The rise of Ransom City
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15
Ratings2
Average rating3
This is the story of Harry Ransom. If you know his name it's most likely as the inventor of the Ransom Process, a stroke of genius that changed the world. Or you may have read about how he lost the battle of Jasper City, or won it, depending on where you stand in matters of politics. Friends called him Hal or Harry, or by one of a half-dozen aliases, of which he had more than any honest man should. He often went by Professor Harry Ransom, and though he never had anything you might call a formal education, he definitely earned it. If you're reading this in the future, Ransom City must be a great and glittering metropolis by now, with a big bronze statue of Harry Ransom in a park somewhere. You might be standing on its sidewalk and not wonder in the least of how it grew to its current glory. Well, here is its story, full of adventure and intrigue. And it all starts with the day that old Harry Ransom crossed paths with Liv Alverhyusen and John Creedmoor, two fugitives running from the Line, amidst a war with no end.
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The follow-up to The Half-Made World, set in the same reality but not about the same characters, though a few do return in bit parts.
Enjoyed it a lot at the beginning, less so for a stretch in the middle, and quite a lot again after that. The best things about it are the world and the characters, both of which feel alive. Most obviously, the principal conceit of the book is that it purports to be the memoir of Harry Ransom, inventor, visionary, and salesman and sometimes-genius, and is therefore presented in first-person. Moreover, it is written in segments, mailed to fictional newsman Elmer Merrial Carson, who does not entirely credit Ransom's writings. Both Ransom and Carson feel like real people with real personalities, though Carson appears only occasionally. Gilman's world is also alive, at least in the enclaves where the plot brings us. Jasper City feels most real of all.
I loved HMW, but I felt it petered out toward the end, in need of editing and direction. RRC's aimless period is in the middle and is thankfully brief; the end, if anything, wraps up awfully fast.
Worth reading if you enjoyed the world of HMW.
Totally lost interest at the halfway mark when he arrived at Jasper City. Some pretty cool and interesting weird west stuff before that.
Featured Series
2 primary books3 released booksThe Half-Made World is a 3-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2010 with contributions by Felix Gilman.
