FF Friday

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.