Dana Copithorne’s The Steam Magnate is one of those books that I would have loved to talk about in Emerald City. It is a bit slow, and none of the characters are terribly sympathetic, so I can’t see it having mass appeal, but it is very different from the run of the mill fantasy. It is set in a world that is in some ways more technologically advanced than ours, and in some ways less so, and a rather muted level of magic is an accepted technology. If you like interesting fantasy novels, this one is recommended.

In Borders yesterday I picked up Fugitives of Chaos, the sequel to John C. Wright’s Orphans of Chaos, which I have been looking forward to for some time. Love the cover – nice job, Irene.