Spotlight: Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear

New adventure steampunk set in the Wild Wild West from award-winning author Elizabeth Bear!

Karen Memory

by

Elizabeth Bear

A Tor Hardcover
ISBN 978-0-7653-7524-7| $25.99
eBook ISBN 978-1-4668-4634-0| $12.99
On sale February 3, 2015

From the Back Cover:

“You ain’t gonna like what I have to tell you, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. See, my name is Karen Memery, like memory only spelt with an e, and I'm one of the girls what works in the Hôtel Mon Cherie on Amity Street. Hôtel has a little hat over the o like that. It's French, so Beatrice tells me.”

Set in the late 19th century—when the city we now call Seattle Underground was the whole town (and still on the surface), when airships plied the trade routes, would-be gold miners were heading to the gold fields of Alaska, and steam-powered mechanicals stalked the waterfront, Karen is a young woman on her own, is making the best of her orphaned state by working in Madame Damnable’s high-quality bordello. Through Karen’s eyes we get to know the other girls in the house—a resourceful group—and the poor and the powerful of the town. Trouble erupts one night when a badly injured girl arrives at their door, begging sanctuary, followed by the man who holds her indenture, and who has a machine that can take over anyone’s mind and control their actions. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the next night brings a body dumped in their rubbish heap—a streetwalker who has been brutally murdered.

Bear brings alive this Jack-the-Ripper yarn of the old west with a light touch in Karen’s own memorable voice, and a mesmerizing evocation of classic steam-powered science.

Praise for Karen Memory:

“Bear pumps fresh energy in the steampunk genre with a light touch on the gadgetry and a vivid sense of place. Karen has a voice that is folksy but true, and the entire cast of heroic women doing the best they can in an age that was not kind to their gender is a delight…. Karen and the ladies kick ass.”

—Library Journal,  « Starred Review «

“Supplies all the Bear necessities: strong female characters, existential threats, intriguing developments and a touch of the light fantastic.”

—Kirkus

“Bear gives Karen a colorful voice, sharp eyes, and the spunk and skills necessary to scuffle with bad types as well as to win over people whose help she needs. Her story is a timeless one: a woman doing what is needed to get by while dreaming and fighting for great things to come.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Karen Memory is a delight, a tour-de-force of historical reimagining and character creation, and a ripping yarn full of surprises…. I can’t imagine anyone not liking what she has to tell us.”

—Locus

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About the Author:

ELIZABETH BEAR was the recipient of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2005
and has won two Hugo Awards for her short fiction along with a Sturgeon Award and the Locus Award for Best First Novel. Now she returns after the conclusion her highly-praised Eternal Sky trilogy with a Western steampunk set in a reimagined 19th century Seattle in KAREN MEMORY (A Tor Hardcover; $25.99; On sale February 3, 2015), the unforgettable story of a plucky heroine risking her life for friendship. Visit her website: www.elizabethbear.com