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coffeeandink

coffee & ink

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Gilbert and Gubar's The Madwoman in the Attic after Thirty Years
Annette R. Federico, Sandra M. Gilbert
Stolen
Annette LaPointe
Firebrand - Ankaret Wells This is more of a 3.5 because of world-building questions that didn't get answered, but I'm rounding up for enjoyment's sake.

Kadia Warner, gratefully widowed from her contempuous second husband, is less gratefully orphaned. Her engineer mother leaves her a gorgeous and newly built airship--which the selfish, ambitious, and hedonistic emperor wishes to seize. (He'd also be very happy to seize Kadia.) She flees to the only state that has resisted the emperor's armies so far, the duchy ruled by the emperor's erstwhile best friend.

Things I loved:

* If you had asked me what I wanted for my birthday, "science-fantasy fanfiction taking place in Charlotte and Branwell Bronte's childhood paracosm Angria" would not have been on the list only because I wouldn't have been brilliant enough to think of it. Just reading the mention in Wells' blog overwhelmed me with happiness.

* As expected from the author of the Books of Requite, the voice is terrific -- clever, insightful, and funny. Kadia is quick-witted, competent, and -- for much of the book -- so weighed down by emotional abuse from her stepdaughters and late husband that she severely underestimates herself. Seeing her come (back) into her own after what's clearly been a long hibernation is a delight.

* The romance is sexy and convincing, if a bit rushed.

* It is nice to read a fantasy where most of the characters are grown-ups -- some with adult children, all with previous romances.

* The background world-building is intriguing -- the steampunk technology runs by "ingenii" stones and at the edges of the empire conditions (possibly the mining?) can have strange consequences, such as turning normal humans into "warplings" (more politely called ingenii) aka magical mutants with strange powers and unusual appearances.

* Lots of complicated and well-developed characters, especially women.

* I liked that Wells kept Zashera's demonic sex appeal from the Bronteania, while very sharply underlining the ways in which he exploited women -- and his (male) supporters and friends enabled this. It's not just Zashera; it's the patriarchy.

Things that I didn't like as much:

* I expected a lot more to be revealed about the ingenii. Their powers ended up being both a prerequisite for storytelling (that is okay, I am in favor of airships) and a deus ex machina in the end.

* I'm not entirely sure about the pacing -- it seems rushed in some ways, both in terms of the relationships being developed and in terms of Kadia (and the reader) exploring her world. I could have used a bit less of Kadia (understandably but repetitively) hating on her stepdaughters and a bit more of negotiation with the ingenii and its consequences. One major development seemed extremely rushed (the hinted romance for the Emperor at the end of the book) and another seemed left hanging (the negotiations with the ingenii and the consequences of Kadia's bargain with them).

* Zashera got off way too lightly, but then emperors often do.