The Gilded Scarab

Lancaster's Luck, Book 1

By: Anna Butler

Narrated by: Gary Furlong

Book one in the Lancaster's Luck M/M steampunk trilogy.

When Captain Rafe Lancaster is invalided out of the Britannic Imperium's Aero Corps after crashing his aerofighter during the Second Boer War, his eyesight is damaged permanently, and his career as a fighter pilot is over. Returning to London in late November 1899, he's lost the skies he loved, has no place in a society ruled by an elite oligarchy of powerful Houses, and is hard up, homeless, and in desperate need of a new direction in life. Everything changes when he buys a coffeehouse near the Britannic Imperium Museum in Bloomsbury, the haunt of Aegyptologists. For the first time in years, Rafe is free to be himself.

In a city powered by luminiferous aether and phlogiston, and where powerful men use House assassins to target their rivals, Rafe must navigate dangerous politics, deal with a jealous and possessive ex-lover, learn to make the best coffee in London, and fend off murder and kidnap attempts before he can find happiness with the man he loves.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019, 2020, 2022 Anna Butler (P)2022 Decent Fellows Press

Great book and narration!

I’ve been waiting for this book to come out on audio and I’m so pleased that it finally has! Truly enjoyed the story and Gary Furlong is absolutely wonderful.

Very enjoyable

Excellent character building. Interesting story elements woven together very well. I’ll be picking up the next in the series soon.

Great adventure and great romance

As someone who grew up on Wells, Burroughs, H. Rider Hagard, Verne, et al, this book took the Victorian adventure trope and tweaked it with a sprinkling of steampunk, and some well done moments of M/M sex and romance. This version of our British Empire was richly detailed and fascinating. This was never gratuitous, but advanced the story. Beautifully performed by one of my favorite narrators, Gary Furlong. He is so gifted with accents, and male or female voices. Enhanced an already superb volume 1, and volume 2 is coming out soon. This is a three book series I have read more than once, and with Furlong narrating, I will happily listen to it again.

At Last

I’ve read all three of the Lancaster’s Luck e-books that have been published so far. Now, at last, the first (The Gilded Scarab) has been issued as an Audible audiobook. This is a great steampunk adventure series, with solid world building and characters you quickly come to care about. I had no trouble following the plot, as the author doesn’t make the mistake of overloading the reader with technical info dumps. There is also an M/M romance at the center of the story that motivates some of the characters but is only part of a bigger plot that revolves around the lives and intrigues of the characters. I’m picky regarding narrators, but I enjoyed Gary Furlong’s British accent and thought he had good expression and pacing. Good book, good narrator. This will be an audiobook that I listen to again and again.

lovely

My first by this author, and I loved it!

Even though this is a steam punk novel, it's light enough with the twist of terms and gadgets that if you're not a huge fan, like me, you'll be fine.

This story follows mainly one MC, Rafe, and his life from a career ending accident to him sorting out what comes next. Although, we do have a number of secondary characters that make up this very entertaining tale.

I really hope book 2 comes along very soon.

Gary does an extraordinary job with all these voiced and keeping the story entertaining.

wonderful story, great narrator

I'd read this book a while ago, but wanted to hear it. Gary Furlong is an exceptional voice artist, and brought Anna Butler's characters to life.

absolutely stunning

I only picked this up because I adore Gary Furlong’s voice and the story sounded alright. I have not been so pleasantly surprised in a long time. The writing is redolent of Fitzgerald and Evelyn Waugh—sharp and sparkling or lush and languid, by turns. The story is clever and funny and heartbreaking and human, and the plot is just over the top enough to keep the dramatic tension fun, rather than stressful. The characters and the world building are excellent…I just can’t say enough about how well done this is. I’m not a fan of steam punk, at all, but I’d never seen it done well, before. The just barely off-real world came together so believably, and everything made sense and played by the rules of its own universe. Not a hint of sci-fi magic paintbrushing here! As for the narration, Gary Furlong is my favorite reader, and he brought the characters and scenes so vividly to life, that I could literally see them. Again, I just can’t recommend this book enough. My only complaint is that I can’t give it even more stars.

A perfect match

Gary Furlong is a perfect match for this story. He captures hero Rafe Lancaster perfectly. This gaslamp m/m romance is as thrilling and well written as I remember.

Outstanding performance, stellar steampunk romance

This is one of my favorite books, and Gary Furlong's performance of it is absolutely spectacular. Rafe Lancaster is a hero to fall in love with, and Furlong brings his his wry, insouciant voice to life so much more effectively than I expected. It's a great book - steampunk romance and adventure (gets even better as the trilogy goes on; please to all the audiobook gods that the rest are recorded, too) in a British Imperium several steps removed from actual late-Victorian Britain in both technology and society. It's a world of complicated political intrigue that is highly creative; I wish Butler would write more in this world, because it's fascinating. I just can't say enough good things about both book and performance.

pretty good

it was an easy read, the narrator did a good job with making sure you could easily tell when someone else was talking. it was also kinda amusing every time the MC was pretending that it was something else that was causing the misty eyes.