I’ve been a fan of August Clarke since I finished reading their first book, The Scapegracers. I then devoured the whole series, and when I saw that they had an adult fantasy novel releasing, I leapt at the opportunity to read it.
Metal from Heaven is a book about lesbians and class warfare. While it’s officially pitched for fans of Gideon the Ninth and The Princess Bride, I would actually drop The Princess Bride comparison since I don’t think any of the plot or themes in Metal from Heaven could truly be compared. At its heart, The Princess Bride is a mostly whimsical tale of a princess and her farm boy-turned-pirate looking for twue wuv with vengeance on the side. Metal From Heaven is a violent tale of scheming lesbians with cold bloody revenge as the main course, one which I ate right up.
The book starts off with a group of picketing factory workers being massacred by the company they’re trying to ask for better rights from. Marney Honeycutt is the only survivor, and she escapes the bloodbath and falls into a life of banditry and crime.
The first 40% or so of the book is about Marney growing up and follows her as she makes friends and enemies, discovering her identity while robbing trains with her fellow bandits. I enjoyed this section, though I did find it slow at times, and I kept wondering when the political skullduggery would begin. This part of the book does provide information on the different religions of this world, as well as how gender presentation and identity are viewed by this society at large.
One thing I know I can trust August Clarke to do is have butches in their works. Marney is very much a butch, describing herself as one (at least as the in-universe equivalent), dressing masculine, and keeping her hair short. As someone who does all three of those things, I really appreciate being able to see myself in fiction, especially fantasy, at least in appearance. I don’t tend to leap onto moving trains to hold up passengers and commit acts of theft, but I live in a train-scarce area, robbing me of the opportunity to try.
A major factor in this book is ichorite, the magical material that the book is titled after, and the reason the factory workers were striking in the first place. Marney has been exposed to the material her whole life, causing her to be able to manipulate and mold it however she pleases, but at the expense of her health and sanity as she can’t even touch it without it making her weak and dizzy. As ichorite becomes more prevalent in her society, especially in the more urban areas, she is less and less able to even exist there. Buildings, fabric, even dishes and utensils are made with it, and she can’t use any of it. The world revolves around ichorite, and thus the characters and plot do as well.
Narratively, this reminded me a bit of Harrow the Ninth, with some sections in second-person POV, though not nearly as many as in Harrow. The writing has an almost dreamlike quality, especially when talking about ichorite and its effects. Sometimes it confused me, but it wasn’t so bad that I ever wanted to stop reading.
Overall, I found Metal from Heaven to be entertaining and thought-provoking, though I don’t know if it provoked my thoughts enough to make it into the coveted spot in my brain for books I think about every day. It’s a standalone novel, so no sequels or cliffhangers to be stuck on, so if you’re looking for a fantasy story with lesbians but don’t want a multi-book series (or an 800 page brick, looking at you, Priory <3), then this is for you!
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