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A review by eliashelfer
Silver on the Road by Laura Anne Gilman
4.0
In Laura Anne Gilman's vision of the American Midwest, subtle but pervasive magics bring the world to life. Magicians are filled by the devouring power of the winds, and the collective force of people traveling the same pathways make them go from mere tracks to roads, throbbing with power and direction. And at the center, in the small town of Flood, sits the Devil as a subtle, benevolent tyrant - staying out of the way, as long as everybody adheres to a code that at its core is "live and let live".
Isobel was orphaned when her parents broke the compact between the Devil and the American Indians of his Territory, and brought to Flood to be brought up at the Devil's household as an indentured servant. But now, on her 16th birthday, her contract runs out, and she must decide what to do with her adult life. She decides to enter into the devil's service as his Left Hand, his agent on the road in the territory.
The pace of the book is mostly calm and the storytelling down to earth. Much of the book shows us the daily life on the road and the interactions between Isobel and the people of the Devil's Territory. This is also the strong side of the book. The people are mostly nuanced, engaging, and sympathetic, whether they are regular housewives and miners or Indian medicine people, wind-possessed magicians or half-wild spirits of nature. The daily life displays the routine and humdrum of travel, which, besides painting being enjoyable reads in themselves, also provide good counterpoints to the moments of action and suspense that structure the plot of the book.
The plot is the weakest point of the book. While the build-up to the mystery is filled with good moments of suspense and mild horror, the revelation of the nature of the threat is anticlimactic and explained in rather vague terms that don't quite make sense to me within the framework of the world, and the resolution seems rushed. Also, the closest thing the book has to a villain is one of the most one-sided and stereotypical characters, which is a pity in a book that treats so many of its characters with so much love and nuance.
Silver on the Road is an engaging read, and I am eager to get to know more of its world and the people in it. I wholeheartedly recommend it. Just don't expect a fantasy western full of gunslinging and dastardly monsters. Also, I hope Gilman tunes her plot machine for the next one, either giving the plot the space it needs, or making it more about the characters who seem to be the main focus of the book anyway.
Isobel was orphaned when her parents broke the compact between the Devil and the American Indians of his Territory, and brought to Flood to be brought up at the Devil's household as an indentured servant. But now, on her 16th birthday, her contract runs out, and she must decide what to do with her adult life. She decides to enter into the devil's service as his Left Hand, his agent on the road in the territory.
The pace of the book is mostly calm and the storytelling down to earth. Much of the book shows us the daily life on the road and the interactions between Isobel and the people of the Devil's Territory. This is also the strong side of the book. The people are mostly nuanced, engaging, and sympathetic, whether they are regular housewives and miners or Indian medicine people, wind-possessed magicians or half-wild spirits of nature. The daily life displays the routine and humdrum of travel, which, besides painting being enjoyable reads in themselves, also provide good counterpoints to the moments of action and suspense that structure the plot of the book.
The plot is the weakest point of the book. While the build-up to the mystery is filled with good moments of suspense and mild horror, the revelation of the nature of the threat is anticlimactic and explained in rather vague terms that don't quite make sense to me within the framework of the world, and the resolution seems rushed. Also, the closest thing the book has to a villain is one of the most one-sided and stereotypical characters, which is a pity in a book that treats so many of its characters with so much love and nuance.
Silver on the Road is an engaging read, and I am eager to get to know more of its world and the people in it. I wholeheartedly recommend it. Just don't expect a fantasy western full of gunslinging and dastardly monsters. Also, I hope Gilman tunes her plot machine for the next one, either giving the plot the space it needs, or making it more about the characters who seem to be the main focus of the book anyway.