Steal the Sky

Murder and mayhem derail a con-man's carefully laid schemes in this swashbuckling debut that blends elements of Firefly and steampunk. Detan Honding, a wanted conman of noble birth and ignoble tongue, has found himself in the oasis city of Aransa. He and his trusted companion, Tibs, may have pulled off one too many cons against the city's elite and need to make a quick escape. They set their sights on their biggest heist yet - the gorgeous airship of the exiled commodore Thratia.

But in the middle of his scheme, a face changer known as a doppel starts murdering key members of Aransa's government. The sudden paranoia makes Detan's plans of stealing Thratia's ship that much harder. And with this sudden power vacuum, Thratia can solidify her power and wreak havoc against the Empire. But the doppel isn't working for Thratia and has her own intentions. Did Detan accidentally walk into a revolution and a crusade?

He has to be careful - there's a reason most people think he's dead. Detan harbors a dangerous secret: he's sel-sensitive, able to manipulate the precious selium gas that powers airships. If his abilities are discovered, he faces a fate worse than death. Set in the oasis city of Aransa on the Scorched Continent, where selium mining creates rigid class systems and airships rule the desert skies, Detan must navigate political intrigue while keeping his powers hidden.

NPR praised O'Keefe's "dialogue as nimble as Detan's thieving fingers, and his inevitable tragic secrets lend needed gravitas to his wise-cracking, card-sharp persona." SFFWorld noted the natural comparison to Malcolm Reynolds of Firefly, with O'Keefe evoking "a similar feel of the raw frontier," while "raising the stakes with the judicious inclusion of magic and enhancing the western setting with steampunk elements."

Winner of the 2017 David Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Debut and earning praise from Tim Powers and David Farland, Steal the Sky launches the Scorched Continent trilogy with breezy dialogue, imaginative worldbuilding, and capers galore. Compared to Beth Cato's Clockwork Dagger and Jim Butcher's The Aeronaut's Windlass, this debut proves O'Keefe is a Writer of the Future winner with a gift for creating lovable rogues whose wit masks deeper wounds.

Perfect for readers seeking Firefly-style buddy dynamics, steampunk heists with magic, desert frontier settings, sharp witty banter masking tragedy, and conmen who accidentally stumble into revolutions while trying to survive another day.