Victorian England with magic. Charlotte (Charlie) is a powerful but untrained mage who is trying to avoid being noticed by the Royal Society, because then her life will never be her own again. She’ll have to abandon her family (parents and brother), her sweet fiancé, George, her (secret) career as a book illustrator, and devote her life to magic. Her brother, Ben, however, is happy to be swept up by the Royal Society when they mistakenly believe him to be talented. It’s all about the money, you see. Families are compensated for the loss of their talented children (and punished for not giving them up), and Charlie’s dad has borrowed more than he can pay back from an unscrupulous moneylender who is in some kind of partnership with an even more unscrupulous mage.

This is obviously a set-up book for a series, so not all questions are answered. Charlie is an engaging character, her brother less so, but Charlie, in trying to protect him and help her father, gets herself into a few scrapes which might have disastrous consequences but for one Royal Society mage who seems to know more than he should.

I’m a bit worried about George, the fiancé. It seems to be Charlie’s dream to settle down with him, yet she hasn’t told him about her secret life as an illustrator (under a man’s name, of course because this is Victorian England) and though she seems quite fond of him she’s not burning with passion. Now that young mage chap… he really seems to make her blood race.

This works as an introduction to a new setting, though I’m not entirely sure the moneylender plot makes a lot of sense. Why do the moneylenders need magic to off their debtors who don’t pay up, and what benefit is it to the mage in question to provide such a device? I suspect we shall find out in subsequent books. I certainly hope so, anyway.

I got this as an eARC from NetGalley and was extremely excited because the setting sounded fantastic! Steampunk Victorian London with magic? Count me in!

The story follows that of Charlotte who is gifted with strong magical powers however she has been hiding them due to the fact that in their society, mages are “bought” by the colleges and are then trained and no longer have their own freedom. Charlotte doesn’t wish this to be her future and so she hides her magic. Unfortunately, at one point it is noticed and blamed on her brother. The penalties for false reporting are high and their family are desperate for money so Charlotte uses her powers to aid her brother in the mage tests so that not only will her secret remain safe, but they will receive a higher price for her brother.

During all this however, there are events going on in the background involving rogue mages and Charlotte becomes entangled with these while attempting to help her father out of his debt.

The story itself was really great and I enjoyed the strong sibling bond and found Charlotte a fantastic character. Through the tests, we were given glimpses of the different schools of magic and a brief idea of the society that they lived in. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and definitely felt that the author had created a rich, vibrant world. The characters were all well written too and had their own agendas which were interesting to see and figure out.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and it was one that I didn’t want to end. It’s a great introduction to a fantastic world and I’m eagerly awaiting the next in the series.

I was drawn to Brother's Ruin, by Emma Newman, when I saw it on Netgalley, partially because of the premise, but mostly, I'll admit, because her book Planetfall got such great reviews, but I never got a chance to read it. So hey, I thought, I'll get out ahead of this new one! But I have to say, I think this was the wrong place to start.

I'm on this novella kick lately, partially because I like the size--you know it's going to be a quick, tight story, but not in the spare fashion of a short story. I just don't think I'm a short story person--I always want all the details laid out for me. No, when I want short, I want a novella, but sometimes that falls short of what I'm looking for.

The premise here is promising--Charlotte is a young woman who is happily engaged and becoming quite successful in her work as an illustrator (under a pseudonym, of course, because it would not be respectable for a young woman to have a career). Her brother, with whom she's very close, suffers from ill health, so her income, in addition to those of her parents, helps keep the family afloat.

When her brother begins to suspect he has magical abilities, it looks like it might be the family's financial salvation; though magical training is compulsory for anyone with talent, their families are generously compensated. But bringing the testers around endangers Charlotte in a way her family doesn't know--she's been hiding her own magical abilities to avoid having to give up her fiance and career.

Now she has to make sure her brother passes his tests while keeping herself hidden--and uncovering complicating secrets about the politics of the city's maguses.

(Is maguses a word? Let's roll with it.)

So there's my back cover copy. I have to say, a lot of this book is like a breath of fresh air. Charlotte frequently considers keeping secrets the way people in books do to keep the plot moving forward, then blurts out what she was thinking anyway. First, I find this relatable; second, it prevents Plot By Unnecessary Withholding, which I'm pretty much done with.

I loved how close Charlotte was with her family, and I thought this book did the best job I've read in a long time setting up why someone with special powers might not want to seize hold of the opportunities that come with them. I've always been kind of skeptical of "I just want to be ordinary" as a beginning and end to a person's motivation. But the things Charlotte has to lose are laid out quite well here, and the mystery and possible discomfort that would come with the opportunity are made pretty obvious. The premise felt grounded in a way that a lot of similar stories don't.

The drawback here is the pacing, I think. There's too much setup, and then it ends all in a rush. This actually felt like the first third of a book, and it should have continued into Part 2, rather than ending itself. From the broader pacing (I was shocked to realize that I was closing in on the end, and that they were going to wrap everything up in what felt like just a few pages) to the scene-by-scene details (the domestic descriptions were important to evoke what Charlotte's life is really like, but there was just SO MUCH time spent on the family getting the house ready for fancy guests), the pacing felt off.

As the first third of a novel, this worked swimmingly, and I will definitely read what comes next (because oh yes, this is just the setup for a bigger story). But I was pretty disappointed to get to the end--not in an eager to move on way, but in a "that's all there is?" kind of way. A sad feeling to be left with, even if it's a good problem to have.

(Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy for review.)

This novella felt more like the first third of a novel. Emma Newman has written an interesting world set in past London where magic exists and those with latentlatent magical ability are forced to work for Queen and country.

There were some dark and chilling moments with interesting characters who I'd like to get to know in future installments, but despite being incredibly well written there was just something about it that just couldn't make me love it.

The whole idea of magic in this world was a little lacking. It existed to do perfectly normal things that we already have machines to do. The magus seem to have little purpose other than operating machinery or making clocks run on time. So what the hell is the big deal?

My second issue was with the 'romance'. It was painfully generic and saccharine. Charlotte loves George because he's good. A big deal is made of her wanting to marry him. But the narrative doesn't really make me believe she even likes George! Then of course we have the appearance of the handsome magus Hopkins who naturally takes everyone's breath away and we then get to hear about how beautiful he is every time he graces the page. It was sloppy.

I enjoyed the read. It had a decent plot, was generally well written, and had some real atmosphere. I'm not sure if the plan is to release these in serial though? The story wasn't self-contained. I'd rather just read a finished book, because this just left me unsatisfied.

May Contain Spoilers

I love these Tor novellas. There are times when I’m in the mood for a shorter read, because of time constraints or frame of mind, but I still want something that feels meaty. These novellas hit the spot every time. Brother’s Ruin is a magical steampunk adventure with a feisty heroine who puts herself in harm’s way again and again to save her family.

Charlotte is living a lie. She’s secretly earning a wage as an illustrator, and her latest commission is a sensational hit. Her deeper, darker secret is that she’s a mage, and she’s been keeping her abilities a secret from everyone but her sickly brother. That’s against the law. When her father is convinced that Benjamin is gifted in the magical arts and contacts the Royal Society of the Esoteric Arts so he can be tested, Charlotte is frantic with worry. When it’s learned that her father made a false report, he’ll be imprisoned. In order to keep him safe, Charlotte determines that she must interfere with Ben’s tests and make it look like he’s much more powerful than he really is. She’ll have to do this with utmost caution, because she doesn’t want to be imprisoned for keeping her own magic a secret.

Now, Charlotte’s father might be a nice guy and all, but he certainly isn’t a smart one. After getting into a financial pickle, he takes out a loan from an unsavory lending company. When he can’t pay back the loan, the debt collectors are knocking on the family’s door. Good thing for her father that Charlotte intercepts the final demand letter and takes matters into her own hands, revealing an operation responsible for the deaths of more than a few of their customers.

Brother’s Ruin very nicely sets up an interesting world where Charlotte will have the opportunity to have many more adventures. With her new mentor, she is guaranteed to get into trouble time and again. Whether or not her dreams of a happy, if uneventful, life married to the boring, earnest George becomes a reality is yet to be seen. I’m really looking for to spending more time with Charlotte and Hopkins. Despite the short length, this story was packed with intrigue, danger, and very tense situations Charlotte has to use both her brains and her magic, to emerge from unscathed. There is some nice world building, and I am want to learn more about the Royal Society of the Esoteric Arts. These guys don’t seem to be on the up and up.

Grade: 4 stars

I'm going to be honest. I'm sad that I didn't enjoy this novella as much as I wanted to. It had the potential to be great (the series still has the potential to become great as this was only the first book), but I was left disappointed by the end. And most of my disappointment revolves around one thing that happens about halfway through.

Brother’s Ruin started out fantastically! It started with great family dynamics where everyone cares about each other and put each other first. It's not often that you read a book where the heroine is driven to do things in the best interest of herself and her family. I really loved the brother and sister relationship between Charlotte and Benjamin.

I really liked Charlotte at first. She knows what she wants and isn't afraid to work for it. She isn't afraid to go against societal norms. And I adored that she was happily engaged to a guy of her own free will and choice. It’s so rare to read a story where a girl is looking forward to her upcoming nuptials and not trying to get out of them. It was really refreshing that she was in love with a guy already when the story starts.

As I said, I loved her at the first. Then the thing happened about halfway and it drained all of my enjoyment out of the story. What's that thing you ask? Charlotte meets this handsome guy and it's like her personality did a 180. She's suddenly a different person from the one that I liked so much at first. She becomes infatuated with this guy and the story just went down hill from there for me. Can fiction quit it with the freaking love triangles already?!? This story would have worked perfectly with a nice guy she doesn’t have any feelings about whatsoever. There are such things as platonic relationships but instead we have to suffer through a love triangle.

Overall, I liked the story. The world and the magic system was great and the mystery was good. This series has potential to become something amazing. I'm just not sure I want to continue because of the borked romantic plot line. I'll probably wait to make that decision after people I trust have read book two.

I’m somewhat sad that I didn’t enjoy Brother’s Ruin as much as I hoped I would, mainly because it could have been so easily a book I adored. A lot of it has to do with a smallish thing ruining it for me half way into the book.

Brother’s Ruin has a lot speaking for it, many things I liked about it that could have turned this into one of my favorite novellas. It starts with great family dynamics, a family of healthy, admirable relationship where everyone cares about each other. I especially loved the brother/sister relationship, their unbreakable bond, and how they would do anything for each other, take care of each other. Charlotte is driven by her dedication to her family, her actions both in her own and her family’s interest, which isn’t something you see very often.

While there isn’t much space to play with your characters in a novella, Emma Newman was able to draw a fully fleshed character with Charlotte, a character I liked a lot, especially her feminist side, refusing to let herself be pulled back by the fact that women shouldn’t make money from certain professions.
What I really liked about her was the fact that she thinks of herself and of what she wants, and clearly has a feminist side. Being happily engaged to a guy, it being her choice and not forced, is showing how getting married in a society where it’s expected, it doesn’t necessarily have to be an anti-feminist thing, not if it is what she really wants, if it’s her choice. It’s so rare to read a story where a girl is looking forward to her marriage, is in love with a guy already when the story starts.

Directly related to that is what made me enjoy this novella a lot less than I could have. Half way in Charlotte meets a BEAUTIFUL guy and from then on it’s like a switch has been turned and she suddenly seemed like a slightly different person to the one I admired so much. Constantly making heart eyes at this perfect looking guy, not trusting him but “oh he is so pretty why don’t I”, I started to be pretty annoyed. This story would have worked perfectly with a nice guy she doesn’t have any feelings about whatsoever. Instead you’re looking around every corner, waiting to be ambushed by a love triangle.

Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the story quite a lot, especially the world it’s set in and the conspiracy related to magic. I’m just not sure I want to continue, considering where it left off. The end both made me excited for more regarding the story itself, but also less inclined to read more, considering the possible romantic part of it.

Brother's Ruin was a wonderful short book and a great start to the Industrial Magic series, which kept myself asking only one thing: Where/When can I get the next one? and Is it going to be a full length book? (Okay, these are in fact multiple things but certainly show my enthusiasm).

It had everything in it to make it a very nice read for me. Set in a Victorian England with a Royal Society which enlists everyone with magical abilities, I knew from the start I was going to like it. The Gunns have fallen on some hard times, as a good price is paid for a talented mage, their worries seem to be over when their son Ben seems to develop magical abilities. He's eager to try out, but what he doesn't know is that he's not the mage, his sister is, and she's been hiding it for years.

I was surprised at how much story fitted in the limited amount of pages this book has. Still, I would have loved to see it as a full length novel. The scene was set nicely, and you can see Charlotte struggling between the desire to keep herself safe (and her life predictable) and helping her family. I'm extremely looking forward to the next novel. I would certainly recommend it.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I hadn't heard the term "gaslight fantasy" before but I think it fills a definite need, describing fantasy books set an an alt-Victorian world but aren't in that genre full of clockwork, goggles and brass - you know the one - and which may involve magic.

In what we're promised is the first of a series Newman has reimagined the 19th century as undergoing an Industrial Revolution driven by magic, rather than science, with the key group being the mages of the Royal Society of the Esoteric Arts. It's a crime to keep magical ability secret - if you do, enforcers will drag you away to who knows what fate - rather it must be developed and used for the good of the Empire. But equally, anyone falsely claiming magical powers will also suffer penalties...

We don't see much of the wider picture in this book. Rather it's focussed on a particular family and the dilemma they're placed in by these rules. Charlotte and Archie Gunn are close. He's a sickly boy: she secretly earns money to support the family, much of it poured away on Archie's studies. If either were tested by the Royal Society and passed, the family could come into money. But if they failed, it would mean ruin.

So it's concerning when there's a rap on the door one day, and the Society's agents announce that Archie, who is the weaker of the two, is to be tested...

Newman tells the story through the eyes of Charlotte, a determined and clear headed young woman, who's pretty much holding the family together. She hopes she can manage the Royal Society's testers. She's not so sanguine about the debt collector who's been hanging around, apparently planning to drag her father off to a sinister address in Whitechapel.

This is a short book with a relatively straightforward story - although Newman drops a few surprises too - and it runs at a breakneck pace once the setting has been established. There are some realistic touches of characterisation, such as the genteel racism of Mrs Gunn when, to Charlotte's horror, she asks brown skinned Master Judicant that fatal question, yes but where are you really from? We also see Charlott'e internal turmoil - 'Once she got upset about something, it pummelled her insides like a demon trapped within her...' - making her human and vulnerable: just being a hero in a novel doesn't make you immune to anxiety attacks and other vulnerabilities.

There are some very nice bits of language - 'a bold red coat that looked like it cost more than their coal bill for a cold winter', 'she wouldn't have been surprised if someone told her he was actually an artist's sculpture made flesh' (Charlotte develops a VERY close interest in one of the mages from the Society) as well as calls to action - "It was time for this rude young woman to make a difference".

The book ends on the distinctly promising note "I need you to be ready for adventure" surely promising more with these characters and this setting?

I am ready, Ms Newman, I am - bring it on!

Charlotte Gunn has a secret. She has strong magical ability.

She has to keep it quiet, or the Royal Society will come for her, and she'd have to give up her life, her engagement, and her family could be punished for hiding her.

Except her family doesn't know.

Her brother finds out when her father contacts the Royal Society to have him tested, because they pay families for talented magic users, and her father has gotten indebted over his head. Her brother, Benjamin, isn't very strongly talented. Charlotte can fix that.

As long as she can hide nearby and do his test for him, they'll take Benjamin and leave her alone. Since she'll test well, they'll pay a lot for him.

However she ends up in over her head when she stumbles onto a conspiracy of Royal Society mages, and it's one that could end with her father dead and her brother apprenticed to the man at the center of it all.

This is a gaslamp fantasy, and it works quite well. Newman always writes characters you get drawn into, and this book looks to be the start of a really good series. Can't wait for the next one.

This gaslamp fantasy was charming and introduces a series with potential, but felt like a brief "story that comes before the story". Brother's Ruin is the legwork to get the series off the ground and the world and characters introduced. I will gladly read more!

In this 1850's London, the government tightly controls people with magical abilities and incentivizes their families to turn their Latent relatives in by paying them. If a Latent is tested and passes, they are given education/job offers, along with the financial amount their family will receive. Then they become civil servants, not allowed to have a personal life, to marry, or to pursue any interests outside of serving their country with their abilities.

Charlotte, a young woman from a family stretched thin and too close for comfort to poverty, is a Latent. She has been carefully hiding her talent, because she does not want to be taken from her family and forced to give up her dreams. She's started a secret and so far successful job drawing illustrations (but of course under a male name) and is engaged to a kind man she loves (but who doesn't know about her job or her magic). She is extremely close to her brother, Ben, who has had to abandon his college education due to illness.

Charlotte's father had to borrow money to pay for her brother's college fees, but was unable to pay it back. Charlotte intercepts a letter warning her father that his debt is due - and his life is in danger. Then, something Charlotte has done makes her father believe that her brother Ben has magical talent. Because her family direly needs funds to pay off her father's debt, Charlotte contrives with Ben to help him pass his magical tests -- all while looking into a scheme that threatens her father and has killed others. Will she successfully hide her magical abilities, pass Ben off as more talented than he actually is, and thus save her father, her family, and her own dreams of independence and domestic bliss?

I liked Charlotte's quandary; her tough choices were believable. How enjoyable it is to have a story where the young woman is going to save everyone, and she's quite ordinary! She protects her brother and her father, and she takes on an investigation into magical rites that may be killing others - in order to prevent the deaths of more men. I believed the kindness in her and that she has the backbone to talk back to the men she thinks have done wrong. She is still a woman concerned with being a lady of her time, and she is constrained because of her gender, but she has agency.

It's hard, however, to not feel like the resolution to these problems is a little too easy. I acknowledge, though, that it sort of has to be easier because Charlotte is inexperienced and lacks tools. Her efforts are clumsy, more inclined to success due to luck than skill, and she's mostly helped along by her genuine goodness.

What do I expect from this series going forward? I really, really hope we'll see Charlotte achieve her domestic bliss and balance it with her future dangerous tasks. Based on the ending, it looks more likely that she will become disappointed by her fiancee's lack of perception, but I can dream because I think this novella, with feminist overtones and subtle defiance of expectations, could promise more.

BROTHER’S RUIN is the first novella in a new series that promises inventive historical fantasy, relatable characters, and an undercurrent of mystery and twisty political schemes. While some readers may find the beginning of the story slow, fans of historical fantasy will adore the attention to historical detail.

Charlotte Gunn is many things: sister, fiancee, daughter…and a keeper of secrets. She flouts convention as an accomplished professional illustrator using a male pseudonym, but even more scandalous than that, Charlotte is a Latent. An untrained mage with latent ability, Charlotte avoids detection by the Royal Society of the Esoteric Arts by using her magic only very sparingly. The Society has many informants throughout England, helping them to forcibly conscripts Latents into their ranks to serve crown and country; while the families of Latents are compensated handsomely for their loved one’s service and abilities, those who are found harbouring Latents face criminal charges. So when Charlotte’s brother Ben’s name is put forth for the Royal Society, she’s understandably quite shaken.

Although we don’t get a lot of information on the magic system in BROTHER’S RUIN, I’m intrigued by the details we do see. Mages in the Royal Society train in one of three colleges: Thermaturgy, Dynamics, and Kinetics. Typically mages have aptitude in one or two of the colleges, but some rare magi have ability in all three; representatives from the Colleges test Latents and then makes offers to them, and people accept a College based on their interests (and the compensation offered). When Ben submits himself for testing, we meet a number of representatives from the Royal Society and they are pretty dang sketchy. Their presence puts Charlotte on edge, making her fear not only the outcome of Ben’s test but also her own discovery.

At the same time that Ben is preparing to take his magical test, Charlotte discovers that her family is in financial ruin. With her father in danger from a shady debt collector, Charlotte takes it upon herself to try to plead her father’s case. But when she visits the collector’s firm, Charlotte discovers that her father’s financial woes may very well be connected to the Royal Society…

Emma Newman has a talent for including the social conventions and attitudes that dictated life at the time without bogging down the story too much (at least, not according to a detail-lover like me). From hiding her career to caring for her ill brother to trying to save her father, Charlotte is every inch a character that I respect and admire. She constantly sacrifices for her loved ones and she isn’t afraid to stand up to authority when she feels it’s necessary, and she’s got a strong moral center. Basically, I love Charlotte and I can’t wait to see what she gets up to next. So far I don’t have much of an opinion on the other characters – aside from Ben, who I found a bit whiny and grating – so hopefully we’ll learn more about them in the next instalment.

This novella ended up taking quite an unexpected turn and I couldn’t be happier about it! BROTHER’S RUIN is the set-up for what I fully expect to be a great series, and if you like historical fantasy with feminist undertones, you’ll love BROTHER'S RUIN.

Esta novella situada en el periodo de la Regencia en una Inglaterra donde la magia es posible resulta ser una excelente puerta de entrada al comienzo de una nueva serie y a la obra de Emma Newman.

El editor ubica esta historia dentro de algo denominado gaslamp fantasy (si, yo también tuve que buscarlo en la Wikipedia) pero si os digo que la ambientación recuerda a Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell todo quedará más claro. Con este encuadre lo primero que salta a la vista es que no es excesivamente original, pero es que no le hace falta. Lo que hace lo hace muy bien.

La historia se centra en las andanzas de Charlotte Gunn, una joven de una familia de clase media que es más de lo que aparenta ser. Aúna una carrera secreta como ilustradora de libros bajo pseudónimo masculino con un secreto todavía más peligroso: su capacidad mágica.

Y es que en este mundo inventado por Newman, cualquier persona que pueda realizar magia ha de entrar inmediatamente al servicio del Estado, antes de que pierda el control sobre sus poderes. Familia, trabajo... todo queda atrás.

Respecto a la ambientación las clases de magia posibles están bien planteadas y en general me gusta el tono amable en el que se desarrollan los acontecimientos que no son para nada agradables. Me resulta un poco repetitiva la obsesión de la protagonista por los rizos masculinos y la tendencia de los dedos de sus pies a tener vida propia en presencia de otro de los personajes, pero entiendo que es una forma de reflejar la ingenuidad de la época.

También me gusta el ligero (ligerísimo) tono reivindicativo que tiene Charlotte, en conflicto porque quiere llevar las riendas de su propia vida y a la vez ajustarse a los estándares sociales de la época (algo a todas luces imposible).

En resumen, Brother's Ruin resulta una lectura agradable y que deja planteado un universo muy interesante en el que desarrollar nuevas historias.

While there are several things about this novella that I liked, there was one major drawback that dropped my rating a bit.

First of all, I enjoyed the setting: an alternate Victorian England where a Royal Society of mages serve the government with their talents. All mages must join the Society, and if they do not, they and their families are punished; on the other hand, if they join, their families receive compensation. Mages can become wealthy and famous, but they live restricted lives. For example, they aren’t allowed to marry or pursue other careers.

And that’s the problem for the main character, Charlotte, who I also liked a lot. Charlotte is an illustrator who is engaged to be married, and she has no interest in giving up her life to become a mage. She works hard to hide her talents while using them to help her brother and the rest of her family. I liked that Charlotte isn’t a wilting flower. When she becomes aware that her family is threatened and then that the Royal Society may be corrupt, she is willing to take action.

The main thing I didn’t like about the novella was the potential romance hinted at in the story. Not that I’m at all opposed to romance (and the fiancée is nice but dull), but there was a bit too much mooning and swooning over the handsome magus who Charlotte meets when he comes to test her brother. I felt like there too much “Oh, he’s so handsome, why do I keep thinking about him, look at those lips, will he kiss me” for somebody who otherwise seems as sensible as Charlotte. Less of that, and I would have been much happier. Still, I’m curious about Charlotte’s further adventures, so I won’t let that put me off of reading more.

I’d recommend this novella for readers interested in historical alternate world fantasy who might enjoy a bit of romance in their stories.

An eARC of this novel was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

For Those Who Enjoyed: A Hazard of Good Fortunes, H.G. Wells, Dracula, Sweeney Todd, Mirabelle Mysteries, Sherlock Holmes, The Dark Days Club, Northanger Abbey, Jane Eyre, From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Parasol Protectorate

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review!

This was a nice, pleasant read. If you’re looking for a quick, simple vacation read where you don’t have to think too hard about the plot, this one’s for you. Brother’s Ruin has that very quaint quality to it that many cosy historical crime novels in women’s literature would have. It’s not a gripping thriller mystery beachside read. But a gentle mystery you save for a rainy day at your lake cabin with a cup of tea.

Because it’s so short, I don’t have too much to say about it. If you’re stuck inside on a snow day or something, it’d definitely take you one sitting to read it in its entirety. What grabbed me about it was the fact that it’s set in the 19th century. Victorian history and literature is my jam (my undergrad was focused on it). The cover design has a steampunk vibe to it, which is always appealing. And I was personally hoping the title would hint at some tragic demise.

That’s not necessarily what happened… but it was charming nonetheless.

Newman has an extraordinary talent of making the grim underbelly of Victorian London oddly warm and inviting. Not to say that she strips away the grungy aspect of the poor and terrible living conditions, like many people who glamourise the 18th and 19th centuries do, but that she incorporates it in a very quiet, gentle way. The plot focuses on Charlotte Gunn, who is engaged to a lovely, if boring, straight laced man, and earns her own living as an illustrator on the sly. Her family is in dire straights because her father owes money to a seedy lending business, and her sickly brother is being tested as a recruit for a magical institution. It plays like your typical Victorian domestic novel. And even with the subtler supernatural elements, it reads like one. There are no intense action sequences to be found, despite the fact that shocking things do happen. Newman just has a way of glossing over the more vulgar plot points without ignoring them altogether.

Brother’s Ruin is the first book in a series Newman’s titled Industrial Magic, which isn’t the most original title in existence when it comes to steampunk magic plots. But I do like that it hints at the type of rules for her magical world building she’s created for herself. Newman’s magical focus is on this new age of industry, where factories have come into prominence and trains and clocks have become the latest thing. Applying things like pyromania or telekinesis to engineering is a stroke of genius I wouldn’t have necessarily thought of, and I like that little twist.

As such a lover of Victorian crime, I would’ve liked to see Newman go darker with it. The big twist is that there’s a death trap that causes heart failure, and I would have loved to see a proper exploration of exactly how that contraption works and the magic at play there. It was just a little too vague for me and I didn’t feel completely connected to the darker elements of the plot as a result.

One of the last things I wanted to address was the fact that the cockney dialect almost crosses the line into Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins territory, but it toes that line well. As a result, because it’s so concise and the dialogue is, for the most part, true to the era (which is also more than can be said for many modern writers of Victorian history), it feels like a genuine Victorian novel. It doesn’t quite have the crazy insanity of a penny dreadful, but it would undoubtedly belong in a women’s weekly.

It’s just very pleasant and safe, and a nice book to pick up if you just want to shut off for a little while.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Royal Society of Esoteric Arts provides stability and prosperity to Great Britain through the tireless work of their Magi. Latent magi are highly sought after, but, once discovered, must forgo their normal life for one solely in service to the Crown. With her autonomy threatened, Charlotte, a young mage, hides her abilities from the world. When her father foolishly offers Charlotte’s feeble brother up to the Royal Society in desperate hopes of landing the large windfall that comes with selection, Charlotte must use her abilities to save brother, her family, and her entire way of life.

This novella, very much a Part 1 to a larger story, did not hook me from the start. It seemed that Emma Newman’s flair for storytelling was not on full display at the outset and may have been hampered by the novella format. Slowly, but surely, as the narrative unfolded, I was more and more invested…until it all ends abruptly — just when I was ready for more!

With such an interesting gaslamp sandbox to play in, I had hoped for more worldbuilding and a wider scope. Hopefully that comes in future installments, as Brother’s Ruin feels like the appetizer to a (potentially delicious) five-course meal.

★★★ out of 5

While I was reading this I was delighted to see the news that Emma Newman will pen two more Planetfall novels. I first discovered Newman through those novels, and I look forward to seeing where she goes next in that world.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I truly believe this is the start of something that is going to be amazing; unfortunately this first installment into this world wasn't quite as gripping as I'd hoped.

This novella takes place in 1850 Great Britain, and has a very important emphasis on the lack of women's rights that takes place during that time. Our main protagonist, Charlotte, is a very talented illustrator, but she has to sell her work under a man's pen name. Of course the small amount of money she is making is only to help her brother, who she loves very much, and is only until she is married off to her stable and reliable fiancé.

Charlotte's brother, Ben, has tried to go away to school to pursue his love for engineering multiple times, but always is forced to come home because he gets very ill when he is away. Charlotte always does everything in her power to take care of him while he is home, but the financial stress from paying for his schooling has impacted their family very much.

Charlotte's father has taken out a very risky loan, which he is unable to pay back. Once Charlotte learns of his position, and the position he has put their family in, she is determined to try and fix things herself.

Unfortunately, her father has already taken matters into his own hands and has very selfishly tried to fix things, because he believes that Ben has magical powers, even though it is truly Charlotte that is harboring the secret of her magical powers from the world.

In this world families are able to sell off their children to the Royal Society if the children possess magical abilities. The stronger their magical abilities the higher the price is for them. The Royal Society claims to take good care of them, and even allows them to come back visit their loved ones after they have been trained to harness their powers, but many people choose to hide themselves and their children from the Royal Society.

Also, enforcers will come and take children and adults that have magical abilities, without having to be informed. They claim that if a person goes too long without training their powers they will "go wild" and hurt others and themselves. They are taken to be immediately tested, with or without their consent.

Yet, when a parent informs the Royal Society about the chance of their child having magical abilities, their magi will come to your house and perform three tests to see how powerful the child is and how useful they will be for their personal college.

➽ Magus Lillian Ainsworth - College of Thermaturgy
➽ Magus William Ledbetter - College of Dynamics
➽ Magus Thomas Hopkins - College of Fire Kinetics

Once Charlotte's father informs the Royal Society of Ben's powers, Charlotte finds it necessary to help her brother with the three tests he is given to prove his magical worth, because Charlotte is scared of what will happen to her brother and the rest of her family if her brother fails them all. And, obviously, the better he does on the tests, the better the offers will be to fix their parent's financial situation.

Oh, and all of this is going on while a somewhat murder mystery is going on, too! Charlotte is tangled up with one of these magis, in something that is much bigger than both of them realize. This subplot really is the reason I have such high expectations for the Industrial Magic series, and I look forward to what the next one will bring.

Also, I touched on this above, but there is a good discussion to be had from this book and what it means to be a "good woman" and what the "woman's place" was like in the 1850's. I really appreciated it, and it shows how far we've come, but how much we still need to go. TL;DR - there are feminist undertones throughout this book and it's really amazing.

I really enjoyed this novella, and found it to be very fast-paced, especially with that ending. I'm only giving this three stars, because it felt like a starter story, where the author is telling you all the information you need to know before entering the actual heart of the story, but I have really high hopes that I would end up giving the next book in this series a much higher rating. I'm actually very interested with continuing on, and I have nothing but high hopes.

Brother's Ruin is another of the Tor.com novella series, though this one is very obviously just the beginning of a series of novellas, rather than standing alone (as, for example, Passing Strange does). So it mostly seems to function as a way of setting up the world: there is a story here as well, but more important is the alternate reality being created. It's sort of vaguely Victorian, but with magic as a relatively commonplace event, and some steampunky elements. There's some politics around magic and its practitioners that is obviously going to become more important as the novellas go on.

The main character, Charlotte, is pretty cool. She's part of a family and has a fiancé, but she also earns her own money through illustration work and hides her own strong magic. She's prepared to take risks to take care of her family, and she's fine with supporting them from her own funds. She has her weaknesses -- a pretty face, apparently, as well as her strong and almost uncontrollable magic -- but she also has great strengths.

The reason I'm not rating this more highly is that it does feel very much like an introduction, and it only grazes the surface of the male character who is presumably going to become a much bigger part of Charlotte's life. I don't know what motivates him and why he's interested, and nor do I understand why Charlotte finds him so fascinating. The scenes where she's suddenly finding him amazingly attractive don't quite ring true to me, given her otherwise practical nature.

There's a lot of potential here, but I'm not 100% sold -- yet.

[Review live on my blog from 9th March 2017.]

Brother’s Ruin is a short novel by Emma Newman, set in an alternate period London, where the Royal Society is stocked with wizards, and attendance for those with magical prowess is mandatory.

The world is a cunning blend of the strange and the nominally familiar. This is a London with the sort of social attitudes seen before in Austen or Dickens. Women are social inferiors, to be cared for by men – husbands, brothers, fathers. There’s a monarchy here, with a penchant for Empire and adventurism lurking in the background of every interaction. The prose has something of the Regency period about it as well – a cadenced lilt of refinement permeating each word on the page.

There’s a sense of gentility here, and a style of emotional restraint that wouldn’t be out of place in an Austen-esque romance. That said, between the terraced homes and the toiling poor, the nouveau riche and the social climbers…in the gap between them all is the Royal Society. These are men and women who can do something others cannot. They’re a parallel aristocracy, people who can move objects with their mind, power fine machinery or, perhaps, set things on fire. The Society has the power to draft anyone showing their talents, and deal with any who attempt to hide their magical light under a bushel. Theoretically a progressive institution in a somewhat constrained society – they’re as obdurate a power centre as any other, and filled with their own conspiracies and more than one hidden agenda.

The central character is Charlotte Gunn; she fills many roles fiancée, childrens book illustrator, dutiful daughter, loving sister – and, apparently potential magic user. She’s a quick thinker, somewhat constrained by the expectations have placed on her, but willing to sbvert them if she wants to – for example when becoming an artist. The society has no allure for someone wanting to retain their independence, to shape who they are to their own desires, and not to the institutions which surround them, be it matrimony or the Society. Charlotte also has a deep affection for her brother, who appears to have both a weak constitution and a similarly weak ability to do magic himself. If Charlotte is a strong-willed individual, shaping herself within the storm of circumstance, then her brother may be thought of as swept away by that storm – each effort to do better ending in a return to the family home. Andrew is an excellent contrast to Charlotte – quiet, sufficiently reflective to see the impact his illness has on his family, with an edge of bitterness. But the two siblings form an effective duo when they work together, even if we see more of Charlotte’s focued and driven temperament.

There’s some rather fun secondary characters here as well – the Gunn parents have more than a splash of Thomas Hardy about them, and their efforts to do right by their children are charming even if ineffectual. The lords of the Royal Society are in some ways appropriately strange – defying gravity or shifting watch gears, and in others more what we may be accustomed to. I particularly enjoyed the bluff Mage-Lord who ran a milling concern in the North! There’s some appropriately unpleasant low-level villainy going on as well – I would have liked to explore these more thoroughly, but the antagonists that existed were appropriately vile.

The plot is something of a coming-of-age tale, as Charlotte attempts to care for her brother, resolve the financial travails of her family, and avoid bringing up her own talents and sacrificing her independence on the altar of Empire. It’s an entertaining story, which carefully guides the reader to familiarity with the world, whilst throwing up enough conflict and alarums to keep the pages turning. There’s a relative paucity of duels, explosions, or demonstrative wizardry – but there’s careful investigation, and a steadily climbing tension which make the book rather difficult to put down. On that basis, and brief as the story is, I’d say this blend of period drama and magic is worth picking up – I for one am looking forward to further instalments.

I received an ARC of Brother's Ruin through NetGalley. Thank you to Emma Newman and Tor.

Brother's Ruin is the first novel in Newman's Industrial Magic series. This is an urban fantasy story set in an alternative London circa 1850 where people who have magic within themselves become members of the Royal Society of Esoteric Arts. Civilians who have magic capabilities that are currently latent/inactive have to be handed over to the Empire before they become "wild" and they can attend one of three colleges, learning the science like details about their powers. They then use these abilities to aid the smooth running of the nation.

This brings us to our two main characters. An intelligent young lady called Charlotte who is an artist and her brother Ben who has been suffering from poor health recently. Both can "manipulate" magic but one greatly more so than the other. My favourite character has to be the good looking, charming and mysterious teacher from the College of Fine Kinetics, Magus Hopkins.

Brother's Ruin is not a book about the life, trials, and tribulations in a magic establishment but is regarding the process up unto that point. The tale is also about the problems that Charlotte and Ben's family find themselves in. Knowing what they diabolical outcome could be they spend the story trying to fix things. These two parts of the plot do cross over. It isn't the most complex story in the world which was fine for me and I completed this in one day so I must have enjoyed it a fair bit.

Although this is quite a short story, with the limited amount of characters, I found that they were still developed and interesting. When the tale came to a close I definitely want to find out more about them and the next book's adventures should be great. In a similar way, there are only two or three settings where the action takes place but for this story focused tale, that was not an underwhelming element at all.

If Brother's Ruin is anything to go by, then the Industrial Magic series should be fascinating. I get the vibe that this book is almost an introduction to this world because when it finishes, things are set up enticingly well for the next story. I was planning to give this narrative 7/10 until the conclusion which included an excellent reveal so it earned the extra half to its rating! To conclude, this highly enjoyable tale is a quick read which is well written, with quality characters and a great ending. The only negative aspect really is that I received this as an ARC and I have to wait longer for book two.