Book review: The Factory Witches of Lowell

I stumbled upon The Factory Witches of Lowell by C.S. Malerich (2020) in the library stacks. I took it home because it's historical fiction set during the time that I'm basing my next revision of The Seaming in, and I was curious to see what the world-building looked like in another U.S.-based fantasy.

It was fascinating to see so much of the research I'm doing reflected back on the pages! Little easter-eggs, just for me. As fun as that was, it's very different from the type of world-building that I'm trying to do. This is more alt-history, where I'm trying to use this period to build a secondary world.

And so, the hunt for more books continues! Since the plague began, I've had a very hard time reading fantasy and sci-fi, which is strange, because I love it! According to my reading tracker, I've been reading 4 romance books to every 1 SFF book. The predictableness of romance is soothing, and I don't have to think so hard as I do to follow more complex world-building. This last trip to the library I came home with 7 SFF books and not a single romance. I think the tides may be changing.

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Audely Bensen Writes

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