The Steam Magnate

Dana Copithorne
Aio Publishing Company, LLC (2006)
ISBN 1933083085
Reviewed by Susan Pettrone for Reader Views (9/06)

“Kyra arrived late at night, on a crowded, rattling steam engine, at an ancient place they called the ‘City of Mirrors’ or the ‘Broken Glass City,’ depending upon the language used. The City earns these names from stained glass that has been superimposed onto the exteriors of the walls and walkways, as though glass were shattered and thrown about into patterns, some random, others deliberate”. 

And, so begins the poetic story of Eson, and the world which surrounds him, which we later find to be so very much like its name. Eson is a fortunate man. He has inherited a steam-power legacy from his family and though he is somewhat of a puzzling character, his strength is shown within the use of the power he yields within his world. Though powerful, he is also a solitary man, without real closeness within his life. It is this lack of connection that makes him a lonesome man surrounded by a world in which he wants for nothing except for love. Coming from a relationship that left him wishing he had never began it, Eson looks forward to meeting Sarah simply because she seems “robotic in nature” and he feels safe with her. But most of all, Eson is tired of being alone and seeks companionship with someone he can finally have a future with.

What Eson does not know is “Sarah” is not Sarah after all, but a young woman by the name of Kyra who has been sent to find Eson, create a relationship with him and acquire a certain “contract” or “deed.” In a teashop during her first days in the city, Kyra meets Jado, a young man who works there, and learns there is more to the Shattered Glass City than she ever imagined. Jado tells her, “I look to the future, and to technologies, because I think technology can protect us from forces rooted in the past.” It is this simple sentence that begins a chain of events that Kyra/Sarah never dreamed possible.

As Kyra meets up with Eson she forms a connection with him and a relationship in which he communicates more through his notes and drawings than through spoken word. His notes following his disappearances lead her and the reader into a part of Eson’s world that is both magical and mystical in nature. It seems Eson has an inherited bottle of ink that can literally launch him into the vision he desires it to be. But it seems his drawings are not without a price, the same price his ancestors paid in generations past. 
 
Through this book we see the relationship with Eson and Kyra develop, each having his and her own agenda. But as the book develops, we see a union between the two that is both surprising and engaging at the same time. What Sarah realizes at the conclusion of “The Steam Magnate,” and how Eson’s life changes, are moments the reader is swept into, with conflicting emotions. 
 
The author does an extraordinary job of illustrating the world of Eson and Kyra in both language and simple line drawings throughout the book. The detail sketched by both words and pictures complement one another, to the point that the story depends upon both to be told well. I would highly recommend this book for readers of all ages, from teens through adult. While “The Steam Magnate” has an engaging, somewhat wistful storyline that many would appreciate, it also gives pause for other readers who find within the story, many aspects within their own lives as well. And it is such books that can draw the reader from their world into that of the characters; books that are to be both read and treasured. This is such a book. And because of it, those who read “The Steam Magnate” will become part of Eson’s world as well.
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