Zack Handlen gave the book an A in the Onion’s AV Club:

Great fantastical fiction has a way of suggesting metaphorical connections without insisting on them. It’s possible to read The Lord Of The Rings as an allegory for World War II, although JRR Tolkien rejected this interpretation; 1984’s immediate social relevance has faded over time, yet the novel’s genius remains undated and powerful. It’s a matter of collecting potent, resonant ideas, then combining them with well-drawn characters and a smartly constructed plot. Felix Gilman’s new novel, The Half-Made World, does this with an exhilarating level of self-assurance. Using the brutality of Westerns alongside steampunk gadgetry, he constructs a story that could be about how civilization forces itself onto a new frontier, about how industry and anarchy are both necessary forces which inevitably become corrupted when allowed too much power, or possibly just about monsters and demons and guns that never need to be reloaded. . . .The story is breathlessly paced, coming within a hairsbreadth of being rushed, but still breathing sufficient life into its people and settings to be satisfying. Creedmoor in particular is a wonderfully complex bastard, and his struggles against the giddying embrace of carnage help give the book’s stream of destruction a gratifyingly moral component. There’s much to be said about Gilman’s thematic aims, and about the abrupt, curious ending, but the important point to take away is that reading this novel will make anyone who cares about dark adventure giddy.

Faren Miller in Locus:

In the Half-Made World, Felix Gilman turns away from the strange city and Mountain of his first two books, fantasy/SF hybrids Thunderer and Gears of the City, to a variant of America in the late 1800s that goes beyond the possibilities of alternate history yet manages to come closer to the truth of that past than any exercise in what-ifs. Despite some extraordinary changes to geography, history and the nature of the original inhabitants, this setting manages to reflect the conflicts, myths and sheer craziness of our own 19th century. . . Gilman has no use for nostalgia’s sentimental visions of lost freedom or a gentle pastoral life out west. . . This enormously creative, complex tale uses every trope - and transforms it - in the service of a greater vision that never really forgets its roots.”

(I wish I could link to Locus reviews. Oh well).

An interesting essay/review by Mike Perschon on Tor.com, from which I am excerpting a bit about me and not the thoughtful remarks about Emily Dickinson, because it’s my website dammit:

When I began my study of steampunk by reading Thomas Pynchon’s Against the Day, I wondered if its theme of the loss of frontier, of unexplored and untamed spaces, was also a theme evoked by the steampunk aesthetic. It’s clearly a major theme in The Half-Made World, which Gilman explores with a page-turning narrative, engagingly complex characters, and deftly descriptive prose. Thankfully, it’s the first in a series, resolving many conflicts while leaving the requisite loose threads to entice anticipation for subsequent installments. While it’s not for those who like their steampunk in an upbeat utopia, The Half-Made World is custom-made for those looking for a dark dystopia filled with weird west, gritty steampunk, and literary intertexts.

On the other hand Cosma Shalizi says it isn’t steampunk at all. Fight!

A splendidly-written high-fantasy western. (It is by no stretch of the imagination “steampunk”.) Gilman takes great themes of what one might call the Matter of America — the encroachment of regimented industrial civilization, the hard-eye anarchic men (and women) of violence, the dream of not just starting the world afresh but of offering the last best hope of earth — and transforms the first two into warring rival pantheons of demons, the third into a noble lost cause. (I think Gilman knows exactly how explosive the last theme is, and which is why he manages to handle it without setting it off.) Beneath and behind it all lies the continuing presence of the dispossessed original inhabitants of the continent. A story of great excitement and moment unfolds in this very convincing world, tying together an appealing, if believably flawed, heroine and two finely-rendered anti-heroes, told in prose that is vivid and hypnotic by turns. The story is complete in itself, but leaves open a return to the world, which I really hope will happen soon. The most natural point of comparison is Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, especially The Gunslinger, which I love; this is more ambitious in its themes, sounder in its construction, and more satisfying in its execution. The Half-Made World is the finest rendition I’ve ever seen of one of our core national myths; go read it.

I should note that there are several contests for a copy of the book out there; I’ve sort of lost track. Here’s one. Here’s another, unless it’s over, which I can’t tell. I think there are more. I like this one, which requires you to complete a dirigible-themed haiku.

In no particular order:

The Authors Speak

His first books - Thunderer and Gears of the City - Gilman bit off a lot. Both of these were highly ambitious books that solidified his role in the steampunk world. You had the gaslight technology of Welles’ world, the similarities of Verne’s Paris, and a fascinating story of a musician seeking a god in a city of gods. Ambitious, no doubt. And yet, he pulled the task off without batting an eyelash.

In “The Half-Made World” (released today from Tor), Mr. Gilman has found his footing. This is a fascinating read, that scrapes the scope that his first two books had and hones in on character. . . ” the characters are rich and vibrant and, as mentioned above, have a pathos that hooks us.

Final Verdict? A worthy investment of your book allowance. Imagine a book that reads like a season of the Wild, Wild West as if the writing panel had been Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens, and H.G. Welles, and you can get an idea of what you’re in store for. A nice union of bizarro and steampunk, and perhaps one of the best books I’ve read all year.

I also did an interview with this reviewer (Eric Mays, author of the very interesting-sounding Naked Metamorphosis).

Fantasy Book Critic

. . .a powerful novel that confirms Felix Gilman as a master of the new weird fantastic.

What are the strengths of “The Half-Made World“? In the above overview I mentioned two - most notably its exquisite and quite original world-building which makes reading the book worthwhile on its own. And of course, the energy of the narrative flow that does not let go of the reader. The combination of story, action and descriptions are balanced perfectly and the continual switching between the three main threads is smooth.

While “The Half-Made World” immerses the reader into its world, the author’s superb writing style exerts its magic and the novel offers quite a lot, the big picture remains a bit murky to the end. There are tantalizing hints sure, the storyline and the fate of the main characters are more than enough reasons to strongly enjoy the book, but I was left wondering about the series’ destination and even if there is such.

Hopefully! Unless I get hit by a bus. You never know, do you?

Henry Farrell at Crooked Timber

Felix Gilman’s new book, The Half-Made World is out. I liked it very much indeed (but then, I’ve liked everything that Gilman has written since stumbling across Thunderer). It’s a steampunk-inflected Western, with a fair dollop of HP Lovecraft thrown in (the malignant ‘Engines,’ whose physical appearance is mostly left undescribed, are genuinely unsettling).

The writing is lovely, and the main character a genuinely complex and interesting woman. . .
This is a really good book. If you like books like this at all, you should buy it.

Which reminds me that I should get round to buying Henry’s blogmate Prof. John Quiggin’s Zombie Economics.

Fantasy Literature

The premise of The Half-Made World is utterly fascinating and is one of the most original underpinnings I’ve seen. I loved how Gilman took the archetypes of America’s frontier mythology — the expansion of the railroads and the gun-toting violent loner — and gave them life as magical spirits fighting for dominion. . .

That I wanted more, despite this being nearly 500 pages, isn’t so much criticism as it is praise. And it is the reason why I’m eager to read the next book. Highly recommended.

(Edited and reposted because I screwed up formatting).

There is a strange and ominous silence.

Good review from Publishers Weekly:

The Half-Made World Felix Gilman, Tor, $25.99 (480p) ISBN 978-0-7653-2552-5Gilman (Gears of the City) honors the beauty of the frontier while skewering the colonists who despoil it in this vivid wild west–flavored fantasy. At the western edge of the world, time and space behave oddly and monsters roam. Colonizers push west, enslaving the magic-using Hillfolk (a questionable stand-in for human natives) and bringing industry, religion, and war. The violence-loving followers of the Gun are slowly losing to the engine-worshippers of the Line; avoiding the conflict, psychologist Liv Alverhuysen treats and studies those driven mad by the Line’s noise bombs. Then a wily agent of the Gun kidnaps Liv and her patient, the General, whose broken mind holds a secret that can destroy the gods of both forces. Line drudges and machines pursue the trio into the titular unfinished lands. Though the story moves slowly, the lyrical descriptions of the harsh, dramatic, and mystical frontier compel the reader onward. (Oct.)

I will not be at WorldCon in Australia.  This is a huge shame, because I like Australia, or at least the parts of it I’ve been to, and of course in the unlikely event that I win the Campbell it would be nice to be there for it, and it feels lame and a bit rude not to.  But there’s just no way I can make the time this year.

I will be at a thing for the New Atlantic Independent Bookseller’s Association on September 20th in Atlantic City.

I will be doing a reading of some kind at the Steampunk Indie Mart in Brooklyn on October 24.

I will be World Fantasy in Ohio on October 29-31 if at all possible.

I will probably be at Steamcon in Seattle on November 19-21.

Spent all day painting the kitchen, as phase one of a planned move out to Brooklyn.Then I celebrated Ray Bradbury’s birthday by kicking down my neighbors’ door and burning all their books.They didn’t get the joke at first but when I explained it how we all laughed! Though of course I had to arrest them anyway.

Someone reminded me that the time to vote for the Hugos/the Campbell award is nearly up (at the end of this month). And I realized that I never did get round to saying how very nice it is to have been nominated for the Campbell again, and how very grateful I am to everyone who nominated me. When I am God-Tyrant you will all be on the protected list and no harm will come to you.

Probably everyone who can vote has voted by now, but if you can and you haven’t may I urge you to vote for Juliet Ulman in the Best Editor category? She acquired and edited my first two books, she’s great, and it would be nice to see her get the whatever it is, the rocket ship thing, you know the thing. I would like to win myself but do not expect to.

I meant to remark on this a while ago, but didn’t get round to it until now: Mary Robinette Kowal has posted an excerpt of her first book, Shades of Milk And Honey. It’s great and you should read it.

One of a number of things I very much like about it is the opening paragraph:

The Ellsworths of Long Parkmead had the regard of their neighbours in every respect. The Honourable Charles Ellsworth, though a second son, through the generosity of his father had been entrusted with an estate in the neighbourhood of Dorchester. It was well appointed and used only enough glamour to enhance its natural grace, without overlaying so much illusion as to be tasteless. His only regret, for the estate was a fine one, was that it was entailed, and as he had only two daughters, his elder brother’s son stood next in line to inherit it. Knowing that, he took pains to set aside some of his income each annum for the provision of his daughters.

Openings are important and difficult and this is very nicely done indeed - I’m thinking particularly of the way glamour in the third sentence and entail in the fourth play off each other. Both words catch your attention in the same sort of way. You probably have a vague idea of what they might mean, but you don’t know any of the details of how they work or what they do.* Glamour is made up and entailment is real but they’re sort of equally familiar and unfamiliar here - entailment gets a touch of the exotic and otherworldly and glamour gets an overlay of real-world plausibility. Both seem like they’re important to the world on about the same level: a certain amount of low-key fantastic, and the ins-and-outs of inheritance and property law and money. One already gets the sense of interesting friction between the two to come. This is a very elegant way of conveying what the book’s about and what the world’s like in just the first few sentences.**

One of the other things I like about it is that Mary, an American, has been forced to spell “neighbour” with a “u”. This balances the karmic scales for the fact that I have had to Americanize all spellings in The Half-Made World. Such is the great circle of life.

* Unless you are a fairly well-informed historian, or went to law school and paid more attention in Property classes than was really, let’s face it, worth your time.

** Unless I’m wrong and from Chapter Two onwards it turns out to be about a gore-soaked Predator invasion or something. I don’t know, I don’t have a copy.