Karen Memory, by Elizabeth Bear

[mllelaurel]

Karen Memery (yes, I spelled that correctly,) a sex worker at Madam Damnable's parlor house in Rapid City isn't a hero. She never counted on steampunk battles, or chasing down a serial killer in the company of Marshall Bass Reeves (the real life inspiration for the Lone Ranger,) or scrambling to foil a wide-reaching treason plot. She certainly never counted on falling in love with the terrified and determined girl who stumbles into Madame Damnable's parlor, dragging a critically-injured friend to safety.

The setting is a sort of steampunk historical, set in a fictional but vivid West Coast city. I'm pleased to report that it eschews a lot of what annoys me about steampunk. The cast could not be further from the usual self-absorbed white British upper class. I did find the machinery descriptions less-vivid and thus harder to follow, but I can't tell whether that's a Bear's writing thing or a me thing.

Karen is a fantastic protagonist with a great voice. She was my favorite thing about the book. The cast of supporting characters is engaging, if nowhere near as three-dimensional as Karen, with a few exceptions, most notably Reeves who is great. The villains are unfortunately extremely one-dimensional, but they do provide a credible threat and some good scenery chewing.

Priya, the love interest, goes in the category of 'good and interesting if not as good as Karen.' She is clever and active, and her romance with Karen is sweet. I liked the two of them and wanted them to be happy, though for some reason I didn't get as emotionally invested as I wanted. Again, I can't quite tell whether that was a writing style thing, or a me thing. I did raise an eyebrow at how fast Priya picked up languages, without being given any context or guidance, but it's a small enough detail I let it go.

Speaking of reader engagement, I started out so utterly charmed by Karen's narrator voice that I was super enthused. But as we barreled toward the climax, I found that things went too fast for me. I occasionally 'lost visual,' especially during action scenes, and found myself… see those words again 'interested but not invested.' This is a recurring problem I've had with Bear's climaxes in the past. Either way, it didn't mar my enjoyment enough to keep me from putting a hold on the sequel (Stone Mad, which just came out this year) as soon as I was done.

Comments

[monanotlisa]

Oh, I think you've just identified what I too hate about steampunk, and why I generally don't read it: "The cast could not be further from the usual self-absorbed white British upper class. "

But, talk about a different protagonist! It sounds well worth reading.

[mllelaurel]

Yeah, steampunk and I are generally not friends. There are a few reasons: the above is Reason #1. I'm also pretty bored by gears, and dislike 'for the aesthetic' worldbuilding. Karen Memory manages to avoid pretty much all of the above, though the tech still interests me a lot less than everything else going on.

[rachelmanija]

There's two anthologies of lesbian steampunk stories, Steam Powered I and II, which as far as I recall have zero protagonists of that description. (Disclaimer: I have a story in the first one.)

[mllelaurel]

Ooh! I know for a fact I like your writing, so that's great incentive to check out the collection.

[recessional]

In re emotional investment: it may well be a writing-style thing. One of my ongoing problems with Bear's writing is exactly that - her particular style and the extent to which I can see the care and work going into the language and framing and "craft" itself, creates a very definite barrier between me and getting really emotionally involved in her work.

Other people don't have this problem, but it's very definitely something that a chunk of people, of whom I am one, have with this author - I find her work very craft-level admirable, but also that it leaves me rather cool and disinterested, which is often not enough motivation to actually get through the work.

[mllelaurel]

That's really good to know! I'm glad it's not just me.

In this particular novel, the strong first-person narrator voice offset that somewhat. On the other hand, the Victorian-novel convention of saying something bad is about to happen before it happened killed the element of surprise a lot of the time.

[recessional]

It's definitely one of those things where for some people what is a bug for me is a feature for them, and that same thing makes them MORE entranced/etc? But yeah I know the "oh good it's not just me" feeling and it's an ongoing Thing for me with her work.

This is actually one I have thought about picking up anyway (and still am) because of the other elements (including the first person) that are really interesting to me and might well offset it! But yeah it's definitely a Known MMV Thing for me when talking about her books.

/blither, lo I am le sleepy

[kore]

But as we barreled toward the climax, I found that things went too fast for me. I occasionally 'lost visual,' especially during action scenes, and found myself… see those words again 'interested but not invested.' This is a recurring problem I've had with Bear's climaxes in the past.

Yeah, I enjoyed this book a lot but have had the same problem with Bear's other books (which I've often enjoyed). It's like the emotion gets underwritten at crucial points, so what should be a really thrilling climax (that's what she said) feels kind of dry and detached. I think her writing in first person is typically a lot better than in third.

[mllelaurel]

It's really frustrating, especially since there are other scenes which aren't underwritten, so I know how intense they're capable of being. And then the climax of all things fails to deliver.

[bookblather]

THERE'S A SEQUEL???

*runs to get it*

[mllelaurel]

I think it just came out very recently.

[bookblather]

That's so awesome. Thanks for letting me know!

[mllelaurel]

Glad to help. :)