Saturday, September 16, 2017

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Breath of Earth by Beth Cato


Breath of Earth is the start of a new series (Trilogy?) by Beth Cato.  Set in an alternate history in 1906 San Francisco, this is a world in which The US has joined forces with Japan in an attempt to dominate the world with magical power.  In addition to the magical fantastic beasts which exist in this world, a well known magical power is Geomancy, which enables particular men to feel and contain power from earthquakes.  This power can then be absorbed into a special magical stone, which can contain the power for use in technology such as airships.

That said, the combination of Japan and early 20th century America results in horrible things happening to other cultures, particularly those of Chinese origin.  And Women aren't exactly expected to be able to wield such power either.  The result of this background is a story where people who in the real world wielded power in dangerous ways toward minority groups have even more power, and our protagonists discover this the hard way.

That said, while this is not a book where the main characters are having fun, it's definitely the start of what is shaping up to be an interesting tale of discovery and adventure by an excellent cast of characters who realize they need to take action to try stop such evils...or at least to prevent greater harm.  This story is definitely not stand-alone - it ends on a cliffhanger - but it's a very solid beginning.

More after the Jump:



---------------------------------Plot Summary------------------------------
Ingrid Carmichael is the daughter of a powerful geomancer who died years ago and left her in the care of one of the Wardens of San Francisco, one of the most powerful Geomancers in the City.  But she has a secret - she's not only a geomancer herself (which is unheard of for a woman) but she can hold far more power than any Geomancer she's ever seen.  Only she and her adopted father, Mr. Sakaguchi, know her secret.  But when an earthquake suddenly shatters the Auxiliary where the Wardens of San Francisco meet, killing nearly everyone, Ingrid discovers that her powers are far beyond what the world has seemingly known before.

Unfortunately, Ingrid isn't afforded much time to get used to this situation, as state police begin to pop around, accusing Mr. Sakaguchi of theft and murder and then Mr. Sakaguchi is shot, forciner Ingrid on the run.  She's forced to team up with her friend, the Chinese young man Lee, who lives in the discriminated against Chinatown, and two mechanics named Cy and Fenris with secrets of their own, to try and figure out what is happening, before disaster can strike again, possibly taking all of San Francisco with it.

And in the process of this, Ingrid might discover that her power has implications not just for San Francisco, but for the fate of the entire world, where Japan is finishing its genocidal conquest of China, and may soon subtly take over the United States....
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Breath of Earth takes place entirely from Ingrid's (3rd Person) Point of View, but fortunately, Ingrid is an excellent character. She's hardly original (a mixed race woman with great magical power forced to hide her power in a sexist racist world until she has no choice is a fairly common archetype these days), but she's believable and she works as the centerpiece of the story.  The other main characters are mostly excellent too - Fenris and Cy are interesting characters who help carry the story, though I wish we got a little more out of Fenris.

And for the most part, the details in the plot shine.  It's one thing to describe a history where Japanese are oppressing the Chinese, but the discrimination and racism here comes from a clear understanding of what actually happened in real life, and the work discovering this shows. The plot also goes in an unexpected direction near the end - this is one story where the mystery is resolved in a way I did not see coming but it DOES work.

That's not to say everything works out in this story as well as I'd hoped.  At this point, I'm kind of a little bored with stories where Japanese culture invades America, even if it's not done by force in this story.  Perhaps a bigger issue is that Lee, the major character who bounces in and out of the story most frequently, really isn't given much time for us to get to know him, and the plot twist in his story at the end is REALLY stereotypical fantasy to the point where it doesn't work quite well.

The book ends in a cliffhanger - it resolves the main conflict that started the series, but in a way that is not exactly a stopping point to the story.  So if you don't want to be starting a new series, definitely don't read this book. That said, unless the second book is a major dropoff, which is possible, this is a fine series to start.  Again, nothing in this book is really original, with even all of the main characters being common archetypes to some degree. But it's done fairly well overall and this is an enjoyable start to the series.
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