by Beth Cato
Pele: Goddess of Hawaii’s Volcanoes by Herb Kawainui Kane
The Burning Island: Myth and History in Volcano Country, Hawaii by Pamela Frierson
“Pele’s Journey to Hawai’i: An Analysis of the Myths” by H. Arlo Nimmo, Pacific Studies, Vol. 11, No. l, November 1987
“Pele, Ancient Goddess of Contemporary Hawaii” by H. Arlo Nimmo, Pacific Studies, Vol. 9, No. 2, March 1986
Shoal of Time: A History of the Hawaiian Islands by Gavan Daws
The Hawaiian Revolution (1893–94) by William Adam Russ Jr.
The Hawaiian Republic (1894–98): And Its Struggle to Win Annexation by William Adam Russ Jr.
Stories of Hawaii by Jack London, edited by A. Grove Day
Pau Hana: Plantation Life and Labor in Hawaii, 1835–1920 by Ronald Takaki
Mark Twain in Hawaii: Roughing It in the Sandwich Islands, Hawaii in the 1860’s by Mark Twain, foreword by A. Grove Day
Kokoro from the Heart: Cherished Japanese Traditions in Hawai’i by the Japanese Women’s Society of Honolulu
“Some Transportation and Communication Firsts in Hawaii,” by Robert C. Schmitt, Hawaiian Journal of History, Vol. 13, 1979
Hawaii, the Big Island Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook by Andrew Doughty
Acknowledgments
Tackling a project of this historical depth has been an enormous challenge. I’m grateful for every bit of emotional and intellectual support that has come my way. I have done what I can to make this work as historically accurate as possible, even with certain timeline shifts. Errors are aggravating and unavoidable, and I beg forgiveness for my ignorance.
The community at Codex Writers assisted me with Japanese translation questions and other historical and medical queries. I count the people there among my dearest friends and I am so grateful we have such a strong community. Thanks for making that happen, Luc Reid.
My writing career would not exist without the inspiration I continue to draw from the video game RPGs I loved in my youth. Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior IV first showed me the use of a dog against fox magic. I first saw kirin as an esper in Final Fantasy VI. Final Fantasy Tactics made geomancy a cool thing. I could go on and on. The fact is: video games are not a waste of time. They saved my life as a teenager. They brought me and my husband together. They made me the storyteller I am today.
I quoted Basho’s verses from Zen and Japanese Culture by Daisetz T. Suzuki. This is proof that college textbooks do indeed come in useful years later!
My first readers for Call of Fire were Rachel Thompson and Rebecca Roland. Thanks for reading so quickly to allay my fears!
I’m grateful for the constant support of my agent, Rebecca Strauss at DeFiore & Co. She’s my superhero.
Oh, Harper Voyager. You wonderful, sloth-loving people. Much gratitude to David Pomerico, Caroline Perny, and Pamela Jaffee. Special thanks to my new editor, Priyanka Krishnan, for helping me to make Call of Fire a cohesive and shiny novel.
Last but not least, there is my family. My parents. My brother. My husband, Jason. My son, Nicholas. My cat, Porom. I love you all.
About the Author
Beth Cato is the author of Breath of Earth and the Clockwork Dagger fantasy duology, which includes The Clockwork Dagger, nominated for the Locus Award for Best First Novel, and The Clockwork Crown, an RT Reviewers’ Choice finalist. Her Clockwork Dagger–set novella Wings of Sorrow and Bone was nominated for a Nebula Award. A native Californian, Beth currently writes and bakes cookies in a lair outside of Phoenix, Arizona, which she shares with a hockey-loving husband, a numbers-obsessed son, and a cat the size of a canned ham.
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Praise for Breath of Earth
“The book as a whole strikes a nervy balance between easygoing charm and suspense. . . . As brisk as Cato’s plot is, it’s also straightforwardly simple. But she embroiders it richly with gorgeous period setpieces, imaginative speculation and the charismatic Ingrid herself, a hero-coming-into-her-own full of gumption and dimension. . . . Cato’s exhaustive research of the time and place gives the book texture and grit, and she hasn’t whitewashed what was a very problematic chapter of America’s history.”
—NPR
“The acclaimed Cato creates an alternate early 20th-century San Francisco of stunning detail. Drawing on the power struggles of the refugees and women’s work, this vivid reality will keep readers intrigued to the very end.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
“Readers in search of steampunk and alt-history can find them here charged with magic. . . .A strong cast and an unconventional approach to alternate history and magic . . . [in] this extraordinary world.”
—Locus
“With an interesting mix of steampunk, alternate history and urban fantasy, this mystery and slow-building romance—first in Cato’s new series—is excitingly different. Her marvelous star is multi-faceted and her co-stars are colorful. Her fantastical fiction is unique.”
—RT Book Reviews
“While the set-pieces are often spectacular and fantastic, the world-building is the real show-stopping effort. This is not just a dirigible ride for the fun of it (though it is fun), but a journey with meaning and purpose.”
—B&N Sci Fi/Fantasy Blog
“Cato . . . begins a new steampunk fantasy series with supernatural creatures, action-packed adventure, mystery, humor, a touch of romance, and more to come.”
—Booklist (starred review)
“Taking on the realism of the ugly parts of society and history make this novel a winner.”
—SFRevu
“Cato cleverly brings her colorful Barbary Coast–era San Francisco to life, highlighting the neglected perspectives of the outsiders and the dispossessed who made up the majority of its populace.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Breath of Earth is that rare gem, a thought-provoking, imaginative adventure of the highest order, chock full of wonder as well as heart-wrenching what-ifs. It’s reminiscent of Jules Verne at his best, with brilliant characters who linger in the mind and heart. Bravo!”
—Julie E. Czerneda, author of the Clan Chronicles
“Beth Cato gives steampunk a magical, global twist in an action-packed adventure that keeps the pages turning in anticipation. And if you don’t fall in love with Ingrid Carmichael after reading this, you have no soul.”
—Michael J. Martinez, author of MJ-12: Inception and The Daedalus Incident
Also by Beth Cato
Breath of Earth
The Clockwork Dagger
The Clockwork Crown
Deep Roots
Wings of Sorrow and Bone: A Novella
“The Deepest Poison: A Short Story”
“Final Flight: A Short Story”
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
call of fire. Copyright © 2017 by Beth Cato. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Harper Voyager and design are trademarks of HarperCollins Publishers LLC.
first edition
Cover design by Richard L. Aquan
Cover photograph © Gene Mollica
Map design by Paula Russell Szafranski
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.
Digital E
dition August 2017 ISBN: 978-0-06-242212-5
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-242211-8
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