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A review by sherwoodreads
The Native Star by M.K. Hobson
I ripped through this novel in a day, sneaking back to it every chance I could get.
Emily Edwards is a Witch, actually pretty much of a hedge witch, in a just-past-Civil War frontier town of Lone Pine, one universe over from our own. Desperate to save her old Pap and herself from starvation, she overcomes her better judgment to cast a love spell on a man who is decent, kind, successful, and strong.
But . . . right after she does it, an irritating Warlock named Dreadnought Stanton appears and scolds her. They are interrupted by news of zombies at the local mine, which Emily goes to investigate, and (unwanted) Stanton follows her. She ends up with a magic-sucking stone embedded in her hand, throwing her and Stanton on a wild cross-country trip to get rid of the thing before it can explode and turn her into a zombie, uncovering layers of secrets along the way--not only about how magic works, but about each other.
Hobson calls this "bustlepunk." What she gives the reader is a vivid, wisecracking style full of curiously nineteenth-century theory behind the magic, only it works. Further, there are ties to world mythologies, making it far more interesting.
I loved the period sense, and characters like Miss Pendennis, who ends up as Emily's union rep, in effect. I think the only moment I had trouble with was an exclamation by Emily that seemed wildly out of character for the period, but a one word bobble is not exactly a big problem.
There is a satisfactory resolution to this story, with threads firmly embedded for further adventures--making me glad, because I really want to read more about this world, and these characters, and this magic.
Emily Edwards is a Witch, actually pretty much of a hedge witch, in a just-past-Civil War frontier town of Lone Pine, one universe over from our own. Desperate to save her old Pap and herself from starvation, she overcomes her better judgment to cast a love spell on a man who is decent, kind, successful, and strong.
But . . . right after she does it, an irritating Warlock named Dreadnought Stanton appears and scolds her. They are interrupted by news of zombies at the local mine, which Emily goes to investigate, and (unwanted) Stanton follows her. She ends up with a magic-sucking stone embedded in her hand, throwing her and Stanton on a wild cross-country trip to get rid of the thing before it can explode and turn her into a zombie, uncovering layers of secrets along the way--not only about how magic works, but about each other.
Hobson calls this "bustlepunk." What she gives the reader is a vivid, wisecracking style full of curiously nineteenth-century theory behind the magic, only it works. Further, there are ties to world mythologies, making it far more interesting.
I loved the period sense, and characters like Miss Pendennis, who ends up as Emily's union rep, in effect. I think the only moment I had trouble with was an exclamation by Emily that seemed wildly out of character for the period, but a one word bobble is not exactly a big problem.
There is a satisfactory resolution to this story, with threads firmly embedded for further adventures--making me glad, because I really want to read more about this world, and these characters, and this magic.