The Unnaturalists

July 9, 2012
In this exciting steampunk adventure, Trent (the Hallowmere series) introduces readers to New London, where science reigns supreme. Its inhabitants swear by Saints Darwin and Newton, witchcraft is a dire crime, and mythological creatures like sphinxes and manticores (dubbed Unnaturals) are good only for scientific study. Sixteen-year-old Vespa Nyx wants to be an Unnaturalist in her father’s museum, but he’d rather marry her off. Syrus Reed is a 13-year-old Tinker, whose family has just been stolen to serve as slaves in the city refinery. His only hope to save them—and, by extension, the city itself—lies in finding a witch. One like Vespa, whose powers have just manifested. Trent shifts between Vespa’s first-person narration and third-person chapters about Syrus as they work together, uncovering New London’s darkest secrets, ready to destroy the city in order to preserve it. Science, magic, myth, and alternate history all work together to create an intriguing alternate world with more depth than many books in the genre. This is a world worth visiting. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

August 1, 2012

Gr 7 Up-In the world of New London, science has replaced religion, and magic and witchcraft are considered heretical. Machinery is powered by the mysterious substance, Myth. Vespa Nyx, 17, is the daughter of a scholar who works at the Museum of Unnatural History. Although she wishes to spend her life cataloging Unnatural creatures, she is being pressured to marry and abandon her studies. After a near-fatal encounter with a captive Sphinx at the museum and a mysterious Pedant named Hal, Vespa begins to realize that she is in fact the last surviving witch in New London. In a parallel plot, Syrus Reed, member of an indigent Tinker clan, is forced into hiding after a raid in which members of his family are killed or kidnapped and forced to work in the Myth refinery. The Tinkers are the only inhabitants of New London who openly respect and acknowledge the Unnatural creatures, which they refer to as Elementals and see as essential to the balance of the world order. Predictably, Vespa and Syrus find themselves working together to save their world. This is an entertaining mix of steampunk and fantasy. It is very plot-driven, with some intriguing world-building details, such as the origin story of New London involving Saint Tesla, and the stained-glass window depicting Saint Pasteur smiting the Demon Byron. Readers may be confused about the workings of this fantasy world unless they have read the short story "The Emperor's Man" in the anthology Corsets and Clockwork: 13 Steampunk Romances (Running Press, 2011), which is a prequel to this novel.-Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.