The Rise of Ransom City

The Half-Made World #2

by Felix Gilman

This is the story Harry Ransom. If you know his name it’s most likely as the inventor of the Ransom Process, a stroke of genius that changed the world.

Or you may have read about how he lost the battle of Jasper City, or won it, depending on where you stand in matters of politics.

Friends called him Hal or Harry, or by one of a half-dozen aliases, of which he had more than any honest man should. He often went by Professor Harry Ransom, and though he never had anything you might call a formal education, he definitely earned it.

If you’re reading this in the future, Ransom City must be a great and glittering metropolis by now, with a big bronze statue of Harry Ransom in a park somewhere. You might be standing on its sidewalk and not wonder in the least of how it grew to its current glory. Well, here is its story, full of adventure and intrigue. And it all starts with the day that old Harry Ransom crossed paths with Liv Alverhyusen and John Creedmoor, two fugitives running from the Line, amidst a war with no end.

Genres: Fantasy, Steampunk, Fiction, Westerns, Science Fiction, Alternate History, Weird West

368 pages, Hardcover

First published November 27, 2012

Reviews

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since the first book I've expected some answers but at the end got nothing... Author couldn't just keep the secrets to himself, he completely changed narration and left first book's main characters out of sight. I'm very confused and disappointed. Three stars just because it's stylish and well written.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felix Gilman is good. He’s definitely a writer on my watch-list (not in a sociopathic way of course), and there’s something about his writing that I find both enjoyable and satisfying. I generally lump him in with those writers I consider “prose stylists” though he’s not showy in any way, rather he just seems to know how to effectively turn a phrase. He also writes fairly dense (or at least long) texts, but they never seem to be weighed down by their size; things move along at the pace they need to move at, whether that be faster or slower at any given point, and they reach their destination in ways that satisfy. Finally his characters have complexity and their own voices and never come across as dull or flat.

_The Rise of Ransom City_ is a sequel-of-sorts to the thoroughly excellent The Half-Made World. It shares the same genre-bending alternate weird-weird west world of its predecessor as well as several key characters. The most important of these is our narrator and ‘hero’ ‘Professor’ Harry Ransom, Lightbringer, etc., etc., discoverer of the Ransom Process, creator of the Ransom System of Exercises, businessman, inventor, and visionary extraordinaire. To call Harry a con-man would be unfair, to call him a scientist would be inaccurate, to call him an inveterate dreamer would probably be just about right. The set-up for the novel is that it is a cobbling together of letters and drafts from Ransom himself by the editorial hand of one Elmer Merrial Carson, a raconteur, journalist, novelist and sort of Mark Twain figure in Gilman’s world. Readers of Gilman’s previous forays into the world of the Unmade West will not be surprised by the self-aggrandizing picture that Ransom paints of himself, though his earnest intention to tell the truth (albeit a truth coloured by his own perceptions and beliefs) is genuine. We follow Ransom as he details his obscure childhood in a small backwater town, his early interactions with the Line, and hints at the seemingly fortuitous discovery of what would eventually lead to his development of ‘the Process’. His early travels with the enigmatic Mr. Carver into the further reaches of the West in search of investors not only allow him to cross paths with John Creedmoor and Liv Alverhuysen (the main characters of the former novel), but also begin to lead Ransom into situations that will inevitably ensnare him in the more important events of the wider world and eventually draw upon him the unwanted attentions of both the Line and the Gun.

Throughout Ransom’s tale two mysteries prove to loom large (sometimes explicitly and sometimes implicitly): what exactly is the nature and purpose of ‘the Process’, and where, if anywhere, is the dreamed-for utopia Ransom hopes to create (the titular Ransom City)? In addition to this the origins and mysteries of the eldritch forces that embody both the Line and the Gun are also speculated upon (though never revealed), and with one possible exception the Folk remain the ambiguous and off-stage presence they have always been. In many ways the book leaves us with even more questions about Gilman’s world than we started with; really one could say that the book is composed primarily of enigmas and mysteries wrapped in the ambiguous words of an unreliable narrator. True to the traditions of this narrative mode we are not always told what we want to hear, and even those things we are told must be taken with a grain of salt. Digressions are frequent and mysteries are only revealed (if they ever are) slowly and almost by accident. This might be frustrating for some readers, but once you get a handle on who Harry Ransom really is sifting through his words does not become an onerous task. He also proves able to provide a valuable, if somewhat skewed, perspective on the events and people he comes across. Harry certainly grows as a character and his experiences and trials prompt his idealism to shift from the purely selfish & naïve to something more analogous to a philanthropic & hopeful melancholy.

I don’t think there’s much else I can say without spoiling the story…this book really is all about the journey and the little reveals that each new horizon presents to both Ransom and the reader. I still liked The Half-Made World better and I hope any further forays Gilman makes into this world reveal a bit more than they obscure, but all-in-all I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who loves well-written fantasy that involves complex characters in an intriguingly unique world.

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Rise of Ransom City is a sequel to The Half-Made World.... sort of. Where the first book was a quest story with worldwide implications, following three main characters, this one is written as the memoir of Harry Ransom, an inventor who appeared only briefly in the prior novel. It’s still a decent book, and the second half is much better than the first, but it didn’t grab me and excite me the way the first one did.

The first 185 pages of this book relate Harry’s childhood and his travels around the West, and I honestly found it a slog and thought of giving up more than once. Like too many fantasy sequels, it lapses into a tedious travelogue, its protagonist hiking about with no particular end in mind. Meanwhile, readers have no prior investment in Harry, whose role in world events during the first half of the book is at best peripheral. While he’s rather amusing, he’s not quite interesting enough to make up for having lost our previous main characters and storyline. Liv and Creedmoor do play a small role here, as seen through Harry’s eyes, but they’re understandably reticent with him and so we see almost nothing of their adventures.

Fortunately, the book does pick up in the second half: Harry stops traveling and becomes involved in world events, and I was engaged and interested again. Even the world seems more alive in the latter part of the book, and some interesting secondary characters step up to play important roles. Gilman displays his writing talent quite effectively, for instance, in a chapter that consists entirely of unattributed dialogue with 5 or 6 people present--and yet the reader can understand who is speaking and what's going on without trouble. And, to give credit where credit is due: I criticized the first book for only having one female character of any importance, but in this installment there are several and they’re quite interesting.

Looking back on the whole work, then, it’s more than competently written and the world is still interesting, but the choice of Harry as narrator is questionable. Not only is it difficult to switch from the movers and shakers to a relatively minor character partway through a story, but Harry’s voice never quite seems to match his personality. He is supposed to be fast-talking and pompous, but comes across as rather too self-aware and regretful, almost ingenuous, as if Gilman had not entirely adopted his voice.

Overall, this one is worth reading if you liked the first book and are willing to push through the first half of this one (or actually enjoy fantasy travelogues). For me, though, while it has its moments, it does not live up to the promise of The Half-Made World.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

First posted here

Though I will try to avoid it, this review may contain minor spoilers from ‘The Half-Made World.’

‘The Half-Made World’ was one of the best books I read last year. Almost impossible to put in a category, it mixed the fantasy and western genres almost perfectly, with a touch of steampunk. Gilman did so many things right in that novel, but ended it almost abruptly, leaving fans like me desperately hoping for a sequel. Obviously we got one, but perhaps not the one we hoped for. Rather than follow the main characters from ‘Half-Made World’, Liv and Creedmoor, the ‘Rise of Ransom City’ is the story of one man, the Professor Harry Ransom. Do we get a resolution from ‘Half-Made World’? Kind of, but perhaps not the one readers were looking for. It didn’t end up mattering to me though, as ‘The Rise of Ransom City’ is another great book, and fans should not be disappointed.


‘The Half-Made World’ was about a pseudo American West that was still fuzzy around the edges, almost as if an artist was drawing it from the inside out. It followed Liv out west as she searched for a man who held the secret of a great weapon in his head(though an injury left him without memory of anything at all). The weapon was thought to be able to finally take down the two supernatural entities that are warring over the new lands. One is The Line, intelligent train engines who run an almost hive mind society, the ultimate of an industrial dystopia(hasn't this term been around long enough for a spellchecker to recognize it?). The Second is The Gun, larger than life outlaw figures under a pseudo-control of individual daemons. The book ended without the characters ever really finding out if the weapon was workable or not.

While it’s predecessor followed three main characters, ‘The Rise of Ransom City’ is an edited memoir written by Harry Ransom himself. This is a man who several times changed the history of the land, at least according to himself. The ‘creator’ of the Ransom Process, his memoirs show his rise and fall while he tries to bring his process to the world. Along the way he runs into Liv and Creedmoor(an agent of The Gun in the first outing), tying the book nicely to HMW without actually following the same characters.
The voice of Harry Ransom is a treat. A completely unreliable narrator, he also isn’t much of a writer. Often times details are given out of order, he talks about things he is sure he has pointed out before, and has to backtrack to give details. Gilman had to have had a blast writing this, I can picture him giggling madly as he tosses in a double negative, because it would be completely natural for his character. Because the entire story is coming from Ransom, some scenes have sketchier details than others, and some are nothing more than assumptions that Ransom makes. Though he tries to point out when he is only guessing at conversations, it gives the reader knowledge that nothing he says can ever be taken purely at face value. Readers will also never know what kind of details they are going to get. Some very important events will be glossed over quickly, some minor characters will get pages written about them. This would have driven me crazy if written from the third person, but feels natural coming from a memoir.

Ransom’s story is quite an interesting one. From his early childhood that influences his feelings on The Line, to his traveling days, to his ascension to one of the best known men in the West, his life is never boring. Like all larger than life figures, sometimes he is in the middle of important events, even in control of them. Other times he is a bit player in them who gets too much credit(or blame). And sometimes, he is nowhere near the events he has attributed to him. It all feels very authentic, as many larger than life personalities of the Old West were a product of dime novels more than their actual deeds.

Plotting is harder to rate in this one. Much of it reads as a travel memoir, as Ransom describes places and people he meets along the way(even two horses get part of a chapter). Ransom and his assistant Mr. Caver try to sell this new process(and I am being intentionally vague about what the process is, because the author keeps it that way). Eventually a major event comes along, in which Ransom learns a little more about what his Process is capable of, but even that doesn’t escalate the tension. Instead the pacing stays slow and steady. I don’t want to imply that nothing happens, because there are some exciting confrontations with various enemies from The Line and The Gun. But Ransom’s writing style is such that they are sometimes highlighted and sometimes dealt with briefly. I personally felt the pace of the plot fit the writing style perfectly, but if someone hears ‘western’ and goes looking for a shoot-em-up, they will be disappointed.

Being the story of Ransom, who was a great character, there is less to say about secondary characters in this one. His assistant Mr Carver is present for much of the book, but never really picks up a personality (other than strong and silent). Liv and Creedmoor show up from the first book, and while events in this one give some closure to the first outing, nothing really new is learned about them. Rival/Possible love interest Adela could be interesting, but we learn what Ransom knows about her is as unreliable as what we learn about him. It all worked for me though, showing that to Ransom, his story is the one that needs to be told.

The story ends in many ways like the first, with most of the plot lines tied up, but with one major thread left completely open. And like the first, it is open in a way that could show up in a future book, or could leave the reader forever unaware of how things really end.

Another great book from Gilman, and I do hope for another book in this world. Personally the best part was Ransom's voice, and I liked it so much I could overlook the slower pacing.

4 stars

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following up his Half Made World, Gilman does so in unpredictable style. Or maybe predictably unpredictable as Gears of the City his follow-up to Thunderer went totally postmodern. Here following Jeff Vandermeer’s Shriek: an Afterword and he presents a memoir that is edited by another, a mix of Nabokov’s unreliable narrator and Borge’s faux non-fiction with a healthy dose of Mark Twain’s picaresque wit. This is also one the most aggrieved skewering of Horatio Alger since Nathaniel West’s Cool Million. With references to Twain, Alger, and the continuing quasi-western milieu obviously this is fantasy novel with its eyes set on American myths. Some would argue that the style would keep much of action distanced from the reader, but I found this an interesting literary gambit that paid off more so than Vandermeer’s similar book. Gilman remains one of the most fascinating of contemporary fantasy writers to me. Where will he go next? I’m interested. On a side note how did he get Gordon Lish to blurb this? Weird. On another side note, is there a revival of the Western going on right now?

[Ranting Dragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://www.rantingdragon.com/review-o...


The Rise of Ransom City is a sequel of sorts, following Felix Gilman’s The Half-Made World—a wonderful, genre-bending novel released some two years ago. That book concluded with a satisfying ending, but the story definitely didn’t end there. In The Rise of Ransom City, Gilman returns to the half-made world from a completely new perspective. In a stroke of mad-genius brilliance, Gilman has created a story that far surpasses its predecessor in writing and scope, and that is in nearly every way a standalone novel while still wrapping up the events of The Half-Made World.

The autobiography
Harry Ransom is an inventor with an unhealthy drive for adventure, a self-conceit that brings him way too much trouble, and a naive worldview. When his father dies, he decides to venture out in pursuit of fame and glory. Throughout his adventures, he writes pieces of his autobiography and sends them randomly out into the world. Years later, a journalist collects all the pieces, and together, those comprise The Rise of Ransom City.

This autobiographic narration from an utterly flawed yet extremely likeable character works extremely well. The story jumps all over the place as Harry Ransom relates his new adventures—the ones he is having while writing—and his old adventures, while constantly interrupting himself to portray a picture of the world he walked in and the people he met. Due to the nature of this story, it is easy to compare it with that other autobiographic fantasy series, Patrick Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicle—and indeed, there are many similarities. Like The Name of the Wind, The Rise of Ransom City is a chaotic character study that conveys the story of an extraordinary life. Mundane elements, like struggling with poverty and trying to find true love, are captivatingly conveyed. Gilman may lack Rothfuss’s knack for beautiful, near-poetic prose, but in return, he has significantly more story-telling skills. Where The Name of the Wind really doesn’t have much substance in the way of story, the autobiography of Harry Ransom is brimful of action and suspense.

Scope in perspective
What sets this story apart from other novels, including The Half-Made World, is its scope. In The Rise of Ransom City, Gilman expands this uniquely flavored world with a rich history. More importantly, while reading, there is this sense of looking in while the history is being written. From the get-go, Ransom addresses his audience as a people who know their recent history. When he mentions that things were different before “the battle of Jasper City,” he clearly assumes you know what this battle was. Obviously, his audience is fictional, and we don’t know what that battle was, but we know immediately that it was something big and that we’ll simply have to continue reading to find out. This method of storytelling creates a significant amount of the suspense of The Rise of Ransom City, and the execution on Gilman’s part is utterly brilliant.

The American Dream
The world in which Ransom’s autobiography takes place further deepens the scope of The Rise of Ransom City. It is a rural wild west, still largely unmade. When man brought technology to the unmade lands, the spirits of the land seized the opportunity. A steam locomotive, for example, suddenly became the vessel of an old god, and its creators became the god’s slaves. Through man-made technology, the old gods battle each other, and the creators of said technology are the unending war’s greatest victims. Yet, the wild west is also a place of opportunity where dreams can still come true and a poor man can become rich through hard work and dedication. This world paints a picture of The American Dream in which actions clearly have consequences and the modernization of the world leads to its destruction. It’s an endless cycle that, in Gilman’s voice, can only be perceived as deeply ironic.

After The Half-Made World—which had some serious pacing problems—The Rise of Ransom City is a fresh breath of wonderful story telling. It is a genre-bending story of a mundane man trying to seize any opportunity to make a name for himself. This is the study of a flawed character whose tendency to boast leads to trouble and tragedy. There are still some parts in which the pacing doesn’t work quite as well as Gilman intended, but the narration solves this problem adequately. The Rise of Random City never grows dull.

Why should you read this book?
Whether or not you’ve read The Half-Made World, you should give its sequel a chance. The Rise of Ransom City is a unique story from a fresh perspective. This book is for anyone who enjoys the American pioneering history, westerns, steampunk novels, or contemporary fantasy. The epic wars and wonderful world building will even appeal to fans of high fantasy. This is an unparalleled and deep example of what happens when the lines between fantasy and literature start blurring, and, in writing it, Felix Gilman has established his literary craftsmanship once and for all.

[scafandr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Где-то 6 лет назад я прочитал первый роман цикла "Полумир" - "Расколотый мир", и он меня сильно впечатлил. Я боялся, что в нём будет много стимпанка, который не является моим любимым жанром, но результат превысил все мои ожидания. Необычный мир, 2 противоборствующие стороны, направляемые потусторонними силами, и 2 героя, которые могут перевернуть мир и восстановить мир и порядок (хотя бы на другом конце земли). За 6 лет я очень многое подзабыл, конечно, но надеялся, что быстро вспомню по ходу чтения.
Но сюжет меня озадачил с самого старта - кто такой Гарри Рэнсом? Был ли такой персонаж в предыдущей книге? Где Лив, где Краудмур? Где те герои, за которых ты переживал и которые остались на самом интересном месте? А Феликс Гилман решил провернуть совершено наглый трюк - не завершая старую историю, он начал новую, которая идёт примерно параллельно первой. Гарри Рэнсом - молодой безумный изобретатель и авантюрист. В данной книге мы читаем его заметки, которые он составил за почти всю свою жизнь. С самого раннего детства, в котором он мечтал построить свой город, котором мы все жили счастливо и ни о чём не переживали.
Для этого Рэнсом придумал волшебный Аппарат, который генерировал свет, причём делал он это вообще без каких-либо затрат. Всё было бы хорошо, что не старые добрые знакомые Линия и Стволы (те самые, которые делят мир). Либо ты линейный, либо за стволов, либо за народное восстание против всех - здесь нет места альтернативным городам, где всё хорошо и люди спокойно живут свои жизни. Поэтому задача Рэнсома звучит утопически - его изобретение не вливается в общую канву ни одной из противоборствующих сторон.
Потом он на своём пути встречает даже старых знакомых - Лив и Кридмура. И даже какое-то время они будут вместе путешествовать, но всё же их пути разойдутся.
Почему так? Трудно предположить. "Восхождение Рэнсом-сити" - это иная история, но которая в тот же момент раскрывает и продолжает общую историю из первой книги. Получается, герои и сюжет первой книги - не основные. Как мне кажется, автор видит мир своим главным героем. Тот самый Полумир, который застрял в конце 1890-х, который стоит на пороге промышленной революции, но сдерживается петлёй, накинутой на шею Линией и Стволами.
История Рэнсома тоже по-своему интересна, но она всё же уступает истории из первой книги. В этом, наверное, и кроется минус - история Рэнсома обязательна будет сравниваться с тем, про что мы читали в "Расколотом мире". И судя по другим рецензиям, большинство остались верны первому сюжету, и жалеют о том, что автор решил их вырезать и вклеить в новую историю лишь как второстепенных персонажей. А у Рэнсома тоже ведь интересная судьба. Ведь он благодаря своему авантюрному образу жизни всё же сумел достичь поставленных целей, только сделало ли это его счастливым? И мы всё же узнаем, чем всё закончилось, и как сложились судьбы Линии и Стволов. То есть с точки зрения завершения автор всё выполнил на отлично, к нему нет претензий. Вопрос в том, как он это сделал - через выпиливание одних героев и замещением их другими. не каждая тонкая душа читателя это воспримет адекватно=)
Хорошо, остроумно, авантюрно. Не совсем понял, что именно хотел получить от жизни Гарри Рэнсом, сошлюсь на его сумасшедшую душу учёного-изобретателя. Завершающая книга цикла, к сожалению, написана чуть менее интересно и интригующе. Пропали демоны, пропали зловещие -паровозы-монстры. Но всё же цикл неплох. Спасибо и на этом!
7/10. Цикл - 8/10.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

The follow-up to The Half-Made World, set in the same reality but not about the same characters, though a few do return in bit parts.

Enjoyed it a lot at the beginning, less so for a stretch in the middle, and quite a lot again after that. The best things about it are the world and the characters, both of which feel alive. Most obviously, the principal conceit of the book is that it purports to be the memoir of Harry Ransom, inventor, visionary, and salesman and sometimes-genius, and is therefore presented in first-person. Moreover, it is written in segments, mailed to fictional newsman Elmer Merrial Carson, who does not entirely credit Ransom's writings. Both Ransom and Carson feel like real people with real personalities, though Carson appears only occasionally. Gilman's world is also alive, at least in the enclaves where the plot brings us. Jasper City feels most real of all.

I loved HMW, but I felt it petered out toward the end, in need of editing and direction. RRC's aimless period is in the middle and is thankfully brief; the end, if anything, wraps up awfully fast.

Worth reading if you enjoyed the world of HMW.

[Andrea McDowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. Felix Gilman's part fantasy, part western, part steampunk, part meta-fictional commentary on the european conquest of North America and our twin obsessions of industrialism and rabid individualism is also a fabulously written and well-characterized trip. Start with Half-Made World. Gilman proves that there is still something brilliantly original to be done in fantasy literature that is worth doing, a lovely escapist treat and intelligent at the same time. I can't ask for a single improvement. Can't wait for #3.

[Brittany (Lady Red) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprise! Beautifully done dime novel imitation. Pitch perfect. Technically this is less a sequel and more a companion to The Half Made World-but it can be read alone and you won’t miss anything.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is very strange this business of turning flesh-and-blood people into words.
—Professor Harry Ransom, p.28

That it is, Harry. That it is...

We first met Harry Ransom, the Process that bears his name, and the amazing (if still extremely experimental) Apparatus he built to demonstrate that Process, in The Half-Made World—which you should probably read before picking up this novel, for while they are more-or-less independent narratives, the first book in Felix Gilman's series contains essential background information about the Gun, the Line, and the Folk—and, most importantly, about Lysvet Alverhuysen and John Creedmoor—information which you will want to have in mind before embarking upon The Rise of Ransom City.

The Half-Made World also provides, albeit briefly, something like an objective sketch of Ransom, which is important as well because Harry is what you might call, if you were a literature professor, an unreliable narrator.

In contrast to The Half-Made World, which was written from a more typical third-person omniscient point of view, Felix Gilman lets Harry Ransom tell The Rise of Ransom City in his own voice. And Harry's is a remarkably consistent voice, note-perfect throughout. Even in his own words, though, "Professor" Harry Ransom comes across as something of a charlatan, a mountebank, endlessly self-aggrandizing, self-promoting and self-serving. He'd be thoroughly unlikeable if he weren't so damned charming.

Ransom's not even a professor—by his own admission, Harry is an autodidact, whose education came primarily from reading The Autobiography of Mr. Alfred Baxter and from the Encyclopedia that Baxter published. He is an inventor—and this part is realistically portrayed; Harry's interests are not confined to the Process—like many inventors, his ideas cannot be contained by a single field. His unique System of exercises, for example, seems very much like our real-world isometrics. However, while the Ransom Process he discovered is real and the Apparatus really does work (at least occasionally), Harry Ransom's most important invention is himself.

Even the book's title is at least a bit misleading... for as it develops, The Rise of Ransom City is not so much concerned with the western city that bears Ransom's name as it is with Ransom's journey east, to Jasper City, and what (and whom) he discovers when he gets there.


Ransom's narrative is framed as having been written by Ransom (using a remarkable triplicating typewriter, not of his own invention) in separate packets, and then delivered to (or acquired by) Jasper City newspaper editor Elmer Merrial Carson, a sardonic older gentleman with more than a little Mark Twain in him. Carson's commentary on the Ransom Process is a case in point:

It seems to partake of what they call the eschatological up at VU—though you can't put a word with that many letters in the newspapers, it would cause fainting and panic.)
—p.198

This narrative framing adds verisimilitude, and gives Gilman the ability to insert information that Ransom himself would not plausibly know.

It also means that we cannot be sure Ransom survives his own tale. Carson's not telling, and neither am I.

I guess you're just going to have to read the book. Be forewarned, though—Gilman's not done with his half-made world, not yet. Much is left unresolved at the end of The Rise of Ransom City, just as with its predecessor. Fortunately, I don't think it'll be much of a hardship to keep following this one.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Welp, I am now ridiculously addicted to Felix Gilman's writing (clearly I'll have to try out his other books to see if my love holds up across worlds/series -- though The Revolutions already seems like it's way up my alley as well, I mean c'mon, Victorian esoterism).

The one thing it seems he can't really do is endings -- fair warning for anyone reading The Half-Made World or The Rise of Ransom City that there are cliffhangers ahoy. But the books were still so well-written that I didn't really mind; plus, the mystery sorta fit into the 'unmade' aspect of the series, leaving you with an impression of the brave unknown, rife with possibility.

The Rise of Ransom City is great. The narrator, our eponymous Harry Ransom, was a throwaway background character in the previous book, but is now fleshed out completely: the book is written in the form of a confessional epistolary autobiography, constructed around a couple different frame narratives (Harry writing from the present day as he and his scientific pilgrims and vagabonds head West; Carson, a former journalist, struggling to assemble Harry's manuscript into some semblance of order, occasionally annotating as he goes). I love shit like that: stories nested within stories, narrators reflecting on narrators, speaking to each other across footnotes and time.

And Harry Ransom is an unreliable narrator, which is another one of my favourite things. He has a great narratorial voice, separate and distinct from the three protagonists of the previous book: he's charming, arrogant and self-effacing by turns, introspective, reflective... and it's significant what he chooses to admit or omit, and the way the story of his life slowly unfurls before you. It's also an interesting exercise in piecing together how the half-made world has changed in the years since the previous book -- and it has changed quite a bit, the structure falling apart.

One star subtracted because while I adored the narrative conceit here and Ransom is an interesting protagonist, I did miss the richness that came from the three intertwined storylines of The Half-Made World; the structure is a bit sleepier here, stretched out over the course of a autobiographical lifetime rather than a few extremely action-packed months. (Not to say that there isn't action here. There is indeed.) And, plainly put, I just really missed Liv and Creedmoor, although you do run across them briefly in this book and hear bits and pieces of their adventures. Which is a really interesting exercise from the author: being on the margin of other, bigger conflicts/adventures going on, but you only hear scraps of conflated rumour and gossip about it. It's like having a carrot dangled in front of you, this story that I did really want to hear more about, but Gilman seems to poke a little self-conscious tongue-in-cheek fun at it, our expectations of what book two would've been about: She suggested that one day somebody should write a book. "It won't be me," I said. "I don't know half of the truth of things."

And the reliability of rumour and (rewritten) history is a significant theme throughout this book, after all -- Gentleman Jim Dark so desperately wants to go down in history, and Ransom's public persona balloons until it has a life of its own, distinct from the truth: I do not much resemble the man in the stories. I am of no more than average height and I do not think my manner is cruel and I do not mean to be arrogant and I have never to my knowledge cackled or stroked my mustache in a sinister way.

Apparently I have a whole lot of feelings on the narrative experiment of this book but I haven't even spoken much about the plot. In a nutshell: "Professor" Harry Ransom, an enterprising young scientist who has a talent for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, ends up swept into the path of history... and he'd like to set a few details straight for posterity, which is where his autobiography comes in, as he heads West to found his utopian Ransom City. Hijinks and heartbreak ensue. Hanging onto your personal principles is easier said than done when push comes to shove; history has a tendency to grind individuals underfoot.

[Ryandake · Rating 3 out of 5]

i really liked the previous book in this pair (The Half-Made World) despite its flaws. love the setup (the Gun vs. the Line, with the half-made world at the end of the gunpowder rainbow). Creedmoor vs. Lowry, with Liv there to witness, which, despite what most people think, is not a passive thing to do.

and so i have been looking forward to the sequel for some time, and having good thoughts and anticipation in its general direction. but this book is flawed in some quite horrible ways, and i don't think i will have the fondness for it that i do for the first.

this book does not pick up where The Half-Made World left off, or not quite. Creedmoor and Liv are struggling out of the west, but the story doesn't begin with them and they are, in fact, only a trigger for part of the events of this book. in this book, our protagonist is Harry Ransom, inventor and fast-talker and possibly snake oil salesman. this book is his autobiography.

Ransom is only an intermittently likable character. he's frequently pretty funny in a sideways sort of way. he has some insight but his insight is limited by incorrigible (and eventually tiresome) sunny optimism and a failure to confront his own shortcomings. the motives and indeed the emotional life of others is quite beyond his grasp, except where it intersects with Ransom's own wants. in some ways this is i think a valid portrait of a young man of a certain bent, and as such it's extremely well done. wanna know what goes on in the heads of obsessive, passionate, rough but eloquent boosters? i think this book accomplishes that.

but on the whole, i personally don't find such people congenial company. not for a whole novel, and particularly not one told in the first person.

about a third of the way into the book, there was a short snippet of dialogue, and i experienced it as a cool rain shower on a blazing day. which of course stopped me cold. and i realized, it was pretty much the first dialogue exchange in the book to that point. i was amazed by how much i had missed dialogue. some other point of view than Ransom's, even for those few sentences. anything other than this iffy character endlessly speaking at me.

one other issue with Mr. Ransom--he does not use contractions. ever. so the "did not" and "is not" and "will not" (there are a lot of "not"s in the book) pile up into this staccato rhythm that eventually feels like a nerve tapped on just once too often. i started reading for sentence variety--you know, some short, some long, different music--and while there is a lot of variety in the sentences, somehow it honestly doesn't feel like it.

so. again, so much going for this book, and somehow it really fails to get good traction. i like Gilman's writing--i'm convinced he is a fine writer--could be that this story has just escaped his grasp. i'll still check out his next novel, but i think i will do so from the library.

[Cora · Rating 5 out of 5]

At some point, and without my really noticing, Felix Gilman became a "buy sight unseen" author for me. And while I enjoyed THUNDERER quite a bit, and THE HALF-MADE WORLD even more, I am happy to say that THE RISE OF RANSOM CITY is his best novel to date. THE RISE OF RANSOM CITY is a follow-up to THE HALF-MADE WORLD, but Gilman makes the bold choice to sideline his heroes, and tell the story of a new character (Harry Ransom, inventor/snake oil salesman) who gets tangentially involved in their exploits and is profoundly affected as a result. It's the kind of thing that could alienate readers, but I thought it was wonderful. Ransom's voice--the book is largely made up of his memoir, written after a life of noteriety--is at times whimsical, self-lacerating, harrowing, and devastating, and Ransom proves to be capable of a kind of heroism but also a terrible complacency.

Ransom is a great character, and he's in a great fantasy world. I've seen the term "steampunk Western" tossed around, but I think that brings to mind something superficial and jokey, some bad combination of airships and six-shooters. (Or maybe I just don't like steampunk much.) Gilman distills an impressive amount of 19th century Americana into a strange and familiar world. He can toss off memorable details seemingly with ease (Ransom off-handedly references the small town of Izar, with its unhealthy number of dentists), but he does this with a purpose. The world is torn between a war between the colorful/brutal agents of the Gun and the faceless totalitarianism of the Line, and Gilman makes you worry for what might be trampled between the two sides.

I'm being vague about the plot, for good reason. I got a lot of pleasure from discovering things right as they happened, which isn't usually the case for me, and I think you should as well. But I will say that the story holds together well and manages a genuine epic sweep in a relatively concise fashion. This is almost certainly the best novel that I've read this year. Highly recommended.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felix Gilman revisits his Half-Made world. This book is as great as I hoped the first book was.

New Weird meets the Weird West. Where the first book felt a bit too metaphorical and post-modern (Chaos versus Order! The West as an empty space, formed because is discovered), this book fleshes out the setting a bit more, but, most importantly, fleshes out its characters. The setting is as weird as in the first book, but feels more real.
Harry Ransom is a great, flawed hero, and the alluded Ransom City is something you want to be real, but know it will never be.

People who loved new weird classics like The Etched City, City of Saints and Madmen or the Bas-Lag books by China Miéville should add this book to their to-read list.

[Porkpie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic story, with excellent characters, believable dialogue, and a plot that's firm enough to allow the setting of the entire story become a character as well.

It's hard to write a review without spoiling that last part, as the first thing you'll notice is the setting itself. It's arguably the most clever part of the entire novel. I won't ruin it for you, except to say that there's just enough familiarity in where you're dropped at the start of this novel to make you realize just how delightfully foreign it is.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's definitely in the Steampunk genre, but the writing is so solid and evocative, and the premise is so strong, that anyone with a taste for an artful tale cleverly told will enjoy it immensely.

The Rise of Ransom City is easily one of the best novels I read in 2012, and I cannot wait to see what the author comes out with next. Instant fan.

[Carl Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging, imaginative, and thrilling read. If you're expecting a sequel to "The Half-Made World," you may be disappointed. "The Rise of Ransom City" is a tangential story, perhaps with less beauty and much slyer wit. This book works on its own or in tandem with "The Half-Made World."

"The Rise of Ransom City" works for two main reasons: Gilman's world is so inventive and Harry Ransom is roguishly likeable, Ransom is equal parts inventor and charlatan, making for an imaginative narrator that the reader knows he can't quite believe but he really wants to anyway. Ransom's voice is self-deprecating and optimistic.

Great authors often create in me a sense of glorious disappointment, because their writing is so richly detailed that I would love to hear all their asides brought to life. Such is the case with Gilman; I hope to see more of his Half-Made World very soon.

[Fantasy Literature · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Horatio Alger, rather than Mark Twain, wrote the sequel to Huck Finn (though keeping Twain’s wry humor) after he lights out for the territories, and if Huck were possessed by the spirit of Nikola Tesla, and if the Wild West were the Wild West except that the trains and guns were all hosts for demons battling for supremacy while haunting both sides is the possibility of a sort of doomsday device, well, then you just might be close to approximating Felix Gilman’s The Rise of Ransom City, a kinda-sorta sequel to his The Half-Made World, which I had on my top ten list the year it came out. The Rise of Ransom City might not be quite that good, but it doesn’t fall far short.

In The Half-Made World, we were introduced to a West being ravaged by a war between The... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

not sure what happened between 'The Half-Made World" and this book but it was not all that great... it surely wasn't supposed to be a sequel, but so much of what was mentioned or hinted at or whatever was either skipped or elided or explained in such a way as to make little sense... or maybe i just missed the brilliant... Gilman has a great imagination, that's for sure, and maybe he'll explain The Line, The Gun, The Folk, etc. in future volumes...

[Liviu]

another huge asap that came; should get to it very soon

very slow and conventional western beginning; will try later

[David Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent conclusion to the duology with Half-Made World, All my best expectations were fulfilled!

http://opionator.wordpress.com/2012/1...

[Clay Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sometime fun story about a Telsa like man in a steampunk world.

[Alex Andrasik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book suffers in my regard due to the very long pause I took between reading it and its companion volume, THE HALF MADE WORLD. I very much enjoyed that book, but I find that I've forgotten details of plot and world-building that would have enhanced my enjoyment of this one. I'm also not sure I was sold on the voice, tone, and style of Harry Ransom's first-person account of his rise from obscurity to fame and infamy. By the nature of its structure, the book lingered over points that I found less interesting and zipped right through parts that I would have loved more time with (pretty much all of Harry's time "on top of the world," so to speak, a part of the narrative that's dripping with potential and danger but which seems very rushed and "told, not shown").

It took me most of a month to complete this slim book, and I'm not sure why. It's not that it's not good; there were just swathes that didn't propel me forward. Then other parts did.

Ransom is obviously meant to be an unreliable narrator--at least, that's what I'm conditioned to expect in this kind of book--and maybe I'm dense, but I didn't get a strong feeling of unreliability from him. He seems willing, as a narrator, to face his defects, and isn't overwhelmingly hot on his achievements. The greatest sense of unreliability comes in the very occasional footnotes from the fictional editor who is weaving the strands of Ransom's narrative together. More of these, please; and maybe more of a sense of moral ambiguity from that "top of the heap" period of his life. Maybe I'm just missing some subtlety in the text--it wouldn't be the first time.

I don't mean to pile on negative comments--obviously, I liked this book to the tune of four stars! I continue to be terribly intrigued by the world Gilman has (half) built--a sort of westworld ruled by competing entities of chaos and order in the form of the Gun and the Line, which dissolves on its outer edge into a morass of creative energy. This book gives us more insight into the mysterious indigenous peoples that exist among and between the "civilized" folks like Harry Ransom and his ilk, showing their connections to the deeper secrets of the world from which the Gun and Line may have sprung in some corrupted form. The heroes of the previous book make some significant and action-packed appearances. And we get deeper looks into the cultures and inner workings of the Gun and Line themselves. The writing is reliably evocative, in this case filtered through the battered but still starry eyes of Mr. Ransom. (He sort of reminds me of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's young Howard Stark and Johnny Depp's Ed Wood.)

[Lisa Lynch · Rating 2 out of 5]

"You're here because of dumb luck. Never forget that you are replaceable, Mr. Ransom, that's my advice to you if you mean to survive in this life." (p.311)

Felix Gilman's The Rise of Ransom City just didn't do it for me. Primarily because the protagonist, Harry Ransom, is dull and, well, replaceable. In the opening paragraph, Ransom himself states, "I was a victim of circumstance". I feel that this description applies to his entire journey throughout this novel. He doesn't ever feel like an active participant in his life. It is more that dumb luck sends him from circumstance to circumstance.

I read Gilman's The Half-Made World last year and I thought it was fabulous. It started a bit slow, but the last half was amazing. As I read The Rise of Ransom City, I thought it would eventually pick up... but it didn't. I just didn't like Harry Ransom or his story of his life before heading out to found Ransom City. Perhaps the most disappointing of all is that we don't even get to Ransom City in this book. ::SPOILER:: It ends with Harry inviting the editor (Elmer Merrial Carson) to join him in Ransom City.

The reason I gave this book 2 stars was that the world it is set in is utterly fascinating and amazing and Gilman's writing is beautiful. If only the story had been better. In all honesty this book was forgettable. I finished this book 4 days ago and I should have written this review immediately. At this point I've forgotten much that happened and everything I wanted to discuss. But, you know what? I'm not bothered by it. I've already spent too long with this book.

[Jonas Salonen · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, the second book in the series, although this is completely readable without knowledge of the first one. I really wanted to like the first one more but although the world was great it still left me somewhat cold.

Anyway, this second book has a new protagonist. The characters form the earlier book appear only breafly. I really enjoyed reading this one. Somehow Harry Ransom was a fun character and I liked the way he tells about things in his biography. I don't know exactly how I should describe the feeling of the book... But maybe it is a bit like King's Hearts in Atlantis. There isn't so much horror or action, but the feel of the surroundings and the timeframe is incredible. But no worries, there is also action in this one, even though it is more about the action happening around Ransom than Ransom doing it himself.

I really liked The Rise of Ransom City and would recommend it to all who enjoy steampunk, western stories, good stories...

[Robert Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the writing is sharp, I am not enamored with the POV character. I would have been alright if the editor (off-screen character of the journalist) interjected more comments. This would have added more character to the story.

I was also disappointed in the brevity and distance of the story in regards to Liv and Creedmor. I think that this was my biggest disappointment besides the back and forth treatment of the Folk and the lack of true explanation of the Process.

From the standpoint of suspense, it is difficult to maintain it in the light of a journal.

In the end, the humor and character of Ransom and his exploits grows weary when told through his own voice. I am rarely drawn to stories told in the first person, so this may not be everyone's experience.

[Chad D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot is a little too peripatetic, so some of the payoffs do not payoff as well as they might. But, just so much good fun. A sideways, crabwise approach at a sequel: a related character whose story is MORE interesting than the continued story of the people we followed in book 1, but whose story intersects with theirs enough to get theirs and his close to completion. A delightfully idealistic AND ironic account of the American Dream as it reached Westward, literalising US imperialisms into the powers of Railway, Gun, and Republic. A book of scoundrels and crazy people, often the same people, who accomplish great evil and flawed good. Could use a map.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has one of the most fun openings I've read in ages, an in-universe forward in which newspaperman Elmer Merrial Carson describes the great lengths he went to the assemble this book about the legendary professor Harry Ransom.

The rest of the book doesn't quite live up to that tremendous opening, but it is a strong sequel to The Half-Made World. Harry is a great new protagonist and in the background we get to see intriguing glimpses of Liv and Creedmoor (the protagonists of the first novel) and the impact of their secret weapon that can kill the immortal engines of the Line as well as the immortal masters of the agents of the Gun. It is a lot of fun to see more of the Half-Made World, a fascinating, original and fun setting, and especially with the strong section on Jasper City, this sequel adds a lot to the phenomenal world building in this series.

[Charlie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series, I was very sad to find the second really did not live up to the quality of the first in any way. I did not like the new main character. I did not like the writing style and I did not really enjoy the story line which was slow and tedious and just did not make me want to turn pages at all. I did get to the end of the book, but only just. I do not think I will read the third in the series.

[Xix Feng · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jimmy Neutron goes west and meets Thomas Edison. This was pretty good. I loved the main character and he was well drawn. Wasn't a great conclusion for the series though. Would have liked to have known more about our previous heroes (Liv and Creedmore) and that whole business. The series could probably use a third book to tie everything together.