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A review by chillvamp
The Rise of Ransom City by Felix Gilman
4.0
In this sequel, Gilman continues the very interesting trend of not picking any one side as "the good guys" and showing them all as equally imperfect and potentially evil. I enjoyed the character of Harry Ransom and the style was engaging and at times made me laugh (especially when talking about Mr Carson's eyebrows, or other descriptions like it). I enjoyed the story enough to forgive how out of the limelight Liv and Creedmoor are. Still I squeed with delight every time they showed up -- not-quite-willing traveling partners, both resenting each other but still unable to dismiss each other! Except at the end, I'm really curious to find out what happened to drive them away, argh.
Overall it was a good read, but I was a little disappointed by the ending. I assume a third installment is in the works, but even taking that into account it seems like a very weak ending to me. From the beginning, Ransom's narrative is framed in the urgency of "must finish this part before the Line's forces catch up with us" and especially near the end there are mentions of Heavier-Than-Air Vessels flying overhead and how Ransom is certain they're closing in. So at the end you would expect at least a line in the effect of "they're here!" to culminate that urgency he's been building up. I'm not saying Ransom should turn into a Lovecraftian narrator and continue typing along until an instant before he is devoured by the enemy, but I do feel that the frame of the narrative made a promise of confrontation (or at least deep trouble) that it did not deliver on at the end, and that caused the ending to fall flat for me.
In any case, it was a very enjoyable read and I look forward to the next book in the series if there is one planned.
Overall it was a good read, but I was a little disappointed by the ending. I assume a third installment is in the works, but even taking that into account it seems like a very weak ending to me. From the beginning, Ransom's narrative is framed in the urgency of "must finish this part before the Line's forces catch up with us" and especially near the end there are mentions of Heavier-Than-Air Vessels flying overhead and how Ransom is certain they're closing in. So at the end you would expect at least a line in the effect of "they're here!" to culminate that urgency he's been building up. I'm not saying Ransom should turn into a Lovecraftian narrator and continue typing along until an instant before he is devoured by the enemy, but I do feel that the frame of the narrative made a promise of confrontation (or at least deep trouble) that it did not deliver on at the end, and that caused the ending to fall flat for me.
In any case, it was a very enjoyable read and I look forward to the next book in the series if there is one planned.