The Kingdom Beyond the Waves
The Jackelian sequence's consensus favourite: the volume that proved the world could support standalone adventures in any genre key, with Amelia Harsh as Hunt's most quoted heroine.
Book Entry · Fantasy
The Court of the Air
by Stephen Hunt · 2007 · The Jackelian Series, book 1
What is The Court of the Air about?
Two orphans, one kingdom-sized pressure vessel: Molly Templar, workhouse girl with something in her blood that draws assassins, and Oliver Brooks, registered-dangerous ward of the worldsinger order, flee in parallel through the Kingdom of Jackals — a gaslamp nation of pneumatic towers, steammen knights with their own gods, exiled revolutionaries and the all-seeing aerostat intelligence service of the title. Beneath the chase plot, Hunt packs in Chartist politics, Aztec-flavoured elder horrors and a positive Dickensian relish for institutional cruelty, at a pace that rarely pauses to refuel. The furniture is brass; the engine is pure pulp adventure, run hot.
Why it matters
One of the defining novels of the 2000s steampunk revival: a HarperCollins Voyager lead title sold into a dozen-plus languages, launching the six-volume Jackelian sequence and establishing gaslamp fantasy's commercial viability.
Where does it sit in the series?
The Kingdom of Jackals: pneumatic towers, steammen knights, worldsinger sorcery and revolution in the airship lanes — Hunt's gaslamp sequence at the front of the steampunk revival.
In the Guide from The Jackelian Series:
- The Court of the Air (2007)
- The Kingdom Beyond the Waves (2008)
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