Karen Memory

Karen Memory is a steampunk novel by Elizabeth Bear. It was published by Tor Books, on February 3, 2015;[1] a Japanese-language version was published on October 20, 2017.[2]

Karen Memory
Cover
AuthorElizabeth Bear
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreSteampunk
PublisherTor Books
Publication date
February 3, 2015
Followed byStone Mad 

In 2018, a sequel, "Stone Mad", was released.[3]

Synopsis

In an alternate 1878, Karen Memery ("like memory only spelt with an e") is a teenage prostitute in the Pacific Northwest, whose life becomes complicated by the arrival of a serial killer, by a rival pimp's attempt to run for mayor, and by mad science.

Reception

National Public Radio described the novel as "a bracing yet charming adventure yarn," praising Bear for giving Karen a "strong, sympathetic, charismatic voice" whose "narrative is sharp, sly, and full of heart."[4] Locus considered it a "delight" and a "tour-de-force", comparing Karen to Huckleberry Finn,[5] while Kirkus Reviews found the characters to be "lively" and "engaging", with an "intriguing" and "steampunk-ishly surreal" plot.[1] Cheryl Morgan commended Bear for "straddl(ing) the fine line between sounding authentic and being irritating", and for depicting a multicultural and intersectional society, but found Bear's portrayal of a transgender character to be non-optimal, and conceded that readers "who identify more closely with other characters in the book's highly diverse cast" may find the portrayals of those characters to be similarly non-optimal.[6]

References
  1. Karen Memory, at Kirkus Reviews; posted online November 20, 2014; published December 1, 2015; retrieved March 30, 2016
  2. "Serial Experiments Lain" Designer Covers "Karen Memory" Steampunk Novel, by Scott Green, at Crunchyroll; published September 21, 2017; retrieved August 30, 2018
  3. Stone Mad, reviewed atPublishers Weekly; published March 19, 2018; retrieved August 30, 2018
  4. 'Karen Memory' Builds Up A Good Head Of Steam, by Jason Heller, at NPR; published February 3, 2015; retrieved March 30, 2016
  5. Russell Letson reviews Elizabeth Bear, by Russell Letson, in Locus; archived in Locus Online, January 28, 2015; retrieved March 30, 2016
  6. Karen Memory, reviewed by Cheryl Morgan, at CherylMorgan.com; published no later than September 19, 2015 (date of earliest version on archive.org); retrieved March 30, 2016
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