I really enjoyed this book!  I'm a fan of Elizabeth Bear's, even thought sometimes I think her writing is too smart for me to actually get.  *LOL*  I had been looking forward to reading Karen Memory since it was published and finally, it went on sale and I could afford the ebook.  All I knew about it was that Elizabeth wrote it, it was steampunk, the heroine was lesbian, and all the buzz was really good. 

But when I started it.... OMG, my stomach sank because there were two things that are generally a 'no way José' type of thing for me.  The character speaking in dialect, hell, the whole narrative in dialect when it comes to that because it's a 1st person POV and the heroine being young, like YA/NA young.  This did not bode well. 

But you know what?  I soon forgot that the heroine was of tender years, so to speak.  Yeah, she was young, but she wasn't that annoying young that so many of the YA/NA characters I have read are.  And the dialect?  Well, I can see how it might be problematic for some - the should haves and could haves and would haves were all should of, could of and would of, which would normally drive me absolutely apeshit, but oddly enough, it didn't bother me.  Shocking, I know.  (Had she thrown in a verse in place of versus, I may have felt differently.  *LOL*)  But the character of Karen had come alive very quickly and this is how she talked and it was okay.  :)

What we have here, is the tale of Karen Memery (that's the actual spelling of her name), and what happens when a badly injured girl comes begging sanctuary at the door to the bordello where Karen works, setting in motion adventures and mysteries.  The action is exciting and seldom lets up.  The characters are all terrific - the girls and staff of the bordello, the lawmen, the villains.  Even the animals!  *LOL* 

Karen Memory is one of those books where I wish I could write decent reviews to do it justice.  Suffice it to say that it's a rollicking adventure with a diverse and fascinating cast and a real sense of humour and fun

I don’t often post updates, but I decided to do it for this book, because it seems so controversial to me.

 

Page 43

Started reading, and frankly, I’m not impressed. It’s an American steampunk story: Seattle, the end of the 19th century, with lots of mechanical gadgets, gangsters, and whores. So far so good, and the plot seems absorbing, but there is a problem: the story is written in the first POV of its heroine, Karen, a whore.

First: I don’t really like whores. Second: the language of writing is that of Karen: uneducated, with lots of slang and other crude vernacular, not just in her dialog but in the entire text. For me, it’s translated not into authenticity but into a narrative full of mistakes, as if the editor of this book wasn’t allowed to do her job. I might have enjoyed it more if it wasn’t using Karen’s mutilated English. But I’ll go on reading, see if the story quality would override my aversion to its mode of expression.

 

Note: Please, don’t ‘Like’ until the full review, although I’d appreciate your comments. Do you think it’s OK to write a book in slang or dialect? I don’t. It never worked for me before, and I’m not sure it’ll work for this book.

It started off well, but I didn't like this one that much. It rescued itself from a single star with a plot twist that I was hoping for the identity of the murderer (not much of a twist, but the first "suspect" would have been a really lame culprit).

Peeves and comments:
I know now that it's supposed to reflect on Karen's grammatical skills, but the "could of" and "would of" thing fair drove me up the wall. Especially since she uses the full "have" on occasion. Of course, she also managed to use "knew" once too. As I noted above, the narrative voice started off fairly strong, but it wasn't maintained consistently, in my opinion. Part of that may have been a lack of imaginative engagement on my part.

Aside from that, I'm not sure why some people are saying that this book is light on steampunk elements. The plot itself relies heavily on steampunk elements like the mech sewing suit (still not sure how that thing helps with sewing) and the octopus-tentacled submersible.

I was also annoyed at Reeves for being completely illiterate since, as it turns out, it's just too much trouble for him to get his wife to teach him the basics. Apparently he's managed so far and although he concedes that literacy would be useful, he'll manage to his grave. Seriously?

I first heard about this book at file 770 and somebody mentioned that it is a good candidate for next year Hugo nominations. Eh - not in my opinion. I thought I would do a review for DA but I am just not finding interesting things to say so here is a very brief one. It is a very well written steampunk set in a fictional city which some reviewers said was really fictional Seattle. Karen is a very engaging narrator - awesome example of how to write the character who speaks with accent and not to make the reader want to throw the kindle against the wall (cough Alexis Hall cough), the plot is kind of a western? I guess? Action/adventure definitely.

 

Also I hesitate to bring "puppies" name in vein because they may appear and bite me, but whatever - unfortunately the message (which I fully agree with by the way) sometimes did get in the way of the story. Not too often mind you, sometimes - yes, Karen is smart and hard working, no, some of her remarks about how women are treated v how men are treated read to me as author talking to the reader directly rather than character being in character if that makes sense.

 

Karen falls in love with another woman - awesomeness, not nearly enough f/f and m/m romances in mainstream, but sadly a fail for me , because I have no idea what she saw in the other woman. Oh she is nice and smart too, but romantic chemistry equaled zero.

 

The ending - UGH but note that I am not downgrading for the ending, because this is simply artistic choices which I disliked. It fit the story 

(Because Russian villains - of course Russian villains, but at least make them less stupid - cause holera epidemic so Russia can take back Alaska? And what the hell did the Captain Nemo, one of most beloved characters of my childhood do to this writer?)

(spoiler show)

This is a running list; I'll be adding to it as I go. 

 

The point of this is not only to keep track so I can vote, but to let others know what I'm considering so they can read them too. 

 

Bear, Elizabeth. Karen Memory. Tor. February, 2015. 

Bear is a super writer and an incredible story teller. I've been waiting for this book for a while. 

 

Caine, Rachel. Ink and Bone: The Great Library. NAL, July 2015.

 

Cherryh, C. J. Tracker: A Foreigner Novel. DAW. April, 2015.

Volume 16? I think? I love this series. In my head, it's one huge novel, but this book is eligible for 2016's Hugos. 

 

Elliot, Kate. Court of Fives. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, August 2015. (YA fantasy).

 

Hawkins, Scott. The Library at Mount Char. Crown. June, 2015.

Really really loved this; it's a complicated well-written book and it managed to surprise me. So far this is my front-runner for Best Novel.

 

Jemisin, N. K. The Fifth Season  (Vol. 1 of The Broken Earth). Orbit. August, 2015.

 

Novik, Naomi. Uprooted. Del Rey. May, 2015.

 

van Eekhout. Pacific Fire. Tor. January, 2015. Sequel to California Bones,which I really enjoyed. 

 

van Eekhout. Dragon Coast. Tor. September, 2015. Sequel to California Bones and Pacific Fire. 

 

Walton, Jo. The Philosopher Kings. Tor. June 2015. 

This is the sequel to the brilliant, absorbing and clever The Just City. Haven't read it yet, but it's on My List. 

 

Wilde, Fran. Updraft. Tor. September 2015. This is a first novel, and everyone I've talked to who has read it is wildly enthusiastic.