The Native Star (novel)
Encyclopedia
The Native Star is a historical fantasy
novel, and the first novel
from writer M. K. Hobson
. It was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award
.
When the love spell goes terribly wrong, Emily is forced to accept the aid of Dreadnought Stanton—a pompous and scholarly Warlock from New York
— to set things right. Together, they travel from the seedy underbelly of San Francisco’s Barbary Coast
, across the United States by transcontinental railroad
and biomechanical flying machine, to the highest halls of American magical power only to find that love spells (and love) are more dangerous than either of them ever could have imagined.
' Recommended Reading List for 2010 as well as several other "Top 10 of 2010" lists. . Publishers Weekly called it "Clever and original" and "[a] splendid debut." It was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Novel.
Historical fantasy
Historical fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy and related to historical fiction, which makes use of specific elements of real world history. It is used as an umbrella term for the sword and sorcery genre and sometimes, if fantasy is involved, the sword-and-sandal genre too...
novel, and the first novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
from writer M. K. Hobson
M. K. Hobson
M. K. Hobson is a speculative fiction and fantasy writer. In 2003 she was a Pushcart Prize nominee, and her debut novel The Native Star was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award...
. It was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
.
Plot summary
The Native Star is set in America in 1876, and follows the adventures of Emily Edwards, town witch of the tiny Sierra Nevada settlement of Lost Pine. Her business is suffering from the rise of mail-order patent magicks, and her only chance at avoiding the penury that is at her doorstep is to use a love spell to bewitch the town’s richest lumberman into marrying her.When the love spell goes terribly wrong, Emily is forced to accept the aid of Dreadnought Stanton—a pompous and scholarly Warlock from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
— to set things right. Together, they travel from the seedy underbelly of San Francisco’s Barbary Coast
Barbary Coast, San Francisco, California
Barbary Coast was a red-light district in old San Francisco, California. Geographically it constituted nine blocks bounded by Montgomery Street, Washington Street, Stockton Street, and Broadway...
, across the United States by transcontinental railroad
Transcontinental railroad
A transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...
and biomechanical flying machine, to the highest halls of American magical power only to find that love spells (and love) are more dangerous than either of them ever could have imagined.
Critical reception
The Native Star was included on LocusLocus (magazine)
Locus, subtitled "The Magazine Of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field", is published monthly in Oakland, California. It reports on the science fiction and fantasy publishing field, including comprehensive listings of all new books published in the genre. It is considered the news organ and trade...
' Recommended Reading List for 2010 as well as several other "Top 10 of 2010" lists. . Publishers Weekly called it "Clever and original" and "[a] splendid debut." It was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Novel.
Reviews
- Review by A.M. Dellamonica on Tor.com
- Review by C.N. Rivera on Beneath Ceaseless Skies
- Review by Brenda Cothern in Adventures in SciFi Publishing