Sedia, Ekaterina - The Alchemy of Stone
Fri, Nov. 19th, 2010 06:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterI read this in the spring, so the details are extremely fuzzy.
This is set in a Western-feeling country in a world on the verge of the Industrial Revolution. There's a split between the Alchemists and the Machinists, and Mattie, an automaton who has partially broken away from her maker Loharri, ends up caught in the middle as the gargoyles of the city make a request of her.
I hate writing plot summary, but here it is worse than usual, as I barely remember the plot. (I am pretty sure the plot was interesting, it is just that read during final months of grad school + months passing = zero plot recall.) What I remember are images, striking and disturbing: the well-guarded literal key to Mattie's heart that is the only way to keep it wound, little simulacra made of earth and blood and bindings, a man who hears the whispers of all the souls he collects, a desperate kiss of a keyhole.
Sedia does use the automatons to examine slavery and freedom, which normally annoys me, but here, she actually has POC in the city who are discriminated against and looked down upon, and one of my favorite things about the book is how Mattie aligns herself with other downtrodden people and communities. I was bothered a bit by the portrayal of how one particular POC character uses her alchemy, which treads a bit close to voodoo for me.
I wasn't fully satisfied by the ending, but overall, this is a lovely book full of images that haven't (yet?) become common in fantasy.
This is set in a Western-feeling country in a world on the verge of the Industrial Revolution. There's a split between the Alchemists and the Machinists, and Mattie, an automaton who has partially broken away from her maker Loharri, ends up caught in the middle as the gargoyles of the city make a request of her.
I hate writing plot summary, but here it is worse than usual, as I barely remember the plot. (I am pretty sure the plot was interesting, it is just that read during final months of grad school + months passing = zero plot recall.) What I remember are images, striking and disturbing: the well-guarded literal key to Mattie's heart that is the only way to keep it wound, little simulacra made of earth and blood and bindings, a man who hears the whispers of all the souls he collects, a desperate kiss of a keyhole.
Sedia does use the automatons to examine slavery and freedom, which normally annoys me, but here, she actually has POC in the city who are discriminated against and looked down upon, and one of my favorite things about the book is how Mattie aligns herself with other downtrodden people and communities. I was bothered a bit by the portrayal of how one particular POC character uses her alchemy, which treads a bit close to voodoo for me.
I wasn't fully satisfied by the ending, but overall, this is a lovely book full of images that haven't (yet?) become common in fantasy.
Tags: