SFF

The Bedlam Stacks

by Natasha Pulley
Bloomsbury USA. Aug. 2017. 352p. ISBN 9781620409671. $26; ebk. ISBN 9781620409688. FANTASY
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Merrick thought his adventuring days were finished after an injury forced him to resign from the East India Company and retire to his brother's estate. In 1859, a desperate need for cinchona trees, a rich source of quinine and part of Merrick's family history in Peru, requires him to travel there to smuggle cuttings past a Peruvian government blockade. He and an old companion head for the New Bethlehem settlement where Merrick's father and grandfather once lived but find more than they bargained for.
VERDICT Fans of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street (who will be pleased that a character from that novel makes a cameo appearance) know that Pulley has a way with damaged characters who are looking for a new purpose in life. While there are steampunk elements, including clockwork lamps, there's also a subtle inexplicable magic running throughout the unusual, remote setting. [See Prepub Alert, 2/27/17.]
Reviewed by Megan M. McArdle , Jun 15, 2017
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