Shards of pure Aether fuel the industrial revolution, the fantasy creatures from children's storybooks are real and part of human society, and magic has returned to the modern world. It is the summer of 1870 and it has been over fifty years since the rift tore a hole in the sky, raining down Aether shards, blanketing the world in sickly green light, and transporting millions of Calvasians to earth. Trouble is brewing in Europe, and a mysterious benefactor brings American Abigail Thorne, Frenchman Olivier Toussaint, and German Augustus Kraus together to stop a madman's nefarious scheme. From the upscale neighborhoods of London to the deck of a flying airship, the three will be tested time and again by smoke, steel, and fire.