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A review by kblincoln
The Warlock's Curse by M.K. Hobson
4.0
M.K. Hobson did a Kickstarter campaign to finance the writing of this, the third in her alternate American History Magic/Steampunk (heavier on the Magic than the Gadget)series that started with Native Star. It came as no surprise to me at all that her campaign was successful. I fell in immediate, irrevocable love with her characters from the first two books.
Will and Jenny, the stars of The Warlock's Curse, were just as personable, but for me, a bit more whiny and naive than Dreadnought Stanton and Emily. Let's just say it took me longer to warm up to them.
Anyway, Warlock's Curse is set many years after the second book. Will is a gifted mechanic and youngest son in a family whose Patriarch is arrogant and dictatorial and is keeping Will from a very promising apprenticeship with Tesla industries for no good reason.
So Will decides to run away. Along comes Jenny, childhood friend, who also wishes to get away from her father. The solution? Marriage. As a married couple, Jenny has access to trust fund money and can help Will get to his apprenticeship.
Only...Jenny's not entirely truthful about why she wants her trust fund, and Will's family aren't exactly who they say they are, and Will himself is starting to hear a very strange voice...
You just can't beat Hobson's Veneficas Americana series for pure idea-driven fun (credomancy as a magical system is just so darn cool) and for creating even minor characters worthy of their own novels (Sanctity Snow the crazy, divine-inspired organist or the romance between the Unionist Briar and the Greek sangrimancer, or the love triangle between two of Will's brothers and his flapper-like sister-in-law).
The writing is impeccable, the secrets revealed at just the right pace, and the characters endure real and terrible consequences for their actions.
But...and here's where the book lost that last, 5th star for me, there was too big of a gap between the first and second half of the book.
The first half with Will finding his way at Tesla industries while trying to find out what Jenny is up to was terrific...and then it all gets left behind on one, fatal night and everything changes. (And sadly I can't discuss any of it because it would be massive spoilerage) The second half, while very cool in its layers of conspiracy and implications, had almost nothing to do with the expectations set up in the first half of what Will might achieve with his Flume and his Tesla work at all. The story careens off into another direction and I felt a little lost between the first half and the second. (and a little shell-shocked, to tell you the truth. The first half is whole-hog YA and the second half I felt made this book probably inappropriate for my 5th grade daughter to read)
Not to mention the terribly open ending with many dramatic issues unresolved. (darn you, Hobson!)
There's no question I'll have to get the second in this duology as soon as it comes out to find out what happens. And along with her first duology in the series, this second one promises to be a wild ride.
This Book's Snack Rating: Like those Trader Joe's dark chocolate-covered potato chips for the hardy crunch of riveting characters and world-building coupled with a startling bitterness of plot direction halfway through
Will and Jenny, the stars of The Warlock's Curse, were just as personable, but for me, a bit more whiny and naive than Dreadnought Stanton and Emily. Let's just say it took me longer to warm up to them.
Anyway, Warlock's Curse is set many years after the second book. Will is a gifted mechanic and youngest son in a family whose Patriarch is arrogant and dictatorial and is keeping Will from a very promising apprenticeship with Tesla industries for no good reason.
So Will decides to run away. Along comes Jenny, childhood friend, who also wishes to get away from her father. The solution? Marriage. As a married couple, Jenny has access to trust fund money and can help Will get to his apprenticeship.
Only...Jenny's not entirely truthful about why she wants her trust fund, and Will's family aren't exactly who they say they are, and Will himself is starting to hear a very strange voice...
You just can't beat Hobson's Veneficas Americana series for pure idea-driven fun (credomancy as a magical system is just so darn cool) and for creating even minor characters worthy of their own novels (Sanctity Snow the crazy, divine-inspired organist or the romance between the Unionist Briar and the Greek sangrimancer, or the love triangle between two of Will's brothers and his flapper-like sister-in-law).
The writing is impeccable, the secrets revealed at just the right pace, and the characters endure real and terrible consequences for their actions.
But...and here's where the book lost that last, 5th star for me, there was too big of a gap between the first and second half of the book.
The first half with Will finding his way at Tesla industries while trying to find out what Jenny is up to was terrific...and then it all gets left behind on one, fatal night and everything changes. (And sadly I can't discuss any of it because it would be massive spoilerage) The second half, while very cool in its layers of conspiracy and implications, had almost nothing to do with the expectations set up in the first half of what Will might achieve with his Flume and his Tesla work at all. The story careens off into another direction and I felt a little lost between the first half and the second. (and a little shell-shocked, to tell you the truth. The first half is whole-hog YA and the second half I felt made this book probably inappropriate for my 5th grade daughter to read)
Not to mention the terribly open ending with many dramatic issues unresolved. (darn you, Hobson!)
There's no question I'll have to get the second in this duology as soon as it comes out to find out what happens. And along with her first duology in the series, this second one promises to be a wild ride.
This Book's Snack Rating: Like those Trader Joe's dark chocolate-covered potato chips for the hardy crunch of riveting characters and world-building coupled with a startling bitterness of plot direction halfway through