The Native Star by M.K. Hobson – review

Emily Edwards, the local witch in Lost Pine, has managed to get herself into some unexpected trouble. With a love charm gone wrong, rampaging zombies, and a magic-nullifying stone embedded in her palm, she finds herself with more problems than she knows how to handle. Add to that the need to travel cross-country with an arrogant, obnoxiously didactic warlock from New York, and she’s beginning to wish she could just undo everything from the start.

Now, as much I’d like to continue with the synopsis, doing so would reveal half of the story’s surprises. So, suffice it to say that Emily Edwards finds herself in a whole other mess of trouble after that. Russian scientists, government warlocks, and aberrancies, oh my!

There are so many things that I love about this book. First and foremost was the setting. Having a fantasy novel set in the Old American West was, shall we say, unique to me. I can’t say that I’ve read anything in that vein before, and that’s one of the reasons that I wanted to try The Native Star. I wondered if it could be done, and done well. I can say with complete certainty that, yes, it can. M.K. Hobson gives a distinct flavor to every location visited in the book. From the rustic atmosphere of Lost Pine to the high society of New York, her descriptions feel authentic, and the magical touches to the locations add a layer of interest.

For that matter, I found it very interesting that the industrial and technological improvements of the time had more to do with magic than with science. In fact, science is the odd man out, struggling to find its foothold in this version of the world. Oh, there are people who work with it, and the research they’re doing appears magical in and of itself. But since magic is a natural part of this world, there’s never any question as to its usefulness. Which isn’t to say that its practitioners aren’t sometimes bullied and hounded and viewed with suspicion. If they weren’t, I don’t think I’d believe it. For a group of people with such power not to be persecuted in some fashion or at some time simply wouldn’t be in keeping in with human behavior.

The magical system in this novel is well thought out. Of the three major schools discussed in the story, I think credomancy (faith magic) was the most fascinating. Both its strong points and its weak points were explored–learning how the discipline can, at times, backfire on the practitioner was fascinating. I’m glad that Hobson thought it through to that extent. Of course, the other schools have their weakness as well. One of sangrimancy’s greatest downfalls is explored through Captain Caul’s character and, if I may say, its effects on the magic user are a little bit terrifying. As for the third school, animism, it’s not extensively explored in The Native Star, but I hope that it might be in future novels.

But, more to the point, the use and exploitation of magic has consequences that manifest in different ways. In fact, this could be considered one of the driving aspects of the novel.

When it came to the characters, I was just as pleased. This is the second novel in a month that I’ve read with a well-rendered female narrator, and it seems that I’m having incredible luck in that regard. Emily Edwards isn’t some flimsy woman who hasn’t the first inkling of how to take care of herself. True, she doesn’t always get it right, and once she leaves Lost Pine, she’s finds herself well out of her element. But she doesn’t shrink away from the challenge, and she most certainly doesn’t shrink away from Dreadnought Stanton. She gives back everything he throws at her and then some. She isn’t afraid to argue or snipe, but more importantly, she doesn’t go overboard. We all know those obnoxious characters who don’t know when enough is enough. Emily, for all her stubbornness, is well balanced.

Stanton makes an excellent male lead, and he would, of course, need to be strong in order to deal with Emily. By the end of the story, there’s still much that we don’t know about him, but future novels (of which there will at least be one!) offer the promise of discovering more. He’s complex, with a history that is only revealed slowly, and with emotions that are locked behind a distrustful, arrogant, and condescending exterior. He can be standoffish at times, and at others downright frightening, but he’s also steadfast, loyal, and open-minded, even toward those who probably don’t deserve it.

I could go on for ages with more specifics about what I liked in this novel, but I really think you’d like it better if you just went out and read it yourself. There’s a lot to enjoy. It’s certainly one of the most entertaining books I’ve read this year.

M.K. Hobson’s second novel in this series, The Hidden Goddess, is currently scheduled for release in May 2011.