A Review: Without a Summer by Mary Robinette Kowal

At this point, I’m fully on the Mary Robinette Kowal train. But even though I went into Without a Summer fully expecting her to knock it out of the park, there was a part of me that tempered my excitement. I’ve been burned before, and it will happen again. But which category would the 3rd installment of the Glamourist Histories end up in?

After the climactic events of Glamour in Glass, Jane and Vincent have attracted the notice of yet another family in want of their talents with glamurals-this time a Londonite. This presents the perfect opportunity. Vincent is eager to get back to work, and Jane has made it a goal to help her sister Melody find a proper suitor as the war has caused an inhospitable climate for finding someone Melody’s age. The problem extends further as even the literal climate has been affected. Trapped in perpetual winter, Europe’s unnaturally cold summer threatens everyone’s spirits, the economy, and the crown itself. And Jane and Vincent have somehow found themselves in the epicenter of the intrigue.

It wouldn’t be a Kowal novel if we didn’t have an examination of society. Like the previous installment, MRK has taken the events of history (the year without a summer in 1816) and folded it into her alternative history version of our world where magic is a part of society. This results in the exploration of a facet of magic in this universe that we haven’t explored prior: coldmongering. The scapegoating of a segment of society for the ill-luck of what was a natural event in both our world and her alternate version of it realistically depicts how societies will blame those they don’t understand or fear even when they’re not directly related.

In many ways, this novel is a return to the more intimate story we had in the first installment and, at some points, remind’s me of Jane Austen’s Emma as Jane attempts to direct her sister’s attention. But drawing comparisons to Austen’s work is difficult to avoid considering the content.

If you enjoyed the first two novels, I’d encourage you to read this one. And if you’re looking for an alternate history regency romance with a few dashes of magic for either you or someone you know, I definitely recommend picking up this series.

Originally published at https://www.jimwilbourne.com on February 7, 2023.