Pratima goes on an undercover mission for the Library. This India of the future has no modern technology. Includes an added short story, Lakisha Decides.

"This is, in fact, 2 short stories: 'Pratima’s Engines' – which describes a Librarian in India seeking out a Duke with banned weapons; and 'Lakisha Decides' where a young Gullah girl meets a Librarian who will assist her in many ways. Both are excellent and serve as introductory pieces to larger series. I found “Pratima’s Engines” to be particularly intriguing for the POV Gibson picked: a very intelligent deaf girl who reads lips. You don’t see many differently-abled characters in Sci-Fi, and Gibson handles it well and subtly. I would happily have read an entire novel featuring this character. “Lakisha Decides” highlights the problems of today as well as then, in that land developers wish to take Lakisha’s Low-Country homeland. But this is also a coming-of-age story, so Lakisha sets the course for her entire life on what happens. The author’s work here is so sure-footed, imaginative, and thoroughly thought out, it is almost hard to DISbelieve such a world of no-tech and warrior Librarians exists. If you are looking for an entirely different take on 'Steampunk,' look no further than S.A. Gibson’s 'Woodpunk' post-apocalyptic worlds." -Jacqueline Church Simonds, in Bookbub