Another great addition to the industrial magic series, Ive even argue that is better than the first! With the worldbuilding foundations laid in the first book, Newman had ability to focus on the story and boy did she deliver!

Think Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South urban fantasy style. Great little part 2 of this novella series, I was lucky to have saved the first and read them back to back. It still felt a little too short, but that's a complement really and an inevitability of this format. I'll definitely read the next one.

(ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley)

Absolutely loved this book. Was so engrossed in it that I read it in a couple of hours. Charlie is a great character and can’t wait to see where the story takes her next

Emma Newman’s Industrial Magic series are excellent novellas that I would absolutely recommend if you’re looking for a quick fantasy read. They’re pretty detailed to be such short little books and it’s easy to zip right through them, though both Weaver’s Lament and Brother’s Ruin have left me wanting more.

The plot of Weaver’s Lament was very interesting – Charlotte has gone to visit her brother, now a successful mage’s apprentice and textile mill supervisor. He’s got a bit of a problem, as the mills are being sabotaged and he’s got to solve the problem before his competitor does. He has this bright idea that Charlotte can go undercover and work in the mill and discover who’s responsible for the sabotage. That in and of itself is a terrible idea – she’s obviously out of place among the other workers, but they take her in anyway and tell her all sorts of things with minimal suspicion. Hmm. She’s subjected to unforgiving labor, poor treatment, and dangerous machinery that may or may not be haunted.

Overall, this was an entertaining, quick read that progressed the plot arc in subtle ways. I was somewhat disappointed that Charlotte’s magical education was somewhat minimal in this book, but I think it would have felt rushed if it were included. This book felt like a bridge between book 1 and whatever book 3 will be about. I’ll definitely keep up with these novellas as they are some of the best I’ve read.

The full review with all the GIFs can be found on my website:
http://avalinahsbooks.space/weavers-lament-emma-newman/
I have several questions for you:

Do you like petticoats, Victorians and magic?
What about a female heroine, who, while a little bit lost and flustered, is kickass despite not knowing it herself?
And would you care for a would-be love triangle that is forbidden in more ways than I care to list?
If you said YES, YES and YES, then I don't understand why you are STILL not reading this series. Especially seeing as how it's called Industrial Magic??? Even if I didn't know what it was about, the name of the series alone would hook me!

It's really hard for me to review this book because I'm evidently a fangirl. I reviewed the first part of this series when I was still but a wee blogger lass, and I do feel like maybe my review didn't really do it justice or reach a big enough audience. But that still doesn't explain why this book isn't more widely known??

So since this is the second book in the series, I'm not going to tell you much about the story. For that you'd have to read the first book. Plus, I don't want to take away the pleasure! Instead, I'm going to try and tell you why I love this series as much as I do.

Reason #1. The Magic System

[GIF of a clockwork mechanism]

Now I'm not your biggest specialist on magic systems in books, as I don't tend to read a whole lot of fantasy. But correct me if I'm wrong – I'm not sure magic is used as a means of production, powering engines and clocks and basically running the economy in any other fictional world? Or at least, maybe not in this way? Magic in this book is not a tool to assert status, to get your own end. Magic is almost an affliction, cause it means your only place in society is a... rich prisoner. The Magi are not allowed to marry (for reasons I will not spoil), nor are they allowed to even stay with their families. They are rich and strong (but not really powerful), they are the victims of their own power which they have not chosen to wield, and they can not run from it. But they can try. And this is largely what the second book in the series is about – trying to outwit your fate.

Reason #2. The Heroine

[GIF of determined Merida getting up]

It might just be me, but I feel like Charlotte, our main character, is just the right amount of wit, smarts, capability, and yet childish egoism, naivete and klutziness. She's a wonderful heroine! She makes an equal amount of mistakes and blunders as feats. Which she tends to discount as belonging to her own abilities. She does not know her own feelings. Charlotte is as lost in her own wishes, her state and her romantic inclinations as any traditional Victorian novel heroine. I absolutely love that about her. Perhaps I feel like she's a little bit like me.

Reason #3. This Series Could Go On And On

And I hope it will! It's one of those series like The Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch – urban fantasies that have their own spectacular world that you want to get lost in again and again, and you're safe in the knowledge that it's not one of those books which has three parts and then ends. Oh no, this series will hopefully go on and on till I get tired of reading it, which, in turn, I hope to never do! So bring on the drama.

[GIF of grabbing popcorn]

Dear Emma Newman, please keep writing this series. If only just for meeee! (I know, I am so selfish...) I know I will keep waiting for the third book just as much as I've waited for the second one.

I thank Tor Books and Emma Newman for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange to my honest review.

Not possible to review as the correct version was not provided. I have sent comments to the publisher

I'm grateful to the publisher for an advance copy of this book via NetGalley

If it wasn’t for the weavers, what would you do?
You wouldn’t have your clothes that’s made of wool
You wouldn’t have your coat of the black or the blue
If it wasn’t for the work of the weavers

- Chartist song (see http://thejovialcrew.com/?page_id=1639)

Another adventure for Charlotte Gunn, following Newman's Brother's Ruin, published earlier this year, and again in novella form as is becoming increasingly popular in SFF.

This time, Charlotte's off to Manchester, Cottonopolis, seat of the Industrial Revolution, where vast profits are to be made by the mill-owners. In Newman's world these mills are driven by magic, not steam, so we can expect less smoke in the air, but the workers are nonetheless sweated by their overseers, put up in filthy, cramped conditions and doing fifteen hour shifts in stiflingly hot, dangerous conditions. And they face other threats, too, as looms shatter and the overseers wield their straps to maintain discipline.

Charlotte's brother, Ben, has summoned her to this living hell (what's the quickest way out of Manchester? Drink) to assist him. Once again, she puts love for her brother first and agrees to go undercover in the mill to investigate the nest of Socialists he believes responsible for the damage. But Ben is working for Ledbetter, the magus who Charlotte knows has dark secrets.

This book was great fun, if that's possible in something that also sets out grotesque inequalities and cruelties that are often lost in the soft focus, Hovis-ad language of drama and storytelling. In particular, fantasy, whether epic, pseudo-medieval fantasy or its edgier urban cousin, still too often sees curation of the social hierarchy as the greatest good. In contrast, what Charlotte discovers here will, I suspect, drive her to seek the otherthrow of the hierarchy. It remains to be seen if she will carry her brother with her in that - I fear not, Ben comes across as something of a milksop, a man keen to ingratiate himself with the bosses, wanting his own mill to run.

I'm even doubtful of Charlotte's mysterious ally/ tutor, Hopkins, who pops up Gandalf-like to give advice a couple of times. Is his heart really in a challenge to the authority of the Royal Society of Esoteric Arts or does he have an agenda of his own? (Charlotte certainly has an agenda of her own when it comes to Hopkins, even if she hasn't realised it yet, one her stuffy fiance George may not like much - I can see some of that absent steam reappearing before long...)

In short - and this is quite a short book - this is an eminently readable and at time unflinching view of the Industrial Revolution, blended skilfully by Newman with a dose of magic. Charlotte's awareness of the world around her is developing and she's pitted against a particularly nasty form of exploitation.

I will look forward to the new Industrial Magic, hoping, though, that Newman will be able to write some full-length stories set in this world. The novella form is great but it would be wonderful to let these stories breathe a bit more.

Weaver’s Lament is the second novella in Emma Newman’s Industrial Magic series, and it’s a stronger story than the first.

In the previous novella, Charlotte Gunn helped her brother Benjamin achieve a position in the Royal Society of mages while hiding her own considerable powers from their notice. Now Ben asks her to come see him even though family visits are forbidden by the Society. When Charlotte arrives, Ben begs her to help him learn whether labor unionists are responsible for sabotaging the looms in the mill where he uses his magic to support production. He’s afraid that if he can’t figure out what’s happening, his mentor (a villainous mage whose evil activities where revealed in the first story) will blame him, and he’ll be punished with transportation to Australia. So, Charlotte goes undercover as a mill worker to try to figure out what’s going on, with some assistance from Magus Hopkins, a member of the Society who is secretly helping Charlotte learn to control her magic.

One of the strengths of this series is how Newman marries the use of magic with an exploration of the actual social issues of Victorian Britain. Her description of the lives of mill workers in 1850 illuminates the reality of their miserable existence, although Newman adds a magical component that makes their mistreatment even worse. Ben’s belief that they should be grateful to have a job at all perfectly typifies the response of much of the Victorian middle and upper class to their suffering. The story really makes it perfectly clear why the rise of organized labor was necessary.

The position of women in the period is illustrated by Ben’s attitude toward Charlotte as well. He takes her support for granted and dismisses any concerns she might have about the treatment of the mill workers or the activities of his mentor or the Royal Society. Charlotte loves him too much to really challenge this treatment, but he clearly sees her as lesser. (I can’t help but hope he gets his comeuppance for that belief in the future.)

In this novella, readers also learn why Hopkins is defying the Society to secretly train Charlotte. Suffice it to say that the rot in the Royal Society goes deeper than Ben’s mentor, and the consequences for challenging them may be very high indeed.

The weakest element of the story is Charlotte’s romantic feelings for Hopkins. She goes giddy about him a bit too often, especially since she’s supposed to be in love and engaged to be married. Really, Charlotte needs to cut her fiancée George loose rather than string the poor sap along at this point.

If you liked Newman’s first novella or enjoy alternate world historical fantasy, you should give this book a try. I’m very much looking forward to reading the next in the series.

An eARC of this novella was provided by the publisher through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

Charlotte Gunn’s brother, Benjamin, is working in his capacity as an apprentice mage in a textile mill in the north of Great Britain. But all is not well because the expensive looms are being destroyed and the culprits cannot be identified. If this is to occur while Benjamin is supervising a shift then he might lose his job. He sends word for Charlotte to come up to see if she can discover what is going on.
Weaver’s Lament is a novella and the second in the Industrial Magic series, the first being Brother’s Ruin. It is set in an alternative 1850’s where magic is at the core of society, driving it relentlessly forward. It is why talented mages are highly prized, but those who have limited talents find themselves exploited and their families struggling to survive financially as a result. Charlotte is a talented mage, whereas her brother is not. The problem is it is a society where females should be seen and not heard. A female mage is something to be reported so the Royal Society of the Esoteric Arts can remove them from polite society before they become a problem. The powerful have considerable sway over the rest of the population, which means the story is laced throughout with sinister undertones.
The tension in the story is created this time, because the family is dependent on Benjamin’s success, and the destruction of the looms on his shift might indicate some incompetence on his part. He needs to keep this job or the family will go under.
Charlotte comes over as terribly precious, but does step up to the plate when asked to investigate the problems at the mill. It is essentially a Dickensian-style place with downtrodden mill workers.
Her mentor Magus Hopkins, who is training Charlotte to control her gift so she doesn’t reveal herself, hovers in the background in this story. He is someone I would like to see more of, particularly because he seems to upset Charlotte’s carefully maintained composure and set her pulse racing.
The register of the text has the feel of a young adult novel, and has a very different tone to the science fiction orientated Planetfall novels, which goes to demonstrates Emma Newman’s flexibility as a writer. Because the books in this series are novellas, a considerable amount of plot is packed into them, not giving much time to really get under the skin of the characters. This will no doubt occur with each subsequent book. Given the possibilities offered by the world Charlotte lives in and the potential perils she is likely to face being a female in a male-dominated society, there is plenty of room for many more adventures.

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

Weaver’s Lament, sequel to Brother’s Ruin (2017), brings us back to protagonist Charlotte in Victorian-era England, where she attempts to infiltrate a suspicious mill and expose the poor working conditions and nefarious magic at play there. This series continues to be delightfully British — with tea, cakes, cravats, and magic, of course.

The “gaslamp fantasy” environment of Brother’s Ruin was fascinating and rich for potential exploration, but there was never a satisfying level of sufficient worldbuilding. Weaver’s Lament does even less with this world, sticking Charlotte in a stuffy mill for the majority of the book. The story gets bogged down with more tedious discussions of looms than I thought possible in a novel, much less a novella. Proceedings are much more compelling when Newman shifts to discussing Charlotte’s personal conflicts and her interactions with the alluring Magus Hopkins. The ongoing chemistry between Charlotte and Hopkins is the best part of this series, so far.

I’m a bit unsure if each one of these novellas is a one-off adventure or if each subsequent novella is a continuation of a cohesive story, but Weaver’s Lament does little to push the overall plot forward, much to my chagrin. If there’s another novella in Charlotte’s world, I’d hope for more worldbuilding, more magic, continued love triangle romances…and fewer looms.

3.5/5

I received an advanced copy of Weaver's Lament via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Emma Newman and Tor for the opportunity.

Following on from Brother's Ruin, Ben is now in Manchester fulfilling his studies and duties for the Royal Society (of magic). He is now an apprentice Mage and the lifestyle is treating him well. There's an issue though. He's running one of the mills where peculiar and unexplainable events have been happening. He seeks the aid of his sister Charlotte, a Mage herself but currently under the radar of the establishment. What should have been a nice holiday to Manchester doesn't quite transpire that way as Charlotte goes undercover in the mill to find out what on Earth is going on.

I read this book in a single afternoon. Occasionally a quality shortish tale is what I require in my bookish diet so this was perfect at approximately 160 pages. Newman fits a quality story, interesting characters, and magical complications within those limited pages. I'd say the world seems almost like a Dickensian alternative history with certain characters hiding/flaunting magical powers. 3 of the main characters return from the first book and a large number of new additions are introduced at the mill. I cared about a lot of the newly introduced individuals living in the squalor of their working environment. The story is written in the first person perspective and Charlotte is a very cool character. I'm unaware of how many stories Newman proposes to write in this series but she'll definitely always have a reader in me. It's difficult to say too much about this book without giving away the action, surprises, or revelations. I slightly preferred the first book but both have an interesting and intriguing mystery element. The Industrial Magic series is a treat to read. The world is gothic yet poetic. The characters are engaging. The story is weaved admirably. Perhaps my rating is too harsh- either way, this book's pretty awesome.

WEAVER'S LAMENT is a suspenseful novella in the <i>Industrial Magic</i> series, the second book after Brother's Ruin. Emma Newman packs so much in a short book that it's hard to be disappointed that it's, well, short.

Charlotte didn't want to enter the Royal Society (it's a requirement if you show magic talent, as Charlotte has, but she wants to get married, and magi cannot marry), and so, she was being secretly tutored by Magus Hopkins to prevent her from turning wild. Then, she received a letter from her brother asking for her aid, because there's some trouble at the mill where he was assigned/apprenticed (he recently entered the Society.) Meanwhile, there's some over arching series arc as to a sinister plot/goings-on by Magus Ledbetter, Charlotte's brother's master, which Hopkins is determined to expose, with Charlotte's help...

First, the story's so short! That's my number one "complaint". Second, I would've wanted to see how Hopkins is teaching Charlotte, and what their sessions would be like. Third, we see again Charlotte being aware of Hopkins (and maybe Hopkins reciprocating?), yet she's still determined to marry George (her fiance). Well, it's no secret I'm shipping Hopkins and Charlotte. Fourth, toward the end, we were told Charlotte and Hopkins conversed on all manner of topics--couldn't we have eavesdropped on some of those?

Aside from the above "complaints", the story couldn't be better with mystery and intrigue, and oh, is Charlotte turning wild, despite all that Hopkins is doing for her? When faced with a choice, would her brother choose the Royal Society and turn on her? Emma Newman raises these questions and more in this novella, and she only makes me want to get my hands on the installment soon. I hope it'll be longer and address all my "complaints". LOL

La primera entrega de las historias gaslamp fantasy de Emma Newman me dejó con ganas de más, así que en cuanto cayó en mis manos Weaver’s Lament me puse con él y he de decir que prácticamente lo devoré.

Newman sigue utilizando ese tono entre ingenuo y reivindicativo que es característico de la protagonista, que se revuelve ante las injusticias, pero que por un mal entendido sentido del deber familiar supedita sus creencias al bienestar de su hermano.

Afortunadamente, esta entrega no sufre para nada del síndrome del segundo libro, es más, se aprovecha de que el mundo ya está más o menos definido para centrarse en la historia. Me gusta especialmente el “realismo” de la narración, si me permitís esta expresión, porque aunque la explicación de lo que ocurre en el telar es mágica, todo lo que la envuelve es perfectamente creíble.

Se podría entender el sufrimiento y la pérdida de “alma” de los trabajadores como una metáfora de la alienación que sufrieron los obreros de la Revolución Industrial, asi como la persecución de los peligrosos agitadores socialistas que amenazan la estabilidad. Las insalubres condiciones laborales, el trabajo infantil, los frecuentes accidentes… todo está permitido para el beneficio del patrón.

Todo esto no quiere decir que Weaver’s Lament sea un panfleto. La parte mágica es entretenida y las relaciones interpersonales avanzan para la que será la tercera entrega de la serie. Pero todo esto parece poco importante respecto al aspecto social del libro. ¿Lo habéis leído? ¿Os da la misma impresión que a mí?