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A review by scopique
The Rise of Ransom City by Felix Gilman
3.0
It had been a while since I read the preceding "The Half-Made World", but I had remembered just enough to be able to connect the two. It didn't really help, except that the first book established the bizarre presence of the Line and the Gun, and introduced John Creedmore and Liv Alverhyusen.
"The Rise of Ransom City" is really more "Gears of the City" than "The Half-Made World", which I liked. Gilman writes a mean city -- alive, descriptive, both protagonist and antagonist. The last portion of this one leaves the steampunk Wild West schitck for the urban steampunk aesthetic, and I appreciated that.
I don't remember if Harry Ransom shows up in "The Half-Made World" or not, but in this one, his story crosses over through his time spent traveling with Creedmore and Dr. Alverhyusen before returning to being all about him and his Ransom Process, told in memoir style, from his supposed remote colony of Ransom City.
The first half of the book was rather slow; it was a diary of some frontier shyster who was showboating all over the landscape, traveling from town to town with The Apparatus in tow. He'd grandstand in front of the rubes, displaying his magical wireless energy transmission device, which ended up ending badly more often than not.
The second half kicks off after the Apparatus destroys a town and kills an Agent of the Gun, which puts him squarely in the sights of everyone: the Gun, the Line, and the New Red Republic view his device as a weapon that they all must have. Ransom's naivete lands him in Jasper City where he learns that his idol, inventor and magnate Mr. Baxter, is a puppet for the Line. Soon, he takes Baxter's place and is forced to perfect the Apparatus for the Engines, who are finding that their war is not going well for themselves.
Overall, it was an OK read. Very well constructed, but the beginning half put me off, as it jumped around between present day, flashbacks, and observational diary entries of the people and places Ransom encountered.
I suppose if you're a Gilman fan, and liked "The Half-Made World", or are at least a completionist, this will be required, but I don't know that I'd demand that you read both the first and this book otherwise.
"The Rise of Ransom City" is really more "Gears of the City" than "The Half-Made World", which I liked. Gilman writes a mean city -- alive, descriptive, both protagonist and antagonist. The last portion of this one leaves the steampunk Wild West schitck for the urban steampunk aesthetic, and I appreciated that.
I don't remember if Harry Ransom shows up in "The Half-Made World" or not, but in this one, his story crosses over through his time spent traveling with Creedmore and Dr. Alverhyusen before returning to being all about him and his Ransom Process, told in memoir style, from his supposed remote colony of Ransom City.
The first half of the book was rather slow; it was a diary of some frontier shyster who was showboating all over the landscape, traveling from town to town with The Apparatus in tow. He'd grandstand in front of the rubes, displaying his magical wireless energy transmission device, which ended up ending badly more often than not.
The second half kicks off after the Apparatus destroys a town and kills an Agent of the Gun, which puts him squarely in the sights of everyone: the Gun, the Line, and the New Red Republic view his device as a weapon that they all must have. Ransom's naivete lands him in Jasper City where he learns that his idol, inventor and magnate Mr. Baxter, is a puppet for the Line. Soon, he takes Baxter's place and is forced to perfect the Apparatus for the Engines, who are finding that their war is not going well for themselves.
Overall, it was an OK read. Very well constructed, but the beginning half put me off, as it jumped around between present day, flashbacks, and observational diary entries of the people and places Ransom encountered.
I suppose if you're a Gilman fan, and liked "The Half-Made World", or are at least a completionist, this will be required, but I don't know that I'd demand that you read both the first and this book otherwise.