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The Alchemy of Desire

by Crista McHugh (Goodreads Author)

3.53 of 5 stars 3.53 · rating details · 15 ratings · 5 reviews

After winning the Civil War against the Confederate Wielders, the Union Machinists have outlawed magic to usher in a new age of steam-powered technology. Diah, an alchemist and the only non-wielder in his family, owes his brother for saving his life in the war; so when Cager is blackmailed into procuring the magical hide of the White Buffalo, Diah accompanies him to the Da...more

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Published April 25th 2011 by Carina Press (first published March 16th 2011)

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May 05, 2011 Sharon rated it 3 of 5 stars

http://ismellsheep.blogspot.com/2011/...

This story was an interesting mix of Native American legends, romance and the Wild West. McHugh puts a clever twist on the Civil War, Pitting Southern Wielders of old-fashioned magic against the new generation of Machinists from the North. Although Alchemy of Desire has been labeled as a Steampunk novel, there weren’t a lot of Steampunk elements. You won’t find giant walkers and zeppelins dominating this novel. Instead, the story focuses on the romance bet...more http://ismellsheep.blogspot.com/2011/...

This story was an interesting mix of Native American legends, romance and the Wild West. McHugh puts a clever twist on the Civil War, Pitting Southern Wielders of old-fashioned magic against the new generation of Machinists from the North. Although Alchemy of Desire has been labeled as a Steampunk novel, there weren’t a lot of Steampunk elements. You won’t find giant walkers and zeppelins dominating this novel. Instead, the story focuses on the romance between two people from different backgrounds who find love in a physically and racially hostile environment.

In Alchemy of Desire we meet a wonderful cast of characters. Jebediah (Diah), love this name, comes from a family of magic wielders, but didn’t inherit the ability. Unable to follow in his family's footsteps, he became an alchemist. I liked his character, he is sexy, loyal, responsible and always behaved like a gentleman. His brother Micajah (Cager), love this name too, is the opposite; he is cocky, reckless and has little respect for anyone except his brother. However, we do get a peek into why Cager behaves the way he does, and I see a book in his future expanding on his character. Oni, is a Lakota/white half-breed and is shunned by both sides of her family because of her mixed breeding. Her need to survive on her own has made her tough as nails and, understandably, mistrustful of everyone.

In the beginning of this novel there is some world building as we meet the characters, but as soon as Oni and Diah meet the story turns into the typical paranormal romance. They both have secret agendas and conflicting loyalties, but they fall in love and have lots of great sex. However, they actually don’t have sex till late in the book because of Diah’s sense of honor. It is actually kind of sweet to see chivalry isn't dead. This is my favorite aspect of the book.

There is nothing wrong with this story. It is well-written and the premise of machinists vs. magic wielders was cool, but the romance was the focus of this story, not the world building. I didn’t connect to the characters enough to become emotionally invested, but the sex scenes were pretty hot ;). I suggest reading various reviews on the book to decide if it is for you.

3 Sheep!

SS and special thanks to BAK for editing this, and making me look smart (less)

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Sep 10, 2011 Tracey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, steampunk, lter, romance

[alchemy] This was a preview copy from Netgalley, thank you. I have a habit (bad? Maybe) of requesting advanced readers' copies of books or such, downloading them in ebook format, and then forgetting everything their blurbs said about them. So it wasn't until I opened the epub of The Alchemy of Desire that I realized that it was from Carina Press, which I afterward discovered is a sort of PNR subdivision of … Harlequin. Oh dear. I mean, yes, the title should be a dead giveaway that it's a romanc...more [alchemy] This was a preview copy from Netgalley, thank you. I have a habit (bad? Maybe) of requesting advanced readers' copies of books or such, downloading them in ebook format, and then forgetting everything their blurbs said about them. So it wasn't until I opened the epub of The Alchemy of Desire that I realized that it was from Carina Press, which I afterward discovered is a sort of PNR subdivision of … Harlequin. Oh dear. I mean, yes, the title should be a dead giveaway that it's a romance, but somehow it wasn't (the man on the cover is fully clothed!) (I quite like the cover, actually), and I braced myself.

And the beginning was good. So good. It was an alternate-19th century urban fantasy set in New Orleans post-Civil War. And this was not Ken Burns's Civil War; the main issue of the war seems to have been neither slavery nor states' rights but a fight between those who can wield magic (Wielders) – the Confederacy – and those who can't and use steampunk machinery instead (Machinists): the Union. (The Machinists' Union? Really? What local?) I loved the beginning. There was a lot of good stuff there, despite some typos I hope were corrected for a paper edition.

Then the story left New Orleans.

Damn.

There was so much scope in that setup - it was deep and rife with possibility. I didn't expect that. Finding it unexpectedly makes it even more of a shame that the possibilities were unexplored.

The two brothers at the heart of the story, Diah and Cager, are forced into going off to hunt the White Buffalo, and for this they need a guide. And the only guide willing to have them is Oni, a half-Lakota woman who is a bundle of secrets and Issues. She's not taken terribly seriously, at least by the elder and more obnoxious of the two brothers, Cager, because she's a woman and because she's a half-breed. She's an illegal, unlicensed Wielder (like Cager; Diah is an Alchemist – hence the title). She's a shapeshifter. And she has no intention of taking them to kill the White Buffalo, because the White Buffalo is sacred to her tribe. Oh, and she killed a guy who tried to rape her, and begins almost at once to fall in love with the younger brother, Diah after an initial reaction which seems paranormal but is never explained.

(The brothers' names are actually nicknames for Jebediah and Micajuh or some such, which is a stretch. I was pronouncing "Diah" as "dee-ah" in my head, because otherwise it's somewhere between "die" and, I'm sorry, "diarrhea", but if it's short for Jebediah it probably is "die". And "Cager" is just … odd.)

From the moment the trio of the two brothers and their Sacajawea set foot on a boat to begin their journey after the White Buffalo, the Harlequin roots begin to show. There is a great deal of teasing and frustration and timely – or untimely - interruptions, and bulges and pools of wetness. Unfortunately, the latter two items are verbatim; I began to wish for Oni's sake that Depends had been invented in the 1860's sometime.

There were parts of this that were a lot of fun. As I said, the setting and storyline of the beginning was dandy. The setting up of Alchemists/Machinists and Wielders is something I wanted more about. (Pity – it seems to be a standalone.) Once the focus moved west and to the R of PNR, it quickly became less interesting to me. I shouldn't complain, because it does after all say on the tin that it is what it is, and what it is isn't bad. But if this had been a steampunk Western with an integral romance instead of a Western romance with elements of steampunk it could have been something really special.(less)

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May 03, 2011 Norma rated it 5 of 5 stars

Definitely an interesting take on steampunk! Most steampunk I have read has been set in the Victorian era. This was instead set in early Americana, sort of old west meets steampunk. I really liked it!

Crista McHugh did an incredible job of drawing me into the world of magic, steampunk, and old west that she created. All of the characters were incredibly well written. I could picture each one in my head.

I certainly hope that Crista McHugh writes more books set in this world.

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Nov 06, 2011 Jess rated it 2 of 5 stars

Okay. While the narrative in the Alchemy of Desire is repetitive, self-indulgent and cliche-driven, and the characters hackneyed, the sex scenes are fun and the historical elements pretty well researched.

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Apr 15, 2011 Lizzielvr rated it 3 of 5 stars

The story is an interesting mix of romance, magic, folklore, & Steampunk. Heavy on the romance. I was drawn into the story in the beginning, it lost some steam (pun intended), and picked up again towards the end. An enjoyable story.

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May 18, 2013 Gaurav marked it as to-read

May 13, 2013 Eva Millien marked it as to-read

May 04, 2013 Amadeus marked it as to-read

May 01, 2013 Ailie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Apr 29, 2013 ShoSho marked it as to-think-about

Shelves: steampunk

Mar 09, 2013 Penny marked it as ebooks-i-own

Mar 08, 2013 Bill marked it as to-read

Mar 05, 2013 Angela marked it as to-read

Feb 23, 2013 Mandy marked it as to-read

Shelves: ebooks

Feb 18, 2013 Xeyska rated it 2 of 5 stars

Feb 14, 2013 Cristina marked it as to-read

Feb 14, 2013 Katy Glouchevitch marked it as to-read

Feb 14, 2013 Charlotte marked it as to-read

Shelves: ebook, steampunk

Feb 10, 2013 Moominboy marked it as to-read

Shelves: my-ebooks

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Jan 30, 2013 Melissa Robinson-Arezzi marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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Dec 29, 2012 Marla Blanchette rated it 3 of 5 stars

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Nov 25, 2012 Goblin Boy rated it 5 of 5 stars

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