Mechanical Magic by Lorraine Ulrich
A steampunk novella, about a creator of mechanical novelties, Aster, who rescues an elf, Y’rean, whose wings were cut out of spite by his former master. When Aster finds Y’rean, the elf is almost dead, and Aster has to ask help to his gypsy relatives to save the young elf. Aster has disowned his heritage to avoid the ostracizing that always follows his people. But both Aster than Y’rean need the ancient knowledge the gypsy people hand down from father to son: when Aster was only a young boy, he was condemned to the cut of his right hand for stealing a fruit. His people built him an artificial hand, infusing it with magic so that now the metal works like blood and flesh. This same magic is what Y’rean needs, but Aster has to acknowledge a past that he wanted to forget to help the man he is falling in love with.
I liked this novella, it was mostly sweet and nice. I did wonder about the past of Y’rean, how he came to be a pet slave for a cruel master, but maybe the author has only tried her hand with this pair, and she is thinking to develop there more in the future. Aster is a kind soul, who loves to create beauty in his mechanical novelties, and who is able to see beauty also in people; Y’rean, with his ethereal beauty, and his fragile structure, is like one of the mechanical novelties Aster’s creates, beautiful but to be handle with care. That is the reason why Aster is the perfect mate for someone like Y’rean, because he knows how to take care of him.
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2759
Amazon Kindle: Mechanical Magic
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (February 7, 2012)
Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle
Cover Art by Anne Cain