Review: The Brass Queen

The Brass Queen by Elizabeth Chatsworth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My problem with this one was simple. In a romance (and this has such a strong romance subplot that it is arguably a romance), I need to believe in the attractiveness of both parties in order to buy in. And I found the heroine of this one very unattractive.

At one point, the hero says, "I don't know why men aren't lining up around the block to marry her," and I thought, "Oh, I do."

She's high-handed, hot-headed, self-centred, and has no people skills whatsoever, possibly because she believes everything is about her, and so doesn't bother to consider what other people might be thinking and feeling. Also, though this wouldn't put off the noblemen she hopes will marry her, since they share the quality, she's severely overprivileged. And finally, though at this point the hero and the noblemen don't know this (the reader does), she's an arms trader who has no hesitation selling weapons, legally or otherwise, to criminals, imperialists and despots. This is more because she doesn't think about how they will be used than because she thinks about it and doesn't care, but that doesn't exactly make up for it.

Queen Victoria is one of the aforementioned despots, by the way, having (in a development that seems highly unlikely for anyone who knows much British history) dismissed Parliament so that she can rule uninhibited. Several characters we're supposed to sympathize with, including the heroine, are in effect propping up her despotic and dystopian rule and helping her to conquer other nations.

Steampunk is prone to bad copy editing, for some reason. Since I got a pre-publication version via Netgalley I won't say much about this, except that I hope there's another round of copy editing before it's published. It's already better than a lot I've seen, but that's a sadly low bar. I'd expected a better starting point from someone with an English literature degree, frankly.

I'd also expected fewer obvious Americanisms in the POV of the British characters from someone born in the UK, but there we are. Perhaps they're deliberately translated for a US audience.

Leaving all of these problems aside - which is difficult - there were good aspects. There are genuinely funny moments (though cruelty and despotism played for laughs didn't get any from me). There are thrilling action scenes. The hero, if possibly a bit underdeveloped, is a decent guy.

Overall, though, I just couldn't stand the heroine.

View all my reviews