Allusion is not Illusion

Emily is a simple, marginally-educated country witch struggling to make a living in a world that is in the process of shifting to more modern, mass-produced magics. When she investigates a problem with zombie miners and ends up with the mysterious stone in her hand, sorcerer Dreadnaught Stanton (yes, really. Practically everyone but Emily has ridiculous names) persuades her to accompany him to San Francisco to consult specialists there. But even once they've survived Indians and Abberancies to reach the city, the dangers are only beginning...

There was some good action and fantasy material here, especially in the middle third of the book when the characters are traveling. Contrary to what the cover and blurb seems to promise, there is not much romance. That is, there is a romance, and you the reader can see it coming early on, but not much narrative space is devoted to its development, and there is no explicit mention of it till the last fourth or so of the story. Therefore, really less than lots of books that are not billed as romance at all. The bad guys et al supporting cast were pretty two-dimensional, but Dreadnaught and Emily were sympathetic despite being kind of jerks a lot of the time. The dialogue was nothing striking but solid, and if I were on the run from people wanting to chop off my hand I probably wouldn't waste time on witty repartee, either.

The world-building displayed some originality but I felt needed to be worked out a little more, especially in terms of how magic works. We are told that there are multiple types of magic, but the two employed most in the story both seemed unconvincing to me. Stanton is a credomancer, someone whose power work because it is believed in by him and others. The first part I'm okay with -- I grew up with the Force, after all -- but when it comes to interactions with others it just didn't mesh with my belief in free will. Like how Stanton can't enter a church if the people around believe sorcerers are damned, but if he's alone, he can. This seems like it would at the very least create a lot more fluctuation of powers than we see in the story. The bad guys, the Sangrimancers, get power by killing and bleeding out other people. I'm willing to accept that -- blood magic and the belief in it have ancient roots -- but I didn't buy that this was something legal and that 19th-century Americans didn't, for instance, just shoot the sangrimancers. Overall, the various types of magic and how they interacted with the laws and government just didn't seem well-planned-out or clear. I'm not saying these things couldn't be plausible, but I need more convincing. Also, if you make a big deal about the danger of Giant Monster Animals I expect them to appear more than once.

Anyway, a decent first novel of the fun-if-you-don't-think-too-hard variety. And the stage is all set for the next installment.