The Memory Keeper - Sarina Dorie

Steampunk. Mystery. Romance.
Shion was once an orphan of Ainu descent living in a Japanese neighborhood on Lexington Moon Colony. Adopted by a kind Irish family and given the name Sean McMurphy, he thought he had left his old life and old ways behind. When he is unexpectedly invited to serve as translator on an expedition of the newly discovered planet of Aynu-Mosir, he is thrust into a culture he had hoped to forget.

Sean stumbles upon an ancient technology which may explain how the ancestors of the first space explorers arrived on the planet using steam-powered technology. It seems the luck of the Irish is with him, and he might even earn a reward.

Instead, he is accused of a crime he didn't commit. He must prove his innocence by giving another his memories using the medicinal herb, memory moss. If he cannot learn to embrace the ways of his people and demonstrate he isn't a thief, he may be sentenced to death.

This book is a stand-alone, fine to read out of order with the rest of the series.

Experience steampunk across the farthest reaches of the galaxy.