The Peculiars (review)

In this alternative steampunk version of America's past, Lena travels to a town on the edge of the Scree, a wilderness said to be populated by persecuted "Peculiars" like herself, in hopes of tracking down her absentee father and unearthing the truth of her own nature. Urged on by a smarmy but convincing marshal who wants her to spy on a quirky local librarian-inventor, Lena takes a position at the library and begins poking into the mysterious goings-on at her new employer's gadget-littered household. This is only the beginning of an incident-filled plot that includes self-righteous missionaries, fast-talking developers, and a collection of misfits and misanthropes living on the edge of civilization, plus thrilling aerial escapes and a rumpled but dashing romantic prospect in Lena's employer's mild-mannered assistant. Lena herself, unfortunately, does not live up to all this excitement. She's dangerously naïve almost to the point of infantilization, and her heedless tattletaling isn't quite believable, especially coming from someone who is herself persecuted for difference. In addition, the book uses the alternative-past conceit to replace actual indigenous populations with magical ones, an erasure that was similarly problematic in Wrede's much more innovative Thirteenth Child (BCCB 9/09). Still, the book fully captures the pull of the wilderness adventure, and the setting is so vividly described as to be a character in its own right; steampunk fans will find much to enjoy. An author's note differentiates actual history from literary invention.