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Octavia Leander has been sent on her way to her first position as a medician; she is to minister and heal the people of Delford, who have been poisoned by the Wasters. These are the people who are trying to conquer Caskentia, currently ruled (if very poorly) by The Queen. Octavia's loyalty is to The Queen; the Wasters were the ones responsible (indirectly) for the death of her family. Her ultimate loyalty, however, was to The Lady, from whom all her amazing powers came. The Lady, as manifested by The Tree, was not acknowledged by everyone; there were other gods but they were not Octavia's.
Octavia travels by airship. This means of transport is one of the most steam punk elements of the book. This, buzzers, and "zymes" (a method of poisoning) are as steam punk as it gets. One of Octavia's fellow travelers has an artificial limb, but that isn't anything that doesn't exist in our world. There are just as many elements of other genres: romance, thriller, fantasy. Octavia has been warned that she is to trust nobody - a classic element of the thriller. Everyone Octavia meets has the potential to be "not who they seem to be." She is betrayed by those she trusts, and helped by those she doubts. Her relationship with Alonzo Garret is complicated. He is the son of the general who killed her family. He is a steward on the airship. He protects her against various dangers that beset her. Obviously some romance is going on here. Fantasy? The world itself is fantastic; there are gremlins with a fondness for silver; Octavia's healing powers stem (pardon the pun) from The Tree, a fantastic and amazing source of power.
Cato has the solid beginnings of a series here. There is back-story galore to be explored as well as the numerous directions in which the story can progress. There is the romance to be developed. There are intrigues within intrigues to be explored. Given the very believable world that Cato has created, and the characters with which she populates it, there has to be at least a sequel, perhaps more than one.
That would be a good thing.
§ P.J. Coldren lives in northern lower Michigan where she reads and reviews widely across the mystery genre when she isn't working in her local hospital pharmacy.
Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, August 2014
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