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jesslynh's review against another edition
5.0
Do yourself a favor and get this one. Authors--THIS is how steampunk is done!
stlorca's review against another edition
5.0
"You ain't gonna like what I have to tell you, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. See, my name is Karen Memery, like memory only spelt with an e, and I'm one of the girls what works in the Hôtel Mon Cherie on Amity Street. Hôtel has a little hat over the o like that. It's French, so Beatrice tells me."
So begins Elizabeth Bear's Karen Memory, a steampunk novel set in the Pacific Northwest during the Alaskan Gold Rush. Miss Memery is a, er, "seamstress" in the booming port town of Rapid City, Washington (an obvious analogue to Seattle, the author notes that it's actually a mash-up of Seattle, San Francisco, and Vancouver).
Karen treats her profession as a job like any other, and one she wants to leave eventually to raise horses. Then a serial killer of prostitutes starts plying his brutal trade in Rapid City. Hot on the killer's heels come U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves ("Lordy," says Karen, "he were a stone handsome man") and his deputy, the Comanche warrior Tomoatooah. Meanwhile, Karen stumbles across a half-dead Indian girl, Priya, who has escaped from a pimp's clutches and is seeking her sister, who has been similarly enslaved. Oh, and there's airships and all manner of Fiendish Devices that require a license for Mad Science; the author wisely keeps it to a dull roar to focus on the story. (No, really--you need to be a licensed Mad Scientist.) And the pimp is running for mayor. And he's got a mind-control machine and a lethal electric glove. (That isn't a spoiler, by the way; it's on the book's cover.)
It's a fast-paced, highly entertaining book, written in a style that is easily accessible. The characters are well-drawn and sometimes do things you don't expect. I want a sequel ("and I want it NOOOOW, Daddy!" he said in his best Veruca Salt).
So begins Elizabeth Bear's Karen Memory, a steampunk novel set in the Pacific Northwest during the Alaskan Gold Rush. Miss Memery is a, er, "seamstress" in the booming port town of Rapid City, Washington (an obvious analogue to Seattle, the author notes that it's actually a mash-up of Seattle, San Francisco, and Vancouver).
Karen treats her profession as a job like any other, and one she wants to leave eventually to raise horses. Then a serial killer of prostitutes starts plying his brutal trade in Rapid City. Hot on the killer's heels come U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves ("Lordy," says Karen, "he were a stone handsome man") and his deputy, the Comanche warrior Tomoatooah. Meanwhile, Karen stumbles across a half-dead Indian girl, Priya, who has escaped from a pimp's clutches and is seeking her sister, who has been similarly enslaved. Oh, and there's airships and all manner of Fiendish Devices that require a license for Mad Science; the author wisely keeps it to a dull roar to focus on the story. (No, really--you need to be a licensed Mad Scientist.) And the pimp is running for mayor. And he's got a mind-control machine and a lethal electric glove. (That isn't a spoiler, by the way; it's on the book's cover.)
It's a fast-paced, highly entertaining book, written in a style that is easily accessible. The characters are well-drawn and sometimes do things you don't expect. I want a sequel ("and I want it NOOOOW, Daddy!" he said in his best Veruca Salt).
roytoo's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Engaging steam punk story set in the Pacific Northwest
A very well written story about Karen, a seamstress (sex worker) in a fictional Pacific Northwest city who deliberately choose that career to when towards future goals.
Lots of very engaging characters in Karen's life as she works to help protect her friends, found family and city from people intent on harming them.
A very well written story about Karen, a seamstress (sex worker) in a fictional Pacific Northwest city who deliberately choose that career to when towards future goals.
Lots of very engaging characters in Karen's life as she works to help protect her friends, found family and city from people intent on harming them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture and Violence
Minor: Vomit and Trafficking
amym84's review against another edition
4.0
Originally posted at Vampire Book Club
“You ain’t gonna like what I have to tell you, but I’m gonna tell you anyway.”
So begins Karen Memery’s (“like ‘memory’ only spelt with an e”) story about how she, and the rest of the “seamstresses” working for Madam Damnable at the Hôtel Mon Cherie, teamed up with famed lawman Marshal Bass Reeves to find the person responsible for a series of murders of other prostitutes (I mean “seamstresses”) in the area. Not only is there a murderer on the loose, but there’s trouble coming from one Peter Bantle (the proprietor of another brothel in town) and his electric-sparking glove. When Madam Damnable offers protection to two girls escaping from the harsh conditions of Bantle’s crib, Bantle swears retribution, and with his newfangled mind-control device, he just may be able to make good on his threat.
It is the late 19th century, and Karen is an orphan. She’s doing her best to survive on her own. She doesn’t plan on being a seamstress forever, mind you. So when that very survival as well as the survival of those she calls her friends is threatened, Karen will go to hell and back to save them. Just like her favorite dime novels, Karen is about to embark on an adventure that will take her to the depths of the ocean in an octopus-fashioned submersible and back. Hopefully, she’ll live to tell the tale.
Karen, as a narrator, has a great voice, and I loved the secondary characters as much as I loved Karen. I would have liked to have seen them fleshed out (no pun intended) a little bit more. Find out more of their histories and personalities, although it’s easy to tell from their actions that they all care about one another like family.
But this is Karen’s story and her story to tell. No one asks her to become involved in the investigation. Even when Karen acknowledges her feelings for Priya, one of the girls escaping from Bantle’s clutches, Karen’s involvement never becomes self-serving. Although, it would be hard to deny her feelings for Priya are a motivation at least, but Karen gets involved simply because it’s the right thing to do. To stand up to bullies who want to control things. To find the person responsible for taking the lives of women who are just doing what they have to in order to get by.
The pace of Karen Memory is pretty up and down. The action scenes were enough that I didn’t want to put the book down, but the more day-to-day scene could lull you into a sense of complacency. The steampunk aspect was always just there as a part of everyday life. No one questions, it simply is. Until Elizabeth Bear decides to–BAM! In your face, oh yes we just did that and it just happened! I remember reading the end of a certain scene and thinking ‘Oh yes, that was completely awesome, more of that please.’ Mind you it takes some time to get to this point, just to be prepared, but the rest of Karen’s adventure is well worth the read don’t get me wrong.
Let’s just say I will never again look at a Singer sewing machine the same way.
“You ain’t gonna like what I have to tell you, but I’m gonna tell you anyway.”
So begins Karen Memery’s (“like ‘memory’ only spelt with an e”) story about how she, and the rest of the “seamstresses” working for Madam Damnable at the Hôtel Mon Cherie, teamed up with famed lawman Marshal Bass Reeves to find the person responsible for a series of murders of other prostitutes (I mean “seamstresses”) in the area. Not only is there a murderer on the loose, but there’s trouble coming from one Peter Bantle (the proprietor of another brothel in town) and his electric-sparking glove. When Madam Damnable offers protection to two girls escaping from the harsh conditions of Bantle’s crib, Bantle swears retribution, and with his newfangled mind-control device, he just may be able to make good on his threat.
It is the late 19th century, and Karen is an orphan. She’s doing her best to survive on her own. She doesn’t plan on being a seamstress forever, mind you. So when that very survival as well as the survival of those she calls her friends is threatened, Karen will go to hell and back to save them. Just like her favorite dime novels, Karen is about to embark on an adventure that will take her to the depths of the ocean in an octopus-fashioned submersible and back. Hopefully, she’ll live to tell the tale.
Karen, as a narrator, has a great voice, and I loved the secondary characters as much as I loved Karen. I would have liked to have seen them fleshed out (no pun intended) a little bit more. Find out more of their histories and personalities, although it’s easy to tell from their actions that they all care about one another like family.
But this is Karen’s story and her story to tell. No one asks her to become involved in the investigation. Even when Karen acknowledges her feelings for Priya, one of the girls escaping from Bantle’s clutches, Karen’s involvement never becomes self-serving. Although, it would be hard to deny her feelings for Priya are a motivation at least, but Karen gets involved simply because it’s the right thing to do. To stand up to bullies who want to control things. To find the person responsible for taking the lives of women who are just doing what they have to in order to get by.
The pace of Karen Memory is pretty up and down. The action scenes were enough that I didn’t want to put the book down, but the more day-to-day scene could lull you into a sense of complacency. The steampunk aspect was always just there as a part of everyday life. No one questions, it simply is. Until Elizabeth Bear decides to–BAM! In your face, oh yes we just did that and it just happened! I remember reading the end of a certain scene and thinking ‘Oh yes, that was completely awesome, more of that please.’ Mind you it takes some time to get to this point, just to be prepared, but the rest of Karen’s adventure is well worth the read don’t get me wrong.
Let’s just say I will never again look at a Singer sewing machine the same way.
balfa76's review against another edition
4.0
Good reading
Good and fun story with some elemets of steampunk. More focused in western part of the fusion still makes it a good steampunk novel
Good and fun story with some elemets of steampunk. More focused in western part of the fusion still makes it a good steampunk novel
tinynavajo's review against another edition
5.0
Northwestern Steampunk
This is an excellent edition to the steampunk genre based out of the Pacific Northwest. I love Karen Memery and I love how you are not coddled in this book, you are expected to just run along with the book and figure things out. Most excellent.
This is an excellent edition to the steampunk genre based out of the Pacific Northwest. I love Karen Memery and I love how you are not coddled in this book, you are expected to just run along with the book and figure things out. Most excellent.
bunrab's review against another edition
5.0
Elizabeth Bear isn't always my cup of tea - though by choice of topics and plots she should be, her writing style just doesn't happen to be to my personal tastes, most of the time. This is one of the exceptions. This book is a hoot and a half! Very funny, with all the gadgets you could possibly want, and a few you wouldn't. I enjoyed both concept and execution.
mcf's review against another edition
4.0
Steampunk in the Pacific Northwest, populated by loads of interesting people, most of whom aren't white, and many of whom aren't straight -- hooray for diverse books! Hugely enjoyable, with several characters you're left aching to know better (give me dozens of books about Marshal Reeves and badassery, fictional or otherwise) and steampunkiness that intensifies as the story reaches its pleasingly cartoonish climactic confrontation.
carriethis's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to like this book more than I did. The story, characters, setting, steampunk elements - great. But at times the prose was so confusing I had to reread whole paragraphs. Karen's humor/twang got in the way a lot during the action scenes. Too much clunky narrative made me wish the book had gone through one more round of editing.
hank's review against another edition
2.0
I am hoping to do this review late at night so I don't offend a certain friend of mine, who really enjoyed this book. I unfortunately didn't. It isn't my kind of book to begin with, I don't like fantasy/histories that are just an excuse to explore period language and period settings. I don't like 19th century language and settings to begin with particularly those I don't think well done. Bear has her characters flit between wild west 1800's language and sophisticated 20th century language. I wish I had some examples but I couldn't hold on to them in my head.
It had some weird mind control device that seemed out of place. It had a black marshal traveling with an Indian deputy trying to save a couple of asian women with the help of a lesbian. There was a gay guy involved as well. I am all for diversity but lets not hit us over the head with it.
And to top it all off the audio was horrible. There were pauses after, I swear to god, every sentence. 12 cd book that could have been 6. Sorry, I wanted to like it but I didn't
It had some weird mind control device that seemed out of place. It had a black marshal traveling with an Indian deputy trying to save a couple of asian women with the help of a lesbian. There was a gay guy involved as well. I am all for diversity but lets not hit us over the head with it.
And to top it all off the audio was horrible. There were pauses after, I swear to god, every sentence. 12 cd book that could have been 6. Sorry, I wanted to like it but I didn't