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Veneficas Americana #1
The Native Star
In the tradition of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, this brilliant first novel fuses history, fantasy, and romance. Prepare to be enchanted by M. K. Hobson's captivating take on the Wild, Wild West.
The year is 1876. In the small Sierra Nevada settlement of Lost Pine, the town witch, Emily Edwards, is being run out of business by an influx of mail-order patent magics. Attempting to solve her problem with a love spell, Emily only makes things worse. But before she can undo the damage, an enchanted artifact falls into her possession--and suddenly Emily must flee for her life, pursued by evil warlocks who want the object for themselves.
Dreadnought Stanton, a warlock from New York City whose personality is as pompous and abrasive as his name, has been exiled to Lost Pine for mysterious reasons. Now he finds himself involuntarily allied with Emily in a race against time--and across the United States by horse, train, and biomechanical flying machine--in quest of the great Professor Mirabilis, who alone can unlock the secret of the coveted artifact. But along the way, Emily and Stanton will be forced to contend with the most powerful and unpredictable magic of all--the magic of the human heart.
The year is 1876. In the small Sierra Nevada settlement of Lost Pine, the town witch, Emily Edwards, is being run out of business by an influx of mail-order patent magics. Attempting to solve her problem with a love spell, Emily only makes things worse. But before she can undo the damage, an enchanted artifact falls into her possession--and suddenly Emily must flee for her life, pursued by evil warlocks who want the object for themselves.
Dreadnought Stanton, a warlock from New York City whose personality is as pompous and abrasive as his name, has been exiled to Lost Pine for mysterious reasons. Now he finds himself involuntarily allied with Emily in a race against time--and across the United States by horse, train, and biomechanical flying machine--in quest of the great Professor Mirabilis, who alone can unlock the secret of the coveted artifact. But along the way, Emily and Stanton will be forced to contend with the most powerful and unpredictable magic of all--the magic of the human heart.
387 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 31, 2010
About the author
M.K. Hobson
27 books221 followersM.K. Hobson recently decided to follow a time-honored authorial tradition and become a bitter recluse. She swore off all social media and left her website to go to seed. At the moment, she exists only as a voice on short fiction podcasts such as Podcastle and Cast of Wonders. She leavens the tedium of her vastly expanded free time with misanthropy, paranoia, and weight lifting.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 508 reviews
August 2, 2011
The Native Star is for me what (I assume) Soulless was for many of my dear Goodreads friends - a romance wrapped up in a steampunky adventure. I thought Soulless was a trite fanfic stuffed with ripping bodices and an occasional gadget or two, but The Native Star, IMO, is the real deal, a well thought-out and original alternative universe romp.
The story takes place in 1870s AU America. In this America witches and warlocks stopped being persecuted and now are a legitimate strata of the American society. They trade their skills, they are a part of government, they even comprise a special force unit of military. Our heroine, Emily, is a witch in a small timber producing village. Emily's business is not doing so great, the magic-trading monopolists are overtaking the market. The only solution for her financial problems is to harness a wealthy man to support her and her stepfather. On the day when Emily charms her target man (which turns out to be not as much fun as Emily thought it would be), she also gets involved in an affair that leaves her with a stone of strange qualities imbedded in her right hand. The most curious thing about this stone is that it has the ability to suck in any magic that Emily happens to come in contact with. Which means she can no longer perform magic. There is only one person who can help Emily in her plight - an uptight, annoying warlock Dreadnought Stanton who promises her to take care of her problem if she agrees to travel with him to consult his mentor across the country.
The Native Star starts as a pretty light read, with a little bit of magic and quite a lot of antagonistic Darcy/Elizabeth-like bantering as our couple make their way first to San Francisco and later to New York. But gradually the book gets darker and gloomier. The magic is not all about love potions, it can be ugly and bloody. The stakes get raised higher and higher as we, along with Emily and Stanton, learn more of the stone's nature and value. The stone is a hot commodity, and many people want to get their hands on it.
Hobson's story writing skills are impressive. (I can't believe it is her debut!) While she doesn't break any new ground in terms of romance, her magical system is one of the most interesting and complex I've ever seen. Hobson incorporates it into her story seamlessly. In the author's vision, magic permeates American history and all parts of people's lives in a very organic and realistic way.
If this is what steampunk is, I definitely want more of it. This mix of history, magic, adventure, gadgetry and love is right up my alley.
The story takes place in 1870s AU America. In this America witches and warlocks stopped being persecuted and now are a legitimate strata of the American society. They trade their skills, they are a part of government, they even comprise a special force unit of military. Our heroine, Emily, is a witch in a small timber producing village. Emily's business is not doing so great, the magic-trading monopolists are overtaking the market. The only solution for her financial problems is to harness a wealthy man to support her and her stepfather. On the day when Emily charms her target man (which turns out to be not as much fun as Emily thought it would be), she also gets involved in an affair that leaves her with a stone of strange qualities imbedded in her right hand. The most curious thing about this stone is that it has the ability to suck in any magic that Emily happens to come in contact with. Which means she can no longer perform magic. There is only one person who can help Emily in her plight - an uptight, annoying warlock Dreadnought Stanton who promises her to take care of her problem if she agrees to travel with him to consult his mentor across the country.
The Native Star starts as a pretty light read, with a little bit of magic and quite a lot of antagonistic Darcy/Elizabeth-like bantering as our couple make their way first to San Francisco and later to New York. But gradually the book gets darker and gloomier. The magic is not all about love potions, it can be ugly and bloody. The stakes get raised higher and higher as we, along with Emily and Stanton, learn more of the stone's nature and value. The stone is a hot commodity, and many people want to get their hands on it.
Hobson's story writing skills are impressive. (I can't believe it is her debut!) While she doesn't break any new ground in terms of romance, her magical system is one of the most interesting and complex I've ever seen. Hobson incorporates it into her story seamlessly. In the author's vision, magic permeates American history and all parts of people's lives in a very organic and realistic way.
If this is what steampunk is, I definitely want more of it. This mix of history, magic, adventure, gadgetry and love is right up my alley.
November 3, 2011
I get ridiculously animated when I am excited about books and boy, you should’ve seen me explaining this book to people I encountered in real life who asked me what I was reading. “There’s this woman who lives in backwoods California in the late 1800s but in, like, a slightly different universe with all sorts of magic. So she and her pa, who isn’t really related to her, are the local witch and warlock who create hexes and spells for people and their business is in trouble from a mail order company. Also, there is this badass-type warlock from a hoity-toity magic school and no one really knows why he’s in their town. So Emily, that’s the woman, in the very beginning she creates a love spell that goes wrong and then there are mining zombies, huge, shambling rodents and then all sorts of wild west stuff, a long train ride, and ancient magic and villains and …” Cue a confused look on my friends’ faces. That was understandable because Native Star truly is a combination of so many genres. The book is fun in the same way as Firefly, only Firefly is sci-fi western and this is wild, west fantasy. Both of them have fun romantic plots and I really dug the dialogue between Emily and Dreadnought:
“I’ve wanted you ever since I saw you dancing naked under that damn oak tree, botching up that preposterous love spell.”
Emily jabbed an accusing finger at him. “So you did see me!”
“It was an appalling spectacle,” he said, “I enjoyed it tremendously.” (Loc. 5576)
Native Star was tightly plotted for the most part, though it gets a little flustered in last portion. I found myself rereading portions of the climactic scenes for clarity, especially when the author alluded to events and characters that hadn’t been mentioned since the very first pages of the novel. Scatterbrained people like me who read several books at once might find it a bit hard to remember everything and everyone at times. Truly, there was very little that I didn’t enjoy in Native Star. Perhaps the only problems I had at all were the number of characters with secondary or hidden motivations and the number of villains. But the author doesn’t take herself too seriously and her fun is the reader’s enjoyment.
This book is the perfect example of a novel that might’ve gone under my radar had it not been for several glowing reviews by friends of mine on Goodreads. I even bought the second book before I’d read the first because I was pretty positive I’d enjoy it. I will be reading The Hidden Goddess sooner rather than later.
“I’ve wanted you ever since I saw you dancing naked under that damn oak tree, botching up that preposterous love spell.”
Emily jabbed an accusing finger at him. “So you did see me!”
“It was an appalling spectacle,” he said, “I enjoyed it tremendously.” (Loc. 5576)
Native Star was tightly plotted for the most part, though it gets a little flustered in last portion. I found myself rereading portions of the climactic scenes for clarity, especially when the author alluded to events and characters that hadn’t been mentioned since the very first pages of the novel. Scatterbrained people like me who read several books at once might find it a bit hard to remember everything and everyone at times. Truly, there was very little that I didn’t enjoy in Native Star. Perhaps the only problems I had at all were the number of characters with secondary or hidden motivations and the number of villains. But the author doesn’t take herself too seriously and her fun is the reader’s enjoyment.
This book is the perfect example of a novel that might’ve gone under my radar had it not been for several glowing reviews by friends of mine on Goodreads. I even bought the second book before I’d read the first because I was pretty positive I’d enjoy it. I will be reading The Hidden Goddess sooner rather than later.
June 5, 2012
The goodreads and Amazon descriptions for The Native Star promise so many elements that it's hard to believe the novel could possibly deliver them all successfully: historical fiction, fantasy and magic, steampunk, western, and romance. And yet, this book is one of the rare cases when an idea that crosses so many genres and brings in many different aspects actually works well.
Emily Edwards is the local witch in a small town in California. The year is 1876, but this isn't quite the past that history books tell us about. Instead of being false accusations, it turns out that the witch trials were actually attempts to out real witches and warlocks, but in this alternate universe witchcraft has been legalized and magic is now an important part of the United States. However, not everyone is so accepting of it, and magic is also used illegally for criminal purposes or to manipulate people. Emily starts the story by deciding that the only way to save her and her father from their financial problems is to cast a love spell on a wealthy local man. Unfortunately, things don't go quite to plan, and before Emily can put things right she finds herself with a strange magic-absorbing stone embedded in her palm that prevents her from using magic and reversing the love spell.
Reluctantly teaming up with the insufferable warlock, Dreadnought Stanton, Emily must set out across the country to have the stone removed so she can eventually put things right again. However, the stone is far more valuable than Emily could have foreseen, and it turns out that just about everyone wants to get their hands on it. As Emily and Stanton flee for their lives, their relationship goes from barely tolerating one another to a begrudging friendship to something a little deeper. It's the kind of romance I enjoy reading, the kind that is built up slowly and steadily and had me caring about the characters first.
This is a really good fantasy historical steampunk western romance. The world Ms Hobson has created is vivid and easily imaginable. I like how she has cleverly woven magic into history and mixed it up with a touch of real life events and people - like President Grant - but kept it very fresh and exciting at the same time. The tone is mostly light-hearted and the pacing felt just right, I'm really really glad that I already have The Hidden Goddess waiting for me.
June 9, 2011
This book is really tough for me to review.
Let's start with this: the world was fabulous. It was unique and fascinating. Flavors of steampunk, and the varieties of magic were cool. So this author gets an A for world-building.
Now let's chat about everything else. First and foremost:
What the fuck is going on in this book?
It is strange to reach the end of a book and feel like you understand less about what is going on than you did in the first couple of chapters. I think that the combination of the fact that this is the author's first book AND that this plot seems to have complicated, tangled layers where no one is really what they seem... it just adds up to too much. The ending was, for me anyway, a hot mess filled with "What just happened?" "What are they doing with it?" "Wait, am I supposed to know these people / that organization?" and then at the end, some big powerhouse Dude steps out of ... I don't know, a closet or something, leaving me baffled and wondering who the hell that guy is supposed to be. The world Hobson built is intricate and detailed, and there are organizations vying for power, but the lines between them (or lack of lines, or in some cases lines that turned out to not be lines at all) were confusing.
The characters
Emily Edwards, the heroine, was cool. She was smart, brave, quick on her feet and generally able to handle herself. She was pretty solid as a heroine. But she made a mistake in the very beginning - a mistake that is a tangent to the story, by the way, and has nothing to do with the overall plot - and it feels like she spent the entire rest of the book paying for it. It got tedious. But that aside, I liked Emily.
Dreadnought Stanton, the hero, was... an asshole. Sorry, but he did not impress me in any way. From his smug condescension early in the book (which, despite everything - including Emily saving his life on several occasions - he NEVER got over... he was still keeping vital things from her so she wouldn't worry her pretty little head over it, all the way at the very end of the book), to his bossy know-it-all attitude, to his refusal to share any info without having it pried from his smug face (and even then, he would only utter as little as he could manage before he changed the subject), he really really grated on me. He did the WRONG thing CONSTANTLY, whether it was his attitude towards Emily or his trust for IDIOTS, or just his stupid plan in the first place, and yet was always insisting that he knew best.
Their romance - if you can even call it that - didn't work for me. Because he's a douchebag. And because he never at any point actually indicated any real interest in her. I didn't buy it. And having Emily virtually throw herself at him in the end, to beg him to be with her, was appalling to me, and did a lot to undermine her character. He in no way deserves her, and hell, he hasn't even really expressed an interest. Fuck that guy.
The secondary cast. Here's where I feel like it got really painful. It felt like they were all uniformly villains. And hell, it still feels that way - we were treated to an epilogue of supposed allies talking trash about them as they plotted secretly. And this brings me to my final point of criticism:
Clearly, it is time for the human race to just die off.
The entire world is populated with assholes. That must be the case, because it has become constant in every book I have read lately. Is anyone else tired of this trend in books? We have some Big Apocalyptic Thing (henceforth to be called BAT) about to occur, and the h/h are racing desperately to save the world. Said world is throwing up obstacles in their path at every opportunity, and most people they run across are trying to stab them in the back. What here is worth saving? I know all my friends have heard this rant from me before, so I won't go into all the detail again here, but really. Authors: you are taking the "Us Against the World" thing too far. If the world is really so shitty, I have a hard time justifying all the effort to save it. Maybe that's just me.
But in that same line, one thing this book did really take too far, for me, is the women-hating. Look, I know that women weren't exactly valued members of society in these historicals, but in this book, 99.999999999999999999% of the men treated all women (but Emily in particular) as if they were whores, idiots, slaves, or usually some combination of the three. It got tiresome. I can only handle the whore references (I have grown to loathe the world skycladdish) or the "don't worry your pretty little head" comments for so long. Having every male in the book utter one or both of these things makes me hate every male in the book. Please refer to the previous paragraph.
So. I am having a tough time with the review, because despite how things sound above, I didn't hate it. I liked the mythology the author was creating - I thought it was new and interesting. I liked the mesh of magic and science (reminds me quite a bit of the Blades of the Rose series, actually). But I feel like the story being told is a hot mess. I literally have no idea what the fuck is going on. And I am tired of a heroine that I like quite a bit being constantly belittled by not just the ENTIRE WORLD but also by the HERO.
I'll read the next, because I would like to see if this can actually pull together into something... but... for this one, I am going to give it:
***2.5***
Let's start with this: the world was fabulous. It was unique and fascinating. Flavors of steampunk, and the varieties of magic were cool. So this author gets an A for world-building.
Now let's chat about everything else. First and foremost:
What the fuck is going on in this book?
It is strange to reach the end of a book and feel like you understand less about what is going on than you did in the first couple of chapters. I think that the combination of the fact that this is the author's first book AND that this plot seems to have complicated, tangled layers where no one is really what they seem... it just adds up to too much. The ending was, for me anyway, a hot mess filled with "What just happened?" "What are they doing with it?" "Wait, am I supposed to know these people / that organization?" and then at the end, some big powerhouse Dude steps out of ... I don't know, a closet or something, leaving me baffled and wondering who the hell that guy is supposed to be. The world Hobson built is intricate and detailed, and there are organizations vying for power, but the lines between them (or lack of lines, or in some cases lines that turned out to not be lines at all) were confusing.
The characters
Emily Edwards, the heroine, was cool. She was smart, brave, quick on her feet and generally able to handle herself. She was pretty solid as a heroine. But she made a mistake in the very beginning - a mistake that is a tangent to the story, by the way, and has nothing to do with the overall plot - and it feels like she spent the entire rest of the book paying for it. It got tedious. But that aside, I liked Emily.
Dreadnought Stanton, the hero, was... an asshole. Sorry, but he did not impress me in any way. From his smug condescension early in the book (which, despite everything - including Emily saving his life on several occasions - he NEVER got over... he was still keeping vital things from her so she wouldn't worry her pretty little head over it, all the way at the very end of the book), to his bossy know-it-all attitude, to his refusal to share any info without having it pried from his smug face (and even then, he would only utter as little as he could manage before he changed the subject), he really really grated on me. He did the WRONG thing CONSTANTLY, whether it was his attitude towards Emily or his trust for IDIOTS, or just his stupid plan in the first place, and yet was always insisting that he knew best.
Their romance - if you can even call it that - didn't work for me. Because he's a douchebag. And because he never at any point actually indicated any real interest in her. I didn't buy it. And having Emily virtually throw herself at him in the end, to beg him to be with her, was appalling to me, and did a lot to undermine her character. He in no way deserves her, and hell, he hasn't even really expressed an interest. Fuck that guy.
The secondary cast. Here's where I feel like it got really painful. It felt like they were all uniformly villains. And hell, it still feels that way - we were treated to an epilogue of supposed allies talking trash about them as they plotted secretly. And this brings me to my final point of criticism:
Clearly, it is time for the human race to just die off.
The entire world is populated with assholes. That must be the case, because it has become constant in every book I have read lately. Is anyone else tired of this trend in books? We have some Big Apocalyptic Thing (henceforth to be called BAT) about to occur, and the h/h are racing desperately to save the world. Said world is throwing up obstacles in their path at every opportunity, and most people they run across are trying to stab them in the back. What here is worth saving? I know all my friends have heard this rant from me before, so I won't go into all the detail again here, but really. Authors: you are taking the "Us Against the World" thing too far. If the world is really so shitty, I have a hard time justifying all the effort to save it. Maybe that's just me.
But in that same line, one thing this book did really take too far, for me, is the women-hating. Look, I know that women weren't exactly valued members of society in these historicals, but in this book, 99.999999999999999999% of the men treated all women (but Emily in particular) as if they were whores, idiots, slaves, or usually some combination of the three. It got tiresome. I can only handle the whore references (I have grown to loathe the world skycladdish) or the "don't worry your pretty little head" comments for so long. Having every male in the book utter one or both of these things makes me hate every male in the book. Please refer to the previous paragraph.
So. I am having a tough time with the review, because despite how things sound above, I didn't hate it. I liked the mythology the author was creating - I thought it was new and interesting. I liked the mesh of magic and science (reminds me quite a bit of the Blades of the Rose series, actually). But I feel like the story being told is a hot mess. I literally have no idea what the fuck is going on. And I am tired of a heroine that I like quite a bit being constantly belittled by not just the ENTIRE WORLD but also by the HERO.
I'll read the next, because I would like to see if this can actually pull together into something... but... for this one, I am going to give it:
***2.5***
May 12, 2012
EH? EH! i tried to like this one, i really did. but after the sorta well-done and atmospheric prologue, it became so increasingly aggravating that my eyes felt almost fixed in their rolled-upwards position. i gave up on page 210. the magic in this alternate version of the western is rather interesting - particularly the idea of credomancy. but everything else... Dear God, make it stop! an insufferable heroine who is chock-full of uninteresting motivations and corny pluck, who one minute spits out "varmints" like a refugee from the Beverly Hillbillies and the next minute decides to complain that it is not proper to smoke in front of a lady, and who - worst of all - comes equiped with a stereotypical yet irritatingly illogical automatic dislike for the high-falutin' male lead. hackneyed and overcalculated dialogue meant to illustrate how much our two characters dislike each other - all the better for them to come together in their inevitable We Really Love Each Other moment, presumably later in the book (happily, i didn't get that far). a strained attempt to parallel magic-users with those communities reviled by conservative religious types as ungodly. flat characterization. misuse of zombies. misuse of a dervish. an occasionally deft use of language that more often stumbles (just two examples: incorrect use of the phrase "derring-do" and naturally PEACH-colored shadows for chrissakes... have you ever seen a peach-colored shadow?). annoyingly aggressive overuse of Old Tymey phrases like "cash-money". a front cover that uses the tagline "Sometimes love is the most dangerous magic of all". a back cover description that ends with "But along the way, Emily and Stanton will be forced to contend with the most powerful and unpredictable magic of all - the magic of the human heart". worst offense, also on the back cover: "In the tradition of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell". seriously, the nerve. as if!
May 19, 2014
Native Star is set in 19th century America, an America which is vaguely steampunky, but much more magical. Both sides in the Civil War used magic, which is presently divided into three schools: animancy (that may not be right, but it's close), traditional magic using herbs and things from the earth. Credomancy, which uses belief in magic and its abilities to power said abilities. And sangrimancy, blood magic.
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the recent changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the recent changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
May 23, 2012
Review pertains to an uncorrected galley given me to blurb by the editor.
A delightful Gaslight Fantasy romp set slightly later in time than The Parasol Protectorate series and in, as you may have gathered, the heathen Americas. It features parochial upstart witch, Emily Edwards, and the deliciously named Dreadnaught Stanton.
I enjoyed this book immensely. It took me a little while to get into it and I had a few problems with info-dumps, but it takes A LOT for me to even finish a book these days. I not only finished this, I carved out time in order to do so. I adored the relationship between Emily and Dreadnaught, and I was absorbed by the mixing of historical and magical details building a colorfully different and yet entirely plausible Old West. I mean, come on, zombie gold miners with a kill switch? Brilliant!
A delightful Gaslight Fantasy romp set slightly later in time than The Parasol Protectorate series and in, as you may have gathered, the heathen Americas. It features parochial upstart witch, Emily Edwards, and the deliciously named Dreadnaught Stanton.
I enjoyed this book immensely. It took me a little while to get into it and I had a few problems with info-dumps, but it takes A LOT for me to even finish a book these days. I not only finished this, I carved out time in order to do so. I adored the relationship between Emily and Dreadnaught, and I was absorbed by the mixing of historical and magical details building a colorfully different and yet entirely plausible Old West. I mean, come on, zombie gold miners with a kill switch? Brilliant!
January 30, 2011
When I first heard about The Native Star, I expected it to be an epic fantasy tale in the sweeping style of the Lord of the Rings, or the Wheel of Time. Oh boy, was I in for a surpise! It's like setting out to watch The Last Airbender and instead ending up at a screening of A Knight's Tale.
Jillian's review first inspired me to pick this book up. I read the review, I read the blurb, I got excited. However, I was still expecting it to be a weighty tome, along the lines of "thou shalt fulfill thy epic destiny through thy quest; thou shalt vanquish evil, rescue innocents and Become A Hero/ine." This book took all my expectations and kicked them in the ass, to emerge on the other side triumphant and grinning. Somebody called this book witchpunk, and I think it's an insanely accurate term for what this book represents, a seamless blend of technology and witchcraft, fantasy and historical fiction. You can almost taste the dust and new-world smell of 19th century America.
Hobson handles her worldbuilding with a very light touch. She manages to give her readers all the details without overwhelming them with information. She sets up an entire alternate world, with believable characters, religious and magical systems, and societal strata, without once making you feel like you're reading an encyclopedia. Even when she makes her characters give some necessary background, Stanton's pedantic recital is believable. Instead of being annoyed by the lecture, we are as eager for him to tell us about the Aberrancies and the credomancers and the rest of it all; we wait as breathlessly as Emily for him to tell us more, tell us everything!
And I fell in love with Emily and Stanton. The rest of the characters were great too, but Emily and Stanton stole the show, as they were meant to do. Neither of them was perfect, but both of them were absolutely perfect. If you know what I mean. I expected Dreadnought Stanton (oh, that name!) to be cold and distant and mysterious and powerful. He turned out to be stuffy, formal, pedantic, sort-of grandoise and absolutely ad-or-ab-le! Besides, how can you not fall in love with a book whose hero is called Dreadnought?!
And Emily's a star too; not full of spun-sugary goodness, but a girl with spine and more than a few quirks of her own. She wears a stinky buffalo coat, casts a love spell for mercenary reasons, is blindly prejudices against Indians (of the Native American sort) and wilfully stubborn. I love the fact that she's a backwards witch with very little knowledge of the world, but a lot of spunk. I love the fact that she has this big-ass stone in her hand, and it doesn't give her one single extra super-power. I love the fact that she sasses Stanton all the time, and I love the fact that she confesses to her love for him without sounding like a sappy fool. I am very parsimonious with my praise for romance these days, so it's a big thing when I say that I totally fell in love with the idea of Emily and Stanton as a couple. Together they made me laugh, made me sigh, made me believe!
This book could have been the heavy, serious epic fantasy I was expecting it to be, and it would still probably have been an interesting book, but it would have been a great loss to literary society. I love this book just exactly as it is. It is an ass-kicking, prank-playing romp of an adventure that manages to make you feel good even during its darkest parts. Thank you, Jillian, for finding this gem, and passing it along! :)
Jillian's review first inspired me to pick this book up. I read the review, I read the blurb, I got excited. However, I was still expecting it to be a weighty tome, along the lines of "thou shalt fulfill thy epic destiny through thy quest; thou shalt vanquish evil, rescue innocents and Become A Hero/ine." This book took all my expectations and kicked them in the ass, to emerge on the other side triumphant and grinning. Somebody called this book witchpunk, and I think it's an insanely accurate term for what this book represents, a seamless blend of technology and witchcraft, fantasy and historical fiction. You can almost taste the dust and new-world smell of 19th century America.
Hobson handles her worldbuilding with a very light touch. She manages to give her readers all the details without overwhelming them with information. She sets up an entire alternate world, with believable characters, religious and magical systems, and societal strata, without once making you feel like you're reading an encyclopedia. Even when she makes her characters give some necessary background, Stanton's pedantic recital is believable. Instead of being annoyed by the lecture, we are as eager for him to tell us about the Aberrancies and the credomancers and the rest of it all; we wait as breathlessly as Emily for him to tell us more, tell us everything!
And I fell in love with Emily and Stanton. The rest of the characters were great too, but Emily and Stanton stole the show, as they were meant to do. Neither of them was perfect, but both of them were absolutely perfect. If you know what I mean. I expected Dreadnought Stanton (oh, that name!) to be cold and distant and mysterious and powerful. He turned out to be stuffy, formal, pedantic, sort-of grandoise and absolutely ad-or-ab-le! Besides, how can you not fall in love with a book whose hero is called Dreadnought?!
And Emily's a star too; not full of spun-sugary goodness, but a girl with spine and more than a few quirks of her own. She wears a stinky buffalo coat, casts a love spell for mercenary reasons, is blindly prejudices against Indians (of the Native American sort) and wilfully stubborn. I love the fact that she's a backwards witch with very little knowledge of the world, but a lot of spunk. I love the fact that she has this big-ass stone in her hand, and it doesn't give her one single extra super-power. I love the fact that she sasses Stanton all the time, and I love the fact that she confesses to her love for him without sounding like a sappy fool. I am very parsimonious with my praise for romance these days, so it's a big thing when I say that I totally fell in love with the idea of Emily and Stanton as a couple. Together they made me laugh, made me sigh, made me believe!
This book could have been the heavy, serious epic fantasy I was expecting it to be, and it would still probably have been an interesting book, but it would have been a great loss to literary society. I love this book just exactly as it is. It is an ass-kicking, prank-playing romp of an adventure that manages to make you feel good even during its darkest parts. Thank you, Jillian, for finding this gem, and passing it along! :)
May 26, 2011
Emily is a simple, marginally-educated country witch struggling to make a living in a world that is in the process of shifting to more modern, mass-produced magics. When she investigates a problem with zombie miners and ends up with the mysterious stone in her hand, sorcerer Dreadnaught Stanton (yes, really. Practically everyone but Emily has ridiculous names) persuades her to accompany him to San Francisco to consult specialists there. But even once they've survived Indians and Abberancies to reach the city, the dangers are only beginning...
There was some good action and fantasy material here, especially in the middle third of the book when the characters are traveling. Contrary to what the cover and blurb seems to promise, there is not much romance. That is, there is a romance, and you the reader can see it coming early on, but not much narrative space is devoted to its development, and there is no explicit mention of it till the last fourth or so of the story. Therefore, really less than lots of books that are not billed as romance at all. The bad guys et al supporting cast were pretty two-dimensional, but Dreadnaught and Emily were sympathetic despite being kind of jerks a lot of the time. The dialogue was nothing striking but solid, and if I were on the run from people wanting to chop off my hand I probably wouldn't waste time on witty repartee, either.
The world-building displayed some originality but I felt needed to be worked out a little more, especially in terms of how magic works. We are told that there are multiple types of magic, but the two employed most in the story both seemed unconvincing to me. Stanton is a credomancer, someone whose power work because it is believed in by him and others. The first part I'm okay with -- I grew up with the Force, after all -- but when it comes to interactions with others it just didn't mesh with my belief in free will. Like how Stanton can't enter a church if the people around believe sorcerers are damned, but if he's alone, he can. This seems like it would at the very least create a lot more fluctuation of powers than we see in the story. The bad guys, the Sangrimancers, get power by killing and bleeding out other people. I'm willing to accept that -- blood magic and the belief in it have ancient roots -- but I didn't buy that this was something legal and that 19th-century Americans didn't, for instance, just shoot the sangrimancers. Overall, the various types of magic and how they interacted with the laws and government just didn't seem well-planned-out or clear. I'm not saying these things couldn't be plausible, but I need more convincing. Also, if you make a big deal about the danger of Giant Monster Animals I expect them to appear more than once.
Anyway, a decent first novel of the fun-if-you-don't-think-too-hard variety. And the stage is all set for the next installment.
There was some good action and fantasy material here, especially in the middle third of the book when the characters are traveling. Contrary to what the cover and blurb seems to promise, there is not much romance. That is, there is a romance, and you the reader can see it coming early on, but not much narrative space is devoted to its development, and there is no explicit mention of it till the last fourth or so of the story. Therefore, really less than lots of books that are not billed as romance at all. The bad guys et al supporting cast were pretty two-dimensional, but Dreadnaught and Emily were sympathetic despite being kind of jerks a lot of the time. The dialogue was nothing striking but solid, and if I were on the run from people wanting to chop off my hand I probably wouldn't waste time on witty repartee, either.
The world-building displayed some originality but I felt needed to be worked out a little more, especially in terms of how magic works. We are told that there are multiple types of magic, but the two employed most in the story both seemed unconvincing to me. Stanton is a credomancer, someone whose power work because it is believed in by him and others. The first part I'm okay with -- I grew up with the Force, after all -- but when it comes to interactions with others it just didn't mesh with my belief in free will. Like how Stanton can't enter a church if the people around believe sorcerers are damned, but if he's alone, he can. This seems like it would at the very least create a lot more fluctuation of powers than we see in the story. The bad guys, the Sangrimancers, get power by killing and bleeding out other people. I'm willing to accept that -- blood magic and the belief in it have ancient roots -- but I didn't buy that this was something legal and that 19th-century Americans didn't, for instance, just shoot the sangrimancers. Overall, the various types of magic and how they interacted with the laws and government just didn't seem well-planned-out or clear. I'm not saying these things couldn't be plausible, but I need more convincing. Also, if you make a big deal about the danger of Giant Monster Animals I expect them to appear more than once.
Anyway, a decent first novel of the fun-if-you-don't-think-too-hard variety. And the stage is all set for the next installment.
June 27, 2013
Take a pinch of the Wild West, a dollop of whimsy, just a dash of romance, and a heaping helping of magic and you apparently get a helluva good time!
On the surface, The Native Star is fairly formulaic. There's the Austen-esque dynamic of the stubborn and headstrong (but always proper beneath it all) woman who finds herself at odds with a pompous and equally headstrong jerk (who remains, fundamentally, a gentleman beneath it all). I have to admit that I'm a sucker for this dynamic because nothing triggers my gag reflex quicker than a simpering and whiny heroine, unless it's the "here I come to save the day" uber-perfect hero. Circumstances arise that force these two into unwelcome proximity to one another for the duration of the novel and witty banter between crises ensues. This is pretty standard stuff and even the less sophisticated readers among us can probably make accurate predictions as to where this plot is headed, but . . .
. . . holy shit, was this fun! While the basic narrative is standard, the world building is delightful. Set in the west during the Reconstruction, the United States has always relied on magic to grease the wheels of commerce. There are three primary types of magic practitioners: sangrimancers (who rely on gruesome blood rituals to tap into their power), animancers ("earth" magicians who draw upon nature to heal), and credomancers (faith magicians who draw upon the beliefs of others to make the impossible, well, possible). There's much in-fighting amongst these magical traditions, as well as opposition to magic in the form of religious zealots and the increasing threat of science as a replacement for magic. Several reviews have labeled this as "steampunk," which is misleading as there are no gimmicky, steam-powered gizmos and gadgets. Everything is fueled by magic (as one reviewer said, this is "witchpunk"--a term that seems much more accurate). There are zombies, Native American holy women, murderous spirits, fantastic magical devices, as well as witches and warlocks of every stripe and color imaginable. There are quirky little details (my favorite being the idea of a "squink," a word created by the combination of the words "squid ink" and meaning to lessen the power of a credomancer by clouding his ability to believe in himself).
The Native Star is clever, witty, and intelligently written light reading when you just want to reconnect with the joy of a rollicking journey whose only destination is to enchantment. There are no deeper meanings, no pompous literary preening, no need to bust out the theory books to figure out what is up with the symbolism. It's just fun. And sometimes that's more than enough.
Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder and at Shelf Inflicted
On the surface, The Native Star is fairly formulaic. There's the Austen-esque dynamic of the stubborn and headstrong (but always proper beneath it all) woman who finds herself at odds with a pompous and equally headstrong jerk (who remains, fundamentally, a gentleman beneath it all). I have to admit that I'm a sucker for this dynamic because nothing triggers my gag reflex quicker than a simpering and whiny heroine, unless it's the "here I come to save the day" uber-perfect hero. Circumstances arise that force these two into unwelcome proximity to one another for the duration of the novel and witty banter between crises ensues. This is pretty standard stuff and even the less sophisticated readers among us can probably make accurate predictions as to where this plot is headed, but . . .
. . . holy shit, was this fun! While the basic narrative is standard, the world building is delightful. Set in the west during the Reconstruction, the United States has always relied on magic to grease the wheels of commerce. There are three primary types of magic practitioners: sangrimancers (who rely on gruesome blood rituals to tap into their power), animancers ("earth" magicians who draw upon nature to heal), and credomancers (faith magicians who draw upon the beliefs of others to make the impossible, well, possible). There's much in-fighting amongst these magical traditions, as well as opposition to magic in the form of religious zealots and the increasing threat of science as a replacement for magic. Several reviews have labeled this as "steampunk," which is misleading as there are no gimmicky, steam-powered gizmos and gadgets. Everything is fueled by magic (as one reviewer said, this is "witchpunk"--a term that seems much more accurate). There are zombies, Native American holy women, murderous spirits, fantastic magical devices, as well as witches and warlocks of every stripe and color imaginable. There are quirky little details (my favorite being the idea of a "squink," a word created by the combination of the words "squid ink" and meaning to lessen the power of a credomancer by clouding his ability to believe in himself).
The Native Star is clever, witty, and intelligently written light reading when you just want to reconnect with the joy of a rollicking journey whose only destination is to enchantment. There are no deeper meanings, no pompous literary preening, no need to bust out the theory books to figure out what is up with the symbolism. It's just fun. And sometimes that's more than enough.
Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder and at Shelf Inflicted
October 17, 2011
Much to my granddad’s disgust, Westerns aren’t usually my thing. I think in my life I’ve seen two Westerns.
Fieval Goes West and Back to the Future 3.
See?
Told you.
Not my thing.
But, I tell you, if this book was made into a film (with Adrien Brody as Dreadnought, naturally) I would be the first in line… riding a horse and pretending I was a witch and wearing lovely lacey gloves.
When the lovely Flannery suggested a readalong for this book I was a bit dubious. I wasn’t a massive fan of Ms Carriger’s Soulless and I’d been told there were a lot of similarities. I had spent 22 years being blissfully unaware of what counts as a Steampunk book and I was quite happy to live in this state of ignorance.
It just didn’t seem like my kind of thing.
And maybe Steampunk isn’t.
But whatever Ms Hobson has created with The Native Star is definitely my thing.
As you’re probably used to my high-brow and intelligent way of reviewing books by now, you might feel disappointed with this review. I swear I had every intention of sitting down with my notepad and making serious critical notes and highlighting sections and groaning at the love interest…. But then I just had too much fun and I didn’t give two hoots.
And there really is nothing better than picking up a book and enjoying being in that world so much you don’t even remember that you’re supposed to be being critical, is there?
So, yes the book ran a bit out of steam in the last 25% or so, and yes, everything could have been tied up in a nice little bow at the end.... but I just didn’t really care.
I loved Emily, I loved the magic, I loved the setting, I loved the history, I love the idea, I loved the pacing, I loved how it got a bit hairy towards the end. Heck, I even loved Dag.
And Dreadnought... oh, Mr Stanton.
You could completely tell that Ms Hobson had fun writing this, coming up with the characters and just creating a fantastic book that made me snort in the most unladylike fashion.
So, because my reviews of grown-up books don’t really matter and they can be as unhelpful as I want them to be, I’m just going to resort to seven words
October 16, 2021
This was another one of my series-sampling audio listens, to see if I might want to pursue it in print someday.
Audio Narration
The narrator is Suehyla El-Attar. I liked her pretty well. Her narration was easy to listen to and didn’t annoy me. I did think the voices she used for the male characters were difficult to distinguish between at times, but then there were quite a lot of male characters popping up for brief passages. The text made it pretty easy to realize who was talking anyway, and I was mostly just happy she didn’t voice them in a ridiculous-sounding way like some narrators do when trying to voice characters from the opposite sex.
Story
This is an alternate history fantasy set in the 1800’s. Witchcraft and sorcery have a relatively prominent role in society. The main character, Emily, is a witch from a small town in California where she’s struggling to make ends meet. She accidentally gets a dangerous magical rock embedded in her hand and she’s forced to turn to a warlock she dislikes for help. They set off on a trip to get help, but things get progressively more complicated.
This is a very romance-heavy story with the enemies-to-lovers trope. I should have hated it, but I actually enjoyed it pretty well. The setting was interesting and the story held my attention. The romance didn’t annoy me very much, because at least it wasn’t the sort where the character is constantly thinking, “Oh he/she is such a jerk. But look at his/her lips/butt/abs/arms/whatever. Swoon… Oh, maybe I should run from this big bad monster that’s about to attack me.” The relationship was developed more gradually, with none of the ridiculous obsessing at weird and inappropriate moments. The relationship developed from antagonistic, to somewhat respectful, to somewhat friendly, and so forth.
I did enjoy the first half more than the second half. By the second half, I started to get a little frustrated with all the people who were either insanely evil, or untrustworthy, or pursuing a hidden agenda, or some combination of those things. The romance also started to get a little more obnoxiously angsty. This was a good story for audio listening though, and another one of the ones where I wonder if I might not have actually enjoyed it more as an audio than I would have in print. It’s on the simpler side and I think that combined with all the romance would have annoyed me faster in print. I looked forward to having time to listen to more of the audiobook each day.
I’m rating this at 3.5 stars and rounding up to 4 on Goodreads. I’m marking this as a “maybe” for following up in the future. I wouldn’t mind reading (or possibly listening to) more, and there are a couple more books published, but it seems like the author stopped publishing books even though more were expected in the series. I might therefore just leave things where I am because the ending of the 1st book was pretty satisfying. Not all the threads had closure, and it did end with some hints about what the next book might involve, but the main plot was wrapped up well enough.
Audio Narration
The narrator is Suehyla El-Attar. I liked her pretty well. Her narration was easy to listen to and didn’t annoy me. I did think the voices she used for the male characters were difficult to distinguish between at times, but then there were quite a lot of male characters popping up for brief passages. The text made it pretty easy to realize who was talking anyway, and I was mostly just happy she didn’t voice them in a ridiculous-sounding way like some narrators do when trying to voice characters from the opposite sex.
Story
This is an alternate history fantasy set in the 1800’s. Witchcraft and sorcery have a relatively prominent role in society. The main character, Emily, is a witch from a small town in California where she’s struggling to make ends meet. She accidentally gets a dangerous magical rock embedded in her hand and she’s forced to turn to a warlock she dislikes for help. They set off on a trip to get help, but things get progressively more complicated.
This is a very romance-heavy story with the enemies-to-lovers trope. I should have hated it, but I actually enjoyed it pretty well. The setting was interesting and the story held my attention. The romance didn’t annoy me very much, because at least it wasn’t the sort where the character is constantly thinking, “Oh he/she is such a jerk. But look at his/her lips/butt/abs/arms/whatever. Swoon… Oh, maybe I should run from this big bad monster that’s about to attack me.” The relationship was developed more gradually, with none of the ridiculous obsessing at weird and inappropriate moments. The relationship developed from antagonistic, to somewhat respectful, to somewhat friendly, and so forth.
I did enjoy the first half more than the second half. By the second half, I started to get a little frustrated with all the people who were either insanely evil, or untrustworthy, or pursuing a hidden agenda, or some combination of those things. The romance also started to get a little more obnoxiously angsty. This was a good story for audio listening though, and another one of the ones where I wonder if I might not have actually enjoyed it more as an audio than I would have in print. It’s on the simpler side and I think that combined with all the romance would have annoyed me faster in print. I looked forward to having time to listen to more of the audiobook each day.
I’m rating this at 3.5 stars and rounding up to 4 on Goodreads. I’m marking this as a “maybe” for following up in the future. I wouldn’t mind reading (or possibly listening to) more, and there are a couple more books published, but it seems like the author stopped publishing books even though more were expected in the series. I might therefore just leave things where I am because the ending of the 1st book was pretty satisfying. Not all the threads had closure, and it did end with some hints about what the next book might involve, but the main plot was wrapped up well enough.
November 29, 2010
I really loved this book! It was a Steam-Punk=Fantasy-Western-Romance hybrid, which...you don't see every day? haha. I really liked the characters, the magic system was quite interesting and the romance didn't make me roll my eyes, it was actually sweet. HIGHLY recommended!!
May 17, 2020
I have mixed feelings about this book. I think I like the concept of this story more than the book itself. It's a story somewhere between fantasy and steampunk set in the United States.
Perhaps the best part of the book is the magical world created by the author. There are some well-known ideas in here, however, presented in a new, interesting way. Everything blends into a new fascinating whole world. Different magic systems coexist in one world. But I may not have read this book careful enough because I still have some questions about how it all works. Still, to me, this is the best part of the book.
In general, I liked the main characters. Stanon was supposed to be a bit annoying, but the author managed to keep the balance very well. Thanks to this, Stanton is not only a character who has some depth, but also can be liked. There were times when Emily upset me, but luckily, they were rare.
It seems to me that the biggest problem I had with the plot. At times, it was very interesting, and I read really enjoying it. But at other times I was losing my interest completely. And it's even difficult for me to say why exactly. Strangely, part of the problem is that a bit too much has happened in this story. The whole situation was a bit too complicated and multithreaded for my current mood. I don’t think I wanted something with so many twists and turns right now.
Generally, this book is fine. However, I do not plan to read the next book in this series.
Perhaps the best part of the book is the magical world created by the author. There are some well-known ideas in here, however, presented in a new, interesting way. Everything blends into a new fascinating whole world. Different magic systems coexist in one world. But I may not have read this book careful enough because I still have some questions about how it all works. Still, to me, this is the best part of the book.
In general, I liked the main characters. Stanon was supposed to be a bit annoying, but the author managed to keep the balance very well. Thanks to this, Stanton is not only a character who has some depth, but also can be liked. There were times when Emily upset me, but luckily, they were rare.
It seems to me that the biggest problem I had with the plot. At times, it was very interesting, and I read really enjoying it. But at other times I was losing my interest completely. And it's even difficult for me to say why exactly. Strangely, part of the problem is that a bit too much has happened in this story. The whole situation was a bit too complicated and multithreaded for my current mood. I don’t think I wanted something with so many twists and turns right now.
Generally, this book is fine. However, I do not plan to read the next book in this series.
April 16, 2020
Fun. 1876 wild West with magic and a star-crossed (heh) protagonist pair. The magic system got a little complex for an easy audio read, so it might be better as a visual read, eyes vs. words.
December 18, 2011
I like Westerns, magic, and romance very much… so why didn’t this book do it for me? I’ve been mulling over my lack of enthusiasm for a little bit, and I think it mostly comes down to poor characters. They behaved in ways that struck me as super convenient, clichéd, and/or unrealistic.
I found Emily Edwards, the heroine, very tiresome – her and her foolish assumptions and pointless tirades and confrontations. I liked her imperfections at the beginning because I thought they were actually imperfections, but in fact she turned out to be yet another spunky/feisty heroine. Also, the villains are all prone to monologuing at key moments.
The romance is one of those Pride & Prejudice knock-offs where the gal can’t stand the guy because he’s just so smug and infuriating, etc. The thing is, I’m totally into stories where two people who originally hated each other get together. BUT. They have to hate each other for legit reasons. It feels like a lot of authors who write romances substitute meaningless animosity in place of convincing chemistry. They provoke strong reactions in each other (even if it’s for no reason) so obviously they will fall in love!
It really, really bothered me when relevant details were skimmed over or skipped entirely. At the beginning of the book, Emily gets a magical stone stuck in her hand. You’d think something like that would take some getting used to, yet she never ever talks or muses about what it feels like to have a rock embedded in her palm. It seems to me that you’d be pretty aware of the rock’s presence, at least in the beginning. Personally, I’d probably worry at it and poke at it occasionally. But Emily seems totally uninterested in how it physically affects her. She only talks about the magical aspects of it. You’d think she was wearing it as a necklace or something for all the physical responses she has to it. Also, and here I have to be careful to avoid giving away any spoilers, but I was very weirded out when a character in the novel suffered a rather severe injury but reacted to it about as much as one might react to a headache.
That’s a bunch of negative, so now a bit of positive. This was a quick read with several scenes that I very much enjoyed (the zombie mines come to mind). The interesting worldbuilding was a lot of fun as well. Western/steampunk/magic/romance mash-ups are not something I read every day. I liked that magic was practiced in different ways by very different groups, all of which occupy different social positions and prestige.
All in all, this was an entertaining book that I think would have made a much better movie. It was fun enough but not so fun that I’m likely to read it again or check out the next book in the series. 2.5 stars
I found Emily Edwards, the heroine, very tiresome – her and her foolish assumptions and pointless tirades and confrontations. I liked her imperfections at the beginning because I thought they were actually imperfections, but in fact she turned out to be yet another spunky/feisty heroine. Also, the villains are all prone to monologuing at key moments.
The romance is one of those Pride & Prejudice knock-offs where the gal can’t stand the guy because he’s just so smug and infuriating, etc. The thing is, I’m totally into stories where two people who originally hated each other get together. BUT. They have to hate each other for legit reasons. It feels like a lot of authors who write romances substitute meaningless animosity in place of convincing chemistry. They provoke strong reactions in each other (even if it’s for no reason) so obviously they will fall in love!
It really, really bothered me when relevant details were skimmed over or skipped entirely. At the beginning of the book, Emily gets a magical stone stuck in her hand. You’d think something like that would take some getting used to, yet she never ever talks or muses about what it feels like to have a rock embedded in her palm. It seems to me that you’d be pretty aware of the rock’s presence, at least in the beginning. Personally, I’d probably worry at it and poke at it occasionally. But Emily seems totally uninterested in how it physically affects her. She only talks about the magical aspects of it. You’d think she was wearing it as a necklace or something for all the physical responses she has to it. Also, and here I have to be careful to avoid giving away any spoilers, but I was very weirded out when a character in the novel suffered a rather severe injury but reacted to it about as much as one might react to a headache.
That’s a bunch of negative, so now a bit of positive. This was a quick read with several scenes that I very much enjoyed (the zombie mines come to mind). The interesting worldbuilding was a lot of fun as well. Western/steampunk/magic/romance mash-ups are not something I read every day. I liked that magic was practiced in different ways by very different groups, all of which occupy different social positions and prestige.
All in all, this was an entertaining book that I think would have made a much better movie. It was fun enough but not so fun that I’m likely to read it again or check out the next book in the series. 2.5 stars
January 20, 2012
It's been over 24 hours since I finished reading Native Star...and I have no idea what to say. It was...wow, I just don't know. Perhaps if I use enough ellipses, the words will come to me...
Nope, nothin' doin'. I didn't really like this book, but gave it two stars because it really is just OK. What would have made it better? Well, a little less condescending hatred of science would have been nice. Oh, and a decent female protagonist. This has proven to be, by far, my biggest personal hurdle in regards to finding stories I really, truly enjoy; likable heroines. Emily Edwards is not a likable character. In fact, she's pretty much an asshole. From the very first chapter, she's an asshole. The book begins (begins!) with her putting a love spell on a hex sign so the richest guy in town will fall in love with her. Not because she's in love with him, no, but because she and her "Pap" are poor and this guy is rich. She feels guilty about doing it, but that doesn't stop her.
She despises Dreadnought (really?) Stanton because he's one of them there big city Warlocks who's always treatin' her and her kin like provincials *spoken in my best Yokel*. She writes all "eastern" warlocks off as horrible people because of her feelings of inferiority while simultaneously accusing Dreadnought of being bigoted of anyone outside of New York. Um, hello, Pot? This is Irony calling, I've got Kettle on hold...
Oh, and Native Americans? Yeah, Emily calls them savages, insinuates that they're going to steal Dreadnought's horse, and generally treats them with disdain even after they've taken her and Dreadnought in, fed them, given them shelter, and done nothing but treated them kindly.
On top of everything else, the girl is useless. She's the typical "too-dumb-to-live" heroine who takes forever to piece anything together. I was hoping for her to come into her power and do something cool, but no.
There's quite a bit of misogyny in this book, I suppose harkening back to how women were actually treated in society in the late 19th century. Regardless of its historical accuracy, it rankled me. Especially since this isn't exactly an historically accurate story. I mean...it's a book about witches. Obviously, this is an alternate reality kind of story, so why was misogyny displayed so prominently? Did it add to the story? Not in the slightest, it only served to make most of the male characters even slimier than they already were. But the really amusing part was that Emily was outraged by the way she was treated by some of the men she met....even after willfully and knowingly placing a love hex on her oldest and dearest friend. I guess it's OK to be a gold-digger....sex for money is OK as long as you're married to your John first.
Man, now I'm really pondering that second star....
Nope, nothin' doin'. I didn't really like this book, but gave it two stars because it really is just OK. What would have made it better? Well, a little less condescending hatred of science would have been nice. Oh, and a decent female protagonist. This has proven to be, by far, my biggest personal hurdle in regards to finding stories I really, truly enjoy; likable heroines. Emily Edwards is not a likable character. In fact, she's pretty much an asshole. From the very first chapter, she's an asshole. The book begins (begins!) with her putting a love spell on a hex sign so the richest guy in town will fall in love with her. Not because she's in love with him, no, but because she and her "Pap" are poor and this guy is rich. She feels guilty about doing it, but that doesn't stop her.
She despises Dreadnought (really?) Stanton because he's one of them there big city Warlocks who's always treatin' her and her kin like provincials *spoken in my best Yokel*. She writes all "eastern" warlocks off as horrible people because of her feelings of inferiority while simultaneously accusing Dreadnought of being bigoted of anyone outside of New York. Um, hello, Pot? This is Irony calling, I've got Kettle on hold...
Oh, and Native Americans? Yeah, Emily calls them savages, insinuates that they're going to steal Dreadnought's horse, and generally treats them with disdain even after they've taken her and Dreadnought in, fed them, given them shelter, and done nothing but treated them kindly.
On top of everything else, the girl is useless. She's the typical "too-dumb-to-live" heroine who takes forever to piece anything together. I was hoping for her to come into her power and do something cool, but no.
There's quite a bit of misogyny in this book, I suppose harkening back to how women were actually treated in society in the late 19th century. Regardless of its historical accuracy, it rankled me. Especially since this isn't exactly an historically accurate story. I mean...it's a book about witches. Obviously, this is an alternate reality kind of story, so why was misogyny displayed so prominently? Did it add to the story? Not in the slightest, it only served to make most of the male characters even slimier than they already were. But the really amusing part was that Emily was outraged by the way she was treated by some of the men she met....even after willfully and knowingly placing a love hex on her oldest and dearest friend. I guess it's OK to be a gold-digger....sex for money is OK as long as you're married to your John first.
Man, now I'm really pondering that second star....
October 13, 2010
Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.
I am a “character oriented” kind of girl, to the point where, given witty dialog or a relationship I care about, a story’s premise is entirely irrelevant to my enjoyment (case in point, Aaron Sorkin’s “Sports Night”. What on earth do I care about sports TV? Handsome men with witty dialog? Yes, please.). Given my proclivities, imagine my surprise when I found myself ranking the world building in THE NATIVE STAR right along side my interest in the hero and heroine. Not that Dreadnaught Stanton and Emily Edwards weren’t great characters, with enough development and surprises to keep me entertained, but they were framed by such an unique premise that their world almost stole the show.
Admittedly, I don’t have a great deal of books in the steampunk genre to draw on when saying THE NATIVE STAR was “unique”. Dru Paglissotti’s Clockwork Heart is the only one I can think of off-hand (I count the Parasol Protectorate books as much more fantasy than steampunk, but even if I didn’t, that only raises my grand total to 4 books). What I lack in steampunk reference points, however, I make up for in “American History magical crossovers”. I adore Patricia C. Wrede’s Thirteenth Child, which shows settlers striving to tame a frontier rife with magical creatures and plagues. A world where ordinary people view anyone who attempts to eke out a living without magic as suicidal extremists. While THE NATIVE STAR takes a different tact (and a different period of American history), it’s world gave me an enjoyment reminiscent of Thirteenth Child, the delight of reading a wholly original reprisal of a familiar period of time.
Supposing there is a magical/mechanical world, THE NATIVE STAR takes us through the growing pains and natural disasters of that very complex, steampunk industrial revolution. Mass production replaces cottage industry, “patent magics” take the place of home remedies, and native folklore is disregarded in favor of a more academic school of magic. And through this mass of cultural upheaval and economic unrest swirls Dreadnaught Stanton and Emily Edwards, each brilliant products of this fantastical world. Despite representing different sides of the “revolution”, they were far from being cliche. I found Emily and Stanton to be believable and interesting, capable of surprising me (pleasantly and otherwise) without leaving me feeling “tricked”. I know I will eagerly purchase THE HIDDEN GODDESS, the next installment in this series. Not because I want to resolve any plot threads or unravel any puzzles, but more because I can’t wait for another chance to step into the world M. K. Hobson has created.
Sexual Content: As appropriate for the time period, more romance and sensuality than sex. Crudity is only crude by 19th century standards.
I am a “character oriented” kind of girl, to the point where, given witty dialog or a relationship I care about, a story’s premise is entirely irrelevant to my enjoyment (case in point, Aaron Sorkin’s “Sports Night”. What on earth do I care about sports TV? Handsome men with witty dialog? Yes, please.). Given my proclivities, imagine my surprise when I found myself ranking the world building in THE NATIVE STAR right along side my interest in the hero and heroine. Not that Dreadnaught Stanton and Emily Edwards weren’t great characters, with enough development and surprises to keep me entertained, but they were framed by such an unique premise that their world almost stole the show.
Admittedly, I don’t have a great deal of books in the steampunk genre to draw on when saying THE NATIVE STAR was “unique”. Dru Paglissotti’s Clockwork Heart is the only one I can think of off-hand (I count the Parasol Protectorate books as much more fantasy than steampunk, but even if I didn’t, that only raises my grand total to 4 books). What I lack in steampunk reference points, however, I make up for in “American History magical crossovers”. I adore Patricia C. Wrede’s Thirteenth Child, which shows settlers striving to tame a frontier rife with magical creatures and plagues. A world where ordinary people view anyone who attempts to eke out a living without magic as suicidal extremists. While THE NATIVE STAR takes a different tact (and a different period of American history), it’s world gave me an enjoyment reminiscent of Thirteenth Child, the delight of reading a wholly original reprisal of a familiar period of time.
Supposing there is a magical/mechanical world, THE NATIVE STAR takes us through the growing pains and natural disasters of that very complex, steampunk industrial revolution. Mass production replaces cottage industry, “patent magics” take the place of home remedies, and native folklore is disregarded in favor of a more academic school of magic. And through this mass of cultural upheaval and economic unrest swirls Dreadnaught Stanton and Emily Edwards, each brilliant products of this fantastical world. Despite representing different sides of the “revolution”, they were far from being cliche. I found Emily and Stanton to be believable and interesting, capable of surprising me (pleasantly and otherwise) without leaving me feeling “tricked”. I know I will eagerly purchase THE HIDDEN GODDESS, the next installment in this series. Not because I want to resolve any plot threads or unravel any puzzles, but more because I can’t wait for another chance to step into the world M. K. Hobson has created.
Sexual Content: As appropriate for the time period, more romance and sensuality than sex. Crudity is only crude by 19th century standards.
January 3, 2011
I picked up this book after seeing it reviewed at The Book Smugglers. The historical fantasy/romance mix has always been one I enjoy - and this novel was certainly no exception. In fact, it might be my new favorite historical fantasy novel. The mixture of great characterization, world-building an plot make it practically perfect in every way.
I was intrigued from the beginning - the prologue threw me a little, but once the main storyline started with Emily in Lost Pine, I was hooked. She was a great character to get to know - not perfect and not fully formed. She had a lot of growth throughout the novel, and that is something I always enjoy reading. Actually, all the characters had layers, especially Dreadnought (unfortunate name that somehow fits him anyway). Although he gives you plenty of reasons to hate him at the beginning of the story, I could never quite pull it off. And as things progress, his background and personality come out and make him very complicated and real...I loved him by the end. He is not your typical hero.
The world that unfolds throughout the novel is an intriguing one, I loved every aspect of it. Same goes with the plot - there was a lot of action and a lot of intensity. The few breaks from the action give the characters a chance to interact - there was never any point where I was bored with the story.
Another thing I love is that things more or less wrap up at the end of the book. It is the beginning of the series, so a new conflict is referred to at the end...but the main plot of this story is wrapped up. If you aren't intrigued enough with the book to continue with the next one, you'll get a fulfilling ending. I, however, can't imagine reading this and not wanting to continue the series! I fell in love with the characters and their world, and am now anxiously awaiting the sequel, The Hidden Goddess.
I was intrigued from the beginning - the prologue threw me a little, but once the main storyline started with Emily in Lost Pine, I was hooked. She was a great character to get to know - not perfect and not fully formed. She had a lot of growth throughout the novel, and that is something I always enjoy reading. Actually, all the characters had layers, especially Dreadnought (unfortunate name that somehow fits him anyway). Although he gives you plenty of reasons to hate him at the beginning of the story, I could never quite pull it off. And as things progress, his background and personality come out and make him very complicated and real...I loved him by the end. He is not your typical hero.
The world that unfolds throughout the novel is an intriguing one, I loved every aspect of it. Same goes with the plot - there was a lot of action and a lot of intensity. The few breaks from the action give the characters a chance to interact - there was never any point where I was bored with the story.
Another thing I love is that things more or less wrap up at the end of the book. It is the beginning of the series, so a new conflict is referred to at the end...but the main plot of this story is wrapped up. If you aren't intrigued enough with the book to continue with the next one, you'll get a fulfilling ending. I, however, can't imagine reading this and not wanting to continue the series! I fell in love with the characters and their world, and am now anxiously awaiting the sequel, The Hidden Goddess.
February 8, 2015
Surprisingly good. I downloaded the second immediately. So far not that impressed with it, but the first was good YA. Review coming soon...
February 8, 2011
The Native Star is a breathless, intriguing adventure that drew me in utterly with its magical allure, and historical appeal. It shone to me so brightly, shining brilliant radiance into my mind and soul, pulling me straight into this old western tale, suffused with old as time magic. Hobson expertly crafted a truly enlightening tale, weaving history and science and the old west with intrigue and magic and a dash of romance. I am truly astounded with how amazingly well this story was told and plotted! It was nothing short of ingenious. I can’t imagine the type of research and knowledge it would take to even think of such a story, but to mold it into the stunning brilliance of The Native star! It’s purely brilliant. I can’t seem to stop using that word, but that’s just what this book is. It radiates brilliance with every turn of the page, every new twist or peril, every light of truth and dawning love and burst of magic it exudes.
And I couldn’t stop smiling as I read. The interaction and banter between my two new favorite characters was amusing and smile inviting. Which leads me to Stanton. Dreadnought Stanton. Hmm. He surely is a puzzle. A jaggedly cut, oh so appealing puzzle. When first he stepped onto the page he executed the perfect portrayal of an indifferent, superior, arrogant Warlock that did what he wanted, when he wanted, and wasn’t afraid to say what he thought, though he did it a proper manner that showed his classic and intellectual mind and form. He managed to be a rogue, while still being a gentleman. He indeed is alike in manner of a certain classic literary figure that, ever since he was crafted into existence, has had all of us females swooning over. I am of course talking of Mr. Darcy. But while Darcy is proudly silent, Stanton is proudly insufferable. Darcy is standoffish, and Stanton is brash. But oh, is Stanton swoon worthy. Just like I can’t help swooning over Mr. Darcy and Mr. Rochester, despite their rudeness, I can’t help falling for Stanton. He has an endearing romantic side that is subtle, but passionate.
And Emily, she is one strong heroine. She never backed down, never let Stanton get the better of her. She fought with a fiery determination to save those people she cared about. But she still showed her soft feminine side, and slowly realized she was in love with the very man she found so unappealing from when she first met him. The love story was not a predominant part of the book. Rather it was a slowly evolving magic that stole quietly into their hearts, subtle even to the reader, showing itself in small doses, never taking the spotlight from the real plot. Their romance, nonetheless, reminded me of other couples in books I love. Once again, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice, and then Sydelle and Wayland North in Brightly Woven. Romances that start out rocky and bitter and full of spite, but then transforming ever so slowly into something truly beautiful and magical. Just as it is done in the Native Star.
Now the writing. It was utterly amazing. Hobson wove her words so carefully, yet powerfully into each sentence, which captivated me, and honestly, broadened my writer’s mind with the finesse of it. It was enchantingly real, intellectual, breathtakingly beautiful. That Hobson was able to weave such beautiful words together, and create such an astounding storyline and executing it perfectly, is just unbelievable. It is truly inspiring.
The Native Star is a true piece of art. This is the type of story that should be recognized and praised for the jewel it truly is. So many great novels are shoved aside to make room for the frilly, nonsensical novels that are put together with hardly any deep meaning to them, that don’t deserve the hype they get. The Native Star deserves that place. It deserves to be known and loved by many. To remind people what a truly stupendous novel can be.
And I couldn’t stop smiling as I read. The interaction and banter between my two new favorite characters was amusing and smile inviting. Which leads me to Stanton. Dreadnought Stanton. Hmm. He surely is a puzzle. A jaggedly cut, oh so appealing puzzle. When first he stepped onto the page he executed the perfect portrayal of an indifferent, superior, arrogant Warlock that did what he wanted, when he wanted, and wasn’t afraid to say what he thought, though he did it a proper manner that showed his classic and intellectual mind and form. He managed to be a rogue, while still being a gentleman. He indeed is alike in manner of a certain classic literary figure that, ever since he was crafted into existence, has had all of us females swooning over. I am of course talking of Mr. Darcy. But while Darcy is proudly silent, Stanton is proudly insufferable. Darcy is standoffish, and Stanton is brash. But oh, is Stanton swoon worthy. Just like I can’t help swooning over Mr. Darcy and Mr. Rochester, despite their rudeness, I can’t help falling for Stanton. He has an endearing romantic side that is subtle, but passionate.
And Emily, she is one strong heroine. She never backed down, never let Stanton get the better of her. She fought with a fiery determination to save those people she cared about. But she still showed her soft feminine side, and slowly realized she was in love with the very man she found so unappealing from when she first met him. The love story was not a predominant part of the book. Rather it was a slowly evolving magic that stole quietly into their hearts, subtle even to the reader, showing itself in small doses, never taking the spotlight from the real plot. Their romance, nonetheless, reminded me of other couples in books I love. Once again, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice, and then Sydelle and Wayland North in Brightly Woven. Romances that start out rocky and bitter and full of spite, but then transforming ever so slowly into something truly beautiful and magical. Just as it is done in the Native Star.
Now the writing. It was utterly amazing. Hobson wove her words so carefully, yet powerfully into each sentence, which captivated me, and honestly, broadened my writer’s mind with the finesse of it. It was enchantingly real, intellectual, breathtakingly beautiful. That Hobson was able to weave such beautiful words together, and create such an astounding storyline and executing it perfectly, is just unbelievable. It is truly inspiring.
The Native Star is a true piece of art. This is the type of story that should be recognized and praised for the jewel it truly is. So many great novels are shoved aside to make room for the frilly, nonsensical novels that are put together with hardly any deep meaning to them, that don’t deserve the hype they get. The Native Star deserves that place. It deserves to be known and loved by many. To remind people what a truly stupendous novel can be.
July 9, 2011
Here’s something I haven’t had for a while: A GOOD BOOK! Amazing, huh? I just had this burning need to read this after glancing over at so many positive reviews and with my current reads not ending up so great, the urge built up more.
This book rocked my socks. I love how feisty the main character, Emily, is. She totally doesn’t sit back like a weak, passive protagonist. She speaks up and quite plainly too. Emily might panic but she keeps her head together and is always trying to find a solution for things or a way out of things that don’t seem so good. Not to mention she is rather impulsive, the love spell gone wrong is a big indicator of that. I love how she’s prejudice against Indians (Native-Americans). Not that I think this is right but people aren’t so broad-minded as we like to think they are, and it’s refreshing to see this flaw in her. Not that she actually does anything about it other than dismissing their advice and looking lowly upon their practices.
Dreadnaught is a hoot. How can you not with a name like his? He’s prickly, conceited, and has got a massive superiority complex. He may not be the most cordial of gentlemen but he never treats Emily with anything less than respect. In fact, the things Emily gets all riled up over are simple matter of the fact statements that are honest and truthful, something she doesn’t like hearing. Or maybe it’s just because he said it in an overbearing and haughty way. But he’s got his own backstory that make his character shine.
The world building is awesome. It’s got tinges of magic versus science and nature versus man sort of deal going on. Just when you think you’ve got everything figured out, the author delves more into it and brings out another angle you weren’t expecting. And you’ve got a wide range of characters from different backgrounds as well. There’s a bit of something for everyone.
The pacing of this book is awesome. It’s fast paced and has lots of action scenes to kick up the narrative when there’s lull in activity. Especially that rush to the climax. Wow. Totally did not see those plot twists coming and dang, some of it is pretty brutal. You can’t help but cringe a bit at how awful the pain must be at her torture.
The romance of this book must have been my favorite part. If you like those hate x love things that gradually turn into something deep and rememberable, this is just for you. Okay, I’ll be honest. At first I wasn’t quite feeling them because their interactions felt a bit stale but then somehow, at one point in the book, it just clicked and I could not help but LOVE their scenes together. And the ending, oh my god, the ending.
And the best part of all? Emily gets this amazing magical stone but she doesn’t turn into one of those special, super-powered characters. In fact, the special magical ability she does gain (if you can call it that) is quite detrimental to her life and not something you’d want – at all.
If you liked Cold Magic and/or Brightly Woven, you’re just gonna love this. And even if you don’t, you should read this anyway because it’s freaking AWESOME.
This book rocked my socks. I love how feisty the main character, Emily, is. She totally doesn’t sit back like a weak, passive protagonist. She speaks up and quite plainly too. Emily might panic but she keeps her head together and is always trying to find a solution for things or a way out of things that don’t seem so good. Not to mention she is rather impulsive, the love spell gone wrong is a big indicator of that. I love how she’s prejudice against Indians (Native-Americans). Not that I think this is right but people aren’t so broad-minded as we like to think they are, and it’s refreshing to see this flaw in her. Not that she actually does anything about it other than dismissing their advice and looking lowly upon their practices.
Dreadnaught is a hoot. How can you not with a name like his? He’s prickly, conceited, and has got a massive superiority complex. He may not be the most cordial of gentlemen but he never treats Emily with anything less than respect. In fact, the things Emily gets all riled up over are simple matter of the fact statements that are honest and truthful, something she doesn’t like hearing. Or maybe it’s just because he said it in an overbearing and haughty way. But he’s got his own backstory that make his character shine.
The world building is awesome. It’s got tinges of magic versus science and nature versus man sort of deal going on. Just when you think you’ve got everything figured out, the author delves more into it and brings out another angle you weren’t expecting. And you’ve got a wide range of characters from different backgrounds as well. There’s a bit of something for everyone.
The pacing of this book is awesome. It’s fast paced and has lots of action scenes to kick up the narrative when there’s lull in activity. Especially that rush to the climax. Wow. Totally did not see those plot twists coming and dang, some of it is pretty brutal. You can’t help but cringe a bit at how awful the pain must be at her torture.
The romance of this book must have been my favorite part. If you like those hate x love things that gradually turn into something deep and rememberable, this is just for you. Okay, I’ll be honest. At first I wasn’t quite feeling them because their interactions felt a bit stale but then somehow, at one point in the book, it just clicked and I could not help but LOVE their scenes together. And the ending, oh my god, the ending.
And the best part of all? Emily gets this amazing magical stone but she doesn’t turn into one of those special, super-powered characters. In fact, the special magical ability she does gain (if you can call it that) is quite detrimental to her life and not something you’d want – at all.
If you liked Cold Magic and/or Brightly Woven, you’re just gonna love this. And even if you don’t, you should read this anyway because it’s freaking AWESOME.
July 26, 2011
The Native Star is a fantasy set in a West that never quite was: the West of tall tales, dime novels, and cheesy patent-medicine ads. M.K. Hobson realizes this mood perfectly, peoples the setting with memorable characters, and spins a compelling and well-thought-out plot.
When we first meet the heroine, Emily Edwards, she’s preparing a love spell to ensnare a local lumberman. The new patent-magic companies have cut into Emily’s business as a witch, and she can see no other way but marriage to keep herself and her father afloat. The spell is terribly unethical, of course — yet there was a part of me that found this scene refreshing. In fantasy there are so many anachronistic heroines who fight marriage with tooth and claw, even when it’s a viable solution to their problems and even when they live in a time when it’s one of very few options open to women. Emily’s more practical than that. Plus, it’s beautifully written!
Hobson has the guts to make Emily flawed in other ways, too. When she first meets Native Americans, for example, she reacts with prejudice. As her journey continues, Emily becomes more sophisticated in some ways but remains rough around the edges in others. She never loses the scrappy practicality that she displays in the first scene. Meanwhile, her traveling companion and eventual love interest, Dreadnought Stanton, is just as vivid. His snarky, condescending attitude made me wish Alan Rickman were thirty again so he could play him in a (hypothetical) film — and his aloof façade masks a secret or two. The Native Star is equal parts fantasy and romance, and the sparks between Emily and Dreadnought make the latter aspect compelling.
As for the fantasy, that’s terrifically thought-out as well. The magic system feels both historically rooted and fresh; it’s based largely on real-world folklore but given a rationale and a structure by Hobson. The terrifying Aberrancies fit well into folklore too; they’re oversized, crazed versions of ordinary creatures, and seem exactly like what you might find in a tall tale. One aspect of the magic has a clear parallel in present-day environmental issues, but it works well and rarely feels preachy.
The plot is twisty and exciting as Emily and Dreadnought travel across the country to find someone who can help extricate them from a magical problem in which they’re mired. The ending is satisfactory but leaves room for further developments in the sequel, The Hidden Goddess. I recommend The Native Star to fans of steampunk, Western fantasy, and historical romance.
Written for FantasyLiterature.com
When we first meet the heroine, Emily Edwards, she’s preparing a love spell to ensnare a local lumberman. The new patent-magic companies have cut into Emily’s business as a witch, and she can see no other way but marriage to keep herself and her father afloat. The spell is terribly unethical, of course — yet there was a part of me that found this scene refreshing. In fantasy there are so many anachronistic heroines who fight marriage with tooth and claw, even when it’s a viable solution to their problems and even when they live in a time when it’s one of very few options open to women. Emily’s more practical than that. Plus, it’s beautifully written!
Hobson has the guts to make Emily flawed in other ways, too. When she first meets Native Americans, for example, she reacts with prejudice. As her journey continues, Emily becomes more sophisticated in some ways but remains rough around the edges in others. She never loses the scrappy practicality that she displays in the first scene. Meanwhile, her traveling companion and eventual love interest, Dreadnought Stanton, is just as vivid. His snarky, condescending attitude made me wish Alan Rickman were thirty again so he could play him in a (hypothetical) film — and his aloof façade masks a secret or two. The Native Star is equal parts fantasy and romance, and the sparks between Emily and Dreadnought make the latter aspect compelling.
As for the fantasy, that’s terrifically thought-out as well. The magic system feels both historically rooted and fresh; it’s based largely on real-world folklore but given a rationale and a structure by Hobson. The terrifying Aberrancies fit well into folklore too; they’re oversized, crazed versions of ordinary creatures, and seem exactly like what you might find in a tall tale. One aspect of the magic has a clear parallel in present-day environmental issues, but it works well and rarely feels preachy.
The plot is twisty and exciting as Emily and Dreadnought travel across the country to find someone who can help extricate them from a magical problem in which they’re mired. The ending is satisfactory but leaves room for further developments in the sequel, The Hidden Goddess. I recommend The Native Star to fans of steampunk, Western fantasy, and historical romance.
Written for FantasyLiterature.com
August 31, 2012
3.5 Stars.
You know that expression “it’s not the destination, it’s the journey”? Yeah…whoever first said it was obviously trying to make themselves feel better about that awesome road trip they had on the way to stay with their boring Aunt Mildred for the summer. Because honestly, when it comes to reading, I like both the destination and the journey to rock my socks off. I want the payoff, and I can’t help but feeling that while I enjoyed the lead up in M.K. Hobson’s The Native Star very much, I was left a little underwhelmed at the climax and groaning at the ominous foreshadowing toward the sequel.
The Native Star was recommended to me by no less than three bookish friends. When I finished reading other American historical fantasy novels earlier this year like Dust Girl and Thieftaker and expressed further interest in this niche of Historical Fantasy, Catie, Flannery and Kristen all mentioned The Native Star as right up my alley. And it was! It filled that slot perfectly. It was the same feel, but more adult than Dust Girl and more engaging than Thieftaker.
*Now if you’ll excuse me while I go all Hermione on ya’all:
Let’s have a quick discussion about Gaslamp fantasy, because it’s pretty clear to me by the number of people who label Gaslamp as Steampunk that there is the same departure here as there is with Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic. Because no, they are not the same thing. In fact, I’d say 80% of the books labeled as Steampunk are not, in fact, Steampunk. A lot of these aren’t even Gaslamp, people just get genre happy and go wild when they see cogs and bussels.
What is Gaslamp and how does it differ from Steampunk?
Gaslamp is a subgenre of Historical Fiction and Fantasy, whereas Steampunk tends to be heavier on sci-fi aspects and steam power. Both genres are generally placed in the same historical period, that of the Victorian or Wild West era, but there are exceptions (notably, there are many futuristic Steampunk novels). Gaslamp draws more heavily from Gothic literature, with romantic and horror themes. They are very similar, but I think of it this way: Gaslamp is like a branch of Steampunk the same way that Dystopians are a branch of Post-Apocalyptic/Futuristic novels. I tend to say if it’s more Sci-Fi, it’s Steampunk, and if it’s more fantasy, it’s Gaslamp.
Some examples of Gaslamp lit include:
-Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
-Leanna Renee Hieber’s Strangely Beautiful and Magic Most Foul series (I’ve reviewed Darker Still)
-Girl Genius, Vol. 1: Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank by Kaja & Phil Foglio (they actually coined the term ‘Gaslamp’)
-Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices series
This book I’m reviewing right here! The Veneficas Americana series.
Yeah, this term is a bit pretentious, you don’t really need to use it, and Gaslamp and Steampunk are very similar, but I had to get on the soap box just this once. Just say “historical fantasy’” and we’re all good, but for the love of reason I wish marketers (yeah, I blame them and not the readers) would stop referring to everything as Steampunk!
Okay back to the Eastern Boys and Western Girls circa 1876:
The moment I realized that The Native Star was opening with a prologue that involved a warehouse that was BIGGER ON THE INSIDE I was sold. It took off fast right out the gate, and didn’t really let up, making the whole story feel like a bit of a whirlwind, and leaving me constantly surprised that I was only 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 of the way through. They’d already gone through so much!
Emily Edwards is a backwater witch looking only to make a living and keep her adopted father in good health when money is tight. As such, she sees the best prospect as marriage, and Dag the Lumberman as someone who will make a decent husband. She works a love spell on him which backfires pretty quickly when a premonition leads to her running off to check on the zombies in the mine with warlock Dreadnought Stanton in tow. It’s 1876, women just don’t do that sort of thing–running off with another man–even if it is in the backwoods of the Sierra Nevada mountains with the intent on insuring that a horde of zombies aren’t out of control and about to let loose on the town.
Turns out, the zombies are all up in a tizzy about a particular stone, the Native Star, a powerful magical artifact that is about to lodge itself into Emily’s palm. With the need to figure out just what this stone does (and hopefully remove it from her hand…she’d kind of like that back), Emily likes to think she quits town gracefully to head to San Francisco, when in reality her and Dreadnought are practically run out due to the general disgust at their scandalous behavior. Thus commences a non-stop, fast paced, high energy story of magic, power, and romance.
Suehyla El-Attar’s narration of M.K. Hobson’s The Native Star was good, but not great. She was the perfect voice for Emily, and in fact did great voicing the bulk of characters, unfortunately, her voicing of Dreadnought was near insufferable. I realize Dreadnought is the pretentious insufferable man with whom we’re supposed to be equal parts annoyed and enthralled, but the voicing of him just left me with the annoyed bit, which is a shame, because let’s admit it–Dreadnought’s a hot name. As such, I didn’t really feel the romance of this story at all. I’m not sure if there just wasn’t as much romance in the plot as the blurb would have you believe, or if it just didn’t seep through on the audio due to the failure to make Dreadnought the man you’d want to listen to. Additionally, much of the action and world building could be very complex at times. I appreciated that it was well crafted and thought out, but it was admittedly hard to follow at times via audio, and may have been easier to consume in writing. Either that, or this plot was really as convoluted as it seemed what with all of the creatures, mythologies, and explanations of just what was going on with Emily’s hand. I honestly wasn’t sure if I wasn’t quite getting everything because of the audio (I’m inevitably sidetracked while listening), or because of the writing.
I did love the magical structure created by Hobson, a world where three major schools of magic exist, essentially blood magic, (illegal unless you work for the government), spirit magic (performed largely by women who are given little to no respect in the magical community), and belief magic. The final type being the most fascinating and perfect to me. I have always loved the idea that belief imbues power, and in Hobson’s world we see this working more clearly than in any work I have encountered before. If someone believes with 100% certainty that you cannot do something, you will not be able to do it, but, believe in them and you give them the power to do anything. I love this because this is basically how witchcraft works in places like the Caribbean today–the power of belief is very real. If you are absolutely certain that you have been cursed to bad health, your health will deteriorate. If you don’t believe in such things, no harm will come to you. That is precisely the driving force behind Credomancy, and it made me fall in love with Hobson’s world. I love when even strong magic users have very practical limits based on a set of rules, and here it was well done.
The Native Star tells of the exciting and perilous journey from one coast to the other at a time when cross country travel was anything but easy (or comfortable). It is also a time when progress was warring heavily with tradition, which is clearly evidenced in the magical community and outside reactions. I loved that Emily was a country girl who cared little for propriety or fancy things, and would like nothing more than to stay at home with her adopted father. She’s convinced herself that a comfortable life is good enough, but as the story unfolds before her it becomes evident that this is a woman destined for adventure.
As stated at the beginning, I did find the climax…anti-climatic. Sure, it was exciting, but at the same time I feel like we’d created this snowball at the beginning, set it down the mountain to get bigger and bigger, and instead of neatly smashing a cabin, it just bumped into a tree or two and stopped near a precipice, never quite going over. The final scene of the book presented a big exposition between the remaining villains wherein plans are laid for the next book, and it was all just a bit too mustache twirly for me.
As a result, my satisfaction level went down quite a bit at the end. I suppose the style was fitting for the Gothic atmosphere, but it didn’t work for me, and as such I’m uncertain about my readiness to continue on with Emily and Dreadnought’s story. Still–I totally recommend this book for those who enjoy fantasy set in the historic United States–it’s one of the most fun examples I’ve yet encountered.
Original review posted at Bunbury in the Stacks
You know that expression “it’s not the destination, it’s the journey”? Yeah…whoever first said it was obviously trying to make themselves feel better about that awesome road trip they had on the way to stay with their boring Aunt Mildred for the summer. Because honestly, when it comes to reading, I like both the destination and the journey to rock my socks off. I want the payoff, and I can’t help but feeling that while I enjoyed the lead up in M.K. Hobson’s The Native Star very much, I was left a little underwhelmed at the climax and groaning at the ominous foreshadowing toward the sequel.
The Native Star was recommended to me by no less than three bookish friends. When I finished reading other American historical fantasy novels earlier this year like Dust Girl and Thieftaker and expressed further interest in this niche of Historical Fantasy, Catie, Flannery and Kristen all mentioned The Native Star as right up my alley. And it was! It filled that slot perfectly. It was the same feel, but more adult than Dust Girl and more engaging than Thieftaker.
*Now if you’ll excuse me while I go all Hermione on ya’all:
Let’s have a quick discussion about Gaslamp fantasy, because it’s pretty clear to me by the number of people who label Gaslamp as Steampunk that there is the same departure here as there is with Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic. Because no, they are not the same thing. In fact, I’d say 80% of the books labeled as Steampunk are not, in fact, Steampunk. A lot of these aren’t even Gaslamp, people just get genre happy and go wild when they see cogs and bussels.
What is Gaslamp and how does it differ from Steampunk?
Gaslamp is a subgenre of Historical Fiction and Fantasy, whereas Steampunk tends to be heavier on sci-fi aspects and steam power. Both genres are generally placed in the same historical period, that of the Victorian or Wild West era, but there are exceptions (notably, there are many futuristic Steampunk novels). Gaslamp draws more heavily from Gothic literature, with romantic and horror themes. They are very similar, but I think of it this way: Gaslamp is like a branch of Steampunk the same way that Dystopians are a branch of Post-Apocalyptic/Futuristic novels. I tend to say if it’s more Sci-Fi, it’s Steampunk, and if it’s more fantasy, it’s Gaslamp.
Some examples of Gaslamp lit include:
-Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
-Leanna Renee Hieber’s Strangely Beautiful and Magic Most Foul series (I’ve reviewed Darker Still)
-Girl Genius, Vol. 1: Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank by Kaja & Phil Foglio (they actually coined the term ‘Gaslamp’)
-Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices series
This book I’m reviewing right here! The Veneficas Americana series.
Yeah, this term is a bit pretentious, you don’t really need to use it, and Gaslamp and Steampunk are very similar, but I had to get on the soap box just this once. Just say “historical fantasy’” and we’re all good, but for the love of reason I wish marketers (yeah, I blame them and not the readers) would stop referring to everything as Steampunk!
Okay back to the Eastern Boys and Western Girls circa 1876:
The moment I realized that The Native Star was opening with a prologue that involved a warehouse that was BIGGER ON THE INSIDE I was sold. It took off fast right out the gate, and didn’t really let up, making the whole story feel like a bit of a whirlwind, and leaving me constantly surprised that I was only 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 of the way through. They’d already gone through so much!
Emily Edwards is a backwater witch looking only to make a living and keep her adopted father in good health when money is tight. As such, she sees the best prospect as marriage, and Dag the Lumberman as someone who will make a decent husband. She works a love spell on him which backfires pretty quickly when a premonition leads to her running off to check on the zombies in the mine with warlock Dreadnought Stanton in tow. It’s 1876, women just don’t do that sort of thing–running off with another man–even if it is in the backwoods of the Sierra Nevada mountains with the intent on insuring that a horde of zombies aren’t out of control and about to let loose on the town.
Turns out, the zombies are all up in a tizzy about a particular stone, the Native Star, a powerful magical artifact that is about to lodge itself into Emily’s palm. With the need to figure out just what this stone does (and hopefully remove it from her hand…she’d kind of like that back), Emily likes to think she quits town gracefully to head to San Francisco, when in reality her and Dreadnought are practically run out due to the general disgust at their scandalous behavior. Thus commences a non-stop, fast paced, high energy story of magic, power, and romance.
Suehyla El-Attar’s narration of M.K. Hobson’s The Native Star was good, but not great. She was the perfect voice for Emily, and in fact did great voicing the bulk of characters, unfortunately, her voicing of Dreadnought was near insufferable. I realize Dreadnought is the pretentious insufferable man with whom we’re supposed to be equal parts annoyed and enthralled, but the voicing of him just left me with the annoyed bit, which is a shame, because let’s admit it–Dreadnought’s a hot name. As such, I didn’t really feel the romance of this story at all. I’m not sure if there just wasn’t as much romance in the plot as the blurb would have you believe, or if it just didn’t seep through on the audio due to the failure to make Dreadnought the man you’d want to listen to. Additionally, much of the action and world building could be very complex at times. I appreciated that it was well crafted and thought out, but it was admittedly hard to follow at times via audio, and may have been easier to consume in writing. Either that, or this plot was really as convoluted as it seemed what with all of the creatures, mythologies, and explanations of just what was going on with Emily’s hand. I honestly wasn’t sure if I wasn’t quite getting everything because of the audio (I’m inevitably sidetracked while listening), or because of the writing.
I did love the magical structure created by Hobson, a world where three major schools of magic exist, essentially blood magic, (illegal unless you work for the government), spirit magic (performed largely by women who are given little to no respect in the magical community), and belief magic. The final type being the most fascinating and perfect to me. I have always loved the idea that belief imbues power, and in Hobson’s world we see this working more clearly than in any work I have encountered before. If someone believes with 100% certainty that you cannot do something, you will not be able to do it, but, believe in them and you give them the power to do anything. I love this because this is basically how witchcraft works in places like the Caribbean today–the power of belief is very real. If you are absolutely certain that you have been cursed to bad health, your health will deteriorate. If you don’t believe in such things, no harm will come to you. That is precisely the driving force behind Credomancy, and it made me fall in love with Hobson’s world. I love when even strong magic users have very practical limits based on a set of rules, and here it was well done.
The Native Star tells of the exciting and perilous journey from one coast to the other at a time when cross country travel was anything but easy (or comfortable). It is also a time when progress was warring heavily with tradition, which is clearly evidenced in the magical community and outside reactions. I loved that Emily was a country girl who cared little for propriety or fancy things, and would like nothing more than to stay at home with her adopted father. She’s convinced herself that a comfortable life is good enough, but as the story unfolds before her it becomes evident that this is a woman destined for adventure.
As stated at the beginning, I did find the climax…anti-climatic. Sure, it was exciting, but at the same time I feel like we’d created this snowball at the beginning, set it down the mountain to get bigger and bigger, and instead of neatly smashing a cabin, it just bumped into a tree or two and stopped near a precipice, never quite going over. The final scene of the book presented a big exposition between the remaining villains wherein plans are laid for the next book, and it was all just a bit too mustache twirly for me.
As a result, my satisfaction level went down quite a bit at the end. I suppose the style was fitting for the Gothic atmosphere, but it didn’t work for me, and as such I’m uncertain about my readiness to continue on with Emily and Dreadnought’s story. Still–I totally recommend this book for those who enjoy fantasy set in the historic United States–it’s one of the most fun examples I’ve yet encountered.
Original review posted at Bunbury in the Stacks
May 11, 2011
brilliant, engaging, and wryly humorous
consider the following examples --
our plucky hero and heroine enter a gambling house, to find it is more upscale than anticipated
there were "a variety of men at the bar who seemed, if not complete gentlemen, men to whom behaving gentlemanly at least remained an option."
"his long fingers were tearing apart a pinecone in a way that seemed to indicate a personal grudge against conifers"
LIKES:
*rapid-fire dialogue and observation made me smile on nearly every page
*the characters themselves! so many likeable, well-developed, highly distinct characters
*the alternate history/ magic/ slightly steampunk 1800s united states
DISLIKES:
a bit frightening and graphic for my taste, which merely means it was a bit heavier than PG, and the bad guys were truly evil
highly recommended for adults; suitable for slightly younger readers, but probably wouldn't appeal to them.
some magical violence; death, blood, gore; lots of adventure and maybe a kiss or two...
fans of this one should consider The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker andThirteenth Child
consider the following examples --
our plucky hero and heroine enter a gambling house, to find it is more upscale than anticipated
there were "a variety of men at the bar who seemed, if not complete gentlemen, men to whom behaving gentlemanly at least remained an option."
"his long fingers were tearing apart a pinecone in a way that seemed to indicate a personal grudge against conifers"
LIKES:
*rapid-fire dialogue and observation made me smile on nearly every page
*the characters themselves! so many likeable, well-developed, highly distinct characters
*the alternate history/ magic/ slightly steampunk 1800s united states
DISLIKES:
a bit frightening and graphic for my taste, which merely means it was a bit heavier than PG, and the bad guys were truly evil
highly recommended for adults; suitable for slightly younger readers, but probably wouldn't appeal to them.
some magical violence; death, blood, gore; lots of adventure and maybe a kiss or two...
fans of this one should consider The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker andThirteenth Child
May 16, 2011
I enjoyed reading this book, but I felt like I was enjoying it in spite of myself.
It was so, so, so like Cherie Priest's Dreadnought (& Boneshaker) in tone, plot elements and setting that I could almost have believed it was a new book from Priest - except that I don't think she'd use such a trite romance as a driving plot device. (I really dislike the whole romance trope of "I hate you - but wait, that means I'm actually in love with you!" People just don't work like that.)
It also, several times, comes thiiiiis close to getting really preachy about its environmental and socially progressive messages. Not to a Sheri Tepper degree (although I was also reminded of Tepper at moments), and I can't say that I don't agree with the messages: industrialization is not actually progress (even when the industrial pollution is "magical"), but I found myself going, "oh come on, well that's just a bit OBVIOUS" about her metaphors at several junctures.
But yet, I kept reading. Quickly. It's a fast-moving, engaging, fun story. I very well might even go seek out the sequel.
It was so, so, so like Cherie Priest's Dreadnought (& Boneshaker) in tone, plot elements and setting that I could almost have believed it was a new book from Priest - except that I don't think she'd use such a trite romance as a driving plot device. (I really dislike the whole romance trope of "I hate you - but wait, that means I'm actually in love with you!" People just don't work like that.)
It also, several times, comes thiiiiis close to getting really preachy about its environmental and socially progressive messages. Not to a Sheri Tepper degree (although I was also reminded of Tepper at moments), and I can't say that I don't agree with the messages: industrialization is not actually progress (even when the industrial pollution is "magical"), but I found myself going, "oh come on, well that's just a bit OBVIOUS" about her metaphors at several junctures.
But yet, I kept reading. Quickly. It's a fast-moving, engaging, fun story. I very well might even go seek out the sequel.
May 21, 2012
So I finally finished this, and am really even more annoyed than I thought I would be. I thought about giving up about half way through, but figured I paid for the dang book, I really should finish it.
So now I not only wasted the $7.99 but I also wasted some valuable reading hours.
It had a pretty decent magic system, which was kind of fooling me for a bit there, but there really isnt anything that can cover up unlikeable protaganists and a sketchy plot. You know it's bad when they are all at the action climax, and you start rooting for the truly evil blood warlock to just kill her already so I can quit reading.
So now I not only wasted the $7.99 but I also wasted some valuable reading hours.
It had a pretty decent magic system, which was kind of fooling me for a bit there, but there really isnt anything that can cover up unlikeable protaganists and a sketchy plot. You know it's bad when they are all at the action climax, and you start rooting for the truly evil blood warlock to just kill her already so I can quit reading.
April 27, 2013
I liked the setting and the timeframe, and for the most part I enjoyed the prickly, pragmatic heroine. The overall concept of the three schools of magic was also great.
The first half of the book hummed along fairly well, but after that the story started to feel hectic and messy. My biggest disappointment was that by the end, the character-driven drama got a little lost in a soup of gadgets, magical terminology, and last-minute antagonists.
The first half of the book hummed along fairly well, but after that the story started to feel hectic and messy. My biggest disappointment was that by the end, the character-driven drama got a little lost in a soup of gadgets, magical terminology, and last-minute antagonists.
May 5, 2012
3.75
When a book is compared to Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, I expect not just an alt-history with magic, but a lushness of prose and ambiance - which I didn't quite find here.
I was also thrown, a bit, by the description referring to it as a tale of the Wild, Wild West - which, for me, conjures images of dusty towns and tumbleweeds and saloons and gunfights more than a small, rural town in the frontier somewhere. But that's more on me than the book.
But while what I got wasn't quite what I was expecting, it still managed to acquit itself rather nicely, in the end.
At the beginning I wasn't so sure. I liked the characters of Miss Emily Edwards and Dreadnought Stanton well enough - despite the ridiculous name - but it was a bit slow going to start and didn't quite grip me. I'd say it was roughly a 3 star book until about half-way.
But as the story developed, and I started to like them more (despite some of their more unlikable moments - the moments of pride and prejudice, if you will) - I started to become more invested in their plight... and there was a lot of plight, what with jealous lovers, aberrant monsters, everyone trying to get their hand of the stone, witch burners, assassins, so on and so forth - and some of it was quite tense and suspenseful.
Aside from that, though, I liked the discussions of the different types of magic and magicians and the interactions therein. The credomancers reminded me a little bit of Granny Weatherwax's headology, and also of more ritualized forms of high magic, whereas animacy is a more shamanistic, natural form of magic - and it mixes in some disdain that ceremonialists have for hedge witches, blending with the misogyny of the time period. (Though to refer to Wicca, specifically, as an ancient practice isn't historically accurate, but since it's an alt-history/universe kind of book, we'll give that a pass.)
It was also nice to see different examples of the different forms of magic, and the entrance of Miss Pendennis who was a welcome presence in the predominantly chauvinistic male world. (And I don't mean that in the sense that male automatically equals chauvinistic, but most of the men in this story are presented as such. It fits, with the time period, though was a bit heavy-handed at times.)
Anyway - overall I ended up liking both the world that was created as well as the characters, including the romance elements, though there was some of the "would you just talk it out already" moments where I sort of just wanted to shake some sense into them both.
By the end I was fairly hooked, and stayed up late last night eating it up. So, all in all, I'd say that's a success.
***
One thing, though - this totally isn't steampunk. There is only one machine in the book which would remotely qualify - and it's not a steam-powered anachronism as much as it's a piece of half mechanical and half biological product of magi-tech.
Being as how I didn't realize it was even meant to be steampunk, according to some, until I read some of the reviews, I wasn't in the least bit bothered by this. But if I had gone into this expecting steampunk, I would've been disappointed by it's general absence.
When a book is compared to Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, I expect not just an alt-history with magic, but a lushness of prose and ambiance - which I didn't quite find here.
I was also thrown, a bit, by the description referring to it as a tale of the Wild, Wild West - which, for me, conjures images of dusty towns and tumbleweeds and saloons and gunfights more than a small, rural town in the frontier somewhere. But that's more on me than the book.
But while what I got wasn't quite what I was expecting, it still managed to acquit itself rather nicely, in the end.
At the beginning I wasn't so sure. I liked the characters of Miss Emily Edwards and Dreadnought Stanton well enough - despite the ridiculous name - but it was a bit slow going to start and didn't quite grip me. I'd say it was roughly a 3 star book until about half-way.
But as the story developed, and I started to like them more (despite some of their more unlikable moments - the moments of pride and prejudice, if you will) - I started to become more invested in their plight... and there was a lot of plight, what with jealous lovers, aberrant monsters, everyone trying to get their hand of the stone, witch burners, assassins, so on and so forth - and some of it was quite tense and suspenseful.
Aside from that, though, I liked the discussions of the different types of magic and magicians and the interactions therein. The credomancers reminded me a little bit of Granny Weatherwax's headology, and also of more ritualized forms of high magic, whereas animacy is a more shamanistic, natural form of magic - and it mixes in some disdain that ceremonialists have for hedge witches, blending with the misogyny of the time period. (Though to refer to Wicca, specifically, as an ancient practice isn't historically accurate, but since it's an alt-history/universe kind of book, we'll give that a pass.)
It was also nice to see different examples of the different forms of magic, and the entrance of Miss Pendennis who was a welcome presence in the predominantly chauvinistic male world. (And I don't mean that in the sense that male automatically equals chauvinistic, but most of the men in this story are presented as such. It fits, with the time period, though was a bit heavy-handed at times.)
Anyway - overall I ended up liking both the world that was created as well as the characters, including the romance elements, though there was some of the "would you just talk it out already" moments where I sort of just wanted to shake some sense into them both.
By the end I was fairly hooked, and stayed up late last night eating it up. So, all in all, I'd say that's a success.
***
One thing, though - this totally isn't steampunk. There is only one machine in the book which would remotely qualify - and it's not a steam-powered anachronism as much as it's a piece of half mechanical and half biological product of magi-tech.
Being as how I didn't realize it was even meant to be steampunk, according to some, until I read some of the reviews, I wasn't in the least bit bothered by this. But if I had gone into this expecting steampunk, I would've been disappointed by it's general absence.
June 23, 2011
A western witchpunk fantasy.
Curious yet? What a mouthful, right? Immediately after putting it down, I had this big grin on my face. It was fun; it was exciting but what had I just read exactly? "Western witchpunk fantasy" is perfectly apt because there are witches and warlocks. There's blood magic, spirit magic then faith magic. There are doors to other dimensions and zombie miners. What a splendid surprise this was!
This story is just what readers impatient with today's current crop of books that are copies of each other need. It offers a great introduction into witchpunk. Who here has never heard of that? I hadn't. I had no idea how to peg it. At first, it was very horror-gothicky, with ghosts and soldiers and a haunted warehouse, then it felt like a western, especially with a small town girl taking care of her father, then later on it was her weaving spells and making charms. So surprising? Most definitely.
Add the fact that the two leads were practical, impatient, passionate, and opinionated. Emily is twenty-five, but still relatively ignorant of what goes on outside her town. Her wants are simple: take care of her father, practice her craft in peace. In hopes of answering all those wants, she's set her sights on Dag, the town's most affluent bachelor. But there's Dreadnought Stanton to contend with. (awesome name, yes?) He's the credomancer she finds a little too pompous and arrogant. The great thing is they were exctly what they thought each other to be (save Stanton's big secret in the end,) where Emily says Stanton is stuffy, pompous and arrogant, he really is. In the same vein, where Stanton describes her as untutored in modern methods, she really is. But the other great thing is they develop. They don't stay the same. Each thing that happened to them had a hand in them going from merely interesting to good to impressive characters.
Then the romance. Could this book not get any better? It was sweet, it was cute... and I saw it develop! Their connection was not instant; in fact, it was the complete opposite. Brought together by necessity, there was no choice but to get to know each other.
The one thing that had me questioning the five point rating I was leaning toward was the villain. He came across as just your average but necessary crazy evil guy. He was not enough to sway me it seems espcially when I think back to how much I really enjoyed the warlock and the witch with a blue gem in her hand.
UNEXPECTED and DELICIOUS
Yum!
5/5
Curious yet? What a mouthful, right? Immediately after putting it down, I had this big grin on my face. It was fun; it was exciting but what had I just read exactly? "Western witchpunk fantasy" is perfectly apt because there are witches and warlocks. There's blood magic, spirit magic then faith magic. There are doors to other dimensions and zombie miners. What a splendid surprise this was!
This story is just what readers impatient with today's current crop of books that are copies of each other need. It offers a great introduction into witchpunk. Who here has never heard of that? I hadn't. I had no idea how to peg it. At first, it was very horror-gothicky, with ghosts and soldiers and a haunted warehouse, then it felt like a western, especially with a small town girl taking care of her father, then later on it was her weaving spells and making charms. So surprising? Most definitely.
Add the fact that the two leads were practical, impatient, passionate, and opinionated. Emily is twenty-five, but still relatively ignorant of what goes on outside her town. Her wants are simple: take care of her father, practice her craft in peace. In hopes of answering all those wants, she's set her sights on Dag, the town's most affluent bachelor. But there's Dreadnought Stanton to contend with. (awesome name, yes?) He's the credomancer she finds a little too pompous and arrogant. The great thing is they were exctly what they thought each other to be (save Stanton's big secret in the end,) where Emily says Stanton is stuffy, pompous and arrogant, he really is. In the same vein, where Stanton describes her as untutored in modern methods, she really is. But the other great thing is they develop. They don't stay the same. Each thing that happened to them had a hand in them going from merely interesting to good to impressive characters.
Then the romance. Could this book not get any better? It was sweet, it was cute... and I saw it develop! Their connection was not instant; in fact, it was the complete opposite. Brought together by necessity, there was no choice but to get to know each other.
The one thing that had me questioning the five point rating I was leaning toward was the villain. He came across as just your average but necessary crazy evil guy. He was not enough to sway me it seems espcially when I think back to how much I really enjoyed the warlock and the witch with a blue gem in her hand.
UNEXPECTED and DELICIOUS
Yum!
5/5
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