You don’t understand how much I love Elizabeth Bear’s Karen Memory. Hell, I don’t understand how much I love Karen Memory: normally neither steampunk nor 19th century Americana have any great appeal for me.
But Karen Memory is a book I loved so much that I’ll seize any opportunity to extol its virtues. Because its narrator-protagonist, Karen, has the kind of voice that I’d be happy to read all day. And all the next day. And the day after that. Karen’s voice is funny and smart and confiding and so very sixteen—a sixteen possessed of a whole lot of pragmatism and with a whole lot of the innocence knocked off, but so very sixteen nonetheless.
Lee Mandelo’s review has already sketched some of the main points, so I won’t cover the same ground. (I disagree with my honourable colleague that Karen Memory lacks depth and reflection when it comes to itself and its characters—but every reader finds something different in their books.) I’m just going to… well, honestly? Probably gush.
It’s embarrassing, but there it is. Also, be prepared for spoilers.
Bear has a habit of writing books that rip the heart out of my chest and then put it back differently. (Sometimes broken.) That’s true for Karen Memory too, but unusually for a Bear novel, the main characters fight their way through to a conclusion that has nothing of tragedy about it. A conclusion that is, in fact, uplifting in an uncomplicated (for a Bear novel) way. A happy ending!
Let me pause here a moment to hug this book to my chest and never let it go.
The happy ending is a romantic one, not just an adventure triumph, too. For Karen and Priya—the young woman that Karen’s been courting—end the story alive and settling down together. And much as I love Karen and Karen’s voice, Priya is, for me, the most arresting character in this novel. From the second chapter, where she’s described from Karen’s point of view—
“Priya looked up at me through all those bruises, and I thought filly a third time. I could see in her eyes what I saw in some of my daddy’s Spanish mustang ponies. You’d never break this one. You’d never even bend her. She’d die like Joan of Arc first, and spit blood on you through a smile.”
—I was primed for her to be awesome, and damn but she is. Quiet, competent, determined, and awesome.
But so is practically every character in this book, from the actually-historical-no-really-he-was-that-awesome Federal Marshal Bass Reeves to the inimitable Madame Damnable, proprietor of the brothel in which Karen works, and from Miss Francine Wilde, tall and brave and transgender, to Merry Lee, anti-indentured-prostitution-vigilante, to… well, everyone.
Even the villains have a certain charisma in their villainy.
And there is awesome steampunk fun. There’s a submarine with tentacles like an octopus, or a squid, that pulls surface ships apart and drags them under. There’s a sewing machine that’s basically a steampunk Jaeger. The villains have a machine that controls people’s minds. And also they are awful people. (But compellingly awful.)
Look, I love this book. I love it so much I can’t stop talking about it. I think many of you will love it too.
And I’m going to stop talking now. Honest.
(But it’s so much fun!)
Read an excerpt from Karen Memory here on Tor.com!
Liz Bourke is a cranky person who reads books. Her blog. Her Twitter.
It’s a lot of fun. The steampunk elements take time to really get going, but while those cook, we get this amazing panoply of characters.
And I loved that sewing machine too! :)
PrinceJvstin @1:
Basically there are three books in the last couple of years that have turned me into a complete spluttering fangirl, and this is one of them.
Liz, what are the other two?
I admit, I’ve got nothing to say about the book, but the quote you provided for this post felt too ambiguous – it just made me think “young and crispy?” Not something I’d aspire to.
Now, living as Joan of Arc might be worth looking into.
Morgyn @3:
Ann Leckie’s IMPERIAL RADCH books, and Katherine Addison’s THE GOBLIN EMPEROR.
From Scalzi’s blog:
The Big Idea: Elizabeth Bear
Just finished Ancilliary Justice, yes, loved, loved, loved it.
I haven’t had any interest in this book up until now, not having much interest in steampunk or the wild west, but this review makes me want to check it out.
BTW, almost done with Radiant based on your recommendation and loving it. I didn’t realize how much I needed this book until I read it. (Also, the food totally comes from hunting in the ruins during the day, what little they can grow from stunted plants in the Lower City, and what they can trade for from the Towers)
Thanks for this review. I’d kind of been on the fence about it after the other Tor.com review, but this renewed my excitement in the book. Looking forward to it again :)
I’m reading the ARC of this now (thanks, Tor!) and loving it. I’m always on the lookout for books to hand to my teenage daughters that stretch their genre boundries further than the John Green-style teenage relationship novels, and I think this one goes on the list.