The Ruby Celeste Series - Box Set, books 1-3: Ghost Armada, Dire Kraken, and Church of Ife

A collection of the first three books in the Ruby Celeste series: a fantasy series with loose steampunk inspiration, following the crew of an airship and their captain, the quick, smart, sometimes explosive Ruby Celeste.

Included are the following titles, accompanied by blurbs:

RUBY CELESTE AND THE GHOST ARMADA

After arriving at The Pharmacologist’s Eden, a grand floating port run by the cut-throat Rhod Stein, Ruby Celeste discovers the deckhand she arranged to purchase has been sold out from under her and replaced with a man kidnapped from the world’s surface. So after dispatching his guarding henchmen, she snatches him and then flees—but not before blowing a gaping hole in the SkyPort.

But unbeknownst to Ruby, Stein survives the blast. And along with the assassins now hot on her tail, she has other problems to contend with: the frail man she kidnapped and his newfound place on her ship, a pervasive series of dangerous electrical malfunctions—and what about the diary she finds on a derelict ship? Are its pages filled with the deranged words of a madman—or does it really hold the key to finding the mysterious Ghost Armada?

RUBY CELESTE AND THE DIRE KRAKEN

Captained by Morris Flute, the two-man trade ship Exceptional Luck has lived up to its name—at least until coming under attack in a sprawling floating rainforest. In his last moments, Flute desperately fights to drop a beacon—and then something streaks from the abyss and his world turns black.

Meanwhile, on the Harbinger, Ruby Celeste’s crew are enjoying the height of summer. All except for Francis, who finds himself victimised by the awkward pursuit of Brie Channing, one of the ship’s night-shift technicians. It is her he thinks has woken him one morning; but instead he finds a drone affixed to his window, issuing a brief distress call.

The drone leads to an abandoned weather station and its sole remaining inhabitant, Tesla Wong, who tells of the Exceptional Luck’s beacon. Allured by the promise of rare gemstones, Ruby decides to investigate. Now she and her crew press forward in search of the downed trade ship and its lost cargo. But the Exceptional Luck’s last details were scant, and neither Ruby nor her crew know they are flying straight into danger, destined for conflict with a terrifying beast: the dire kraken.

RUBY CELESTE AND THE CHURCH OF IFE

A chance encounter puts Ruby Celeste and her crew on the path to the city of New Calais. It is home to the Church of Ife, a tight-knit but simple community who believe themselves descendants of the first woman to have made the trip from surface to sky island. They promote peace and love.

They also sanctioned the theft of a valuable religious relic from a high security research facility.

Now Ruby and her crew must bring the object back. But finding it will not be easy—and the Church of Ife may not be quite as peaceful as it appears.