This book is both deeply flawed and very enjoyable. I realize that sounds strange, but I think it is the best way to describe the experience of reading the book.
Ekaterina Sedia is not one of my favorite writers. She tends to have too many characters and then not develop them completely, and this book suffers at times from having just a few too many factions or people in it. The main character is whiny at times, certainly, but there are also moments of brilliance where you feel some genuine sympathy for her dependence on the man who created her and often acts on his own whims, using her for his own ends.
There was a brief and very awkward man on mechanism sex scene in this book that will keep me from recommending it to any young adult readers, as it is just strange and badly placed. It gave me the same feeling one might get if your mother in law asked how you were in bed- just not appropriate. Sedia tries to tackle issues of racism in this book as well, but they feel trite and as someone who is in a cross-racial relationship, frankly her writing about people of color comes off as fetishistic at times.
That's not to say you shouldn't read the book. I got through it in an evening, I'd estimate about 4 hours of reading, not skimming, and there are some beautiful and colorful parts of this book that make it enjoyable. But I am not yet convinced that this book will stand the test of time to become any sort of classic. If you love steampunk or fantasy worlds inhabited by alchemists and mechanical people, you will like this book. Otherwise, I would recommend sticking to your usual genre.
Ekaterina Sedia is not one of my favorite writers. She tends to have too many characters and then not develop them completely, and this book suffers at times from having just a few too many factions or people in it. The main character is whiny at times, certainly, but there are also moments of brilliance where you feel some genuine sympathy for her dependence on the man who created her and often acts on his own whims, using her for his own ends.
There was a brief and very awkward man on mechanism sex scene in this book that will keep me from recommending it to any young adult readers, as it is just strange and badly placed. It gave me the same feeling one might get if your mother in law asked how you were in bed- just not appropriate. Sedia tries to tackle issues of racism in this book as well, but they feel trite and as someone who is in a cross-racial relationship, frankly her writing about people of color comes off as fetishistic at times.
That's not to say you shouldn't read the book. I got through it in an evening, I'd estimate about 4 hours of reading, not skimming, and there are some beautiful and colorful parts of this book that make it enjoyable. But I am not yet convinced that this book will stand the test of time to become any sort of classic. If you love steampunk or fantasy worlds inhabited by alchemists and mechanical people, you will like this book. Otherwise, I would recommend sticking to your usual genre.
I totally disagree with the other reviewer, and feel the need to extrapolate because I don't want anyone to miss out on this wonderful book.
So it's not a stupid 'paranormal romance' that happens to be set in the alternative world of the moment: Victorian Steampunk. It's not escapist action-adventure. It's about politics, tradition vs progress, and what it means to be 'human,' and further, what defines one's role in society.
This book was beautiful. The prose was elegant and simple, giving enough detail to develop the otherworldly steampunk city without bogging the reader down in pages of useless description. (Frankly, it has much to do with the perspective of the emancipated automaton heroine's limited viewpoint and interest in such things as much as anything. She tastes and smells in the pursuit of her alchemy... but is not overly involved in hedonistic narcissism of human life.)
I liked the gargoyles perspective, limited in it's own way, though I still don't understand their utter inability to actively engage in the city they profess to love and protect. They just kinda watch, and bemoan their fate. But then, that seems to be the fatal flaw in a lot of the characters - they just don't ACT - or if they do, it's too little, too late.
It was a unique, authentically (and deliciously) steampunk novel. It was also nominated for the Tiptree award in 2008 (a feminist sci-fi award given to exploration of sexuality and gender.)
So it's not a stupid 'paranormal romance' that happens to be set in the alternative world of the moment: Victorian Steampunk. It's not escapist action-adventure. It's about politics, tradition vs progress, and what it means to be 'human,' and further, what defines one's role in society.
This book was beautiful. The prose was elegant and simple, giving enough detail to develop the otherworldly steampunk city without bogging the reader down in pages of useless description. (Frankly, it has much to do with the perspective of the emancipated automaton heroine's limited viewpoint and interest in such things as much as anything. She tastes and smells in the pursuit of her alchemy... but is not overly involved in hedonistic narcissism of human life.)
I liked the gargoyles perspective, limited in it's own way, though I still don't understand their utter inability to actively engage in the city they profess to love and protect. They just kinda watch, and bemoan their fate. But then, that seems to be the fatal flaw in a lot of the characters - they just don't ACT - or if they do, it's too little, too late.
It was a unique, authentically (and deliciously) steampunk novel. It was also nominated for the Tiptree award in 2008 (a feminist sci-fi award given to exploration of sexuality and gender.)
