Where to start
Begin with Book One
The Court of the Air
Orphans, enemies of the state and an ancient conspiracy — the perfect doorway.
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World guide & lore
World guideFactions & powersInstitutionsCharactersThemesGlossaryFAQContent notes
Reading order
1
The Court of the Air
Molly Templar and Oliver Brooks — orphans hunted by enemies of the state, drawn toward a mysterious ancient conspiracy.
2
The Kingdom Beyond the Waves
Professor Amelia Harsh hunts the lost city of Camlantis in the deadly lake-jungles of Liongeli.
3
Rise of the Iron Moon
Near-unkillable beasts march on Jackals — the kingdom's last hope is a strange girl and an escaped slave.
4
Secrets of the Fire Sea
Murder mystery on isolated Jago — a volcanic ocean, buried secrets and a truth worth killing for.
5
Jack Cloudie
A botched robbery earns Jack Keats a commission in the Royal Aerostatical Navy instead of the scaffold.
6
From the Deep of the Dark
Bloodless corpses, a vampire rumour and a heist that takes detective Jethro Daunt deep underwater.
7
Mission to Mightadore
Seline Templar searches for legendary Mightadore — a city none have returned from alive.
Jackelian — FAQ
Which Jackelian book should I read first?
The Court of the Air. Book One is the most generous front door into the world and the recommended starting point — though The Kingdom Beyond the Waves and Secrets of the Fire Sea work as standalone alternatives.
Do I need to read them in order?
Not strictly — several books are self-contained adventures or mysteries. But the cycle rewards reading in order, and Book 3 builds directly on Book 1's character work. Start with The Court of the Air.
Are the Jackelian novels steampunk?
Yes — gas-lamps, airships, brass-bodied intelligent machines and the pneumatic post — though Hunt blends in flintlock fantasy, gaslamp adventure and a working acquaintance with magic. The cycle helped put rocket-boosters under the steampunk genre.
Are they flintlock fantasy too?
Very much so. The register sits between flintlock fantasy and gaslamp steampunk: muskets and parliaments alongside sorcery suppressed rather than wielded, and powers older than any nation buried beneath it all.
How many Jackelian novels are there?
Seven: The Court of the Air, The Kingdom Beyond the Waves, The Rise of the Iron Moon, Secrets of the Fire Sea, Jack Cloudie, From the Deep of the Dark and Mission to Mightadore.
Are they connected to Stephen Hunt's other series?
No — the Jackelian world is its own continuity, separate from Sliding Void, Far-called and the rest. No prior reading is needed.
Glossary · sample entries
Kingdom of Jackals
The cycle's central polity — a parliamentary kingdom where the monarch has been deliberately stripped of power.
Middlesteel
Capital of Jackals: gas-lamp streets, smog, parliament, the pneumatic post and the rookeries.
The Steammen Free State
A sovereign mountain kingdom of intelligent steam-driven machines, ruled by King Steam.
Celgas
The buoyant gas, mined beneath the Free State, that lifts every airship in the sky.
Worldsinger
A sorcery-suppressing cleric, trained to detect and contain magic rather than wield it.
Feybreed
A person altered by the leylines — registered, watched, and sometimes conscripted into the Special Guard.
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