Metal From Heaven, by August Clarke
2 Dec 2025The Book
Synopsis:
Marney Honeycutt stands on the picket line, surrounded by her family and friends, protesting the terrible sickness and death befalling her fellow factory workers. They are luster-touched, victims of the side effects of the toxic ichorite, the most valuable substance in the world. Up against the heartless factory owner, Yann I. Chauncey, Marney doesn’t stand a chance and when he sends in the guns to break the line, she loses everything except her life.
And vows bloody vengeance.
A decade later, Marney is the nation’s most notorious highwayman, and Chauncey’s daughter seeks an opportune marriage. Marney’s rage and the ghosts of her past will drive her to masquerade as an aristocrat, outmanoeuvre powerful suitors, and win the heart of his daughter, so Marney can finally corner Chauncey and satisfy her need for revenge. But war ferments in the north, and deeper grudges are surfacing…
My Review
Metal From Heaven is a sapphic steampunk fantasy novel, written by August Clarke and published by Solaris (Erewhon in US). A tale of revenge set against the backdrop of an industrial revolution, in a parallel to the robber barons' era, a creative worldbuilding that serves as the scenario for a cast of flawed and intense characters, which also explores themes such as chronic illness and visceral nature of vengeance.
Our story follows Marney, starting from the moment she was made an orphan after her family's attempt to unionize ended being shot by the police protecting the same factory that made her chronically ill; the point that marks in her mind the name of Yann I. Chauncey, owner of the ichorite industry, and against whom she swears to get revenge. We will see how she joins an outlaw band and organizes sabotages against the industry, until the opportunity of a political marriage with Chauncey's daughter opens, her best shot to get closer to Chauncey and end his life; all of Marney's decisions are guided by how close they could get to her final target.
Marney is already a complicated character by herself; chronically ill and orphaned because of the greed of Chauncey, she's obsessed with getting revenge. She's not exactly a likeable character, and I would say that's something that could be extended to most of the cast, landing in a grey but intense spot. There's an authentic sense of found family across the gang, and trust me, they get really, really intense.
Clarke's narration style lands on the bright, blurry side, with all passing as the thought stream of our main character, telling her story to a hypothetical companion, somebody that died at the start of the story. It ends being a quite unique approach towards narrative. The action scenes are absolutely impeccable, and seeing our characters move through the complex politics across the city is another highlight for me, especially with how they need to hide Marney's condition.
Metal From Heaven is a great novel, a sapphic steampunk proposal that you will enjoy if you are drawn towards intense experiences and are keen to explore a parallel with our own story. Not the last novel I will read by this author!
The Author/s
August Clarke
August Clarke is here and queer, etc. They have been published in PRISM international, Portland Review, and Eidolon. He was a 2019 Lambda Literary Fellow in Young Adult Fiction and a Locus Award, Dragon Award, and Pushcart nominee. They researched queerness, labor, and monstrosity at the University of Chicago. He is the author of the indie-bestselling series The Scapegracers, which he writes as H. A. Clarke.