Emily Edwards was bored to death. Sitting in her fiancé’s mother’s parlor listening to her future sister-in-law drone out a Wordsworth poem was not her idea of an interesting event. Noticing the morning’s copy of the New York Times laying on the nearest table, Emily was stunned to see that there was a Black Exunge epidemic and Aberrancies in San Francisco, too close to her hometown of Lone Pine. Emily’s guardian, Miss Jesczenka, daintily flicked the paper away and called Emily’s attention back to the poem, leaving Emily worried and upset. Finally returning to the Institute, Emily decided to return to Lone Pine to be sure here Pap was all right, using the Haalbeck door to travel through space. Dealing with the trauma of a city gone mad, Emily finally reaches Lone Pine, only to be given a small blue bottle by her Pap, one that contained all her memories of her earliest life.

Returning to New York, Emily finds she has been missed by her fiancé, Dreadnought Stanton, soon to become Head of the Institute, and has also missed his mother’s small luncheon, where over one hundred people were gathered to meet Emily. Quickly it becomes evident that there are more pressing problems, like the Black Exunge, the possible appearance of the Goddess of Obsidian Knives, and the uncovering of Dreadnought’s darkest secrets, leaving Emily confused but still standing strong.

This book has great descriptive language, making it easy for me to imagine the settings and characters. It is also funny, and Emily is a perfect heroine, with her talent for saying and doing exactly the wrong things. Her inner strength allows her to survive where a lesser woman might not, and her training in animancy helps keep her focused of the right thing to do, whether or not it is socially acceptable. This book was a delight to read, and I am definitely looking forward to Emily’s future adventures.

Book Stats:

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Spectra (April 26, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553592661
• ISBN-13: 978-0553592665

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Book sin the Veneficas Americana series:
The Native Star
The Hidden Goddess