The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This story engaged me from the first paragraph all the way through to the last. It sucked me in, and I found myself wanting to read more.

I liked the main character, the automaton Mattie, but from the get-go, I either disliked or was ambivalent toward most of the other characters with the exception of Niobe and the soul-smoker.