The Unnaturalists

Gr 7 Up—In the world of New London, science has replaced religion, and magic and witchcraft are considered heretical. Machinery is powered by the mysterious substance, Myth. Vespa Nyx, 17, is the daughter of a scholar who works at the Museum of Unnatural History. Although she wishes to spend her life cataloging Unnatural creatures, she is being pressured to marry and abandon her studies. After a near-fatal encounter with a captive Sphinx at the museum and a mysterious Pedant named Hal, Vespa begins to realize that she is in fact the last surviving witch in New London. In a parallel plot, Syrus Reed, member of an indigent Tinker clan, is forced into hiding after a raid in which members of his family are killed or kidnapped and forced to work in the Myth refinery. The Tinkers are the only inhabitants of New London who openly respect and acknowledge the Unnatural creatures, which they refer to as Elementals and see as essential to the balance of the world order. Predictably, Vespa and Syrus find themselves working together to save their world. This is an entertaining mix of steampunk and fantasy. It is very plot-driven, with some intriguing world-building details, such as the origin story of New London involving Saint Tesla, and the stained-glass window depicting Saint Pasteur smiting the Demon Byron. Readers may be confused about the workings of this fantasy world unless they have read the short story "The Emperor's Man" in the anthology Corsets and Clockwork: 13 Steampunk Romances (Running Press, 2011), which is a prequel to this novel.—Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ