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At the edge of the known world, an ancient nomadic tribe faces a new enemy-an Empire fueled by technology and war. A young spiritwalker of the Aniw and a captain in the Ciracusan army find themselves unexpectedly thrown together. The Aniw girl, taken prisoner from her people, must teach the reluctant soldier a forbidden talent - one that may turn the tide of the war and will surely forever brand him an outcast. From the rippling curtains of light in an Arctic sky, to the gaslit cobbled streets of the city, war is coming to the frozen north. Two people have a choice that will decide the fates of nations - and may cast them into a darkness that threatens to bring destruction to both their peoples.
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English
User reviews
LibraryThing member devilwrites
The premise: ganked from BN.com: At the edge of the known world, an ancient nomadic tribe faces a new enemy--an Empire fueled by technology and war.
A young spiritwalker of the Aniw and a captain in the Ciracusan army find themselves unexpectedly thrown together. The Aniw girl, taken prisoner
My Rating
Must Have: for readers who want a fantasy that's nothing like the usual, this is something you should seriously consider. I mean, how many fantasies feature Inuit-based heroines and take place in the Arctic? It's kind of like historical fantasy in a secondary world, because there's so much in the world-building that can be translated to our own history. That's what gives the book its weight and gravitas, that and the strength of Lowachee's writing and characterization. The characters here are brutally human, flawed and sympathetic all at the same time. The world-building is excellent, and I loved the nature of magic in this world and how it works. I can only pray we get more books in the series, because this is good, solid fantasy. Lowachee isn't a writer you read for mindless escapism; rather, she's an author whose work you can savor, an author who creates characters you can easily see as real and tangible, people you could interact with. It's a solid fantasy that's both similar and different than her science fiction, and I can't wait to read more (of both).
Review style: let's see, I want to discuss how Lowachee's use of POV is an effective method of storytelling and how it relates to the emotion of the piece and characters; the heavy sense of realism and history despite Lowachee writing in a secondary world, the believability of these characters who are all too human, and lastly, how the book does resolve even though it's clearly the start of something much bigger. No spoilers.
The full review is linked below, which will take you to my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)
REVIEW: Karin Lowachee's THE GASLIGHT DOGS
Happy Reading!
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from her people, must teach the reluctant soldier a forbidden talent--one that may turn the tide of the war and will surely forever brand him an outcast.
From the rippling curtains of light in an Arctic sky, to the gaslit cobbled streets of the city, war is coming to the frozen north. Two people have a choice that will decide the fates of nations--and may cast them into a darkness that threatens to bring destruction to both their peoples.My Rating
Must Have: for readers who want a fantasy that's nothing like the usual, this is something you should seriously consider. I mean, how many fantasies feature Inuit-based heroines and take place in the Arctic? It's kind of like historical fantasy in a secondary world, because there's so much in the world-building that can be translated to our own history. That's what gives the book its weight and gravitas, that and the strength of Lowachee's writing and characterization. The characters here are brutally human, flawed and sympathetic all at the same time. The world-building is excellent, and I loved the nature of magic in this world and how it works. I can only pray we get more books in the series, because this is good, solid fantasy. Lowachee isn't a writer you read for mindless escapism; rather, she's an author whose work you can savor, an author who creates characters you can easily see as real and tangible, people you could interact with. It's a solid fantasy that's both similar and different than her science fiction, and I can't wait to read more (of both).
Review style: let's see, I want to discuss how Lowachee's use of POV is an effective method of storytelling and how it relates to the emotion of the piece and characters; the heavy sense of realism and history despite Lowachee writing in a secondary world, the believability of these characters who are all too human, and lastly, how the book does resolve even though it's clearly the start of something much bigger. No spoilers.
The full review is linked below, which will take you to my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)
REVIEW: Karin Lowachee's THE GASLIGHT DOGS
Happy Reading!
Show Less
LibraryThing member FicusFan
I am a fan of Lowachee's SF, and was hoping for similar quality in her fantasy. I really wanted to like it.
There are some good things here, but its not always well written (pg 208: 'but developed interaction they received'), the world-building and the story don't go anywhere, the characters are
The idea is of an historical fantasy. 19th century Europeans coming up against indigenous (abo) cultures with different goals, beliefs and organizing principles. They value different things and react very differently. Because the abos are less technological they are deemed to be lesser than the colonizers who think they can take anything they want. This is the historical part, think whalers landing in the north, or on Hawaii.
The fantasy part is that the natives have contact with their ancestors through what they call Spiritwalkers (ankago), and colonizers call witches. The unleashed spirits have minds and goals of their own and can't always be controlled by their human. Violence, death and disaster can result, and the colonizers don't see their actions as the trigger.
The colonizers are trying to take over the north, where they encounter the Aniw people and after a violent skirmish they take Sjenn, the ankago of her people prisoner and ship her south. On the boat, her Dog (form the ancestor spirit takes) kills her only friend, a priest who studies and cares to preserve the natives and their culture.
An Army General who wants the north and is also in charge of the fight with abos in the south, sees Sjenn as a resource and a weapon to use in his battle. He has a son who is a Captain and who has the ability to call a spirit. But he must be convinced it exists and then must cooperate to be taught to use it. Jarrett has a long history of hatred and rebellion against his father. But its a sly rebellion and bad attitude, so he follows orders on the surface. He hates the General and the magic of the Aniw, and really won't cooperate.
The story doesn't really develop more than that. There is a lot of talking, sleeping, traveling and the Dogs come out and run around, but it never develops. Lowachee is enamored of writing about the colors of shadows and the night, but its all rather pointless window dressing.
There is a 3rd person, another abo from the south who scouts for the army and is a personal pet of the General. He is supposed to guard Jarrett and Sjenn and make sure they do what the General wants, don't get hurt, or run away. He and Jarrett don't get along, and Sjenn trusts no one.
They start in prison, then in the General's house, then in the countryside, then in a remote fort, then in a stockade, then in the countryside. It ends in tragedy, and nothing has changed between the 3 or the General, or the new priestess who hovers malevolently over all saying magic is bad.
The 3 main characters are well done to represent certain types, but they never get beyond that. They never make connections with each other or the story or the reader. They never propel the story, they spend all their time not talking/resolving and not doing anything except wallowing in angst.
We see the bad abos who raid and kill settlers, and now I am reminded of Indians and settlers. The bad abos are called demons, but is that true (its fantasy after all) or just the prejudice of the colonizers ? They seem to worship violence, but they are fighting to keep their land from settlers who think they can take it.
The end is 'ye reap what ye sow'. No kidding I didn't need almost 350 pages for that. They ride off and thats it. What a waste of time. I don't know if its the start of a series and the threads will be taken up in book 2, but I am so underwhelmed, I don't know that I will read book 2.
There are some good things here, but its not always well written (pg 208: 'but developed interaction they received'), the world-building and the story don't go anywhere, the characters are
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also under-utilized, all dressed up with no where to go, and the ending is a fizzle.The idea is of an historical fantasy. 19th century Europeans coming up against indigenous (abo) cultures with different goals, beliefs and organizing principles. They value different things and react very differently. Because the abos are less technological they are deemed to be lesser than the colonizers who think they can take anything they want. This is the historical part, think whalers landing in the north, or on Hawaii.
The fantasy part is that the natives have contact with their ancestors through what they call Spiritwalkers (ankago), and colonizers call witches. The unleashed spirits have minds and goals of their own and can't always be controlled by their human. Violence, death and disaster can result, and the colonizers don't see their actions as the trigger.
The colonizers are trying to take over the north, where they encounter the Aniw people and after a violent skirmish they take Sjenn, the ankago of her people prisoner and ship her south. On the boat, her Dog (form the ancestor spirit takes) kills her only friend, a priest who studies and cares to preserve the natives and their culture.
An Army General who wants the north and is also in charge of the fight with abos in the south, sees Sjenn as a resource and a weapon to use in his battle. He has a son who is a Captain and who has the ability to call a spirit. But he must be convinced it exists and then must cooperate to be taught to use it. Jarrett has a long history of hatred and rebellion against his father. But its a sly rebellion and bad attitude, so he follows orders on the surface. He hates the General and the magic of the Aniw, and really won't cooperate.
The story doesn't really develop more than that. There is a lot of talking, sleeping, traveling and the Dogs come out and run around, but it never develops. Lowachee is enamored of writing about the colors of shadows and the night, but its all rather pointless window dressing.
There is a 3rd person, another abo from the south who scouts for the army and is a personal pet of the General. He is supposed to guard Jarrett and Sjenn and make sure they do what the General wants, don't get hurt, or run away. He and Jarrett don't get along, and Sjenn trusts no one.
They start in prison, then in the General's house, then in the countryside, then in a remote fort, then in a stockade, then in the countryside. It ends in tragedy, and nothing has changed between the 3 or the General, or the new priestess who hovers malevolently over all saying magic is bad.
The 3 main characters are well done to represent certain types, but they never get beyond that. They never make connections with each other or the story or the reader. They never propel the story, they spend all their time not talking/resolving and not doing anything except wallowing in angst.
We see the bad abos who raid and kill settlers, and now I am reminded of Indians and settlers. The bad abos are called demons, but is that true (its fantasy after all) or just the prejudice of the colonizers ? They seem to worship violence, but they are fighting to keep their land from settlers who think they can take it.
The end is 'ye reap what ye sow'. No kidding I didn't need almost 350 pages for that. They ride off and thats it. What a waste of time. I don't know if its the start of a series and the threads will be taken up in book 2, but I am so underwhelmed, I don't know that I will read book 2.
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LibraryThing member cat8864
It's an interesting idea with a somewhat poor implementation. Its an attempt at a fantasy novel where the author is clearly used to writing for other genres.
Character development is basic and their interaction is short and sporadic. World building is limited, but nicely described. Plot wise, again
I enjoyed this for the plot as it has a few ideas I haven't seen often and I enjoyed the attempted implementation. For that reason I think I'll look for the sequal.
Character development is basic and their interaction is short and sporadic. World building is limited, but nicely described. Plot wise, again
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- interesting but the pacing pretty much plodded along at points. The ending is a cliffhanger.I enjoyed this for the plot as it has a few ideas I haven't seen often and I enjoyed the attempted implementation. For that reason I think I'll look for the sequal.
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LibraryThing member andreablythe
This is a vision of an alternate world that presents wild west style frontier very similar to our own historical west. It presents a group of colonizing whites, who are at conflict with the native population. Lowachee does an excellent job of portraying both perspectives, showing how the
She does this by writing both from the perspective of Sjenn, the Aniw spiritwalker, and Captain Jarret Fawle of the Ciracusan army, and she treats both of them as complicated, messy, uncertain human beings, who have their own motives and desires that are influenced and driven by their own cultures. They are forced to work with each other by General Fawle, Jarret's father. Neither is happy with working with each other, both are forced to participate, and the tension between them never truly eases completely.
Another important character, which the back of the book description leaves out is Keeley, a Wishishian warrior. (That's another thing that's great about this book. There are many different tribes, each of which have their own unique history and cultural heritage.) Keeley works for General Fawle, hired to watch over Sjenn and Jarret. He is Soreganee warrior who was partially raised by Ciracusan's. He's a man who hold on to his native heritage, while living amongst the Ciracusans. He's a more mysterious character in the book, but the author subtly add complexity to this character, and he is as vital a character to as either Sjenn or Jarret.
The Gaslight Dogs started out slow, but by the third chapter I was completely absorbed, and by the time I reached the end, I was begging for more. While there are definitely threads left untied (leaving room for a book two), the book manages to end on a satisfactory note and feels complete in and of itself.
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differences in cultural perspectives are at the heart of the conflict. They don't understand each other and why they live the way they live. She does this by writing both from the perspective of Sjenn, the Aniw spiritwalker, and Captain Jarret Fawle of the Ciracusan army, and she treats both of them as complicated, messy, uncertain human beings, who have their own motives and desires that are influenced and driven by their own cultures. They are forced to work with each other by General Fawle, Jarret's father. Neither is happy with working with each other, both are forced to participate, and the tension between them never truly eases completely.
Another important character, which the back of the book description leaves out is Keeley, a Wishishian warrior. (That's another thing that's great about this book. There are many different tribes, each of which have their own unique history and cultural heritage.) Keeley works for General Fawle, hired to watch over Sjenn and Jarret. He is Soreganee warrior who was partially raised by Ciracusan's. He's a man who hold on to his native heritage, while living amongst the Ciracusans. He's a more mysterious character in the book, but the author subtly add complexity to this character, and he is as vital a character to as either Sjenn or Jarret.
The Gaslight Dogs started out slow, but by the third chapter I was completely absorbed, and by the time I reached the end, I was begging for more. While there are definitely threads left untied (leaving room for a book two), the book manages to end on a satisfactory note and feels complete in and of itself.
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LibraryThing member mossjon
I mulled over this novel all weekend, avoided writing a review or rating it until I could cogently summarize my reactions. A four star rating in this instance, while warranted, doesn't accurately reflect my feelings. I didn't like this story, but I loved the writing. Vivid, sometimes visceral, yet
On the surface, Gaslight Dogs might represent the clash between the pioneer spirit of exploration, conquest and manifest destiny and the ancient aboriginal desire to preserve, protect and accept the surrounding environment. Lowachee adds a touch of supernatural to the mix with stunning effect.
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sparse descriptions etching indelibly my imagination. Canine metaphors aptly placed and finely tuned. On the surface, Gaslight Dogs might represent the clash between the pioneer spirit of exploration, conquest and manifest destiny and the ancient aboriginal desire to preserve, protect and accept the surrounding environment. Lowachee adds a touch of supernatural to the mix with stunning effect.
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LibraryThing member romsfuulynn
meh. Flashes of interesting stuff, but it dragged. I don't much like books about analogies to collisions between native/aboriginal cultures and 19th century analogs. The Eskimo analog culture bored me when it didn't annoy me.
I suppose it says something mildly positive about Lowachee's ability to
I may have had some unfair and probably irrelevant sense of comparing it to Pullman (whose Dark Materials books to me consisted of a brilliant first book, an ok second book and a totally unreadable third book.) I imagine the publicists/cover art was intended to evoke that, but it did this book no favors for me.
I suppose it says something mildly positive about Lowachee's ability to
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invoke the alien that I did eventually finish it.I may have had some unfair and probably irrelevant sense of comparing it to Pullman (whose Dark Materials books to me consisted of a brilliant first book, an ok second book and a totally unreadable third book.) I imagine the publicists/cover art was intended to evoke that, but it did this book no favors for me.
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LibraryThing member selfmanic
I really had issues with this book. I fought to even like the characters presented and even now that I have finished it I cannot even really say that I enjoyed the book. There was so much back story that was hinted at but never explained that I finished the book more frustrated than satisfied.
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Every character in the book seems to be abused and used by everyone around them with little to no support. It makes for a depressing read. Show Less
LibraryThing member Fence
Sjennonirk is the spirit walker of her tribe. For years now the Kabliw have been coming, her people have welcomed them albeit with a certain amount of caution, but the bring trade. Now however their ships have unloaded crates of guns. Sjennonirk is understandably wary. But before she can learn more
In the city General Fawle takes an interest in her and her the fact that she is an ankago or spirit walker. He wants to use that ability to further his own ends.
This is a book that has been sitting my Mount TBR for a quite a while now. I first read about it on Calico Reaction and it sounded intriguing. I guess I was wary of starting it because it is the first book in a series and there is no sign of a book 2. But eventually I decided to go for it, because Lowachee is not a huge name her publisher’s may not look for a sequel, so why wait for something that might never happen. I know that might off some readers, but if no one ever took a chance on an unknown first book then the series would never ever get written.
But back to the book itself.
Lowachee has some great world building going on. Of course she is using the history of the United States and Canada and the conflict between the European settlers and the natives, so it is a world that is somewhat familiar. However it isn’t just a retelling but a reinterpretation. It isn’t set in our world, but one that echoes some of our history.
It is also a book that encourages you to take your time reading it, the style of writing was one that made me want to reread the odd sentence in order to make sure I understood what was being said. It isn’t that it was badly written or anything, just that it comes with a slight difference in focus.
There are two main narrators, Sjenn of the Aniw and Jarrett Fawle of the Ciracusan army, General Fawle’s son. Jarrett is struggling with his place in the world, he has a very uneasy relationship with his father and only seems somewhat comfortable when he is out on patrol, battle offers him some sort of clarity. But an encounter with an enemy soldier has brought with it nightmares. Summoned back to the city and his father he is thrown together with Sjenn in an attempt to understand what has happened him.
Sjenn is obviously an outsider in the city. Everything around her is foreign and uncomfortable, she only wants to go home. But she has no control over that, all she can do is try to make the general happy so he will help her go back. But can she really go along with what he wants when it might mean disaster for her own people?
I really enjoyed most of the book. Unfortunately the ending comes somewhat out of the blue with very little resolution or closure for any of the characters or plotlines. In fact it is opens up a whole heap of further possibilities.
It is a fascinating look at identity and place, religion and war, as well as what happens when cultures clash. If there ever is a sequel I will be sure to pick it up.
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about what they intend to do with these weapons she finds herself locked up and transported to Ciracusa, accused of murder.In the city General Fawle takes an interest in her and her the fact that she is an ankago or spirit walker. He wants to use that ability to further his own ends.
This is a book that has been sitting my Mount TBR for a quite a while now. I first read about it on Calico Reaction and it sounded intriguing. I guess I was wary of starting it because it is the first book in a series and there is no sign of a book 2. But eventually I decided to go for it, because Lowachee is not a huge name her publisher’s may not look for a sequel, so why wait for something that might never happen. I know that might off some readers, but if no one ever took a chance on an unknown first book then the series would never ever get written.
But back to the book itself.
Lowachee has some great world building going on. Of course she is using the history of the United States and Canada and the conflict between the European settlers and the natives, so it is a world that is somewhat familiar. However it isn’t just a retelling but a reinterpretation. It isn’t set in our world, but one that echoes some of our history.
It is also a book that encourages you to take your time reading it, the style of writing was one that made me want to reread the odd sentence in order to make sure I understood what was being said. It isn’t that it was badly written or anything, just that it comes with a slight difference in focus.
There are two main narrators, Sjenn of the Aniw and Jarrett Fawle of the Ciracusan army, General Fawle’s son. Jarrett is struggling with his place in the world, he has a very uneasy relationship with his father and only seems somewhat comfortable when he is out on patrol, battle offers him some sort of clarity. But an encounter with an enemy soldier has brought with it nightmares. Summoned back to the city and his father he is thrown together with Sjenn in an attempt to understand what has happened him.
Sjenn is obviously an outsider in the city. Everything around her is foreign and uncomfortable, she only wants to go home. But she has no control over that, all she can do is try to make the general happy so he will help her go back. But can she really go along with what he wants when it might mean disaster for her own people?
I really enjoyed most of the book. Unfortunately the ending comes somewhat out of the blue with very little resolution or closure for any of the characters or plotlines. In fact it is opens up a whole heap of further possibilities.
It is a fascinating look at identity and place, religion and war, as well as what happens when cultures clash. If there ever is a sequel I will be sure to pick it up.
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