i adored this novel by august clarke. I could feel the love for the characters, and mythology in every sentence. it had me by the throat in a choke hold every second i was reading. a literal hard to put down work *alas i read this instead of working on an assignment. thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this arc 5/5 stars

This is 100% one of those books that wasn't for me, but will be someone else's all time favourite book.

For me, I couldn't connect with the writing but I so so so wish I could have. Finally (finally!) a book that doesn't sanitize sapphic relationships and engages with queer women in a meaningful and messy way, but it's one of those books where you need 200% of your brain power to understand what's going on and I'm not that kind of reader. I wouldn't necessarily call it purple prose, but the writing was so poetic at points that lines reminded me of This Is How You Lose The Time War. Which is fine, but that was a novella with short chapters. Reading that for over 500 page is a very different experience.

There were passages that had me by the throat (I literally cried in the first couple of chapters they were so beautiful), but then there were pages upon pages of exposition that I just....couldn't grasp. I felt too dumb to read them (or just bored) because I couldn't quite wrap my head around so many characters and locations and religions. I'm not new to fantasy or complex world building, but I definitely would specifically recommend this to someone who loves complex political structures in their fantasy.

To be honest, I might even try the audiobook to see if that's any better for me because I'm so desperate to like this book. Based on the other reviews at this point in time, this seems like a 'me' problem. Go into this book knowing it's a slow, dense read with a writing style that's flowery but very Gideon the Ninth-esque, and I think you'll have a better experience than me.

Thank you Netgalley and Erewhon Books for the ARC!

I’m stealing the term ‘crawley’ and will solely refer to myself as such from now on, thanks.

This book was so so good. I think one thing that August Clarke does so well is making me fall in love with every one of her characters from the get go. I finished the story and just wanted more of Marney and her thoughts. I want more Sunny, and Beauty and I want Mors Brandegor and Uthste to be <i>my</i> parents goddamnit. Harlow and Sisphe have my fucking heart, and Vikare could be so awful in such a good way (meaning I loved her three-fold for it).

But that’s also the tiny tiny tiny problem that I had with the story—it just felt too . . . I don’t know, quick?

I wanted more of Marney and Goss as I didn’t feel that attached to the pair of them at the end of it (which maybe was the point? But I think that everything that unfolds would’ve had so much more of an impact if there was <i>more</i>). It gave me the same feeling as I got when finishing <i>The Feast Makers</i> (from the same author apparently, which I found out only recently), which was yes, great, loved the entire journey and characters and just yes. But the ending could’ve been a bittttt more.

But also this is not a romance, not really. It’s a story about what happens if you do make revenge a priority, unflinchingly, and I can admire that.

Overall, a 4.5/5. Again, wish I could give half stars (Goodreads <i>please</i>), but I think we’ll have GTA 6 before that happens.

Thank you Netgalley, Erewhon Books and August Clarke for the Arc!

<b>Song on loop: Les filles désir - Vendredi sur Mer</b>

This book has almost everything that I could want in a novel, and it was executed well. We have second person narration, criminal empires, complex moral codes, lesbians with complicated genders, magic that effectively destroys the user, and so many other things. The Gideon the Ninth comparison is definitely warranted in this case, because even though we are not in space, there are a lot of thematic similarities, although this book focuses more on economic exploitation than it does on imperialism. It does that well though, with the start of the book being a massacre of union members at a factory. Religion in this book is done really well too, with the various different religions and how a lot of them affect each other and intertwine, and then how each person is different because of that.
I have a lot else that I want to talk about but I cannot find the words for it without spoiling the book, or really at all. My brain has been turned to slush– this is the highest of compliments.

I was sadly not a fan of the writing. There were many points were I had to really push through to continue reading. The structure of the book felt very weird to me. I liked how queer history was integrated into the world though.

This is a difficult book to rate. For some parts, I really was pushing through and at times I had no idea what was going on. But I do feel it really paid off at the end, and perhaps this is the kind of book you have to reread to truly get everything.

The structure was a bit odd. I was expecting the first chapter to be a flashback to that labor strike, with the rest of the book starting out with the engagement plot. Instead, the story starts at the labor strike and then moves over Marney's childhood, joining the Choir (a gang), becoming a very succesful bandit, and the engagement plot doesn't start until halfway in.
That said, the early story was engaging even if some of the heists felt less relevant to the overall story.

The world building is complex, lots of terms, countries and political structures I struggled to follow along, which is why I think it's a good book for rereading. I did like how queer history was integrated into the world, with new terms and concepts made up that do have a parallel to real life lesbian history and its terminology, including a stark difference between working class and upper class lesbian culture.
The main strenght of the world is how it uses political commentary, the issues with ichorite, labor strikes, capitalism etc mirror issues in our world and this was clearly done with purpose and well thought out, and if there's anything you should take away from this book it's these points. It's by far its greatest strenght.

There were a lot of characters and it was somewhat of a struggle to keep everyone apart at times, especially since some characters have multiple names or name changes. The majority of the characters were morally grey (or downright evil), and most of them were sapphic, which led to many different affairs though this book is not at all a romance. Please don't go into this thinking it's a romance. I do appreciate how a book can be very, very queer without having romance as the main focus, and the author clearly put a lot of thought and care into the identities of characters.

Would recommend it to fans of Gideon the Ninth, people who enjoy a complex fantasy with lots of world building and political commentary

Wildly original, with an experimental but intriguing narrative form, METAL FROM HEAVEN by August Clarke is queer working class rage unlike any seen before.

A thrilling fantastic read. It was complicate, sapphic, political, and more. I loved the way the style of writing made you think, ponder and be drawn into the story. Not a light read. Excellent, can wait to read more from this author. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Where to even begin.
Every time I open a book, I hope to be sucked in from the very first word. There are great books out there, but still this doesn't happen as often as I'd like. Until this book comes along, and with it all my prayers to a God I don't believe in and don't pray to are answered and every page feels like drowning, like coming up gasping for air only to be swallowed by the current, body battered by the cliffs.
I love the feeling; I could get drunk on it.

"When few rule the many, they must use force to take what they want, and demonstrate force not just to keep it, but to snuff the fires of contradiction from the collective."
This is not a happy story, not really, but it's a real story in a richly imagined, vibrantly complicated world that gnaws on itself and takes you, helplessly, along for the (angry motorcycle) ride. It's a story about loving so much you hurt yourself. About finding you, the real you, while lost in others like them. It's all the uneven parts of a whole that don't quite fit yet manage to hold, like a broken vase that's been glued back together and tries desperately not to crack, and if it's held all hope is lost. But not really, because being whole is good but being broken is also okay. Maybe even more than okay, because you're seen and cared for even though you didn't ask for it, but it doesn't matter because you deserve it and that's all anyone can hope for anyway.

Friday philosophy aside, this book altered my brain chemistry. I didn't know I needed it until I had it, and now that I have it I don't know how I went so long without.

"Help that wants to help is a cog that makes the right kind of ticking sound inside the machine and by harmony becomes invisible."
Take Babel (if Robin were pro-revolution from the start), shove in the unhinged energy of Gideon the Ninth and you've got (you guessed it!): Metal From Heaven.
Chaotic, poignant, deliberate prose that reads like being high on butch-fairy pixie dust (I know that for a fact because this book exists; thank me after the author).
The characters? Fifty-shades-of-roally-fucked-up. Which is to say I hate everyone a little but will also gladly lick the ground they step on (maybe even something else).

There are great books out there, and then there are <i>running-into-a-burning-building-to-save-you</i> books.

"Unalone toward dawn we go, toward the glory of new morning!"


THANK YOU NetGalley for the ARC.

Marney Honeycutt was born with a congenital disorder that allows her to manipulate ichorite, a substance that is slowly being introduced into every manufactured product and one that makes her very ill. When she's a child, she and her fellow factory workers protest their unsafe working conditions and try to bring attention to this disorder, only for them all to be murdered (save for Marney) by Mr. Evil Head Industrialist's law enforcement/private security. Marney joins up with a criminal gang, grows up, robs the wealthy with her ichorite power, and fantasizes about her revenge. Mr. Evil Head Industrialist's daughter then appears on the scene, and oh look, she's a lesbian looking for a marriage partner. Time for Marney to pretend to be the perfect candidate and enact her bloody revenge.

My initial thoughts: "Holyyyyyyy-"

This rewired my brain. Brutal industrialization fantasy world with train robberies, bar fights, a lesbian marriage plot, revenge, murder, magical congenital disorders, but also political theory, theology, the power politics of violence... What more could I want?

I usually read quickly. I did not read this book quickly. Every sentence required my full concentration and I needed to taste every word. I cried.

It did take me a while to get used to the writing style. There were a lot of comma splices and the descriptions would jump around in the same sentence, which was different from the one other book I've read from this author (the writing style of The Scapegracers didn't have much of this). I realized this type of prose had to be intentional, and it ended up working for me. The style fit the main character's frenetic energy, her trauma, the fact that she's lustertouched and chronically ill. I felt a bit manic and dizzy myself while reading, like sympathy illness with Marney.

Not everything worked perfectly for me. I feel like I needed to take notes with this book (though that's not necessarily a bad thing). I had a hard time remembering the different regions and keeping some of the marriage suitors straight. Even though I could see the foreshadowing, the jump from Marney the Highwayman to Marney the Bachelorette Candidate was a bit jarring. I also hated Perdita with every fiber of my being and felt robbed of her satisfying death. Most of the characters were pretty unlikable, honestly. It was a horrible society filled with people focused on self-interest or hurting others.

That said, I have never read a book like this before. What an experience. It seeped into my brain and the words swam through me. The last scene made me bawl. I put the book down and knew I'd be giving this one five stars.

I will be posting this review to Goodreads by the end of the week, 5/3.

“Your ghost lived in the meat of me. I was going to kill Yann Chauncey. I was going to kill him for you.”

I don’t know if I have the words to describe how this book made me feel. I’m a huge fan of August Clarke’s Scapegracers trilogy and Metal From Heaven was similarly feral in a very different way, a real step from YA to adult fantasy powered by rage and grief and love.

Deeply powerful, emotionally devastating and extremely queer.