The Steam Magnate

Eson is the heir to his family's legacy of steam power and possessed of almost-sorcerous abilities with paper and ink that have granted him power over others in business dealings. Yet, despite all that he has, Eson is lonely and unlucky in love.

Kyra has been sent to the enchanting Broken Glass City to find Eson, as punishment for stealing from her employer. Upon finding Eson and pretending to be someone else to win her way into his confidence, she gradually falls under his influence and struggles with her affection for him and her knowledge of his unethical use of power. In time, she draws others into Eson's orbit, setting off a chain of events that will change all of their lives.

The Steam Magnate is interesting from a number of angles. Of particular note are the strong characterizations: Eson, Kyra, and Jado are all well-drawn and very human in their struggles to come to grips with their various natures and the events unfolding around them.

I also enjoyed the depiction of the Broken Glass City, to say nothing of the various other locales featured in the story: stone walls with patterns of stained glass that seem to form words or images of past events, depending on how one looks at them. A number of interesting sketches of various locations (the High Bank, Jado's tea shop, etc.) are included throughout the book as well.

As with the other debut I've read this year, I have to say I'm impressed this was a debut novel. Copithorne has a gift for prose and characterization, and I enjoyed the slow approach she takes, as well as the almost dream-like feel of various parts of the story (Jado's first encounter with Eson, etc.).

The only nitpicks I have is that Eson's abilities never seem completely explained, not to mention just why Eson was meeting Sarah (the woman whose identity Kyra ends up assuming) at the beginning of the book never seemed to have been touched upon. In any case, those are minor issues and I wouldn't say they detracted significantly.

In sum: An excellent debut and the hinted-at sequel certainly has a hard act to follow.