When the empire's greatest hero falls, can an orphaned engineer save what remains? Victor Hargrove never wanted to be a hero. He wanted to follow in his father's footsteps as a military engineer, building airships and perfecting clockwork innovations for the Kingdom of Shion. But when Aeternum falls to a 300-year-old evil returned from darkness, Victor finds himself fleeing the burning capital with a desperate group of survivors-including the princess herself-racing toward the last bastion of hope: the Western Stronghold. In a realm where gears turn by imagination and dragons are more than myth... The empire is crumbling. Aeternum has fallen to shadow. Ancient creatures-an evil dormant for three centuries-pour through rifts in reality, consuming everything in their path. The journey to the Western Stronghold is fraught with danger, betrayal, and mysteries that challenge everything Victor thought he knew about engineering, magic, and the Kingdom of Shion itself. Armed with his engineering skills, a clockwork fox named Cinder, and a small band of survivors, Victor must navigate: The treacherous journey to the Western Stronghold through shadow-infested lands Political intrigue as the empire fractures and loyalties are tested Ancient magic that defies every law of engineering he's ever known The Princess, whose survival could mean everything for what remains of Shion Secrets about the shadows that have been hidden for 300 years His own limits, as a military engineer forced to become something more But the shadows are spreading. Time is running out. And the journey to the Western Stronghold will test whether Victor has what it takes to survive in a world where the old rules no longer apply-and where the fate of Shion may rest on the shoulders of a military engineer who never wanted to be a hero. Perfect for fans of: Brandon Sanderson's intricate magic systems meets Victorian ingenuity The atmospheric world-building of Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate The epic scope of Naomi Novik's Temeraire series Steampunk that takes both the steam AND the punk seriously "Where brass gears turn by pure imagination and dragons soar alongside dirigibles..." Gears of the Fallen Empire is the first book in The Soul Dragon Saga-an epic steampunk fantasy series years in the making. Experience a meticulously crafted world where every cog has purpose, every dragon has history, and one young engineer must decide whether to rebuild an empire or let it fall. Scroll up and grab your copy today. The gears are turning. The shadows are rising. And the soul dragons are waiting.