The Friday Society
This is a fun read of the fluff variety. If you were looking for deep thoughts and philosophy, you wouldn’t pick up The Friday Society, but if you are looking for an adorable trio of independent (even though all three of them are in some kind of servant position to a male adult, nothing kinky, mind), adaptable, strong-willed and fast-thinking vigilantes trying to solve crime (that the police are uninterested in or incapable of solving) in a turn-of-the-century steam-punk London, this might keep you entertained for a while. There are some passages that drag on and more critical readers will be able to list numerous flaws, I’m sure, the characters of Michiko, Nellie, and Cora are nicely fleshed out. While light on actual steam-punk elements (as well as turn-of-the-century ambience), the use of the newly discovered cavorite, a mineral that can be used to defy gravity, was a great means to introduce all kinds of improbably inventions and will enable Kress to create a very special world of her own. The protagonists work in their own right and will form a great team, each equally and significantly contributing to the teams success.
The Friday Society works best as an introductory volume to a series. The actual amount of narrative allotted to he girls working together is rather small compared to the time Kress’ takes to introduce and characterise each one individually. There is room for this to mature into an interesting and entertaining series, but this is a good beginning.
