The Alchemy of Stone ~Ekaterina Sedia
–Published 2008
–293 pages, Prime Books
–5/5 stars
Mattie is an emancipated automaton, an alchemist, living in a city that is undergoing transformation. The old ways reluctantly making way for the new as her world undergoes an industrial revolution of sorts, thanks to the creations of the Mechanics. Mattie herself is the creation of one of the most skilled Mechanics, Loharri, a man who literally holds the key to her heart. Mattie’s adventure, and that of the reader, begins when the gargoyles, live creatures whose command of stone has been the foundation of this city, come to ask a favor: can she use her alchemical skills to stop them from turning to stone before it is too late and there are no gargoyles left to watch over their creation?
In her third novel, Russian-born Ekaterina Sedia has crafted a tale of wonder and of melancholy. A tale rich in old world feeling that weaves elements of fantasy and steampunk together to create a work with the resonance of myth and folklore. A tale that is easy to get lost in and hard to get away from, even when the last page is turned and the story comes to an end.
The patterns of coincidence and how our choice of reading is shaped has been on my mind lately. The Alchemy of Stone is yet another example of how divergent circumstances come together to influence my desire to read a particular book. Last week I went down to the basement library to bring up some books to fill shelf space vacated by recent book sales. One of the books I spied immediately was Ekaterina Sedia’s book, The Alchemy of Stone. I knew long before this book’s release that I wanted a copy of my very own because the cover art is fantastic. And so I brought the book up to my bedroom, where I saw the cover every day and the book was not far from my mind. Later in the week I happened to come across a link to an interview with Ekaterina Sedia. I was not seeking out anything to do with her or this book, I just literally stumbled upon it as I was blog-hopping. On that same day I made a long overdue visit to Colleen Gleason’s site, on a whim, and got caught up in a very interesting conversation with one of her blog readers AND got a very nice ‘catching up’ email from Colleen.
You might ask what Colleen Gleason has to do with this story? Well, since you asked, it was, coincidentally (I kid you not), almost a year ago to the day that I met Colleen Gleason on a book tour in St. Louis, Missouri, and while at that Border’s bookstore I picked up a just released copy of The Alchemy of Stone! Needless to say I could not get this book out of my mind and so I picked it up this weekend and read it over the course of Saturday afternoon/evening and Sunday afternoon.
From the opening chapter I was captivated with Mattie, with the story, and with Ekaterina Sedia’s writing style. Sedia writes her novels in English, they are not written in Russian and then translated. I cannot help but wonder if writing in her second language is part of what gives Sedia her unique voice. All speculation aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the manner in which she told Mattie’s tale.
As a machine with a desire to be free, learning how to make choices for herself and interact in a largely human world, Mattie becomes a vessel in which the concepts of free will, of humanity, of freedom, etc can be examined. She also is a unique character through which to view the positive and negative aspects of an industrial revolution. It wasn’t until I was finished with the novel that I read the back and saw those words ‘industrial revolution’ used to describe this tale. However, the entire time I was reading the story I was feeling a spirit of kinship between what Sedia was exploring and the environmental vs. industrial aspects of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. That feeling certainly mingled with the other feelings the story evoked to make this a very pleasurable read. Like The Lord of the Rings, at least my interpretation of it, there is a sense of loss and sadness–a melancholy mood–that pervades Mattie’s tale, as there is in any story that deals with the idea of change. Change, whether it be that brought on by growing up, as in Labyrinth, for instance, or whether it be change brought about by progress, brings with it a sense of loss. Old things are often left behind, sometimes to the detriment of the individual, of society, or of both.
Mattie is an absolutely wonderful character for the reader to follow. Despite being an automaton, she is a remarkably human creation, and in that sense very easy to relate with. One particular passage made me smile, discovering that Mattie was a clockwork girl after my own heart:
“…Mattie decided to stop by a bookshop near the paper factory. It carried some books she had lusted after for as long as she had been on her own, after she had ended her apprenticeship with Ogdela–small, trim books with thick paper and ragged pages, books bound in cloth and leather, books with faded drawings painted with a thin brush dipped in ox’s blood.”
and later on that same page:
“But she longed for the expensive books. She justified it by her need to learn more arcane things…But in her ticking heart, she knew that she just wanted the books as objects, as small leather-bound weights of palpable luxury.”
Ekaterina Sedia is also able to use Mattie to explore the role of women in society, particularly in a more ancient time. By examining real issues in the realm of speculative fiction, Sedia manages to tell a story that is in no way preachy, and yet conveys a strong message. It was a real pleasure spending the weekend in this world that Ekaterina Sedia created. And it is that world that also makes this tale so easy to get lost in. Perhaps it was my assumption of her country of origin based on her name, but I couldn’t help but feel the Russian influences as I read the story. The world I pictured and the feeling that the story gave me brought to mind thoughts about Russian and European folklore present in other stories that I have enjoyed. And while the world was certainly a fantasy construct on some levels, it felt very authentic. Not to mention that I just love stories with alchemy and steampunk elements. Ekaterina Sedia manipulates these genre elements so deftly that the trappings of fantasy and steampunk fade into the background, while the story and the characters that inhabit it emerge to capture the imagination.
As with any story that puts a hold on me so tightly that I cannot put it down, I could go on and on. I haven’t even gotten to the Soul-smoker, one of the most intriguing ideas for the handling of life-after-death that I have ever read. I guess you’ll just have to trust me on this and check out the book for yourself.
Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the cover blurb, “A Novel of Automated Anarchy and Clockwork Lust”. While the quote might evoke images of rampant automaton erotica, I don’t see it as a very clear representation of the story. The ‘automated anarchy’ I get, on many levels. The ‘clockwork lust’? I guess if you take the definition out of the sexual realm it might make some sense. In the end I just wanted to assure you that, were you to pick this book up, you need not fear that you were going home with a steampunk sex novel.
Though it waited patiently on my shelf for almost an entire year, The Alchemy of Stone proved to be well worth the wait. It was an ideal book for a rainy weekend and one that I wholeheartedly recommend. The story has enough of a gothic feel to it that it would make an ideal, if slightly off-the-norm, read for the soon-to-be-announced R.I.P. IV Challenge.
Oh, this sounds fantastic! I had somewhat mixed feelings about The Secret History of Moscow (though what I liked outweighed what I didn’t), but this sounds like something I’d love.
Nymeth: I’ve heard similar things about Secret History. I had read about a quarter of it before I needed to return it to the library and I just never got back to it. Not necessarily because of problems, but it obviously didn’t grip me from the beginning like this book did. I actually thought you had reviewed this and was going to link to you but then didn’t find it when searching your site. You should check it out sometime.
RIP? did someone say RIP? Cath and I have been chatting about your RIP challenge and the books we already have to choose from…
Deslily: The announcement should be up in the week of the 24th. I will be making my banner(s) here in the next couple of days.
“palpable luxury” *sigh* let me tell you a secret….when i was a little kid and was told about God and Heaven, i imagined a giant library with comfy chairs and cups of tea and all the books ever written. one can hope!
Melanie: I like your version of Heaven! I imagine others, those non-readers (the horror!) would consider the book part a living hell! 🙂
Carl, I love Russian books just as much as Japanese! Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention. Now, if you’d just call my Superintendent and tell her I need a few more days off for reading…
I’ve seen this one before. In fact, it’s called to me from one of those tempting tables bookstores use to lure us further into the store. The cover is fantastic. After reading Boneshaker (and anticipating October’s release of Leviathan) I am most definitely in a steampunk mood, so I’ll have to add this to my list.
Chelle: How lucky for you getting an advanced read of Boneshaker! I hope its good. I have yet to read Cherie Priest, despite hearing good things, and I thought this would be a good place to start since steampunk really is one of my favorite genres. If you haven’t read the Langdon St. Ives adventures by James P. Blaylock, you are really missing out.
Also, Neth Space has a review of The Affinity Bridge up if you’re interested. He is so-so on it but it still sounds good to me. I think SF Signal gave it a good review, they have a blurb on the actual book.
Bellezza: Some of the Hellboy stories have Russian folklore in them which is one place where what little familiarity I have with them comes from. This had that feeling. I’ll make that call asap. 🙂
Ooh Carl this is very timely, I’ve just pre-orderd my copy but it doesn’t come out here until November so I will just have to wait! Sounds like it might be a good read for the long winter nights that I am so looking forward to…….
Okay, this has been on my wish list forever and consider me sold! I am going to buy it for the R.I.P. challenge. Since you said it works, and isn’t that a great excuse? lol
Kailana: That is a perfect excuse! 🙂 I certainly see the kind of dark, gothic elements in this fantasy steampunk fairytale that leads me to believe it is a perfect R.I.P. book.
I hope you enjoy it.
Bride of the Book God: And it will make an ideal winter night read as well. I mean, it may be very stereotypical, but who doesn’t think of winter and cold when imagining Russia?
Hello! I’m dropping by to let you know that you’ve been nominated for a Book Blogger Appreciation Week award, but before we can proceed, I need to get your email address (couldn’t locate a “contact” form here). Please email me at bookladyblog (at) gmail (dot) com within 48 hours. Thanks!
After reading the first paragraph of this review I jumped off my bed to get my booklist notebook so I could add this to the many, many titles I want to pick up.
Also the RIP challenge is coming – eep. How can I scare myself this year?
Jodie: I’m reading the Guillermo del Toro/Chuck Hogan collaboration, The Strain, right now and it has a nice creepy vibe to it. I’ll be done soon, and review will be up soon. That might make a nice start to scaring yourself!
Rebecca: I certainly appreciate the nomination and will contact you asap.
This sounds fantastic! Great review, I had never heard of this book or the author before.
It’s cruel irony that has me skipping the books that will resonate most with me or keep them out of my reach as such as the case with Ekaterina Sedia. Everything you described in your review I can summarize with being so *me* and I am utterly excited about this book more than ever.
PS: I am looking closely for your official challenge. 🙂
Thanks for the review, Carl. It sounds pretty interesting though I had rather mixed feelings about Secret History of Moscow. Perhaps I’ll try borrowing this one from the library.
This sounds breathtaking! I’ll definitely go looking for this after I’m done with my Japanese queue.
Thanks for introducing me to the term “steampunk”. I’ve seen a couple of films and stories which I think would fall under this category and I’ve always wondered how to classify them 🙂
Oh, and by the way, yes it’s quite an amazing cover! It reminds me of the cover of The Escapement (which I still have yet to read).
Mark David: The cover is fantastic. It is by artist David Defiguerdo. His website is here:
http://www.epilogue.net/cgi/database/art/list.pl?gallery=10851
and you can see the image without the title and other info on it.
My definition of steampunk is quite broad. I certainly consider things like Hellboy, the films and most especially the graphic novels, to have steampunk elements. Most of the steampunk that I see and like is Victorian steampunk which has those Victorian era elements to it, but this book was steampunk in a different fashion and it was very good.
Maria: It seems a lot of people had mixed feelings about Secret History, and others just loved it. Someday I’ll have to get to it and see what I think of it. I really did like this one though.
Harry: I will enjoy reading your review of this someday. It will be interesting to see if you like it or if it doesn’t resonate with you the same way it did with me. The official challenge will be announced very soon!
Mariel: That is one of the great things about book blogs, isn’t it? Discovering authors and books that just passed by your radar. I love it!
ooooh, I second Nymeth, that sounds fantastic.
My first thought when I saw this post was, “I wonder if Carl read Dark Wolf’s wonderful interview with the author?” I’m glad to see you caught it. It definitely piqued my interest in this novel, as did your great review!
Memory: It was a great interview, wasn’t it? I am so glad I stumbled across it.
Fence: it is!
I guess when I now think about “steampunk”, one of the more recent films that come to mind is Mutant Chronicles. Though I didn’t particularly like it (I guess the screenplay was a little shallow), I thought it was very steampunk and that perhaps added some class to the overall feel of the movie.
I’m going to have to look that film up, I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of it.
It does sound like it’s an interesting book to pick up. And like you said, the cover art is simply amazing.
It’s funny how different people pick up books based on different reasons. I half-suspect I pick books up based on their titles. And I have to say, The Alchemy of Stone is sounding very fine indeed.
Second languages… They’re tricky things. (Point in case: While most would consider Dutch to be my first language because it’s the language of the country I’ve been born in, pretty much none of those would consider it my first language based on my proficiency. It’s littered with Anglicisms and non-native speaker errors.) It’s a nasty subject to think about and one we can’t truly solve/answer because, as yet, we still understand too little about language acquisition to agree on what ‘first language’ actually means. At least that was the case two years ago… I know science is fast nowadays, but I’m not sure it’s that fast.
Ramble on languages aside, though, I’m so glad you finally read this and enjoyed it so much! I squeed when I saw you’d reviewed this. What’s your opinion on the homunculi? I still want one. I think they’re adorable. In a gross way. I loved the way they slotted in with the rest of Mattie’s world and didn’t feel out of place at all.
Adorable in a gross way probably fits really well. I couldn’t get the image of the one in Pan’s Labyrinth out of my head while reading this. My favorite homunculus is Roger from Hellboy…not that you asked, but I couldn’t help sharing. 🙂
As I only speak one language, and that perhaps dubiously, there certainly is no argument about which is my first language, lol!
I’m glad I finally got around to reading this as well, and I’m so happy it proved to be worth the wait.
Michelle: I’ve bought books based on titles before as well, and you are right, The Alchemy of Stone is a really great title. Sometimes there are titles that just grab you, even though the mean nothing to others. Though I do not own a copy, yet, I have always loved the title of one of Christopher Tolkien’s LOTR history books: The Treason of Isengard. Not sure why, but that title just sings to me. Audrey Niffenegger’s new book, Her Fearful Symmetry, has that kind of gripping title in my opinion.
The very last homunculus in the book is so cute, with its blood stains and its bubbles and I don’t know. I maintain the fact that it should never have been as adorable as it is.
Pssssh. There’s nothing dubious about your language use that I’ve ever seen. Language acquisition is an absolutely fascination field, and there is so, so very much that we don’t yet know about it. It’s just an interesting question for all I fail at talking/thinking about it due to a lack of knowledge.
(And isn’t The Treason of Isengard just the best title? Silver on the Tree is one of my favourites. It’s so pretty.)
I finally had a chance to read this book, and it is wonderful! I love the authors delicate mixing – alchemy, perhaps – of science fiction and fantasy elements. Thanks for the recommendation that led me to this story.
ejly: I am so glad to hear it. It really is a lovely book and it is a great mix of genres. You’re very welcome. I got this for a friend of mine for Christmas and she loved it as well.