizards, sorceresses, bustles and corsets, steam-powered computers, hot air balloons, and dragons.

Find The Price of Magic wherever fine ebooks are sold, including HERE at Amazon.

The Price of Magic – Chapter 10 Excerpt

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The Price of Magic - NewThe following morning they were back together for breakfast, and Mr. Staff seemed affable enough, but he had lunch with some businessmen, and left Iolana alone for tea as well. She had just sat down to the afternoon meal, when she found a figure suddenly standing beside her table.

She looked up into the face of Tiber Stephenson. Tiber was the eldest son of the family whose home was just down the street from the Dechantagne Staff estate. He was a lean, handsome youth of seventeen, with brown hair and intelligent green eyes.

“Lady Iolana,” he said, with a nod.

“Oh please. You’ve known me all my life, Tiber. In fact, as I recall, you used to call me Roly-Poly-Yolie: not very clever of you, really.”

“To be fair, I was only seven or eight years old at the time.”

“I concede that point. Won’t you sit down?

“Only if you allow me to join you for tea.”

“My father didn’t put you up to it, did he?”

“Is he here?” Tiber looked around the dining room. “I haven’t seen him. I only just happened to see you sitting here.”

“Sit, please.”

The young man took the seat across from her. They were almost immediately joined by the waiter.

“Bring us tea for two, please,” said Iolana.

With a nod, the server disappeared.

“So, you’re on your way to St. Ulixes?” asked Tiber.

“Oh, I can’t put one over on you, can I?” replied Iolana. “My father is making the trip for business, and I thought I would go along as a tourist.”

“That’s exactly my situation. My father is thinking of investing there. I just came along to get the look of the land. I’ve never been to Mallontah. Maybe we could do some of that together.”

“Perhaps.”

“You know, I don’t think I’ve seen you since New Year’s Day.”

Iolana rolled her eyes. “Well, you did your duty. I collected your card. How many other young women did you visit that day?”

“Only a few—Questa, Talli, Dovie, and of course Ernst and Didrika.”

“You are very close with Miss Goose, aren’t you?

“Ernst, do you mean?”

“I was speaking of Didrika. You certainly spent a great deal of time with her at the New Year’s Eve party.”

“We’re good friends, but she’s too old for me. Or rather, I’m too young for her. She’s looking for an established gentleman. Ernst is very nice, and she’s pretty, not to mention that she’s a more appropriate age. If I had my way, I would court her, but I don’t think my father would allow it.”

“But she’s cousins with the McCoorts and also with the Drache Girl. They’re probably as rich as your family or mine.”

“The McCoorts are new money though. And the Drache Girl—well, she’s the problem really. My parents would accept new money with a daughter-in-law, not a son-in-law mind, but they would never accept anyone related to an unwed mother. It would be unthinkable.”

“Are you sure my father didn’t send you over?”

“No, why?”

“No reason. So then, I suppose your parents would be dead set against Questa, what with her mother being a foreigner,” mused Iolana, to which Tiber nodded. “I suppose that leaves Talli Archer.”

“She acts nice in crowds,” he said, “but she’s really a shrew.”

“Don’t I know it!”

“My parents specifically asked me to call on you,” he said, “and I honestly like you better than any of the other girls.”

“Me? Roly-Poly-Yolie?”

“It won’t be long before you are old enough to tame, Stahwasuwasu Zrant,” he said in perfect spit-n-gag.

“Stop showing off, Ssukhas Zrant,” she replied in the same tongue.

“I didn’t know you knew my lizzie name,” he said, switching back to Brech. “It’s not like I’m famous among them, a close friend of their god and all.”

She shrugged.

“Yes, I know you’re not ready to receive callers, even though you turn fourteen in three weeks. Lots of girls get married when they are fourteen these days.” He held up his hand when she started to object. “I understand though. You’re not ready. All I ask is that in a year or two, when you are ready, you at least consider me.” He leaned across the table. “Or have you already settled on Ascan Tice?”

The Price of Magic: Marzell Lance

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The Price of Magic - NewWe continue to look at the long list of characters who appear in The Price of Magic. Most have appeared in previous books in the series. I’m not going to tell you what happens to them in The Price of Magic, but if you haven’t read the earlier Senta books, Spoiler Alert.

Marzell Lance is a character that has been around throughout much of the series of Senta and the Steel Dragon.  In Book 3: The Drache Girl, we find him working as a driver for the Dechantagne household.  In Book 5: The Two Dragons, he is in the militia and happens to sit next to Senta as she makes her way by train to Iguanodon Heath prior to the final battle with the lizzies.

I’m going to break a rule and give a little away of what happens to the character in The Price of Magic.  Marzell gets engaged to a young lady that some might think a bit out of his reach.  One of my favorite lines in the book goes something like, “but your you, and he’s Marzell.”

New powers are rising in Birmisia. Far to the south, the strange lizardmen of Xiatooq are making themselves known. Closer to home, the new lizzie city Yessonarah finds itself rich in gold—gold the humans covet. As tensions rise, many in Port Dechantagne seem eager to teach the lizzies a lesson in humility. Fourteen year old Iolana Staff finds herself in the center of it all, as she is pulled between her conscience and the conventions of society. Unconcerned with the conflict between human and lizzie, sorceress Senta Bly prepares for her own war, unaware that events will pull her into a life and death confrontation with an old enemy.

The Price of Magic is the latest in a series that chronicles a world of steam power and rifles, where magic has not yet been forgotten. A new colony in a distant lost world has grown from a tiny outpost to a center of civilization in a vast wilderness. The Price of Magic continues a story of adventure and magic, religion and prejudice, steam engines and dinosaurs, angels and lizardmen, machine guns and wizards, sorceresses, bustles and corsets, steam-powered computers, hot air balloons, and dragons.

Find The Price of Magic wherever fine ebooks are sold, including HERE at Amazon.

The Price of Magic – Iolana Staff

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The Price of Magic - NewWe continue to look at the long list of characters who appear in The Price of Magic. Most have appeared in previous books in the series. I’m not going to tell you what happens to them in The Price of Magic, but if you haven’t read the earlier Senta books, Spoiler Alert.

Senta and the Steel Dragon Bessemer are the title characters for the series and Senta has been the title character for three of the individual books.  In each book however, there are others who play a major part.  This is never more true than in The Price of Magic, where the single greatest mover of the plot is Iolana Livonia Dechantagne Staff.  We first meet Iolana as a toddler in Book 2: The Dark and Forbidding Land.  She’s present in Book 3: The Drache Girl, where she manages to survive the attack on her home that kills many others.  She has a much larger part in Book 4: The Young Sorceress, where she is starting to come into her own a bit, and we find out that she has a connection with the steel dragon.  In Book 5: The Two Dragons, he saves her (and several other family members) from being eaten by a flock of deinonychus.  Then her Accord Day party is the scene for a great deal of the colony’s society coming together.  Finally, in Book 6: The Sorceress and her Lovers, she gets involved with the magical computer known as the Result Mechanism.  In many ways, The Price of Magic is the climax of her story.

New powers are rising in Birmisia. Far to the south, the strange lizardmen of Xiatooq are making themselves known. Closer to home, the new lizzie city Yessonarah finds itself rich in gold—gold the humans covet. As tensions rise, many in Port Dechantagne seem eager to teach the lizzies a lesson in humility. Fourteen year old Iolana Staff finds herself in the center of it all, as she is pulled between her conscience and the conventions of society. Unconcerned with the conflict between human and lizzie, sorceress Senta Bly prepares for her own war, unaware that events will pull her into a life and death confrontation with an old enemy.

The Price of Magic is the latest in a series that chronicles a world of steam power and rifles, where magic has not yet been forgotten. A new colony in a distant lost world has grown from a tiny outpost to a center of civilization in a vast wilderness. The Price of Magic continues a story of adventure and magic, religion and prejudice, steam engines and dinosaurs, angels and lizardmen, machine guns and wizards, sorceresses, bustles and corsets, steam-powered computers, hot air balloons, and dragons.

Find The Price of Magic wherever fine ebooks are sold, including HERE at iBooks.

The Price of Magic: Walter Charmley & Collier Wissinger

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The Price of Magic - NewWe continue to look at the long list of characters who appear in The Price of Magic. Most have appeared in previous books in the series. I’m not going to tell you what happens to them in The Price of Magic, but if you haven’t read the earlier Senta books, Spoiler Alert.

Walter Charmley (along with his brother) first appeared as children in the colony of Port Dechantagne in Book 3: The Drache Girl.  We see quite a bit more of him in Book 5: The Two Dragons, when he and his brother are racing their iguanodon down the city streets with Graham Dokkins.  In Book 6: The Sorceress and her Lovers, Walter is dating Sherree Glieberman, but dumps her abruptly after the death of his brother and marries Wenda Lanier.

Collier Wissinger makes his first appearance in The Price of Magic, though his parents Zossef and Magda Wissinger are well-known from books 2, 3, and 4.

New powers are rising in Birmisia. Far to the south, the strange lizardmen of Xiatooq are making themselves known. Closer to home, the new lizzie city Yessonarah finds itself rich in gold—gold the humans covet. As tensions rise, many in Port Dechantagne seem eager to teach the lizzies a lesson in humility. Fourteen year old Iolana Staff finds herself in the center of it all, as she is pulled between her conscience and the conventions of society. Unconcerned with the conflict between human and lizzie, sorceress Senta Bly prepares for her own war, unaware that events will pull her into a life and death confrontation with an old enemy.

The Price of Magic is the latest in a series that chronicles a world of steam power and rifles, where magic has not yet been forgotten. A new colony in a distant lost world has grown from a tiny outpost to a center of civilization in a vast wilderness. The Price of Magic continues a story of adventure and magic, religion and prejudice, steam engines and dinosaurs, angels and lizardmen, machine guns and wizards, sorceresses, bustles and corsets, steam-powered computers, hot air balloons, and dragons.

Find The Price of Magic wherever fine ebooks are sold, including HERE at iBooks.

The Price of Magic – Chapter 9 Excerpt

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The Price of Magic - New“Wake up, you silly dragon. We’re here.”

“Whoop-tee-doop,” said Zoey, without opening her eyes.

“It’s quite an impressive fortress. It looks very different than when I was here last.”

“Yes, it’s crawling with lizzies now,” said the dragon, peering up with one eye. “And there’s a veritable stream of them coming up that road.”

“That’s the road of supplicants,” said Senta. “They’re coming to worship Bessemer.”

“No wonder he’s so full of himself.”

Senta waved her hands and the magical disk vanished, but like the proverbial cat, Zoey landed on her feet, seemingly with no effort. Senta continued on and the dragon followed. As they neared the road, Senta could see that Zoey had been correct. There were literally thousands of lizzies on it, making their way to the fortress and to the god who lived within. They weren’t all walking though. A mile from the great gate, there was an arch over the road. Upon reaching it, the pilgrims dropped down onto their bellies to crawl the rest of the way, dragging their tales behind them. As Senta approached, the line of lizzies came to a stop as they all watched her. She stepped up onto the road and strode through the archway, then stepped over the crawling lizzies. As she passed each one, he too stopped and stared up at her.

She was still walking up the road, her path weaving around prostrated reptilians when she spied a lizzie rushing down the path toward her. He was an ornately painted male, wearing a bright red cloth cape. He was hissing as he hurried. Senta reached up and plucked one of the glamours from around her head, activating the spell stored within. Once it was in effect, she could understand the lizzie’s words.

“You should not be on this road, human! What do you think you are doing?”

Suddenly the red-caped lizzie spotted the small dragon behind her. He was so startled that he tripped on one of the prostrate lizzies, falling in a heap at the sorceress’s feet.

“Now, what are you going on about?” asked Senta, looking down.

“You’re her?” said the lizzie, looking up from the dirt. “Yes of course you are. The Great God said you were coming, but I didn’t recognize your paint and feathers. I thought you were a male human.”

Senta looked down at herself. She was dressed in what she often still thought of as her Zurfina garb—black leather pants and high black boots, and a black leather bustier in place of a shirt. Of course the entire ensemble carried magic spells to make it her most comfortable set of clothing. She reached up and cupped her breasts.

“Yes, mammary glands, I see them now,” said the lizzie, rising to his feet, “but you have neither a very large bottom, nor a long tuft of hair.”

Senta ran a hand over her head. She was still wearing her blond hair in a man’s short style, parted on the side and razor-cut around the ears and neck. Of course, since she wasn’t wearing a dress, she didn’t have on the bustle that recent dress styles were requiring to be larger than ever.

The lizzie brushed himself off and then bowed.

“I am Khastla, the god’s most trusted. You should follow me. We will take the road of guests.

The red-caped male led the human and the dragon up a path paved with shiny river stones. It wound up the hill, sometimes approaching the main road and sometimes veering farther away. Finally it led to a small but beautiful gate in the cyclopean fortress wall. It was not as large as the main gate, but was lined with two beautifully carved statues of Bessemer.

The fortress had been completely rebuilt from the ruin it had been when Senta had been there before. Inside the walls were numerous tall buildings, constructed with smooth façades, but featuring many window boxes filled with flowers. Between the buildings were flowerbeds, walkways of colorful pebbles shaded with fruit trees covered in blossoms, and fountains which sprayed out water that was collected into little gutters that wound in and out to feed the plants. Hundreds of lizzies were working, cleaning, polishing, and gardening.

“This is all quite lovely,” said Senta.

Zoey gave a dismissive snort, sending a little smoke ring out of her right nostril.

The Price of Magic: Zoantheria

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The Price of Magic - NewWe continue to look at the long list of characters who appear in The Price of Magic. Most have appeared in previous books in the series. I’m not going to tell you what happens to them in The Price of Magic, but if you haven’t read the earlier Senta books, Spoiler Alert.

 

An increasingly important character to the series is Zoantheria, the Coral Dragon.  This tiny dragon appears as an egg given to Senta for safe-keeping in Book 4: The Young Sorceress.  The egg hatches in Book 5: The Two Dragons (making three dragons that actually appear in the book).  In Book 6: The Sorceress and her Lovers, Zoantheria is about the size of a house cat, and begins to speak, telling Senta her name.  In The Price of Magic, the dragon has grown larger than a dog and has her own adventures to take part in.

New powers are rising in Birmisia. Far to the south, the strange lizardmen of Xiatooq are making themselves known. Closer to home, the new lizzie city Yessonarah finds itself rich in gold—gold the humans covet. As tensions rise, many in Port Dechantagne seem eager to teach the lizzies a lesson in humility. Fourteen year old Iolana Staff finds herself in the center of it all, as she is pulled between her conscience and the conventions of society. Unconcerned with the conflict between human and lizzie, sorceress Senta Bly prepares for her own war, unaware that events will pull her into a life and death confrontation with an old enemy.

The Price of Magic is the latest in a series that chronicles a world of steam power and rifles, where magic has not yet been forgotten. A new colony in a distant lost world has grown from a tiny outpost to a center of civilization in a vast wilderness. The Price of Magic continues a story of adventure and magic, religion and prejudice, steam engines and dinosaurs, angels and lizardmen, machine guns and wizards, sorceresses, bustles and corsets, steam-powered computers, hot air balloons, and dragons.

Find The Price of Magic wherever fine ebooks are sold, including HERE at iBooks.

The Price of Magic: Senta and Senta

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The Price of Magic - NewWe continue to look at the long list of characters who appear in The Price of Magic. Most have appeared in previous books in the series. I’m not going to tell you what happens to them in The Price of Magic, but if you haven’t read the earlier Senta books, Spoiler Alert.

Of course the main character in any Senta and the Steel Dragon Book is Senta.  Senta Bly began as a small child in Book 0: Brechalon and has grown to a woman and a powerful sorceress by time The Price of Magic takes place.  Senta is twenty-three and has very little to fear from the world it seems.  Things that others find dangerous are mere annoyances to her.  She lets her relationships falter and pays little attention to those who care for her.

In this book Senta’s daughter is three years old.  We first saw her as an infant in The Sorceress and her Lovers.  The relationship of her mother’s lovers is really all about who Sen’s father really is.

New powers are rising in Birmisia. Far to the south, the strange lizardmen of Xiatooq are making themselves known. Closer to home, the new lizzie city Yessonarah finds itself rich in gold—gold the humans covet. As tensions rise, many in Port Dechantagne seem eager to teach the lizzies a lesson in humility. Fourteen year old Iolana Staff finds herself in the center of it all, as she is pulled between her conscience and the conventions of society. Unconcerned with the conflict between human and lizzie, sorceress Senta Bly prepares for her own war, unaware that events will pull her into a life and death confrontation with an old enemy.

The Price of Magic is the latest in a series that chronicles a world of steam power and rifles, where magic has not yet been forgotten. A new colony in a distant lost world has grown from a tiny outpost to a center of civilization in a vast wilderness. The Price of Magic continues a story of adventure and magic, religion and prejudice, steam engines and dinosaurs, angels and lizardmen, machine guns and wizards, sorceresses, bustles and corsets, steam-powered computers, hot air balloons, and dragons.

Find The Price of Magic wherever fine ebooks are sold, including HERE at iBooks.