Cloudgazer (Novel)
Cloudgazer is the first book in the Cloudgazer Saga, written by Alexander Webb.
Current Status: Completed Draft #3
Synopsis
Kiy Tanthar works as a Cloudgazer based in the Brazak West town of Brudor. But both he and his client's daughter Hennie Litvyak must move on when war with Ganzabar ignites, leaving Brudor in flames. Kiy departs in search of Hennie's runaway brother Leo, while she must flee to the city of Laronor in the north. There she will overcome the challenges of the big city and meet a new friends, as well as discover a looming plot to destroy Brazak West's last hope of stopping the Ganzabi invasion: the Gundar.
Meanwhile, Kiy finds Leo; but also trouble in the form of a hyper-advanced Azrunite airship Akron, as well as perhaps the only thing more enigmatic than it: a woman named Ellise Kerowan. Pressed into joining the Akron, Kiy is drawn into Commander Mestphura's secretive mission to recover something of great importance to Azrune: the prototype airship Postremo. Not an easy task, as the Postremo is in the possession of wicked Ganzabi Countess De Saufon, who entraps and captures the Akron. Using the Akron's ancient Jump System, Kiy and the crew escape the Countess to Nubylon.
In Laronor, Hennie has found refuge with the Rathbone family and sets out on a plan to save the Gundar from Ganzabi spies. With her new friend Karak, an ex-soldier, she sets out to find and stop the bombs on the defensive installation. But as they are at the crest of completing their plan, Karak betrays the team, revealing he is in fact a Ganzabi pilot and that the bomb story was a fabrication. Hennie narrowly manages to stop him, but the Ganzabi attack on the city is imminent and she and her friends Jerra and Sput must take up arms to defend it.
Imprisoned by Azrune for being a Cloudgazer, Kiy is unable to do anything about the worsening situation at home. But with the help of the Proctor and the unlikely alliance with Ellise, Kiy escapes Nubylon and returns to Laronor, where a battle rages. Using his Cloudgazer abilities with Ellise's piloting, the two assault the now captured Gundar head-on. Kiy manages to break past the point-defense and confront Admiral Moller, leader of the Ganzabi invasion. In a final clash, Moller fires on Laronor, to Kiy's horror. Moller's bodyguard defeats Kiy, but the Admiral is goaded and hastily fires a second time, causing the barrel to rupture and wrecking the installation. In the collapsing mass, Moller and his officers perish; while Kiy uses his Sling to get he and Hennie to safety.
In the aftermath, they note the Postremo is still at large and the war is unresolved, but the Litvyaks are reunited and Kiy remarks that sometimes family is the only thing you have the power to look after. On reflection, he decides to head to Ganzabar, to discover what became of his kidnapped little sister from many years before.
