HOME View All Genre

Book

Audiobook

GENRES 🌙 Dark

Karen Memory (Karen Memory) - Elizabeth Bear

By Elizabeth Bear

Release Date: 2015-02-03

Genre: Sci-Fi & Fantasy

(0 ratings)
Preview Intro
1
Karen Memory (Karen Memory) Elizabeth Bear
Play Full Download
"You ain't gonna like what I have to tell you, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. See, my name is Karen Memery, like memory only spelt with an e, and I'm one of the girls what works in the HĂ´tel Mon Cherie on Amity Street. 'HĂ´tel' has a little hat over the o like that. It's French, so Beatrice tells me."

Set in the late nineteenth-century—in a city a lot like what we now call Seattle Underground—when airships plied the trade routes, would-be gold miners were heading to the gold fields of Alaska, and steam-powered mechanicals stalked the waterfront, Karen is a young woman on her own, is making the best of her orphaned state by working in Madame Damnable's high-quality bordello. Through Karen's eyes we get to know the other girls in the house—a resourceful group-and the poor and the powerful of the town.

Trouble erupts one night when a badly injured girl arrives at their door, begging sanctuary, followed by the man who holds her indenture, and who has a machine that can take over anyone's mind and control their actions. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the next night brings a body dumped in their rubbish heap—a streetwalker who has been brutally murdered.

Hard on the heels of that horrifying discovery comes a lawman who has been chasing this killer for months. Marshal Bass Reeves is closing in on his man, and he's not about to reject any help he can get, even if it comes from girl who works in the HĂ´tel Mon Cheri.

Elizabeth Bear brings alive this Jack-the-Ripper yarn of the Old Steampunk West with a light touch in Karen's own memorable voice, and a mesmerizing evocation of classic steam-powered science in Karen Memory.

“Bear pumps fresh energy in the steampunk genre with a light touch on the gadgetry and a vivid sense of place. Karen has a voice that is folksy but true, and the entire cast of heroic women doing the best they can in an age that was not kind to their gender is a delight. … Karen and the ladies kick ass.”—Library Journal, starred review

Karen Memory (Karen Memory) - Elizabeth Bear

By Elizabeth Bear

Release Date: 2015-02-03

Genre: Sci-Fi & Fantasy

(0 ratings)
Play Full Download
"You ain't gonna like what I have to tell you, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. See, my name is Karen Memery, like memory only spelt with an e, and I'm one of the girls what works in the HĂ´tel Mon Cherie on Amity Street. 'HĂ´tel' has a little hat over the o like that. It's French, so Beatrice tells me."

Set in the late nineteenth-century—in a city a lot like what we now call Seattle Underground—when airships plied the trade routes, would-be gold miners were heading to the gold fields of Alaska, and steam-powered mechanicals stalked the waterfront, Karen is a young woman on her own, is making the best of her orphaned state by working in Madame Damnable's high-quality bordello. Through Karen's eyes we get to know the other girls in the house—a resourceful group-and the poor and the powerful of the town.

Trouble erupts one night when a badly injured girl arrives at their door, begging sanctuary, followed by the man who holds her indenture, and who has a machine that can take over anyone's mind and control their actions. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the next night brings a body dumped in their rubbish heap—a streetwalker who has been brutally murdered.

Hard on the heels of that horrifying discovery comes a lawman who has been chasing this killer for months. Marshal Bass Reeves is closing in on his man, and he's not about to reject any help he can get, even if it comes from girl who works in the HĂ´tel Mon Cheri.

Elizabeth Bear brings alive this Jack-the-Ripper yarn of the Old Steampunk West with a light touch in Karen's own memorable voice, and a mesmerizing evocation of classic steam-powered science in Karen Memory.

“Bear pumps fresh energy in the steampunk genre with a light touch on the gadgetry and a vivid sense of place. Karen has a voice that is folksy but true, and the entire cast of heroic women doing the best they can in an age that was not kind to their gender is a delight. … Karen and the ladies kick ass.”—Library Journal, starred review

More by Elizabeth Bear

Ancestral Night (Unabridged)

METAtropolis: Cascadia (Unabridged)

The Book of Magic: A Collection of Stories (Unabridged)

The Year's Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 2 (Unabridged)

METAtropolis: Green Space (Unabridged)

Machine (Unabridged)

Starship Vectors (Unabridged)

We, Robots (Unabridged)

The Year's Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 7 (Unabridged)

The Folded Sky (Unabridged)

The Year's Top Short SF Novels 3 (Unabridged)

Dust (Jacob's Ladder)

Confessor: A METAtropolis Story (Unabridged)

A Companion to Wolves (Iskryne)

The Stone in the Skull (Lotus Kingdoms)

An Apprentice to Elves (Iskryne)

Hammered (Jenny Casey)

Chill (Jacob's Ladder)

The Origin of Storms (Lotus Kingdoms)

The Long List Anthology: More Stories from the Hugo Awards Nomination List

Range of Ghosts (Eternal Sky)

Grail (Jacob's Ladder)

Green and Dying: A METAtropolis Story (Unabridged)

Angel Maker (Karen Memory)

Worldwired (Jenny Casey)

Scardown (Jenny Casey)

Carnival

Shattered Pillars (Eternal Sky)

The Tempering of Men (Iskryne)

Karen Memory (Karen Memory)

The Sea Thy Mistress (Edda of Burdens)

By the Mountain Bound (Edda of Burdens)

The Red in the Sky Is Our Blood: A METAtropolis Story (Unabridged)

Stone Mad (Karen Memory)

Undertow

The Red-Stained Wings (Lotus Kingdoms)

Steles of the Sky (Eternal Sky)

All the Windwracked Stars (Edda of Burdens)

Related Articles