First published 2005
Robert Borrows grows up in an England where magic fuels the factories and fills the coffers of the wealthy. The steam and soot of this industrial world mix with enchantments that power the machines and divide society into rigid classes. Robert loves Annalise, a girl from his childhood who dreams of rising into the upper ranks of this magical hierarchy. But Robert sees the corruption and cruelty that magic brings to his world. He watches the poor suffer while the magically gifted prosper. As Annalise pursues her ambitions to join the very society that Robert despises, their relationship fractures along the same lines that split their nation. Robert must choose between following the woman he loves into a world he abhors or staying true to his principles and losing her forever.
Genres: science-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, fantasy, 19th-century, alternate-history
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-love
Setting: England
Period: 19th-century
496 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Ace