Of Jade and Dragons by Chen, Amber;

Long description:

Chapter 1
Perched at the edge of a cliff, a tiny figure watched as a dark cloud floated toward her, accompanied by the thunderous whir of rotating engine blades.A furrow appeared on Aihui Ying s smooth forehead.The High Commander s airships were far noisier than they should be. It was a low--level problem that could have been easily fixed with mufflers fashioned out of bison leather. Her father s hypothesis was that the guild masters had let this flaw slip through on purpose, because noise was apparently an effective show of intimidation. Why stop there? Might as well make lightning bolts shoot out of the keel, she muttered.The airships passed overhead. Two smaller ones in front and two behind, guarding the behemoth in the middle. Each of them was a black monstrosity emblazoned with the silver emblem of the cobra, bamboo--battened sails extending out from both sides of the hull and flapping majestically against the cold winds.In her childhood, Ying had once disturbed a sleeping lizard lounging on a rock to find out if it was dead. It awoke in a fury, brightly colored frills flaring from its neck in a spectacular display. That was where the Engineers Guild must have gotten their inspiration from, she reckoned, when they added those sails to the airships. Again, for intimidation more than functionality. By decree of the High Commander, a monotonous voice issued from above, the Cobra s Order is transporting a traitorous prisoner from the capital city to the mines of Juwan, where he is to serve his sentence till death. All civilian airships, keep away -I repeat -keep away. Ying snorted, covering her ears with her gloved hands to shield them from the racket. Trust the High Commander to make an exhibition of his own son s exile.Nevertheless, she had little sympathy for the former beile and High Commander -designate. He had dug his grave by trying to incite conflict between his brothers and then having the gall to declare that he would execute everyone he deemed a threat once he assumed command. The story of his downfall had spread far and wide across the nine isles, no doubt with silent approbation by the authorities, as a warning to all who might threaten the stability of the Aogiya High Command.Once the airships had gone by, Ying focused her attention back on the task at hand. She was losing daylight, and while the night views of the Huarin isle were magical, landing was far more challenging in the dark. She tucked loose strands of hair behind her ears, adjusting the cloth band at the back of her head to make sure her bun was secured. Inhaling the frigid summer air, she stretched her hands out to the sides. In Abka Han we trust. She leaned forward, tipping her center of gravity over the edge of the cliff. Her body hurtled downward, the distance between her and the perilous rocks rapidly shrinking.A sprinkling of ocean spray kissed her cheeks -and she sprang to action.Ying yanked at one of the colorful silk cords dangling off the bulky contraption strapped to her back. An enormous pair of wings unfolded, bamboo bones clicking as each segment snapped into place, stretching the thin silk fabric that lined the frame.The wings caught a gust of wind, sending their wearer flying upward and out. Thank you! she yelled to the sky, eyes glimmering with excitement as she soared above the waves. Abka Han, the god of the skies who watched over the Antaran territories, was probably sneering at her foolishness, but the proper respect still needed to be paid.Respectfulness she had learned from her mother; the foolhardy part was all from her father.Ying closed her eyes and basked in the serenity of her surroundings. The occasional cooing of gulls punctuated the soft humming of the waves. By the time she opened her eyes again, the circular white roofs of her village s gers came into view, looking like tiny mushrooms s

A richly detailed and wildly imaginative book with some of the coolest retro-future tech envisioned on-page and an engineer heroine with the smarts to wield it! The steampunk C-drama of my dreams. Xiran Jay Zhao,