Made of Steam and Stardust by Bianca Breen

Title: Made of Steam and Stardust

Author: Bianca Breen

Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction

Publisher: Stag Beetle Books

Published: 12^th May 2025

Format: Paperback

Pages: 288

Price: $26.99 (Author’s website)

Synopsis: When a comet hurtles toward her planet, sixteen-year-old inventor Gerdie is determined to stop it and use her success to improve the conditions of the factories she works in: she’ll build a machine that will save the world.

But as she hunts for the parts to build her creation, she encounters Fell—a mysterious boy with an unsettling connection to the comet. He’s being hunted by the ruthless Conqueror Seki, and soon Gerdie is, too. On the run, the duo uncovers chilling blueprints for a deadly army of automatons. The army is nearly complete, but a final piece is still missing. If Gerdie doesn’t find it before Conqueror Seki does, the comet will be the least of her worries.

You can also find this book at the following Australian retailers as at date of review publication:

Booktopia

Readings

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It’s the 2300s, and Gerdie lives on Bellona, in the country of Treshane. She’s an orphan who works in the mines, but she’s also an inventor. One day, she notices a comet hurtling towards her planet – a comet that has taken out one planet every hundred years or so, including Earth. Gerdie, sixteen, and her friend Leo, set off in search of the comet. Gerdie is trying to build something to save the world amidst the adventure where she finds Fell, a boy who tumbles out of the sky. All three are being hunted by Conqueror Seki, who wants something they have so he can complete his army and finish his ultimate quest to rule forever.

I participated in the Instagram tour last week for Bianca, and got the book close to my posting date, but posting a review was a flexible arrangement, which ended up working well.

Set a few hundred years into the future on Bellona, and in a country called Treshane, several planets have been destroyed by the Death Comet, but Earth’s culture and cultural icons and institutions live on in Gerdie’s world, which connects the two worlds and how close they are in time and space in fun ways, and ways that readers will be able to appreciate. Yet, amidst all this, Conqueror Seki rules with an iron fist, and is hunting a comet in the form of a boy named Fell. As Gerdie, Fell, and Leo travel across Treshane, to find a comet and the parts for Gerdie’s invention – and stay out of Seki’s way. Because catching Fell and Leo are at the heart of his plans. He needs them to completely take over and complete his quest.

It is a quest that is filled with danger, unique and genuine young adult voices, and thrills that are balanced – the threat is there, it is imminent, and I was on the edge of my seat. At the same time, it’s not over the top – there are moments of calm that restore the nerves and help the reader get from point to point. This makes the adventure work well, and allows readers to feel the ebbs and flows throughout the story. It brings it together well, because readers need books that have all sorts of stories. It has great fantastical and science fiction elements that have blended together to create an exciting debut from this fantastic Western Australian author.

Throughout the story, as the mystery of where Fell came from, and journey across Treshane to defeat Seki takes place, the world unfolds well. The descriptions and references to what we know and what people are yet to find out gives readers a good idea if what Treshane and Bellona are like. And tiny hints are dropped throughout, from the very start, that come back into play later on in the book as things unfold and people’s true motives are slowly revealed. It’s cleverly done, like any good mystery, to keep readers guessing and engaged in the story – it was one where I kept wondering what was going on and what more there was to know about the world, the characters and the quest. It captures the world well, because everything we need to know is developed and presented clearly.

This was a great science fiction novel, and one that readers who love the genre or who are just trying out the genre for the first time. It feels authentic – the setting, the voices, and the story – nothing felt out of place, and that’s always what makes a book work for me. It’s authenticity and sense of fitting in well for its genre and readership, whilst also engaging older readers in a fun story that rolls off the page. It’s a fantastic rollicking adventure, and one that I loved reading, reviewing and being part of the Instagram tour for this earlier this month.

I hope this book finds its readers, because I think it is going to have everything fans of this genre like, and it’s just a great book overall.