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Goblin Moon - Teresa Edgerton
In the process of looking for the Madeline L'Engle books, I came upon this book and its sequel, which I first read as a teen, and decided to continue my reread project with this series. They struck me as very unusual fantasy books when I read them at an age when I was much more familiar with Tolkien-inspired high fantasy. At least now I have a lot more to compare them to, but they're still very interesting and not quite like anything else I can think of.
They're set in an AU version of our world roughly equivalent to 1700s Germany (the sequel takes us to variations on Venice, Sweden, and their version of the Americas, among other places). On the continent of Euterpe, cities are composed of mixed populations of Men, dwarves, and gnomes; fairies and trolls also appear, but are not nearly as well received. There is a fairly large cast, but most of the action centers around Sera, an extremely strong-willed and sensible young woman who is a poor relation and female companion of her ill and fragile, but wealthy, cousin Elsie; and Lord Skelbrooke, a foreign (Imbrian - read: English) Scarlet Pimpernel expy (foppish nobleman and Sera's sort-of-beau by day, ruthless vigilante by night), who I couldn't help thinking was absolute![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sovay catnip. Meanwhile Sera's alchemist grandfather is trying to create a Philosopher's Stone and raise the dead, while Elsie is romanced by a dashing rogue with evil designs on her, and it's vaguely implied that Sera may have magic or psychic powers that she is far too sensible to acknowledge.
It's a sprawling mix of comedy of manners and swashbuckling action, with lavish descriptions of fine clothing, mansions, and scenery. The worldbuilding is weird and immersive, strongly drawn from real history but filled with fairy tale and AU elements as well. The moon has a highly elliptic orbit that causes massive tides and earthquakes at full moon. Geography and etymology are just skewed enough from ours to be disconcerting. It's a bit high fantasy, a bit steampunk, a bit Dumas; a weird, fun, compelling book that I enjoyed a lot.
I've just started on the sequel (The Gnome's Engine) and found that I'd completely forgotten most of its main plot, probably because the A-plot, which involves a quest to find and raise their AU version of Atlantis, is large disconnected from the first book and also completely bonkers. I'm enjoying it enough that it's a shame she doesn't seem to have ever written any other books in this world.
They're set in an AU version of our world roughly equivalent to 1700s Germany (the sequel takes us to variations on Venice, Sweden, and their version of the Americas, among other places). On the continent of Euterpe, cities are composed of mixed populations of Men, dwarves, and gnomes; fairies and trolls also appear, but are not nearly as well received. There is a fairly large cast, but most of the action centers around Sera, an extremely strong-willed and sensible young woman who is a poor relation and female companion of her ill and fragile, but wealthy, cousin Elsie; and Lord Skelbrooke, a foreign (Imbrian - read: English) Scarlet Pimpernel expy (foppish nobleman and Sera's sort-of-beau by day, ruthless vigilante by night), who I couldn't help thinking was absolute
sovay catnip. Meanwhile Sera's alchemist grandfather is trying to create a Philosopher's Stone and raise the dead, while Elsie is romanced by a dashing rogue with evil designs on her, and it's vaguely implied that Sera may have magic or psychic powers that she is far too sensible to acknowledge.It's a sprawling mix of comedy of manners and swashbuckling action, with lavish descriptions of fine clothing, mansions, and scenery. The worldbuilding is weird and immersive, strongly drawn from real history but filled with fairy tale and AU elements as well. The moon has a highly elliptic orbit that causes massive tides and earthquakes at full moon. Geography and etymology are just skewed enough from ours to be disconcerting. It's a bit high fantasy, a bit steampunk, a bit Dumas; a weird, fun, compelling book that I enjoyed a lot.
I've just started on the sequel (The Gnome's Engine) and found that I'd completely forgotten most of its main plot, probably because the A-plot, which involves a quest to find and raise their AU version of Atlantis, is large disconnected from the first book and also completely bonkers. I'm enjoying it enough that it's a shame she doesn't seem to have ever written any other books in this world.