Praise

"In this gaslight fantasy, parts of Victorian London have been transported to a land inhabited by creatures from myth. Dubbed unnaturals, they are on the verge of being exterminated by a corrupt government. Though Saint Darwin’s Church of Science and Technology reigns supreme and magic has been forbidden, an odious sorcerer schemes to kill the last manticore and use the dragon’s heart it guards to power a device that will reopen the gate between worlds. Against him are 16-year-old Vespa, a naive exhibit preparator in the Museum of Unnatural History, and younger teen Syrus, member of a clan of downtrodden Tinkers (modeled on a Chinese ethnic minority group, the author claims). To no evident purpose, Trent switches her narrative’s tense and person in alternate chapters. But along with providing Vespa with magical powers of her own, an upper-class rebel magician as a romantic foil, and a genuinely nasty opponent, the author crafts an engagingly violent, suspenseful tale that leads to a wild climax and, in the end, just deserts all round."