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Karen Memory #3
Angel Maker
Every cowboy story needs a horse no man can ride.
No man—but Miss Karen Memery is all woman. When she and her beloved Priya sign on to do stunts for a motion picture about a rogue Mechanical named Cowboy and a Wild West show, she finds the horse of her dreams: Angel Maker.
Her plans to rescue him from a deadly stunt are ambitious enough, but she’s soon beset by even greater threats when two men are murdered brutally. Cowboy and Priya are arrested for the crime, and Karen must prove them innocent—and save the life of the wild stallion too!
"The surprise sequel that Karen Memory fans needed! A novel of strong emotional bonds, chasing after mysteries, and adventures at the dawn of motion pictures. Ladies and gentlemachines, this book was worth the wait."
—John Wiswell, author of Someone You Can Build A Nest In
"Karen and her world are a delight!"
—Katherine Addison, author of The Goblin Emperor
No man—but Miss Karen Memery is all woman. When she and her beloved Priya sign on to do stunts for a motion picture about a rogue Mechanical named Cowboy and a Wild West show, she finds the horse of her dreams: Angel Maker.
Her plans to rescue him from a deadly stunt are ambitious enough, but she’s soon beset by even greater threats when two men are murdered brutally. Cowboy and Priya are arrested for the crime, and Karen must prove them innocent—and save the life of the wild stallion too!
"The surprise sequel that Karen Memory fans needed! A novel of strong emotional bonds, chasing after mysteries, and adventures at the dawn of motion pictures. Ladies and gentlemachines, this book was worth the wait."
—John Wiswell, author of Someone You Can Build A Nest In
"Karen and her world are a delight!"
—Katherine Addison, author of The Goblin Emperor
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First published September 2, 2025
20 people are currently reading
335 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Bear
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
November 10, 2024
The surprise sequel that Karen Memory fans needed! A novel of strong emotional bonds, chasing after mysteries, and adventures at the dawn of motion pictures. Ladies and gentlemachines, this book was worth the wait.
November 7, 2025
The genre known as "steampunk," which usually encompasses alternate history, airships and clockwork automatons, had its heyday about ten years ago, which is when the first book in this series,
Karen Memory,
came out. It has somewhat (forgive me) lost its steam since then, to the point where the author was forced to self-publish this to get it out in the world.
That's traditional publishing's loss. This book may not be quite as good as the first, but it is definitely another Rollicking Good Story, with liberal use of historical characters (one of which will surprise the heck out of you). It also has some deep lore about horses and the burgeoning silent film industry of the late 19th-century American West. All this is topped off with a murder mystery, a sweet understated romance between Karen and her wife Priya, a discussion of the hard work and compromises necessary to make a relationship succeed, and an exploration of toxic people and what drives them.
It's held together by Karen's voice, which for me is the main attraction of these books. Karen is an excellent character, smart and pragmatic and determined. She's worked as a prostitute and faced down a Mad Scientist wielding a mind-control machine, and now she is trying to get established as a horse tamer. This book lands her and Priya in the middle of another murder mystery, but this setting is a film company making a silent movie in Rapid City. There are all the attendant quirky characters assocated with the film industry (including a yucky entitled rapist male star who definitely gets his comeuppance), as well as the horse of Karen's dreams, the titular Angel Maker.
There's also an automaton powered by tapes, gears and a mainspring named Cowboy, who is almost as interesting a character as Karen. Priya get to work some Mad Science of her own and lands an apprenticeship, and Karen wins her bet to own the stallion she has gentled. This is a complete story, but the ending is open and hints at further adventures. I certainly hope the author gets to write some more of these delightful stories.
That's traditional publishing's loss. This book may not be quite as good as the first, but it is definitely another Rollicking Good Story, with liberal use of historical characters (one of which will surprise the heck out of you). It also has some deep lore about horses and the burgeoning silent film industry of the late 19th-century American West. All this is topped off with a murder mystery, a sweet understated romance between Karen and her wife Priya, a discussion of the hard work and compromises necessary to make a relationship succeed, and an exploration of toxic people and what drives them.
It's held together by Karen's voice, which for me is the main attraction of these books. Karen is an excellent character, smart and pragmatic and determined. She's worked as a prostitute and faced down a Mad Scientist wielding a mind-control machine, and now she is trying to get established as a horse tamer. This book lands her and Priya in the middle of another murder mystery, but this setting is a film company making a silent movie in Rapid City. There are all the attendant quirky characters assocated with the film industry (including a yucky entitled rapist male star who definitely gets his comeuppance), as well as the horse of Karen's dreams, the titular Angel Maker.
There's also an automaton powered by tapes, gears and a mainspring named Cowboy, who is almost as interesting a character as Karen. Priya get to work some Mad Science of her own and lands an apprenticeship, and Karen wins her bet to own the stallion she has gentled. This is a complete story, but the ending is open and hints at further adventures. I certainly hope the author gets to write some more of these delightful stories.
November 24, 2025
It's been a long, long time since I read the earlier books in this series, but after maybe two paragraphs of Karen Memery's distinct voice and tone, I was right back in like I'd never left. This book is a joy to read, largely because of Karen's narration, and it lives on her utter charm and wit and interesting perspectives on damn near everything. The story itself is a whole lot of things all at once - part struggling ranch owners, part small town corruption, part animal story, part movie production drama - on and off the set - and part murder mystery. It also features a historical cameo that I doubt anyone would see coming. And somehow, it all works together pretty much perfectly.
While the story itself starts off pretty simply - Karen and her wife Priya get hired to work on a western movie set thanks to the former's animal-handling skills - it swiftly turns in half a dozen different directions, and things only get twistier when there's a murder and Priya gets framed for it. Most of the rest of the book revolves around solving that, but there are more turns in this story than I ever could have expected, and there were moments when I had trouble keeping track of who was doing what and how they were involved. Which checks out, because it's all told from Karen's POV and she doesn't know everything that's happening any more than the reader should. But it works out amazingly well, and Karen's combination of determination and kindness make her a great character to ride along with.
So, yeah. No real complaints, highly recommended, and I'd suggest picking up the previous books too. This one works fine as a stand-alone, but the whole series is well worth reading.
While the story itself starts off pretty simply - Karen and her wife Priya get hired to work on a western movie set thanks to the former's animal-handling skills - it swiftly turns in half a dozen different directions, and things only get twistier when there's a murder and Priya gets framed for it. Most of the rest of the book revolves around solving that, but there are more turns in this story than I ever could have expected, and there were moments when I had trouble keeping track of who was doing what and how they were involved. Which checks out, because it's all told from Karen's POV and she doesn't know everything that's happening any more than the reader should. But it works out amazingly well, and Karen's combination of determination and kindness make her a great character to ride along with.
So, yeah. No real complaints, highly recommended, and I'd suggest picking up the previous books too. This one works fine as a stand-alone, but the whole series is well worth reading.
December 5, 2025
This is a steampunk Western adventure novel that's also a murder mystery. Or I should say, multiple murder mysteries.
The third in a series about a scrappy 17-year old and her wife (well, life partner - they can't get married in the 19th century American West), it helps to read the first two books ahead of this one. But the adventure is a new one.
Plucky Karen Memery (yes, spelled that way) has a hot temper and a fast mouth that often speaks before her brain engages. That gets her in trouble but is endearing in the way that adolescents can be. And although she has grown up fast and hard, she's very much still an adolescent.
This book is not marketed as a YA, but it reads that way. Karen's folksy language about human nature and horse nature feels more directed toward a YA audience than an adult one. There's a lot of her first-person musings about human relationships that feel like the sort of things teenagers are thinking about.
The action is swift and fairly constant - it really is an adventure book, not a philosophical one despite my previous comments. The murder mysteries are convoluted but not too hard to figure out. I'd call this a fun beach read if we were in season for that.
The third in a series about a scrappy 17-year old and her wife (well, life partner - they can't get married in the 19th century American West), it helps to read the first two books ahead of this one. But the adventure is a new one.
Plucky Karen Memery (yes, spelled that way) has a hot temper and a fast mouth that often speaks before her brain engages. That gets her in trouble but is endearing in the way that adolescents can be. And although she has grown up fast and hard, she's very much still an adolescent.
This book is not marketed as a YA, but it reads that way. Karen's folksy language about human nature and horse nature feels more directed toward a YA audience than an adult one. There's a lot of her first-person musings about human relationships that feel like the sort of things teenagers are thinking about.
The action is swift and fairly constant - it really is an adventure book, not a philosophical one despite my previous comments. The murder mysteries are convoluted but not too hard to figure out. I'd call this a fun beach read if we were in season for that.
December 12, 2025
Good plot and lots of action. Not the first dip of my toe into the ocean of "lesbian fiction": at least in Bear's work the men haven't been eliminated by a virus and some of the male characters are quite decent people. In any case the fact that the main character is in a relationship with another woman, while central to the plot, it's not overarching. I managed to get used to the first person/crap grammar dialogue after the first two novels (or novella in the case of no. 2) but the insertion of "big" words was discombobulating. The endless moralising soliloquies I just skipped. Despite all that this Bear work ended up being quite enchanting and making me wish there were more books in the series. Perhaps there will be. Karen's steampunk world is fascinating and a departure from the usual scifi fare. Bear's attention to detail in some areas was enjoyable. I had no clue how horses were tamed and learned a lot from Karen. What could have been boring detail became really exciting as Karen tamed mistreated movie horse Angel Maker.
November 4, 2025
This was a fun one. I've like all three books in the series, for Karen's voice, the adventure, and steampunk Pacific Northwest frontier setting.
Karen and her partner Priya take jobs working on a movie (the book is set in the late 1870s but, since this is steampunk, it's the silent movie era) to earn money to support their little ranch, and get caught up when two people on the set show up murdered.
I really like Karen's voice and the way she dives head first into helping others even when that puts her at risk. The horsey bits of this story were great - I could really visualize the horse body language form the descriptions and what Karen knew that meant. The steampunk elements were creative - licensed mad scientists, mechanicals and people with mechanical body parts, the industrial Singer making an appearance again.
Trigger warning: there is some sexual harassment and some (off-screen, but referenced) sexual violence, and Karen helping the survivor with her post-violence trauma.
Karen and her partner Priya take jobs working on a movie (the book is set in the late 1870s but, since this is steampunk, it's the silent movie era) to earn money to support their little ranch, and get caught up when two people on the set show up murdered.
I really like Karen's voice and the way she dives head first into helping others even when that puts her at risk. The horsey bits of this story were great - I could really visualize the horse body language form the descriptions and what Karen knew that meant. The steampunk elements were creative - licensed mad scientists, mechanicals and people with mechanical body parts, the industrial Singer making an appearance again.
Trigger warning: there is some sexual harassment and some (off-screen, but referenced) sexual violence, and Karen helping the survivor with her post-violence trauma.
November 29, 2025
I’m so disappointed – I loved the first book, but Angel Maker was putting me to sleep. The main draw of this series for me was Karen’s voice, her wonderful way of speaking, full of hilarious, colourful imagery – you can find some quotes in my review of the first book – but it’s so toned-down in this book! Far fewer cowboy-western turns of phrase, more ‘proper’ English… I got past the 50% mark, but without that voice, it’s a murder mystery, and murder mysteries hold no inherent interest for me.
It’s not like it’s a bad book – the characters haven’t changed from their awesome selves earlier in the series. But they’re not enough of a draw for me, not by themselves. I might keep reading bits of this at bedtime, to make my brain shut up so I can sleep, but I’m not going to be reading it for fun.
It’s not like it’s a bad book – the characters haven’t changed from their awesome selves earlier in the series. But they’re not enough of a draw for me, not by themselves. I might keep reading bits of this at bedtime, to make my brain shut up so I can sleep, but I’m not going to be reading it for fun.
September 11, 2025
Elizabeth Bear is a prolific writer of fantasy and science fiction. Angel Maker is the third in a series of steampunk / alternate history novels set in the 1870s in an alternate version of Seattle. Don't let the series tag scare you - this book can be read as a standalone novel.
The narrator, Karen Memery, is a former prostitute who, with her girlfriend Priya, has bought a small ranch outside of town. Money is tight, so when the two of them get an opportunity to work as crew on a silent movie, they jump at it. What they don't know is that the movie crew isn't in town for the weather (which is typical Pacific Northwest rainy).
The novel is both a mystery and and action thriller, told by and containing engaging characters. Well worth your time.
The narrator, Karen Memery, is a former prostitute who, with her girlfriend Priya, has bought a small ranch outside of town. Money is tight, so when the two of them get an opportunity to work as crew on a silent movie, they jump at it. What they don't know is that the movie crew isn't in town for the weather (which is typical Pacific Northwest rainy).
The novel is both a mystery and and action thriller, told by and containing engaging characters. Well worth your time.
December 30, 2025
This is the third book about Karen Memory, and it was great to be back with such a familiar, enjoyable character, just trying to do her best in the world, for herself for those around her, and for the love of her life. Karen's voice is distinctive and drew me in. The story itself is a mystery Karen has to solve, and she does it by being herself and bringing her own strengths and experiences to the task. There are also so many moments of caring and community, and characters of so many backgrounds represented, including ethnic and religious minorities. And all of it set in a steampunk western world that's fascinating to explore.
November 17, 2025
Probably because I grew up in the time when Westerns dominated TV entertainment that I enjoy this steampunk cosy fantasy. It will also appeal to horse lovers with its subplot of saving the beautiful misunderstood stallion who learns to trust again. Our heroine, Karen Memery loves horses and her Hindu engineer partner who also survived a whore house past.
Bear has a knack at capturing old style dialogue with clever cowboy slang mixed with a steampunk element; an intelligent mechanical man.
Bear has a knack at capturing old style dialogue with clever cowboy slang mixed with a steampunk element; an intelligent mechanical man.
September 9, 2025
Such a great story
Real humans and human-adjacent characters in a splendidly real world. Learned more about horses than I knew possible, and more about the West of America than much reading gave me. The technology settled as normal. Elizabeth Bear is worth every word.
Real humans and human-adjacent characters in a splendidly real world. Learned more about horses than I knew possible, and more about the West of America than much reading gave me. The technology settled as normal. Elizabeth Bear is worth every word.
September 11, 2025
Another wonderful read from EB!
So fun to read these characters again, and the world building is of course top drawer! Fantastic folk in mostly everyday situations, and all the same damning woes as you or I. Great read and well worthy of your time.
So fun to read these characters again, and the world building is of course top drawer! Fantastic folk in mostly everyday situations, and all the same damning woes as you or I. Great read and well worthy of your time.
February 21, 2025
Received an ARC as a Patreon reward. This was a delightful murder mystery as Karen and Priya get involved in film-making.
March 25, 2025
Note: Received ARC as a Patreon reward
A fun additional adventure for Karen and Priya! The setting (the movies!), plot (murder mystery!), and surprise guests (!) made for an enjoyable romp.
A fun additional adventure for Karen and Priya! The setting (the movies!), plot (murder mystery!), and surprise guests (!) made for an enjoyable romp.
September 10, 2025
Another fun read from this series.
September 17, 2025
The Karen Memory book are delightfully charming and good fun. This one does not disappoint.
September 22, 2025
I love the Karen Memory books, and the only way they could be better is by putting Karen in a movie as a stunt rider OH WAIT that's what happens in this book! I guess it's perfect after all.
November 16, 2025
3.5 Stars
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews