[SX4]∎ Descargar Gratis The Alchemy of Stone Ekaterina Sedia 9781607012153 Books

The Alchemy of Stone Ekaterina Sedia 9781607012153 Books

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The Alchemy of Stone Ekaterina Sedia 9781607012153 Books

This is by far one of the better Steam Punk books.

It focuses on Alchemy and Machinery all in the Victorian style and the steam, while minimal, the time period rings true.

The Punk is also representative by the revolution contained within the pages and the struggle for balance in the city.

The main character is an automaton, and she befriends the towns gargoyles to help her in her plight.

Overall, a good enough story, a bittersweet ending, and plenty to make the imagination run rampant.


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The Alchemy of Stone Ekaterina Sedia 9781607012153 Books Reviews

The Alchemy of Stone is more fantasy than sci-fi and may not appeal to hard-core sci-fi readers. I didn't find the luddite rebellion, proletariat uprising, or the conflict between the alchemists and Mechanics especially engaging. For me the story is all about Mattie, the female automaton who (yes she is a who) seeks full autonomy, that is, to be human. Mattie is especially captivating as a mechanical girl who is more humane than most humans. I was less interested in how the social conflicts that surround her are resolved than in her quest for autonomy. She is an extremely sympathetic character. In addition, the story is very poetically written, reminiscent of stories written by Ursula K. Le Guin.

If you are looking for another feminist story that is more sci-fi than fantasy, one that is lively, dark but not bleakly so, and offers provocative insights into AIs and robots (good, terrifying, and infuriating), then I recommend Frank Kyle's newly published post-apocalyptic novel Her Quest (Her Quest). It’s a story about a young girl, Elen, who lives in a society managed by an AI called Computer and its remotes. Like Mattie, Elen seeks freedom, but she is also on a quest for knowledge. She is not a robot but there are plenty of robots in the story. Today there is a lot of talk about how we should fear artificial intelligence. One of the themes of the novel is that human intelligence hasn’t done such a great job. (In the Alchemy of Stone Mattie seems wiser than most humans.) What Computer does that humans fail to do is to take the best and most humane ideas that humans have come up with and use those ideas to manage Usatopia. To Computer, not to follow those ideas is illogical.
The attributes of robots that are usually emphasized in fiction are super-human strength, speed and intelligence. That’s why it is curious to find a story that exposes the fragility of machines and their reliance on humans for maintenance.

The Alchemy of Stone is set in a steampunk city on the brink of a civil war, and divided between past and future, poor and rich, science and magic, represented by the factions of the Mechanics and Alchemists. The protagonist Mattie is an emancipated robot that works as a alchemist, so she is truly divided between these worlds of science and magic.

Although Mattie is emancipated, her creator still insists in holding the key to her heart, and she needs him to literally wind her up like a clock, as well undergo minor repairs, like when she breaks her porcelain face, loses an eye, etc. It reminded me of a destructive relationship that the victimized party can’t seem to escape.

The problem I had with the book is that I had a deep antipathy towards the heroine, who was a bit of a drama queen for my tastes. All the human struggle was lost to me as the omniscient narrator got into looong rambling about what the lady felt or didn’t feel. Things got worse when Mattie got involved with a renegade mechanic. A love that culminates in one of the most bizarre sex scenes I have read, as the romantic interest circled with his tongue her – in this case very literal – keyhole.

The book does bring some very interesting ideas in the world creation front. Several fantasy elements are thrown into the steampunk setting. The city is guarded by living gargoyles that are turning to stone because of a plague, and their monologues bring a sense of decadence, sadness and end of a culture. A very interesting character is a smoker of souls who inhales the spirits that haunt the living, but got addicted to opium to try and endure the endless talking of the dead inside him.

The book also ends kind of abruptly, perhaps because I was more interested in the political maneuvers of the background than with Mattie’s story itself. Baring the chick lit tone that didn’t appeal to me, I enjoyed very much the setting and how the book emphasizes the frailty of an automata instead of bringing another super-robot.
This is by far one of the better Steam Punk books.

It focuses on Alchemy and Machinery all in the Victorian style and the steam, while minimal, the time period rings true.

The Punk is also representative by the revolution contained within the pages and the struggle for balance in the city.

The main character is an automaton, and she befriends the towns gargoyles to help her in her plight.

Overall, a good enough story, a bittersweet ending, and plenty to make the imagination run rampant.