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A review by sausome
The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia
4.0
This book was really fascinating. Some awesome things about this book: female author; strong female main character; sci-fi/urban fantasy; author is Russian (not too many female sci-fi/fantasy Russian authors); great imagery; compelling.
The main character is Mattie, an automaton with a mind of her own, who has gained emancipation from her maker (except her refuses to give her the key needed to wind her heart when it runs low on juice). She is passionate about alchemy, and the stone gargoyles of the city have come to her for help -- they need a cure to turning into stone. They are mysterious watchers of the city; they've built the city from stone, they command stone, they are not often seen to the public eye.
Then there's the Soul-Smoker -- the person responsible for keeping all of the souls that have left their bodies when the bodies die. He is tortured by thousands of souls within his mind and body, and he is only free when he dies. He is also feared by people because the souls within him call to other souls to join them in companionship and could choose to leave a body to enter into his.
In any case, the whole thing is fanciful and just great. I really enjoyed this book of Ekaterina Sedia's. I read the Secret History of Moscow, and I think I like this one even better.
The main character is Mattie, an automaton with a mind of her own, who has gained emancipation from her maker (except her refuses to give her the key needed to wind her heart when it runs low on juice). She is passionate about alchemy, and the stone gargoyles of the city have come to her for help -- they need a cure to turning into stone. They are mysterious watchers of the city; they've built the city from stone, they command stone, they are not often seen to the public eye.
Then there's the Soul-Smoker -- the person responsible for keeping all of the souls that have left their bodies when the bodies die. He is tortured by thousands of souls within his mind and body, and he is only free when he dies. He is also feared by people because the souls within him call to other souls to join them in companionship and could choose to leave a body to enter into his.
In any case, the whole thing is fanciful and just great. I really enjoyed this book of Ekaterina Sedia's. I read the Secret History of Moscow, and I think I like this one even better.