The Curator * Owen King

In a surreal, Dickensian city torn apart by a sudden and violent revolution, a young woman steps into the role of curator for a strange, forgotten museum of waxworks and anatomical curiosities, hunting for a dark secret about her late brother.

The Story: The Fairest is a sprawling, soot-choked city defined by its rigid caste systems and unusual bureaucratic guilds. The local sandbox violently fractures when a radical coup d'état overthrows the corrupt royal family, dropping the city into a chaotic, low-friction zone of societal restructuring. Amidst the ashes of the old world, a clever young woman named Dora secures her dream workspace: becoming the official curator of the National Museum of the Worker. Hidden deep within its decaying parameters is an unvarnished ledger of wax models, strange medical relics, and clockwork oddities. Rather than seeking art, Dora uses the museum's tracking lines to launch a high-stakes investigation into her brother’s mysterious death. Moving step-by-step through a dark web of sinister secret societies, supernatural entities, and corrupt revolutionary leaders, Dora must push past her own defensive shields to solve the puzzle before the city itself slides into absolute oblivion.

Perfect For: Devotees of dark, atmospheric historical fantasy, lush world-building filled with gothic and steampunk elements, and readers who devour authors like China Miéville, Neil Gaiman, or Owen King's famous family lineage.