The Alchemy of Stone

by Ekaterina Sedia

Mattie, an intelligent automaton skilled in the use of alchemy, finds herself caught in the middle of a conflict between gargoyles, the Mechanics, and the Alchemists. With the old order quickly giving way to the new, Mattie discovers powerful and dangerous secrets -- secrets that can completely alter the balance of power in the city of Ayona. However, this doesn't sit well with Loharri, the Mechanic who created Mattie and still has the key to her heart -- literally! A steampunk novel of romance, political intrigue, and alchemy, The Alchemy of Stone represents a new and intriguing direction by the author of the critically-acclaimed The Secret History of Moscow:

Genres: Steampunk, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Robots

304 pages, Paperback

First published July 4, 2008

About the author

Ekaterina Sedia is also credited as E. Sedia.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I re-read The Little Mermaid as an adult something about it bugged me. This something bugs me more and more each time I re-read the story. It's not the pain the mermaid feels when she walks; all of Andersen's characters seem to get tortured, the Ugly Duckling was a male and he got frozen in the ice. No, with the mermaid, it's how the prince treats her. She sleeps at the foot his bed, he rests his head on her breast. It's like she's his personal lap girl with whom he has groping benefits.

I can't help wondering if Ekaterina Sedia feels the same way for The Alchemy of Stone is very reminiscent of "The Little Mermaid".

Unlike "LM", Mattie, the protagonist, isn't looking for a soul; she's looking for her independence, to be her own person. She is a clockwork girl, which means even so often her gears run down. There is only one key that winds her up. This process makes her feel violated. (In fact, whenever Mattie is opened, it almost feels like a rape. This is a brilliant touch). Guess who has it and doesn't want to share?

You guessed it. Her creator, a man.

Her creator, Lornarri, has freed her, but he still exerts control over her in a variety of ways, not all of which sit well with Mattie, her friends, or the reader. Lornarri reminds me very much of the prince in "The Little Mermaid", crueler, but he has that same selfish thinking, that disregard for the women who are connected to him. A me first attitude, and let's not think about anyone's feelings, at least anyone who is not my equal.

Mattie is an alchemist and despite being non-politic, soon finds herself caught up in the revolution that is taking place in her world. This comes about due to her desire to help the gargoyles. No Disney cutie pies, the gargoyles are the creators and keepers of the city where Mattie lives, and they find themselves dying off without any means of reproduction. In this struggle for control of an unnamed city, Sedia touches on the cause and effects of terrorism, the roots of revolution, and the effects of such violence on the community and the groups within that community. It is true that these issues are not dealt with startling depth. This isn't to say that she does a bad job; she doesn't. In fact, the book is timely in the topics it covers; it is hard not to see some of it as a mirror of current events.

The focus of the book, however, isn't on politics, but on gender roles and the idea of humanity. Reviews on the back of the block, liken Mattie to any women and considering the roles of female supporting characters, the idea of a woman's role and woman's independence is what Sedia seems to be examining. Who doesn't feel like a wind-up girl sometimes? These gender roles are also used in "The Little Mermaid". The mermaid wanted a soul, more than she wanted the prince, so she wouldn't become foam on the waves. Mattie is not looking for a soul, though one could she has one and the best one of the novel. Is she more human than those around her? Does she have more of a soul? The same questions are raised in Andersen's tale, when the mermaid's compassion is compared to the thoughtless of the prince. Why do her sisters help her, but the prince cannot even think about her? It is easy to see the connection of this story to Andersen's fairy tale.

[Mariel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do kids stare at you? Not like they look at other adults (just more adults in a taller treetop world). Unknown quantities. Not them. Not the other thems (meaning adults). Deciding to be afraid or not, or where to place you in budding perspectives. (Could be looks of judgement. My little niece stares only to proclaim that my hair looks bad. After loooong periods. THAT'S what you wanted to say? I'm sure she gets it from her mother. She always hated my hair.) Still deciding who everyone else is. Staring. What do those looks mean? Do you ever exchange looks with children right back? (Are they just a mini adult who will proclaim that your hair looks bad?) I always had a staring problem. My ex once told me that kids stared at me because they sensed that I was one of them. It depressed me very much, back then, because he really didn't get it. The look is because the inbetween space is undecided. The other is boring. I do know how Mattie feels. Looked on to complement, not as your own whole self. Pulled along in case you get in someone else's way. Expected to make social mistakes. It's an awful feeling. It's the new people she meets that interested me. Potential.

The whispered thread going through all the voices I try to listen that speaks to me was ALMOST there. Over what makes a person a person, what is a soul, men versus women, control. Society blah blah. I know the expected mistake feeling. Is it wrong that I wanted the other voice to be louder? I feel it was more important. I've been looking for stories that have that thread for as long as I can remember. I hold them inside when I find them hoping they'll be around at a time when another peice will fall into place. Elizabeth Bowen's The Death of the Heart (Portia is the apart kind of eyes and staring). Gary Oldman dancing with the kids in Sid & Nancy (he's one of them). Yukio Mishima's moments of all the same bodies in tangled limbs and laughing arms for a kid again festivities. No eyes, no thinking. One of them. (I have more. I don't have enough. I want to figure this out.) The decision limbo... To be afraid? To be? A part... Whatever it is, you can't see what it is they see from those tall tree tops.

Mattie is an automaton. A machine. A clunker. Her heart is wound up and her creator, Loharri, has the key. She's programmed to not be her own. There are other threads, too. It is hard to put all this together at once, free will and genetic make up. How much is variables? I inherited social anxiety from my mama (it was bred further by being beaten into me that no one would ever like me). If I have caffeine and forget to take my vitamins my depression is exponentially worse, and unmanageable before my period. I am not myself. How much is ME and how much is just diet? Am I trudging through my mama's footsteps? You are what you eat and mostly water. It can make all the difference, those variables, in overcoming circumstances and how I was made. Mattie was made to be a slave. She was given enough of a mind of her own to not be boring. She was made to look how someone else wanted her to look (I fought bitterly to escape that, growing up. Matching outfits, twins, that whole cliche was my life).

Not everyone she meets is like Loharri (and he wants more from her than most). But the staring. The looks of difference and not knowing if you're going to learn to be afraid or not... What do people want from others, anyway? Girlfriends, sisters, brothers, boyfriends, fathers, children...

That's it. Making children and then they are forever your appendage, delighting in reflecting back of one's own ego, kids say the darndest things, cute little dress up outfits. But what about the rest of the kids? Mattie meets the soul smoker. The soul smoker took the job of hosting the souls of the dead until he dies and can lead them to wherever the dead goes because he had no other life. Her foriegner friend, mistrusted because she is different. Her not really a friend client, Ilonda. The feminism thread was beside the point really, I felt. It's like picking one oppressed group from history and saying that no one else had it bad. They COULD have all been in it together, if they didn't decide to mistrust after the staring moments. (I wasn't too interested in Ilonda the courtier who would only hire other women. Too fun loving girl and, like Mattie, I don't easily connect to that type because I don't know how to behave the same way.) Peasants had no jobs and were replaced with machines. The childhood objectification thing was over all. The gargoyles (holy shades of Meredith Anne Peirce's The Darkangel Trilogy here) who made the city but have been forgotten in the greed of the mechanics (like Loharri) seek out other lost souls like themselves. Kids staring to other kids staring. Almost. Mattie falls in love with their feeder, Sebastian (another persecuted foriegner) who doesn't see her past his own mechanics desire to take apart someone and see how they might work for them. "I made that. They are in my image." Child of god, machine, flesh, stone. Made of something else. Still itself.

The ending was kinda bullshit.

Pardon my foul language and potential spoilers. But bullshit.

Mattie is dead to the world without a key to her heart. Sebastian who felt she was an object suddenly decides to wait by her side? Why did Sedia go for the gothic imagery shit? Did she think it was a haunting image of the tragic metal and whale bone girl with a guy waiting by her side? Now mortal gargoyles flying over head to protect her while they still live? It wasn't. (Another book that pisses me off going for the rotting romantic image instead of what would have meant something. Into the Forest pissed me off enough for 2011, thanks. Why don't they ever listen to me?)

The gazes look away. Mattie doesn't get the chance to learn her definitions of friendship and love through experience, make her own variables. I didn't care as much who the parents were! WHY did they stare at Mattie and decide she was a cute little machine but then sit by her side at the end? The gargoyles had been honest in their whispers of staring, before. Now they owed her? Sighs. Sedia did quite well writing Mattie's chemical balances. Now what about the experience? Bullshit!

Four stars because of the voices of Do you really love me? all of the time. The more it is asked the less you are sure if you don't. How it feels when you are told you are soul mates when you don't know what that even means. Sedia got some stuff right. If only that was the asking I had wanted...

[Tras · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly beautiful novel. Mattie's journey into 'humanity' will touch all but those with hearts of solid stone (excluding the gargoyles, of course, who adore and protect her). In many ways, Mattie, an automaton, is the most human character in the book; the one that most of us will be able to identify with, care about, and, perhaps, fall in love with. Her innocence and desire to become truly emancipated drive her story as she contends with life's ups and downs, and the machinations of others. Poignant, wonderful, and heartbreaking. I adored this book.

[Megan Baxter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Power and control, society and structure, alchemy and engineering, machine and gargoyle. This is a world populated by the strange and steampunky, with emancipated (but maybe not really) humanoid robots, and gargoyles slowly turning to stone against their will. It's also a world in flux, where feudalism may be in the midst of being overthrown by industry, and that may be, in turn, challenged by the workers.

Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main reason I finished The Alchemy of Stone was the unexpected demise of my home internet three days ago that freed up a certain amount of spare time. This is a strange little book about a sad robot trying to claim her personhood, her dysfunctional relationship with her maker, and some extremely uninteresting background political turmoil involving gargoyles and explosives. I finished it with complete indifference.

I think Murderbot has spoiled me for robot coming-of-age stories. Robot intelligence need not be snarky, hyper-intelligent, and misanthropic (though, come on, it's better when it is). However, Mattie the automaton feels envy of fleshy people, ends up getting used by said fleshies (I'm just going to refer to humans this way from now on), and comes across as less of an automaton with cool capabilities (she can see souls! also in the dark!) than an innocent whose perspective could easily be mistaken for that of a fleshy.

Also, I want to know how simple gears were able to give an automaton full-body sensation and pleasure/pain receptors. Apparently these are Questions That Should Not Be Asked of steampunk, and also why I rarely read this genre.

I can't decide whether to give or take away stars for a robot sex-adjacent scene (is it sex if one party has no genitals?) that is so cringey that it actually made me laugh. Spoiler-y, so read on at your own risk:

"He yanked at the fabric concealing her breast, and his mouth found the keyhole as if by instinct. She froze - a troubling mix of fear and lightheaded pleasure - as his tongue circled the circumference of the keyhole. He forced the tip in, once, twice, and she felt the vibrant life flood her. He wasn't winding her, but her whole body responded, rocking in rhythm with her heartbeat, she squirmed in his lap and his kisses and caressing fingers grew hungrier, more urgent. He pulled her dress off her shoulders, touched her inlays like piano keys, tangled his fingers in her hair. His mouth pressed against her lips and then her breasts, and then her lips again."

Go on, then. Lick my keyhole. Also, see why Mattie doesn't come across as a convincing robot?


1.5 stars because there are some interesting ideas in there, but nothing about it - the gloomy steampunk atmosphere, the characters, or the plot - really captured my interest.

[Felicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure how to review this. I think for most people this would be a three star book because it isn't EASY, but there is such beauty and strangeness to this, that I had to give it four stars, because I think for some people it will be a five. There is something lovely about it.

It's a very artistic book, the prose is very romantic and lush and plaintive, and it drew me in. It's set in an alt steampunk-ish world I never 100% understood and follows an automaton named Mattie, who lives alone but is controlled by the master who created her, who has to wind her heart every so often and won't give her the key. Gargoyles talk in riddles at the start of chapters, there are factions against factions, a lot is going on and it's not told in a straight line often.

It was strange because so much is confusing in this, but I feel a re-read would add a layer of commentary. The lead, the most soulful character, is mechanical which is so interesting. You really do ache for Mattie, she cares so much, and being caught between the rising tensions of a society you are totally drawn in. I guess this author may be Russian, which I totally get, it's very tragic and dramatic, haha.

Again, it's not an easy or quick read, and is not that uplifting, but there's a lovely artistry that was refreshing and compelled me to finish and lingered with me. Recommended for something different.

[Sandy Parsons · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like it. I really did. I picked it as my choice for the book club, after all. But after a promising start, I kept feeling like I was reading a sketch of a larger story, with an occasional burst of wonderful imagery, or a hint of a really cool idea. I loved the metaphor of Mattie and her heart, and the key to her heart, which she could never quite possess (and arguably, she sometimes seemed programmed not to want to actually achieve, all her protests notwithstanding). The soul smoker was probably the only character I cared enough about to perk up when he was around, but then the scene would end without anything really happening. I loved the homunculi, and their squishy, needy passion. The gargoyles, too, intrigued me, but none of it ever fleshed out (no conscious pun intended) into anything I cared about. By then end I didn't care about any of the characters, and in fact, the two human women had entirely interchangeable voices. I felt like the war was some background noise but who won? Don't know, don't care. In spite of all that, I felt that the writing style was often beautiful and engaging, so much so that I didn't have a problem slogging through to the end (which is usually the case with a book that I've lost interest in). So this book suffers from the opposite problem that books often have. Great writing, mediocre story.

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, this cover is amazing. Secondly, at the top of the cover it says "A Novel of Automated Anarchy & Clockwork Lust".

Tell me the last book you read that was billed as such.

This is a pretty inventive story about an automaton named Mattie. Oh, sure, another automaton story, she says. Snooze. But, no, really, this was a fun read. Mattie is better than most automatons, definitely created to be superior to others, and, unlike other automatons, she is liberated. She is still dependent on her creator, however, who literally holds the key to her heart - the key is required to wind her up periodically. Though liberated, her creator refuses to give the key to her, certain that if she has the key, she will no longer need him for anything, and then she will no longer return to him.

Of course therein lies the biggest clue that she should definitely take that key and run as far as her metal feet will take her because he is a LOSER.

There's this bit of class warfare going on as well, between the Mechanics (like Mattie's creator, Loharri), the Alchemists (like Mattie herself), and the gargoyles (the... well... gargoyles who serve as sort of like the chorus throughout the story).

This isn't just a story about how human an automaton can be. There really is some heart here, you really do cheer for Mattie. When her face literally breaks, you feel something. Maybe because you can see a little bit of yourself in her, and you realize that even a female automaton can have to deal with the same issues that any woman deals with at some point in her life. You want her to have her liberation and her fucking key, and you want Loharri to stop being a prick.

This is the second book I've read by Sedia, and I'm really digging her. I'll be reading more of her.

But seriously, look at that cover. It's like Nine Inch Nails, but without Trent Reznor.

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

An unusual and ambitious novel—one that to my mind falls a little short, but I respect the ambition and can see why for some readers it’s a favorite.

The Alchemy of Stone is a steampunk fantasy, set in a city in turmoil and featuring an intelligent automaton, Mattie, who works as an alchemist. The plot is, I think, the weakest part: there’s a lot going on in the city, conflict between different factions in government, parliament eclipsing aristocratic rule, xenophobia directed at dark-skinned “easterners,” brutal exploitation of the common people by the technocracy, all of it culminating in a bloody revolution—all of which our protagonist observes from the sidelines, without having much stake in any of it.

The substance of Mattie’s story is in her attempts to achieve independence and her relationships with five diverse humans, drawn with a sharp eye for the power dynamics involved. This is particularly true, and particularly uncomfortable, between Mattie and her maker, a man who seems to view her as a sort of backup girlfriend and refuses to give up control over Mattie’s life. Their dynamics are well-crafted and believably portrayed, and Mattie’s friendships with other characters are interestingly complex as well (the love interest, unsurprisingly, is the least inspired of the bunch, but fortunately that’s not as dominant an element of the book as the tagline would have you believe). So I think it’s fairly successful as a character-driven story, but it does mean Mattie’s plotline largely consists of to-ing and fro-ing amongst her various friends, with all the political chaos and upheaval happening in the backdrop. It’s a bit of a mess, and at times it felt the author was struggling to tack on personal stakes for Mattie without quite succeeding—the “Mattie must find a potion to save the gargoyles” subplot seems meant to be the linchpin of the story but felt a bit unnecessary and tangential to me.

All that said, I basically liked the book. The characters are intriguing, particularly Mattie herself—it’s interesting to see the book work through her advantages and limitations as an automaton, how her life works and how she views herself. She’s also an endearing character, mild and kind on the surface but with some steel beneath. I appreciated that Sedia was willing to take both Mattie’s story and the larger political one to uncomfortable places, without needing to explicitly point out everything that is wrong. It’s an intriguing setting as well, bursting with life and history, only a small sliver of which we see; one can imagine many more novels set in this world. The writing is mostly quite good, though in a few places it gets a little clunky and once uses “mendicant” where it means “mendacious” (oops! Those are very different!). And it’s a thematically rich book, raising questions about the possibility of true social and political change, about relationships across difference and power imbalances, and using Mattie’s non-human nature to explore some very human experiences of isolation and control and what personal identity and independence even consist of.

I’m not quite sure what to make of the ending, which I wasn’t expecting to be such a downer: Mattie dies! Or at least, probably. If the key had survived it would probably have been easily found. And not only that, everyone important in her life fails her: by betraying her, by dying, by not caring about her nearly as much as she cares about them. It’s a true tragedy, and I wasn’t expecting that. Maybe just because fantasy authors have such a habit of contriving happy endings that I assumed Sedia would do it too.

Overall, this one is certainly worth a try for the interested. If I never found it quite propulsive, I nevertheless enjoyed the read; and if some aspects didn’t fully succeed, I still give it points for ambition and imagination, for taking risks and doing something different rather than just regurgitating an oft-told tale.

Oh, and one last pet peeve for which the author is not responsible: while that cover may suit the book tonally, it bears absolutely no resemblance to Mattie. She’s a robot with a very feminine design and clothing, not a naked human with an overlarge featureless visor. And she definitely has eyes. They’re kind of a big deal.

[Charlotte Kersten]

“Helping others is the only way we can prove we still matter.”

So What’s It About?

Mattie, an intelligent automaton skilled in the use of alchemy, finds herself caught in the middle of a conflict between gargoyles, the Mechanics, and the Alchemists. With the old order quickly giving way to the new, Mattie discovers powerful and dangerous secrets -- secrets that can completely alter the balance of power in the city of Ayona. However, this doesn't sit well with Loharri, the Mechanic who created Mattie and still has the key to her heart -- literally! A steampunk novel of romance, political intrigue, and alchemy, The Alchemy of Stone represents a new and intriguing direction by the author of the critically-acclaimed The Secret History of Moscow.

What I Thought

I have been lucky enough to discover a number of new favorite books this year, and The Alchemy of Stone is one of them. I’ve never read anything quite like this before, and I would count myself lucky to read something like it again!

First and foremost among the reasons that I love this book is Mattie herself. She is one of my favorite protagonists of all time - I just love her so much. She is basically the biggest, most adorable sweetheart in the whole world who sees the good in others, always tries to be helpful and kind, and is particularly compassionate to fellow outcasts. She is curious and smart and determined to make her own way in the world, and her perspective as an automaton is so well written. I mean that in the sense that Sedia uses Mattie’s identity to explore notions of humanity and being othered, but also in the sense that there are so many unique details that really develop a complete sense of what it is like for her to have a mechanical body that can break down and functions so differently from a living body. A tiny detail that charmed me so much I still think about it all the time: “On the way, Niobe relented under Mattie’s pitiful stare (she extended her eyestalks for that purpose).”

Mattie’s complex, toxic relationship with her creator Loharri is another of the book’s strong points. Loharri is a really interesting and magnetic character, and it’s clear why Mattie is so confused about her feelings about him - on one hand he is a brilliant, charming man who literally gave her life and often treats her kindly, but on the other hand, he is capricious and selfish and full of an underlying darkness that manifests in how he is ultimately unwilling to see Mattie as a real person or relinquish his control over her life. The book states it really well: “he occasionally enjoyed making a show out of capitulating to her, but only because they both knew he held more power.” His benevolence and pet names only go so far - he’s willing to be nice while she does what he wants, but when she starts to exert her free will in ways that he doesn’t like, all bets are off and he reverts to treating her like an object, taking her apart and controlling her utterly.

Beyond the fact of Mattie’s creation, I love a lot of the other fantasy elements present - the mysterious, ancient gargoyles that are intrinsically tied to the city, the man who is fated to smoke opium to encompass the souls of the dead and live with them in his mind forever, the little blood homunculi that Mattie learns how to make with blood magic thanks to a friend from a different country…I could go on, but there are so many genuinely interesting and inventive elements that set this story apart from the other steampunk books I’ve read.

Speaking of the steampunk elements, The Alchemy of Stone also does a great job of capturing and exploring some of the themes that are central to the kind of gaslamp/steampunk books that I like. The book’s central conflict hinges on the rapid transformation of Mattie’s city through industrialization and the problems that arise because of it, the exploitation of the poor, and racist hostility towards outsiders from other lands. As I mentioned before, Mattie’s identity as an outsider is a great way of exploring the idea of who counts as a person, and that exploration is augmented by the struggles of race, class and modernization that are present too.

Only a few things didn’t work for me. It feels like there are a lot of conveniences to the story - everyone seems to know everyone important and relevant to the plot, and Mattie is constantly bumping into the characters who will best further the plot at any given time instead of deliberately seeking them out. I also think that the weakest part of the story altogether is the “romance” between Sebastian and Mattie. There is almost no buildup to the notion that they have feelings for each other, and it feels a lot to me like Sebastian doesn’t really care about Mattie at all and is instead just using her to stay safe during a volatile time. The sex scene is pretty unique, I will say, in that there is KEYHOLE ORAL. I actually like this scene a lot for the fact that it’s about Mattie reclaiming the pleasure that Loharri built into her without her consent; even disregarding the pleasure that he built into the process, Mattie finds Loharri using her key to wind her up to be a violation, and this is augmented by the fact that he will not give her the key so that she can be truly be free of him. So I like what the sex scene is all about, but I remain staunch in my opinion that Sebastian does not seem like he really cares about Mattie at all, and the romance was a big disappointment to me.

I simultaneously love and hate the ending, where Loharri dies and Mattie’s key is lost during his death, meaning that she knows that she is eventually going to shut down unless she can find the key. In the epilogue, narrated by the gargoyles who Mattie saved, she has shut down and the gargoyles are hunting relentlessly for the key. It’s like a knife to the heart!!!! But they’re 100% going to find the key and bring Mattie back to life and she’s going to be happy and free forever, okay???? OKAY.

[Kara Babcock · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are so many ways to describe Ekaterina Sedia's The Alchemy of Stone. It's a sombre symphony of motifs, ranging from women's independence and sexuality to the ramifications of rapid industrialization. And deceptively so—despite the intriguing back cover copy and the seductive tagline, "a novel of automated anarchy & clockwork lust," I wasn't quite convinced of The Alchemy of Stone's brilliance until the denouement, when everything suddenly came together in a wonderful, cathartic moment.

In the city of Ayona, hewed from stone by the ever-watchful gargoyles, the Mechanics and the Alchemists duel for political control of the city while the peasants labour in the mines and on the farms. Mattie is an emancipated, clockwork automaton who has chosen to become an alchemist (and she's competent at it too). Though she is legally a free woman, she can't break her bond to her Mechanic creator, Loharri. He retains the key that will wind her clockwork heart and exerts an insidious influence on Mattie throughout the book.

The Mechanics have recently achieved a majority in Parliament, but when someone destroys the Duke's palace, the city gradually slides into chaos. Mattie is politically apathetic (and she can't vote anyway), but she is close to people on both sides of the conflict and inexorably becomes involved. Still, her outsider's perspective provides us with valuable insight into the tensions and fears that motivate both those in power and the masses who are unhappy with them. It's clear that the Mechanic-controlled Parliament has an agenda, and we get a glimpse of a counter-agenda from Sebastian, Iolanda, and the revolutionaries. However, there are very few specifics in both cases. Sedia focuses less on the political aspirations of either side than the power conflict itself, mostly because it parallels the power conflict between Loharri and Mattie.

The revolution's root cause is the rapid industrialization driven by the Mechanics. Machines are the answer to everything: transportation, manufacturing, even food production, thanks to mindless automaton labourers. Despite the improvements these machines often make, there's disadvantages too, both aesthetic and practical. The factories in the city are eyesores, polluting the river and belching smoke into the sky. The peasants who still have jobs tilling the soil receive little pay and little gratitude; still, they are luckier than the orphans raised in inhumane conditions to live out their lives as miners, striving to satisfy Ayona's insatiable appetite for coal. The result: the riots of the Industrial Revolution, accelerated just as the steampunk technological innovations accelerate in the book. We go from initial attack to the end of the revolution quite quickly, or at least it seems that way. Likewise, the revolution spurs unintuitive improvements in technology: the Mechanics construct a "Calculator" that will analyze the situation and provide them with the best possible course of action; Loharri manages to perfect audio/video recording in a very short time and use Mattie as an unwitting spy. The pace of this progress isn't very believable, but as a storytelling device, I suppose it works well.

The revolution is but a backdrop to the personal journey of discovery of Mattie herself. Initially, she seems to pursue her goals with a single-mindedness only a clockwork person can possess. Yet as the story progressed, I realized that one could also interpret that pursuit as a form of selfishness—such a human attribute, or an attribute of the flesh, as the gargoyles would no doubt describe it. Mattie, though made of gears and springs, whalebone and ceramic, feels pain—and pleasure—and her emotions run the gamut from lust to passion to anger. She is a person, in all sense of the word. And she is a woman.

The personhood of robots is a Big Question; entire books, science fiction or otherwise, devote themselves to unravelling that mystery. Sedia, in a sense, has bypassed this issue, taking Mattie's sentience as a given so that she can explore more pertinent problems. This is what Mattie has to say about her gender (to the female character Iolanda):

". . . why do you consider yourself a woman? Because you were created as one?"

"Yes," Mattie replied, although she grew increasingly uncomfortable with the conversation. "And because of the clothes I wear."

"So if you changed your clothes . . ."

"But I can't," Mattie said. "The shape of them is built into me—I know you have to wear corsets and hoops and stays to give your clothes a proper shape. But I was created with all of those already in place, they are as much a part of me as my eyes. So I ask you, what else would you consider me? . . . I assure you that my femaleness is as ingrained as your own."

Mattie identifies herself with The Alchemy of Stone's female characters, like Iolanda and Niobe, who themselves are struggling for some power over their own destinies. She expresses horror that the city's mindless automatons were never aware enough to know their own lack of freedom; hence, she cherishes what little freedom she has. Yet there's something much more sinister about Mattie's creation: Loharri built her in a form designed for servitude. She repeatedly experiences a desire to help or please Loharri even as she resents his reticence to surrender her key. Though emancipated, she often accompanies Loharri places in the role of "his" automaton, possession rather than person, somehow less "real." The combination of Mattie's femaleness and her illusory freedom is a potent reminder of women's struggle to emancipate themselves from the role of devoted housewife. Sedia manages to make Mattie's plight resonate even for me, a young male who lacks much experience when dealing with gender discrimination. And the culmination of this aspect of Mattie's journey is, for me, the most fulfilling part of the book.

It's worth mentioning Mattie's faces. Most of Mattie is fairly durable, but her faces are made of porcelain and prone to cracking or even shattering completely. When this happens, she must go to Loharri for a replacement—a shameful, degrading circumstance, at least from her perspective. Think about how much importance we humans put on one's face: it's an outward representation of our personality; we associate faces with specific individuals. The facts that Mattie's face is artificially, so easily breakable and mutable, that her expression and appearance are controlled by her creator all contribute to this tragic sense of not being "real" despite her obvious sentience.

Sedia, for the most part, executes these themes with skill and confidence. Occasionally, however, she does falter, and that inconsistency is why I demure from five stars. To be honest, getting through the first two thirds of the book was more chore than diversion. I can understand why some people would probably put it down after the first few chapters. Yet my opinion of the book experienced a reversal in the last act; the final third is captivating in its tragedy and beauty. Without spoiling it too much, Mattie is definitely a tragic heroine, her downfall ultimately residing within Loharri's spiteful betrayal of her.

Loharri is a fully realized character. He's passionate but phlegmatic, prone to fits of enthusiasm and malaise. Mattie's complex feelings about her creator alone justify calling three dimensional. He was kind enough to create her with an independent mind in the first place; he allowed her to learn alchemy and emancipated her on request. Yet he refuses to hand over her key, which would truly grant her freedom. And he uses her, both indirectly, by compelling her to see him at regular intervals, or directly, by using her as an unwitting spy. This duality is mirrored in his role as a Mechanic politico. He seems more open and accepting than most Mechanics, yet when Mattie attempts to question the wisdom of a party policy, Loharri becomes defensive. He displays the same general xenophobia the other Mechanics have, blaming the revolutionary atmosphere on the increasing population of "Easterners" in Ayona. Clearly, Loharri is not a very nice man. Yet he created Mattie, who is equally clearly a nice woman, determined to care for those society has left by the wayside, such as Ilmarekh the Soul-Smoker and the gargoyles.

So when Loharri betrays Mattie one final, irrevocable time, it's the most poignant turning point in the novel. Suddenly he has crossed the line from passive antagonist to active villain. When Sedia made me hate him for his actions rather than for how Mattie saw his actions, that's when The Alchemy of Stone captured me. It's unfortunate that it took almost the entire book to reach that point; certainly other books have captivated me from the first page until the last. However, when it did happen, it was as swift and irrevocable as Loharri's betrayal.

Sedia's prose is lyrical and haunting; she never wastes words or wants for imagery. That's why I label The Alchemy of Stone a symphony. The entire book feels like a score—set in a minor key, of course—that could easily be put to a ballet or some sort of opera. I've criticized the plot, and some of the character development, but the atmosphere of this book is potent and unforgettable—maybe even unforgivable.

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a strange, lovely book. I fully admit that I decided to read this book solely because it features gargoyles. I kind of have a thing for gargoyles. I'm pleased to report that Sedia delivered far more than just a favorite (and sadly underused) fantasy species.

The Alchemy of Stone is set in the fictional city of Ayona, built by the magical efforts of the stone-controlling gargoyles. The Ayona of the novel is in the middle of a power struggle, between forward-thinking, steampunky Mechanics and slightly more mystical Alchemists. Caught in the middle are the working classes, resentful of the power both Alchemists and Mechanics lord over them and of their often miserable positions in life. So yes, it is sort of a take on the Industrial Revolution, and revolution in general. It's a nicely constructed world, fascinating enough that I'd be happy to see Sedia write more books in this setting.

But as interesting as Ayona is, it's a backdrop to Mattie's story. Mattie is an automaton, an unusually bright one. She's smart enough to long for her own independence, and to have become as emancipated from her creator as it's possible to be. It's not enough. She wants to be the only one in control of her own destiny, to literally hold the key to her clockwork heart in her own hands and no one else's. It's Mattie's longing for freedom that drives the story, against her own construction and the will of her creator. The allegory there is obvious enough that it doesn't need to be pointed out, and it's effectively, movingly written.

I do wish that the revolution happening in the background had been a bit more than background, that we'd been able to see more of the wider story. But I'm also very, very happy with what Sedia did write, and with a perfectly ambiguous, open, satisfying ending.

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very different read from what I expected so at first I thought that it sets up a great storyline/world and then fails somewhat to live to that potential, but the last 3rd or so of the book and especially its poignant ending made me reconsider and appreciate this one as what it truly is - a mainstream character study disguised as science fantasy.

The character happens to be a mechanical girl called Mattie, but her creator a Mechanic with a damaged face and a past that slowly revealed leads us to understand his obsessions, and why he made Mattie intelligent, self-aware, capable of feeling pain and pleasure including of a sensual type though maybe in not the usual ways and then later "emancipated" Mattie only to keep her "rewinding key" without which she will stop working after a while. Just to visit him, Loharri the mechanic claimed, to make sure that Mattie will not completely forsake him, but of course there is much more than that.

And Mattie joins the Alchemists, the rivals, competitors and sometimes enemies of the Mechanics, a strange self-aware automaton in a city full of owned, lacking sentience and self-awareness servant automatons and when she takes both an important project and an important noble customer, Mattie unwittingly gets embroiled in plots, revolution and much more.

Highly, highly recommended but with the caveat above - a very inventive world, but the focus is on the character study, Mattie, Loharri, Iolanda, Niobe, Sebastian, the Soul Smoker, the gargoyles, rather than on the workings of the world and such.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like an odd one out, here. I expected to love this, and people whose opinions I trust really loved it, often giving it five stars. But it never came together for me: I wasn't sure what the main story was meant to be, what I was meant to take away from it. I never really managed to picture Sedia's world or characters, or connect whatever dots I was meant to connect.

Partially, probably, this is because I didn't want to. The relationship between Mattie and her creator is a powerful one, and he's a disturbing character. I found him cruel, manipulative -- abusive, even. He creates her with the capacity for independence but keeps her chained to him, makes her to serve him but gives her the intelligence to resent it, makes a person with free will in a world that won't accept her as a person at all. He gives her the illusion of freedom, the illusion that she can do and be what she wants, but keeps her close with the horrible joint leash of pity for him and need of his key. He creates an autonomous creature, but then disregards what she wants and needs. The thing about her faces hurt me the most, the way he ignores her preferences and tries to shape her personhood with his own.

It's powerful writing, in that sense, but I didn't connect with it, and I don't think I really wanted to. There are some other really powerful parts, beautiful parts even, but it all seems so sad, so worn down, that I didn't want to feel that power.

[Anzû · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never thought I'd encounter a book like The Alchemy of Stone. It’s something I can’t describe in mere words.

I’m serious. I can’t find words to describe it but here goes my weak and unworthy attempt.

It’s a heartbreaking story, and yet it has many emotional and happy, at times, moments. It shows a character’s determination and strong will when everything falls to pieces. It’s a story of unshared love, pain, and misery. It’s a story of hope and a lesson in life. It’s an unusual point of view. It's a different side of fantasy. It was a wonderful experience that made me have a smile on my lips and a hole in my heart.

Ekaterina Sedia is an artist. Reading her words is like taking a closer look at a highly detailed painting. It was my first book from her works, and I assure you it won’t be the last.

I won’t give any details about the story or the characters because anything I saw could be a spoiler. I’m not so cruel; I won’t take away the pleasure of discovering The Alchemy of Stone’s magical world and characters. I can tell you this. Get the book if you’re in the mood for something different. Don’t go near it if you’re expecting an easy read and a happy ending.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harrow the Ninth was always going to be a hard act to follow. 'The Alchemy of Stone' is a thoughtful steampunk novel, taking a more analytical approach to the subgenre than most. However it didn't grab me in a visceral way. I was interested in the characters and plot without being emotionally invested in them. The protagonist, Mattie, is an automaton who technically has freedom from the man who made her, yet he still has the only key that can wind her clockwork mechanism. She works as an alchemist in a politically unstable city. The story opens when she's approached by gargoyles, who have a job for her. There were several rather baffling bits of world-building, of which the gargoyles were the most significant. While the conflicts between aristocracy, bourgeoisie, and proletariat are shown well, the role of the gargoyles didn't make a lot of sense to me. The elemental magic and blood homunculi were also a bit confusing. Nonetheless, Mattie's perspective as an outsider to events, often disregarded and ignored, is an appealing one. Sedia manages to give her subtle otherness with asides like this:

Mattie's memories had shapes - some were oblong and soft, like the end of a thick blanket tucked under a sleeping man's cheek; others had sharp edges, and one had to think about them carefully in order not to get hurt. Still others took on the shapes of cones and cubes, of metal joints and peacock feathers, and her mind felt cluttered and grew more so by the day, as she accumulated more awkward shapes, just like Loharri collecting more and more garbage in his workshop.

I liked that Mattie's grasp of the Marxist class dynamics in play across the city was tempered by compassion and pragmatism. Her response to the giant computer the engineers wanted to delegate decisions to felt quite prescient for something published in 2008:

"What it is?" she asked.
"A machine," he said. "An automaton, but without a body, just pure mind, like yours - only bigger. It's like a hundred of your brains, stuck together, made for analysis. We tell it what happened, and it figures out who had the most to gain and therefore who is responsible, and what we should do next. Amazing, no?"
"Wouldn't its answer change depending on what you told it?" Mattie asked.
Loharri stopped smiling and squinted at her in suspicion. "Of course it would. So we'll just tell it everything."
"You don't know everything," Mattie said. "No-one does."
Loharri frowned now. "Seriously, Mattie. We certainly know enough about this city and what's happening here to give it enough information to figure things out. And imagine, a rational machine that can figure out the future! We won't need the Stone Monks' cryptic advice anymore... not that I ever thought it was useful, but maybe with this machine others will realise how ridiculous they are."
"Maybe," Mattie said. "I just doubt it would be much more reliable."

That's a tidy critique of machine learning, delivered by an intelligent machine. Mattie's friendships were rather lovely, although the romance elements seemed wholly unnecessary. Why is romantic love a prerequisite for any being to demonstrate their humanity? I would have preferred more about her experience of gender, which is only briefly mentioned. The horror elements were effective, though, notably Mattie having her eyes removed as a punishment. 'The Alchemy of Stone' is certainly worth reading, yet didn't cohere into an involving enough narrative for my taste.

[Fantasy boy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A disappoint read.
The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia is her third novel; this book is about a girl automaton, mechanics, chemists and gargoyles. Sound interesting to me when I was looking up of robots and artificial intelligence in science fiction sub genres. After read it, I think it is more a fantasy book instead the protagonist is a robot. I didn’t know about Ekaterina Sedia before, but this book has some beautiful descriptions about the world where people, machines and magic creatures coexist together; about the souls which were absorbed by the soul-smoker. The subterranean world where rebels were hiding from the mechanics. I think the author has potential of building an immersive secondary world. However, even though I really like the protagonist Mattie when she was exploring the unknown territories in the city Ayona, I still found the plots are too convenient to explain the circumstances and how Mattie and other characters solve the problems. This book truly is an atmospheric read to me but the explanations of the plots and the development of the plots, how the magic works are not convincing. The themes in the book could be more entranced with the plot developments, but it didn’t, a shame.

The writing is sublime, it enhances the ambiance of the histories from the past of the city Ayona; were told from the gargoyles’s POV. It is intriguing to read Mattie’s thoughts on souls, as she is a robot, her experiences of life and perspectives aren’t the same as humans. I think the writing adds some gothic vibe to the steampunk/ gas lamp world.

The story is about Mattie as an automaton, she has been living as an alchemist. She has been serving her master Loharri since she was created by him. As the conflicts between easterners and mechanics. She was struggling with her duty to her master and her friendship with her friends. Loharri has been holding her key to control Mattie. She desperately wanted to be emancipated from her master’s ownership. When she was planing to get the key, meanwhile the gargoyles was looking for her help. Eventually the war between Mechanics and easterners inevitably leaded to the fate of the city.

I think some thing like Sebastian as the new member of mechanics also is Mattie’s lover. This part is like the plot design for helping the lower race in the city, it doesn’t have any romantic elements to the story, and it isn’t developed well at all. gargoyles’s POVs are interesting but, it is too obtrusive to see they always provide clues to the plot developments. If you don’t focus on the plots instead of the world. You may find it is much more pleasant to read. Mattie is a tragic figure in the story, almost all people treat her just like a machine, even she show her high intelligence. As she isn’t a citizen at all just a forever servant of the city. Maybe this is a new type of racism but isn’t toward to human but to automatons.

Personal Rating: I would potentially give at least 8 out of 10, but I finally gave 7.25 out of 10.

[Andrew Liptak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprise in my mail earlier yesterday - I’ve been trying to get a hold of this book, The Alchemy of Stone, for a little while now, and had some problems. This third book by Ekaterina Sedia was one that I was really looking forwards to reading, and it was a fun book to read - While I waited for my computer to restart, I finished the last 150 pages in about an hour.

The story follows Mattie, an intelligent automation in a world that is very steampunkish. Mattie is an alchemist, trying to discover a way to prevent the gargoyles in the city from turning to stone and dying out. They seem to predate the human inhabitants of the city, and are responsible for its construction and character. At the point in the story, the city is overcrowded, and divided. There’s a political rivalry between the Alchemists and machinists, which spills over into violence with the Duke of the city and his family is attacked and killed, culminating in civil war between classes. Mattie is at the center of this, as an Alchemist, but her creator, whom she is bound to, is a fairly cruel machinist who will not let her stray too far from needing him.

This was a fun read, but not as good as I’d hoped it would be. It felt like a quick look into a vastly complex and interesting world and I didn’t get the depth that I would have liked, and that easily could have been there. That being said, what I got was still a very good, engaging read. Where the story is somewhat lacking, it is made up for with the character of Mattie and the various struggles that she comes across in the story. Where most people would think of a robotic being as fairly robust and durable – watching any sort of movie about robots will tell you this – Mattie is weak, timid, and fragile, both physically and mentally. At several points, she is easily broken after being attacked, and must be rewound by her creator in order to function. She is shy, and eager to please her master, Loharri, while at the same time despising him and yearning to be completely free from his grasp, which is not possible, as he literally owns the key to her heart.

There are many themes which run through this book that all intersect with Mattie, but the dominant one can be considered one of transitions. The city is changing, physically as there is a boom in construction and the machinists are taking over, building new things daily, which precipitate in a sort of political change. Between the Machinists and the Alchemists, there is a duel nature to Mattie as well, who was built by a machinist, but rejected that way in life, instead focusing on life. While the exact roles of the machinists and alchemists in this society aren’t entirely clear, they do bring up another duality, one of life and death, or fulfillment vs. automation, role vs. job and emotions vs. logic. There is a class system, we see, as angry coal workers, forced off their fields by robots, are tasked with mining coal, while the machinists are content to blindly follow another sentient automation, the calculator.

This, to me, is an interesting theme, as it relates to themes that went on during the Renaissance period, a period of much change, but without the magic and fantasy elements. To some extent, the book has several issues that are still highly relevant today, if not more so. To what extent is a culture vibrant and full of life when it overwhelmingly utilizes machines and devices? At one point, a character that Mattie befriends, Naobi, an outsider, notes that the people of this city aren’t happy or content, they just exist. When reading that, I had to wonder how much of that was a sort of social commentary on today’s society, where the television, computers, mobile phones, MP3 players are the dominant forms of entertainment and recreation, rather than something that might be more fulfilling. It’s certainly something that I have thought about often.

Another dominant theme that the book approaches is the city’s response to the death of their Duke, where foreigners were rounded up, harassed and at times, had their souls removed or were threatened as such if they weren’t cooperative. This was a somewhat chilling, if very unsubtle point in the book that is extremely relevant in today’s society after 9-11. Thankfully, this isn’t an overwhelming point in the novel. While it doesn’t detract from the reading, I always get nervous when any artist, whether it be a writer, singer or painter, uses their material as a soapbox, for it dates and lessens the material that they are releasing.

The final big theme of the book is that of life and death. This is prevalent everywhere, from the machinists who create life from nothing, to the alchemists who preserve life, to the soul seeker who seeks to prevent it, while the gargoyles are slowly dying out. It seems fitting that Mattie, an automation, relates to all of those fields, while not alive herself, is a conscious being, actively seeking to preserve the gargoyles who still remain. More ironic, she is unable to remain alive without her human maker, who holds her fate based on his whims.

This isn’t really a positive book when it comes to tone – it’s dark, gritty and at times, downright depressing, which came as a real surprise to me, especially at the end, when things came together. I can’t really remember a book that has done this, one that really puts the characters into place.

Mattie is the true center of the novel, and is a brilliantly conceived character from the start, one who is curious, afraid, at times strong, and one who changes over the course of the story. While she is built, automated, I never once thought of her as a robot, but as an organic being – at times, I was trying to imagine her as a robot, and had a hard time doing so, which is absolutely fantastic, given what type of character she is – this is something that few authors that I’ve come across have been able to do, turn a machine into a character that you can really and truly care for, one where you don’t have to stretch your imagination to imagine her being hurt or having feelings.

At the end of the book, I was happy to have gotten into a book and finished it in a day. The Alchemy of Stone was a fun read, engaging and interesting. I’d highly recommend it.

(Originally Posted: http://jeditrilobite.wordpress.com)

[Algernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

[9/10] a rare gem: an original fantasy book that relies neither on sparkly vampires or on bloodthirsty / foulmouthed mercenaries. Steampunk meets gothic meets fable meets social revolution. beautiful language, restrained emotional intensity, promising author

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story engaged me from the first paragraph all the way through to the last. It sucked me in, and I found myself wanting to read more.

I liked the main character, the automaton Mattie, but from the get-go, I either disliked or was ambivalent toward most of the other characters with the exception of Niobe and the soul-smoker.

With only one exception that I can think of, all the other characters in the book only wanted to use Mattie to further their own selfish goals. The gargoyles wanted her to find a cure for their affliction. Iolanda wanted Mattie's access to Loharri. Loharri created Mattie and wanted her to be a combination (sex) toy/companion/housekeeper. The soul smoker wanted her around because she was the only one he could talk to given that she was immune to the effects of his "profession." Beresta's ghost wanted Mattie to find her son, Sebastian. Niobe befriended Mattie because she was the only one who would talk to her, and then used her knowledge to gain favor with Iolanda.

Only Sebastian seemed to want nothing from Mattie, but he was disturbed or perhaps disgusted by what she wanted to give to him, and was driven away.

Mattie's emancipation was a cruel joke. She was emancipated in name only, but still remained a mere tool to be used by everyone in her life. Perhaps the cruelest twist of all was that her programming required her to return to her creator periodically even though she came to despise him.

In the end, Mattie got nothing in return for all that she did except for the gargoyles' (futile) attempts to find her key so she could be revived. But revived for what?

I'm sure I could go on about the metaphors, blatant and not, that are explored in this book. But I won't, because that's not why I enjoyed it.

As I said, I very much enjoyed the book in spite of what sounds like a very negative review above. The writing is very good, and I thought the world in which the story took place was interesting enough that I'd like to see more of it, but perhaps this microcosmic view is all we should see.

Because the story wasn't about plot/events. It wasn't about settings. It was about Mattie. And I liked her character. A lot.

I was at first disappointed by the ending, but now that I reflect on it, I'm glad Sedia didn't pander to the readers who only want 'happy' endings. The way this book ended was far more realistic, in my opinion, especially given the tone of the rest of the story. Sometimes, you don't get what you want OR what you need.

I couldn't care less about the politics or the other events that are going on in the background of the story. In that respect, this book reminds me a small bit of the movie "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," in which two minor characters from Hamlet wander around for our amusement while "Hamlet" takes place in the background. In the big picture of the political upheavals and the revolution going on, Mattie is a tiny speck of insignificance. But by focusing on her life and having her take center stage, Sedia relegates the important world events to mere background window dressing.

And I kind of like that. :)

This story will stick with me for a long time, I believe.

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The tone and feel of this book reminds me a lot of China Mieville’s Perdido Street Station or The Scar, both of which take place in a steampunk world of strange creatures, mixing fantasy and science-fiction and excellent character development. Sedia brings those same ingredients to The Alchemy of Stone.

The novel tells the story of Mattie, an intelligent liberated automaton alchemist who works in the city of the gargoyles, both part of human society and disdained by it (the epithet for automatons, btw, is clunker). The book hinges on the abusive relationship she has with her creator, a machinist (the political opponents of alchemists) who keeps her tethered both by ingrained programming and by keeping her key, because of which she must visit him regularly to be wound up. The events of the novel turn on political rebellions and citywide battles throughout which Mattie must wrestle with the basic questions of life and purpose.

It’s a pretty good book, one that I warmed to as I read it. It’s also melancholy and kind of dark; I had trouble navigating the events of Mattie’s life without real empathy for her difficult situation. A few more thoughts:

* The political intrigue between the machinists and the alchemists works really well. The machinists are depicted with the scientific-rational worldview, one in which the idea of building a solution to all problems prevails. By contrasts, alchemists are more in touch with nature (but no less petty or abusive).
* The gargoyles, a part of the book both interesting and ultimately irrelevant, serve like a kind of chorus, reflecting on the events of the book and revealing key bits of information as the plot unfolds.
* Class warfare and abuse of the underprivileged plays a key role in the novel. It’s hard not to read the history of Russia–Sedia’s birth country–as influencing this sub-plot. By the same measure, it doesn’t feel overtly Russian (whatever that might mean).
* The bodily experience of being an automaton comes through spectacularly in this book. There’s a moment where Mattie tries to sneak up on someone, only to forget that her heart’s ticking can be heard quite distinctly in a quiet clearing.
* The blood magic Mattie learns from a fellow alchemist struck me as particularly interesting and visceral. I’m still haunted by the image of the sloppy, grotesque homunculus that soils her skirts with its bloody, muddy hands.

The book also dovetails very nicely with my New Millennium Studies class reading of Frankenstein. The Alchemy of Stone supposes a similar divide between creator and created, substituting a sort-of self-pity for disgust in the creator. Mattie’s mechanic resents her desire for independence, both granting it and holding enough strings to keep her from truly leaving his sphere. In a conversation about our obligations to and from our creations, it works really well. One might also use this novel to consider the experience of parenting a teen or early twentysomething — they want their independance but they’re the first person they come to when they need your help.

[Math le maudit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un ouvrage intéressant que cette Alchimie de la pierre.

Le roman est à mi-chemin de la fantasy et du steampunk. L'histoire se déroule dans une ville (jamais nommée) dont les bâtiments les plus importants ont été érigés, pour ne pas dire façonnés, par des gargouilles il y a plusieurs siècles. Ces anciennes créatures sont les protectrices de la ville, mais désormais sur le déclin, elles se contentent d'observer les agissements des humains qui la peuplent.

Et des agissements, il y en a ! La cité, dirigé par un duc aux pouvoirs somme toute limitée, est l'enjeu d'une lutte séculaire au parlement entre les Alchimistes d'une part, et les Mécaniciens de l'autre. Les premiers concoctent potions et onguents en tout genre, tandis que les seconds ont doté la ville d'automates plus ou moins intelligents et de toutes sortes de machineries à engrenages et à vapeur.

C'est dans cette riante cité que nous rencontrons Mattie, la narratrice, une automate d'un genre très particulier. Il s'agit en effet d'une "machine" intelligente (et j'emploie les guillemets à dessein) très poussée puisqu'elle est capable d'empathie, et de ressentir tant les sentiments que la douleur physique.

Émancipée (et le choix de ce mot ne me semble pas anodin) par son maître, elle est devenue une alchimiste reconnue, mais elle-même se définit avant tout, comme automate et femme.

Et c'est là le point fort de ce récit. Le caractère profondément féminin de cette automate, sa volonté farouche d'être considérée comme un individu à part entière et pas comme un tas de ferraille, de s'affranchir définitivement de son maître en s'appropriant la clé qui lui permettrait de se remonter quand elle en a besoin, bref, d'être une femme libérée comme chantait l'autre (et même si je déteste la chanson en question, mais c'est pas le sujet)

L'écriture d'Ekaterina Sedia laisse la part belle aux émotions et au ressenti de Mattie et est très juste dans leur expression. Les personnages du roman sont très réussis, nimbés d'un voile de mystère pour certains d'entre eux, et on prend plaisir à les voir évoluer sous nos yeux.

Le personnage de Mattie est très touchant, avec son double questionnement quant à sa nature de machine et de femme, et on se plaît à suivre ses tourments sentimentaux, ses colères, ses angoisses...

L'ambiance générale du roman m'a plutôt fait penser à Perdido Street Station de China Mieville, avec une ville sale, viciée, mêlant diverses ethnies et mâtinée de technologie rétro-futuriste. Le personnage principal en revanche, m'a fortement fait penser à La fille automate de Paolo Bacigalupi.

Ces deux romans m'ayant fortement plu, c'est sans surprise que celui-ci m'a convaincu.

[Juushika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mattie is an emancipated automaton and an alchemist, commissioned by the city's gargoyles to extend their short life spans. Her research draws her into a conflict between gargoyles, Mechanists, and Alchemists, but Mattie's attempts to help are hampered by her lingering ties to her creator. A steampunk fantasy novel, The Alchemy of Stone has a fun magical setting and a wonderful protagonist, but overhasty pacing leaves too much of the book undeveloped. The potential here goes unfulfilled, and it's simply disappointing. I don't recommend it.

The Alchemy of Stone is an indulgent steampunk fantasy that tries to do a lot but doesn't do it very well. The setting is a delight: automatons and alchemy, steampower and atmospheric detail all paint a storybook-vivid steampunk landscape. It's magical and colorful and just a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the book often fails to go past storybook depth, and that's mostly the fault of pacing. Scenes are so short that if you blink you may miss them. There's no time to for character motivation, and so Mattie's wanderings between settings and characters seem random. Nor is there time to build relationships between characters, and the reader doesn't care about anyone but Mattie. There's no time for the reader to pause and meditate on the story, denying foreshadowing and much of the book's greater meaning. All told the pacing makes the plot feel unfocused and superficial, and it leaves little time for the sort of detail that could give the storybook setting some meaning and life.

The book goes places—in fact there's almost an excess of plot: back story, power struggles between Alchemists, Mechanists, and gargolyes, civil war, and always Mattie's search for identity and community. But the journey is one of swift jumps and starts that seem random and underdeveloped, and the conclusions feel haphazard, more stumbled upon than created. And so The Alchemy of Stone is promising but dissapointing. The setting is a fun playground, and Mattie is an interesting character; her struggle for self-identity is the book's strongest aspect, a touching story of humanity and displacement told through an unusual, animatronic protagonist. But the rest of the book is too swift and too haphazard, leaving everything from supporting characters to plot woefully undeveloped and making the conclusion seem more or less random. The setting drew me in and there's a lot of potential here, but it's unexplored and I didn't enjoy the book. I don't recommend it.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had not run across the euphoniously-named Ekaterina Sedia or her work before, but I'm glad I picked this one up. Her ornate, careful prose is unlike anything else I've read of late, although China Mieville's dark, smoky steampunk cityscapes invite comparison. Sedia's work is her own, though. Her protagonist, a clockwork automaton named Mattie, is a sympathetic device whose portrayal is just as it should be - yes, Mattie is unsure of herself when dealing with human emotions, even the ones she possesses herself, and yes, she is a sentient being whose feelings matter, even if her creator Loharri and her compatriots in the city of Ayona do treat her as a mere mechanism.

Factions and conspiracies abound in Ayona, reminding me of the ones that struggle in Colson Whitehead's brilliant first novel, The Intuitionist. In Sedia's world, the two main human factions are the Alchemists and the Mechanics - shapers of organic matter pitted against those who fashion devices of steel and brass, as if the sciences were bitter enemies rather than working on a continuum. It is a disastrous division which Mattie cannot bridge by herself, though she is an accomplished Alchemist whose maker is a most prominent Mechanic.

A third complicating factor are the gargoyles who long ago grew the city itself from the very stones of the earth - a dying race for whom Mattie may be the only hope of survival. The gargoyles observe and interject their own views of the human conflict from a gray, alien perspective that Sedia portrays very well.

Things come to a head when the Duke's Palace is violently demolished. The Palace is the stone centerpiece of the city, the gargoyles' crowning achievement. And it has been destroyed by explosives only Alchemists could have made - but which only Mechanics buy, and they normally only in order to extend the mines that bring them the coal the Mechanics need to make their engines. The destruction of the Palace throws the city into chaos, and Mattie, though she tries to stay as aloof as her porcelain face would make her appear, is inevitably drawn in to the conflict...

Sedia writes beautifully, even about ugly things. She is a writer to watch.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeous and original vision. Mattie is a magnificent character, an emancipated clockwork automaton and alchemist. The city in which she resides was created by living gargoyles. The relationship between Mattie and her creator is a fascinatingly flawed one, and it is a joy to be witness to her ongoing self-discovery. Sedia has a poet's ear for prose. I've seen it called steampunk, and certainly it has some of the trappings: a windup girl, a mechanical omnibus, etc. I've seen it called urban fantasy, but it seems to transcend that genre as well. It's beautiful, whatever it is.

[Nighteye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book, a favorite. Managing like Martha wells murderbot series be very human despite being a nonhuman main caracters. Really likes the vivid world and the diffirent political fractions made this feel special. Just wished it was longer but well written caracters and story and stuggle between alchemists and mecanics. I expected this to end as it did. Still amazing and well written and such a languish.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book up until the last few pages.

The city of Ayona is a haunting place, atmospheric, vivid, and cruel. It's an enchanting bit of world building using lovely language. One begins with the conflict between the progressive but destructive Mechanics and the conservative Alchemists, but slowly realizes that the entire structure is built upon the slavery of children. Grace and horror intermingle. Mattie herself is fascinating and compelling, fully aware but never quite sure if she is thinking or feeling correctly because she is not sure how much of who she is has been manipulated by her creator, Loharri.

I'm generally comfortable with ambiguity, but I feel as if Sedia promises us a certain number of answers that are never fulfilled. What exactly is the nature of the gargoyles and what will happen to them now? What were Loharri's intentions? The unresolved questions make the already ambiguous ending somewhat irritating. It's beautiful, but unsatisfying.

An ambitious work, beautifully executed, but a little too jealous of its secrets.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a tightly written, concise, and thought provoking novel. Yes it is about a windup girl and takes place in a steam punk setting, filled with neat machines and gargoyles too. It however, is much more than that, it is a story on what it means to be human, to care, to hope, and to dream. It is though provoking and emotional, and I enjoyed every word of this novel. The characters are deep and colorful and the plot is taught and well directed. I highly recommend this novel to lovers of all genres of fiction, not just the science fiction crowd.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sedia provides us with fairy tale/fable with touches of steampunk and new weirdness that comes to a troubling end that is very open to interpretation. The dialogue and prose are guileless and provide a platform for her story, characters, and setting. Shades of E.T.A. Hoffmann, Quay Brothers, Angela Carter, and Guy Maddin are found in a story that manages to be charming, creepy and ultimately quite dark. I found the heroine Mattie quite appealing and found the book quite worthy of note; E. Sedia is a writing of great imagination that presents her stories with effortless writing.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steampunk SciFi.

It is quite confusing for me to review and give stars since I was caught up feeling multiple things.
We have Alchemists/Mechanics/Gargoyles. Political intrigue.
Mattie is an intelligent [AI/type??] automaton who is an alchemist. Her curious mind makes her entangled in multiple things..
Loharri - the mechanic and creator of Mattie & other automatons.
Soul-Smoker or Ilmarekh - people with the ability to talk/converse with souls and finally
Gargoyles. The watchful protectors/creators etc.

At first the story had a good start, great premises. It dragged a lot in the middle. Then it picked up.

Did I enjoy the book? Kind of. Reminded of the Anime - Plastic Memories. Similar vibes.
Felt like Mattie was similar to an "extremely curious maid" with an over inquisitive mind..