The Conductors

DNF at about 15% in - the clunkiness of the writing was just too distracting.

This is an alternative history story about people helping slaves to freedom. In this reality, there is magic. Fascinating magic, based on constellations. There are also other kinds of magic, healing, and sorcery, and probably other kinds as well.
The story follows a couple of “conductors”, Hetty and Benjy, and I love these people :-) The side characters are wonderful as well.
It's not only about the freed slaves, it's also a murder mystery.
I know I'm not making much sense, this is probably a very bad review, but I love this story, and I cannot wait to read more about these people and this world.

Interesting take on gaslamp fantasy

Hetty isn't a character you have to like, but she is one you admire. She's used to making hard decisions and not apologizing for them, which on the surface, pushes her into the Strong Black Woman stereotype. When we meet her in this book, she's begun to second guess herself, reflecting on those she had to leave behind as a conductor of the Underground Railroad and why she's shut off her softer emotions with her friends and found family. The magic system was cool, just loose enough for me to not care how it works but tight enough that I bought the usage, attacks, and battles. I enjoyed the use of the “fall in love with my husband” trope, and that the story didn't tie everything up into a 100% happily ever after for Hetty. A solid read!

It took me a bit to get into this - probably just general COVID-induced malaise and apathy - but the world-building and magic system was SO COOL! I'm excited to see what Glover does next.

The Conductors is a mix of murder and magic, set in an alternate history of post-civil war USA, following the emancipation of slavery..

This is a really inventive setting and Nicole Glover vividly weaves a tale of murder, magic, and friendship, to make a book that grips you from the start.

The story revolves around Hetty & Benjy, who previously aided slaves to escape from their lives of servitude in their roles as conductors. Now, they live in Philadelphia, with Hetty working as a seamstress and Benjy as a blacksmith. However, on the side, they work as a husband and wife detective team and continue to aid the community that they live in by dealing with crimes that the police would generally consider as not their problem.

One night, at a party at their friend's house, they are approached by local entrepreneur (and all-round dodgy bloke) Charlie Richardson. However, both Hetty and Benjy want nothing to do with whatever problems Charlie has.

When Charlie turns up dead in an alleyway with a cursed sigil carved in his chest. Hetty and Benji are drawn into a mystery that will have them questioning everyone around them, from a local political institution to their friends. In their efforts to solve the crime, they will uncover truths about those around them, including their nearest and dearest.

Nicole Glover does a fantastic job of weaving magic into this riveting mystery tale. You would think how could the two co-exist? But Nicole Glover sews the magic system into the very tapestry of everyday life.

There are two aspects to the magic system in the book, Sorcery (which is the magic system used by white people) and Celestial magic (which is used by the African American population) and Glover clearly describes the distinction between the two systems, with Sorcery primarily using wands as a focal point for magical emanations, whilst Celestial magic uses the constellations to manifest power.

Now, obviously, a book cannot be carried by a magic system alone. We need characters, plot, and world-building.

And with this we need to move onto the characters. This has definitely got to be the most enchanting aspect of the book. Hetty & Benjy are solid and intriguing individuals that you want to spend time with. Hetty is strong, dogmatic, level-headed, and individualistic, whilst Benjy is insightful, meticulous, and introspective. However, whilst all these characteristics are positive aspects, particularly in a detective, in real life they can turn around and bite the characters in the ass. For instance, Hetty's obsession with finding her sister leads to problems. Sometimes, she can be so short-sighted that she does not see what is in front of her.

Not only do we have two strong leads, but we have a well-written cast of supporting characters, such as Penelope and Eunice.

Now, let me get this out of the way. Murder/mystery is not usually my cup of tea. However, Nicole Glover deftly interweaves elements of murder with domestic and social issues, drawing you into the world she has built. In addition, the book is peppered with interludes, shedding light on Hetty and Benjy???s past and their exploits helping other slaves to flee from their life.

Obviously, with any fantasy book, you have to mention the world-building. I liked Nicole Glover???s world-building. She manages it so deftly that I actually believed that post-civil war, America did actually have magic as she seems to make the world-building part of the very fabric of the book.

So, if you like murder/mystery stories, interwoven with a fantastical edge and vivid characters, you wouldn???t go far wrong if you gave Nicole Glover???s ???The Conductors??? a try.

3.5 stars
This story follows Hetty and Benjy, two former conductors for the Underground Railroad. Now they help people in a different way. They solve mysteries. One of their current jobs is hitting a little too close to home. People are dying so they better solve it quick or they may be next.

I enjoyed the story. I liked the premise. I really liked the characters. The writing is great. My only problem is the magic. I wish it was explained better. I thought it was confusing and that took away from the story. I would still like to read more from this author.

I received a copy from Net Galley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5 Rounded to 3

When I first saw this one I was all for it! It has such a great premise and who doesn't love a good historical fiction with mystery and fantasy thrown in?? However, it was a tad slow and took a while for me to get into the flow. The magical aspects are a tad confusing as well since there isn't much explanation on how the characters came into their powers or how their powers work.

Overall I really enjoyed this one and look forward to more from this author. I did take into consideration that this is a debut so it can only get better from here. I appreciate NetGalley providing me an ARC to read and enjoy. All opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone.

Pros: fantastic worldbuilding, three magic systems, interesting characters, engaging plot

Cons:

Hetty and Benjy Rhodes both escaped slavery in 1858. They became Conductors with the Underground Railway as a way of locating Hetty's missing sister. Their motto: never leave people behind. With the war over, the pair solve crimes affecting the black community in Philidelphia that police ignore. When one of their friends turns up dead, the case becomes much more personal as they learn more about their friends - and each other.

The worldbuilding is fantastic. The setting is often gritty and harsh, especially the flashbacks. The author really captures the complexity of the world, with various laws, good and bad areas of town, economics and politics. I especially loved the friendship connections surround Hetty and Benjy. Community is hugely important in this book, and I loved seeing the variety of interactions and how Benjy and Hetty helped and were helped in turn by their friends.

There are three magic systems: sorcery using a wand, restricted to white practitioners; celestial magic, a mixture of practices from Africa, the West Indies, and Native Americans, which uses sigils for power; and alchemy or potion magic, created by brewing herbs. While you see less sorcery than the other two, I loved how magic was integrated into the world.

The pacing was great. So much is going on here and the setting and characters were so interesting that I never felt the book slow or drag.

It was fun reading about a couple who married for convenience. It's great seeing a different kind of marital relationship and I loved seeing the couple's interactions. They don't always get along, but it was cool watching people in a strong marriage make up after fights and work together towards their goals.

This is a fantastic book. In many ways it reminds me of Jaime Lee Moyer's Delia's Shadow. If you like historical fantasy with great characters, fun magic systems, and an interesting mystery, pick this up.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC to review.

The Conductors has rather a lot going for it – a story of POC triumphing over the great evil that was the South in the Restoration era of American history. The general plot is about two underground railroad conductors solving a series of murders in their hometown. Oh, and there's magic.

However despite the extremely promising premise of the novel, I found this book to be lacking more than a few ways.

First off – the magic system is FRUSTRATINGLY vague. There is literally no explanation of how magic works. There's two different kinds of magic in The Conductors. Celestial and Sorcery. Celestial is only done by Black people, and Sorcery usually only done by white people. There is almost no explanation as to why. No explanation of what specific spells do, or how magic is controlled, or who has magic, etc. Celestial magic has the makings of a REALLY cool system...if we had more information. This is my biggest complaint of the book. We didn't need an info dump, or pages and pages on it, but some information sprinkled here and there would have done a WORLD of difference.

Secondly – The Conductors is supposedly in the adult novel category, but I found the writing to be more on edge with a YA or new adult novel. The writing is a little towards the simpler side, with very, very few descriptions of anything. I had no idea where the novel was set until I was already 40% of the way through the book. I would have love more descriptions on what the Philadelphia of this time period looked like. What did their boarding house look like? What was the weather like, how do the characters appreciate/hate their surroundings? It made the novel feel very bland.

Third – the relationship between Hattie and literally any of the characters was TOLD rather than shown until over halfway through the novel. Hattie calls several people her friends, and we see almost nothing to prove that true. Hattie is rather standoffish throughout the whole book. It makes her less than likeable as a character UNTIL we finally see her open up a bit. Her relationship with Benjy wasn't believable until (again) towards the end of the book.

The Conductors is a slow read – things happen but they happen in far apart beats. Nothing is seemingly urgent, there's no real page turning action in here. This could be a great book! It has the makings of one! There's just a lot missing. Two and half stars, rounded up.