UNCANNY TIMES
by Laura Anne Gilman
5 of 5 stars
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One of the nicest things about the Internet making it easier to research, request library books, etc. is that authors can dive down deep rabbit holes and emerge triumphant with areas no one has visited recently. Gilman plunged into early 20th century New England, USA, 1913--a country and a world teetering on the crux of war and a new age of politics and society.

The gold she emerged with is woven into a story of siblings, Aaron and Rosemary Harker, part of the people called the Huntsmen. A people the Church finds anathema, but are necessary to the world. Because the Huntsmen sense and hunt the Uncanny. Who are the Uncanny? They are remnants of the inhuman folk & creatures that still haunt the edges of the world. And the Uncanny are not friends of humanity.

This tale of magic and catastrophic change has layers of the political & economic strife of pre-war factory life, of the coming world war, and of the upheavals in Europe that male Huntsmen have been drawn to--drawn to, and the men have not been heard from since. UNCANNY TIMES shows the constraints of the lives of educated women, suggests that elves were interested in humans at *some* point in the past--and is capable of showing how people keep secrets, forget history, and can adapt to more things than one might think.

There is a quiet, rolling tension and relaxation to the beautiful writing that may be slow for readers who need all action all the time. But the layers of world building and the sudden explosions of battle will reward those who love alternative historical fantasy. You should be able to find this at all the usual places online.