The Gunfighter and the Gear Head
by Cassandra Duffy
Sept. 7, 2011
Lesbian/ Sci-fi/ Steampunk/ Western
98K words
Buy it Amazon, Smashwords
Sky-captain Gieo and her fleet of steam-powered dirigibles
are humanity’s best chance to turn the tide of the war against the alien
invaders, but only if Fiona can protect her from blind cultists, jealous
ex-girlfriends, and a town of apocalypse cowboys with suspect sanity.
Wow, this was the most unusual and fun book to read. I don’t
think I can even classify it as it’s kind of a hodgepodge of genres that come
together in creative and delicious way.
It’s post-apocalyptic America. A war with an alien invader
called the Slark has basically destroyed life and the planet as people knew it. Although the
time period is not clear, references to current pop culture are made so it’s
clear it’s sometime in the future but not far from our current time. Since almost
all has been destroyed, including most of the population, the remaining survivors
have come together in pockets around the country and are slowly setting up
their own little societies and factions, many resembling the lawless towns of the West in America during the 1880’s.
In this new world, particularly in the central western
states, women, prostitutes from Las Vegas mainly, have come to power and have
started organizing armies and weapons to finally get control of the western
states, which are still controlled by the Slark.
Most of this story takes place in Tombstone, one of the last
free barrier towns between the Midwestern states and Southern states, which
have formed their own societies based on old world mores, and the western
states. Tombstone is basically controlled by a power hungry man who is able to
control everyone due to his monopoly of Slark fuel, which is far superior to
oil. The hunters, those who hunt Slark and kill them, are a rough and tumble
lawless group. However they’ve created their own codes of behavior, which are a
bit barbaric, but which they strictly adhere to.
Fiona, one of the main protagonists, is a deliciously
intense character right out of Tarantino film. She’s a Slark hunter and takes
no shit from anyone. She’ll kill without flinching or remorse if anyone breaks
the hunter’s code and to defend herself and what’s hers. She’s a renegade and
honorable warrior rolled in one and does what she has to to survive. She’s also
quite powerful in Tombstone and people don’t mess with her since she has no
scruples and parades the results of what happens when she’s crossed for all to
see. It’s quite the contrast to her former life as famous world top model.
Gieo, on the other hand, is a naïve genius dreamer who keeps
trying to fly her dirigibles close to Slark territory to map out the areas they
control. She dreams of one day being part of an air force that will wipe them
out. However, she’s the sort of happy-go-lucky type that can’t imagine killing
either. Her dirigible goes down in the outskirts of Tombstone and it happens to
be Fiona who’s out hunting who finds her and brings her back. She’s a
technological wiz and this is how she survives. Both women just happen to be
lesbians and the only women in the Tombstone.
These two make an odd but colorful couple. Fiona can’t
believe it when after Gieo’s first night there, she finds Gieo surrounded by
the roughest of men blithely trading her fix anything tech services for machine
parts and technology she needs to get her gear going again. In an interesting
twist of fate, in order to protect Gieo, the only other woman in town besides
Fiona and who the crazy, fundamentalist cultist who live on the outskirts of
town want to kill thinking she's the devil, Fiona has to claim her as her property by law of the
hunter’s code.
Gieo quite gets into this wearing a dog collar and letting
Fiona treat her as property in a semi-serious, teasing and flirtatious way,
which bugs Fiona since this is not what she’s about.
Their sexual interactions are subdued on the one hand, Gieo only
letting Fiona rub off on her but not getting off herself and keeping some
distance, and yet, there’s a smoldering sexual energy that keeps them coming back for more.
They kind of dance around each other in a somewhat cocky and playful way taking
turns exerting power over each other.
I rather liked the push/pull and even the
evasiveness on both parts in between some juicy sexual encounters. It’s a lust
at first site but a budding love in a slow bloom, which made me root for them
even with the many obstacles, including Fiona’s past catching up with her in
the form of past lovers and betrayals. Fiona wasn’t a saint before she ended up
in Tombstone. And Gieo, while being a straight up innocent in general, allows
herself to get seduced outside of her relationship with Fiona. However, I liked
the way it was handled. It showed character growth for both women.
Outside of the very entertaining and unique plot line and
world building, there are many fascinating characters in this story as well. I
think Cassandra Duffy created a very sophisticated world with characters, each
having their own strong personalities---entrances and departures---that fully
added to this story. Particularly all the women are portrayed as strong,
sometimes ruthless, but very intelligent, which I liked.
The writing is very tight, no extra lines, characters or
even tangents that didn’t add to this story. Fiona and Gieo aside, I’d love to
read more from this world that Ms. Duffy has created. She definitely has a
unique voice.
I definitely recommend this book if you’re into any of the
genres but particularly if you just want a unique, entertaining read.
Heat level: 3 ½- sexual situations but not explicitly or
deeply graphically written.
Grade: Loved
