Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire | The Map of Unknown Things (Elizabeth Barnabus Series) Books in Order By Rod Duncan
To solve a mystery you must ask the right question. To keep a mystery you must have them ask the wrong one.”
― Rod Duncan, The Custodian of Marvels
Elizabeth Barnabus Series
Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire
- The Bullet-Catcher’s Daughter (2014)
- Unseemly Science (2015)
- The Custodian of Marvels (2016)
The Map of Unknown Things
- The Queen of All Crows (2018)
- The Outlaw and the Upstart King (2019)
- The Fugitive and the Vanishing Man (2020)
What is the Elizabeth Barnabus Series about?
The Elizabeth Barnabus series consists of six books, which are two separate sets of trilogies. Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire and The Map of Unknown Things. The series takes place in an alternate version of history, takes place in a Victorian-esque England. More specifically, mainly set around Leicester and Lincolnshire. Set in the “Gas-Lit” Empire, not long after the events of the Luddite Revolution that has reined back technology.
Following Elizabeth Barnabus, the protagonist of the series, she lives on a narrowboat on the canals and is the daughter of a magician. She works to uncover the truth and hide away from the forces that be.
The first book of the series, The Bullet-Catcher’s Daughter, was nominated for the Phillip K. Dick Award in 2014.
Who is Rod Duncan?
Rod Duncan is a British author and was born in 1962 in Wales, he grew up in a small coastal town of Aberystwyth. He grew up struggling with dyslexia, which he was identified as at the age of eight. It was the invention of the word processor that enabled him to follow his passion of writing. And in 2003 he released his debut novel Backlash which was shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association CWA New Blood Dagger award for the best debut crime novel of 2003. This was the first book of his Riot Trilogy.
He currently lives in Leicestershire working as a writer and a lecturer at the De Montfort University.
There is no more complete and satisfying way for a man to disappear than for him to have never existed.
― Rod Duncan, The Bullet-Catcher’s Daughter
The Order
Below you will find the best reading order for the entire Elizabeth Barnabus Series. And while the first trilogy works as a standalone, with a concise ending, the second trilogy does to an extent, but you will miss out on understanding a lot of characters’ motivations, backstories, relationships and more. So to read it on the safe side, stick to the order you see below.
WARNING: There may be spoilers for some of the books mentioned. These are taken from the official descriptions but can sometimes spoil parts of previous books. So please be careful!
The Bullet-Catcher’s Daughter (2014) 
Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire #1, Elizabeth Barnabus Series #1
106,800 words, 40 chapters, 375 pages, 7hrs 10mins to read.
2,670 average words per chapter, 9.3 average pages per chapter
Published by Angry Robot
3.74 out of 5 on Goodreads
Elizabeth Barnabus lives a double life—as herself and as her brother, the private detective. She is trying to solve the mystery of a disappearing aristocrat and a hoard of arcane machines. In her way stand the rogues, freaks and self-proclaimed alchemists of a travelling circus. But when she comes up against an agent of the all-powerful Patent Office, her life and the course of history will begin to change. And not necessarily for the better…
Unseemly Science (2015) 
Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire #2, Elizabeth Barnabus Series #2
104,805 words, 38 chapters, 368 pages, 7hrs to read.
2,758 average words per chapter, 9.7 average pages per chapter
Published by Angry Robot
3.89 out of 5 on Goodreads
In the divided land of England, Elizabeth Barnabus has been living a double life – as both herself and as her brother, the private detective. Witnessing the hanging of Alice Carter, the false duchess, Elizabeth resolves to throw the Bullet Catcher’s Handbook into the fire, and forget her past. If only it were that easy!
There is a new charitable organisation in town, run by some highly respectable women. But something doesn’t feel right to Elizabeth. Perhaps it is time for her fictional brother to come out of retirement for one last case…? Her unstoppable curiosity leads her to a dark world of body-snatching, unseemly experimentation, politics and scandal. Never was it harder for a woman in a man’s world..
The Custodian of Marvels (2016) 
Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire #3, Elizabeth Barnabus Series #3
105,660 words, 33 chapters, 368 pages, 7hrs 5mins to read.
3,201 average words per chapter, 11.1 average pages per chapter
Published by Angry Robot
3.96 out of 5 on Goodreads
You’d have to be mad to steal from the feared International Patent Office. But that’s what Elizabeth Barnabus is about to try. A one-time enemy from the circus has persuaded her to attempt a heist that will be the ultimate conjuring trick.
Hidden in the vaults of the Patent Court in London lie secrets that could shake the very pillars of the Gas-Lit Empire. All that stands in Elizabeth’s way are the agents of the Patent Office, a Duke’s private army and the mysterious Custodian of Marvels.
The Queen of All Crows (2018) 
The Map of Unknown Things #1, Elizabeth Barnabus Series #4
93,415 words, 348 pages, 37 chapters, 6hrs 15mins to read.
2,524 average words per chapter, 9.4 average pages per chapter
Published by Angry Robot
3.77 out of 5 on Goodreads
The year is 2012. The nations of the world are bound together in an alliance of collective security, overseen by the International Patent Office, and its ruthless stranglehold on technology.
When airships start disappearing in the middle of the Atlantic, the Patent Office is desperate to discover what has happened. Forbidden to operate beyond the territorial waters of member nations, they send spies to investigate in secret.
One of those spies is Elizabeth Barnabus. She must overcome her dislike of the controlling Patent Office, disguise herself as a man, and take to the sea in search of the floating nation of pirates who threaten the world order.
The Outlaw and the Upstart King (2019) 
The Map of Unknown Things #2, Elizabeth Barnabus Series #5
109,585 words, 377 pages, 41 chapters, 7hrs 20mins to read.
2,672 average words per chapter, 9.2 average pages per chapter
Published by Angry Robot
3.92 out of 5 on Goodreads
Tattoos are the only law on the Island of the Free, and there can never be a king. Every clan agrees on that. But a returning exile has smuggled something across the water that could send the old ways up in flames. Elias wants revenge on the men who severed his oaths and made him an outlaw. But, if his wealth and honour are to be restored, he’ll need help from the most unlikely quarter – a mysterious woman, landed unwontedly on Newfoundland’s rocky shore.
The Fugitive and the Vanishing Man (2020) 
The Map of Unknown Things #3, Elizabeth Barnabus Series #6
112,835 words, 382 pages, 42 chapters, 7hrs 35mins to read.
2,686 average words per chapter, 9 average pages per chapter
Published by Angry Robot
4.11 out of 5 on Goodreads
Ladies and gentlemen, for the very final time, Elizabeth and Edwin Barnabus will perform the grand illusion of the Vanishing Man.
Elizabeth Barnabus is a mutineer and a murderer. So they say. The noose awaits in Liverpool as punishment for her crimes. But they’ll have to catch her first.
Disguised as a labourer, Elizabeth flees west across America, following a rumour of her long-lost family. Crossing the border into the wilds of the Oregon Territory, she discovers a mustering army, a king who believes he is destined to conquer the world, and a weapon so powerful that it could bring the age of reason crashing down.
In a land where politics and prophecy are one and the same, the fate of the Gas-Lit Empire may come to rest on the perfect execution of a conjuring trick…
Applause is the reward of the bullet-catcher. But the con artist will be far away by the time his trick is seen.
― Rod Duncan, The Custodian of Marvels
Overall
This book series was my first series where I dipped my toes into the Ocean of the Steampunk genre. This book series did not disappoint, full of mystery and intrigue and compelling characters and adventure. I found this to be a real page turner. So much so that when I found out there was a second series of books, containing all these characters. I did not hesitate to dive straight back into them.
Which one is your favourite or most looking forward to picking up next?
Let us know!
Happy reading!
The Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire Total Word Count and More!
The Fall of the Gas-Lit-Empire
- Total words: 317,265 words
- Total pages: 1,111 pages
- Total chapters: 111 chapters
- Total reading time: 21hrs 10mins
The Map of Unknown Things
- Total words: 315,835 words
- Total pages: 1,107 pages
- Total chapters: 120 chapters
- Total reading time: 21hrs 5mins
Elizabeth Barnabus Series
- Total words: 633,100 words
- Total pages: 2,218 pages
- Total chapters: 231 chapters
- Total reading time: 42hrs 15mins
More of the same, but different:
Things to Note:
- Word count is an approximation.
- Amount of pages may differ due to different publications, font style and/or size etc.
- Time spent reading is generally an approximation based on the word count and the average reading time. The average reader will read 250 WPM (Words Per Minute).
- This is the original publisher of the books.
- The current Goodreads score at the time of writing.
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