As described in a previous post, I have decided to pit two similar books against one another and see who comes out on top.
This match-up is:
Tarnished by Karina Cooper versus Kiss of Steel by Bec McMaster
Now for the points of comparison:
1. Main Character
2. Supporting Cast
3. World-building
4. Pacing
5. Plot Development
6. Plot Resolution
7. Style or Use of Language
1. Main Character.
Cherry St Croix is the heroine of Tarnished, an opium-addicted former pickpocket who is struggling to show her face in society after her parent's untimely demise and despite her father's reputation as a mad scientist, all while leading a double life as an underworld collector (bounty hunter). Honoria Todd is the heroine of Kiss of Steel, a young woman on the run from a vampiric nobleman, forced to resort to seeking the help of an underworld boss to save her family from starvation or worse. While Honoria was fun to follow along with on her romantic adventures, I have to say that Cherry, with her drug addiction and "take no prisoners" attitude was more interesting. Not only that, but Cherry carried the story herself, not sharing the "screen time" with a male lead. Winner: Tarnished.
2. Supporting Cast
Tarnished has a broad array of characters, from Cherry's servant-friends, to the society matrons that snub her to her underworld allies. Kiss of Steel has much the same, but the numbers are smaller. More time is spent developing each one as an individual and drawing the reader's interest into them. This is especially important since some of the supporting cast are the leads in the second book in the series. While I appreciated the dichotomy between Tarnished's upper crust and the lower dregs, I think the supporting cast from Kiss of Steel was more interesting. Winner: Kiss of Steel
3. World-building
Both of these adventures are steampunk. Kiss of Steel introduces vampire nobility and lethal werewolves into a London that never existing and tosses some automatons and kiss-ass weapons into the mix. Tarnished took it a step further and made the London a place that never existed at all, where the upper crust have took that a little too literally and created a raised platform that they live on while the rest of the world lives below in a permanent cloud of pollution and mist (thereby creating the need for goggles and other steampunky things). Airships carry people from level to level and there are in-depth discussions about "the aether." There are creepy labs and strange technology and mad scientists. All in all, I think Tarnished did a better job with creating a steampunk world. Winner: Tarnished
4. Pacing
Both of these books are the first in a series, but only Tarnished really felt like it. Kiss of Steel jumped onto its plot-train right away in the first chapter and didn't look back. Tarnished took a while to find its footing, jumping back and forth between social concerns in ballrooms and back to crime-life in the underworld. The book is almost a third of the way through by the time the heroine actually does what the book blurb says. There was plenty of action in both books, but Kiss of Steel made it seem like it was advancing the story, while Tarnished spent a little more time meandering through the world (well-built though it was) and introducing characters who seemed more like diversions and red herrings. Winner: Kiss of Steel
5. Plot Development
Kiss of Steel is clearly advertised as more of a romance than Tarnished is, so I'm not going to fault it for having romance be the cornerstone of its plot arc. Tarnished takes its time getting going, but once it's on the rails, there is plenty to keep the reader interested, and even the society-underworld split is interesting in itself. Without spoiling anything, I will confess I laughed out loud when both books used the exact same plot twist. Winner: Tie
6. Plot Resolution
Here's where being the start of a series can be a disadvantage. Kiss of Steel had its characters meet, face difficulties and fall in love all by the end of the book. Tarnished introduced quite a few characters and set up two of them as potential love interests, but one of them fell off the pages somewhere and the other wasn't a fully realized character by the final pages. One major mystery was resolved - sort of - but another was left wide open for the next book to pick up. In the end, I prefer a somewhat neater package. Winner: Kiss of Steel
7. Style or Use of Language
Neither of these books are going to be the book that pushes Steampunk into the massive mainstream. They are both perfectly acceptable book from a writing standpoint. That being said, Cherry's catchphrase "Allez hop!" was annoying by the second time she said it. Kiss of Steel had better action scenes - both the bloody and the sexy kind. Winner: Kiss of Steel
Results:
By a score of 4 to 2, our winner is:
This was harder than I thought it would be, because both books were enjoyable, albeit in different ways. I almost purchased the sequel to BOTH books when I saw them at the store. Try either of them - I will certainly be continuing with both series as soon as I can get my hands on them.
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