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sarahweyand's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I read this book at the recommendation of my husband as a shorter book to get close to passing my 2023 reading goal. I was skeptical at first but ended up really enjoying myself! I liked the writing style and thought the story was well-suited to a novella. There was a good amount of character development and I found myself caring about our protagonist(s), which is something that's hard for me to do with shorter texts.
Sometimes the pacing felt a little all over the place, and I wish the ending had provided more catharsis than it did. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the ending. I predicted the climax and enjoyed how it played out, and I understand that not every story has to have a happy ending, but I was hoping for a little more relief for our protagonists.
I'm glad I picked this one up and I would be interested in reading more from Tchaikovsky in the future.
Sometimes the pacing felt a little all over the place, and I wish the ending had provided more catharsis than it did. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the ending. I predicted the climax and enjoyed how it played out, and I understand that not every story has to have a happy ending, but I was hoping for a little more relief for our protagonists.
I'm glad I picked this one up and I would be interested in reading more from Tchaikovsky in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Mental illness
Moderate: Death and Suicidal thoughts
deetabz's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Violence, Grief, and War
devynreadsnovels's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Death, Violence, and Blood
bluejayreads's review against another edition
4.5
The back cover on this was mediocre, and I didn't have high expectations. But it was surprisingly good. It takes the maxim "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" and rolls with it. But the communication struggles between the augmented anthropologist of a technologically-advanced people and the princess of a generally-primitive people were the most fascinating part. For being as short as it is, the world and characters are remarkably complex and the emotions are surprisingly deep and rich. The plot is fairly simple - go to this place, deal with the demon there - but it ended in a pleasantly unexpected way. I just can't get over how this book looked so unassuming on the outside and yet managed to be complex and interesting and have such solid characters and a well-developed world while still being so short. I almost wish it was longer just because I want more in this world with these characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Mental illness
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
gilnean's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Medical content
Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Colonisation, War, and Classism
laurareads87's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I am more a relic worthy of study than those I was placed to observe.
Elder Race follows Lynesse, a royal daughter eager to prove her value by vanquishing a demon threatening neighbouring territories, and Nyr, an archaeologist from the society Lynesse's descends from but whom Lynesse's people believe is a wizard. The book alternates perspectives between the two, with a single brilliant chapter juxtaposing them by including each of their perspectives side by side. I quite enjoyed this book! I will say that the interplay between the main characters, and particularly Nyr's internal struggles with his situation and the chasm of misunderstanding between himself and Lynesse, interested me far more than the demon-slaying plot did. The climax of the plot - the confrontation with the menacing force - seemed a little bit rushed, but I found I didn't mind in the slightest because I was more interested in what Nyr was thinking about. I've enjoyed everything I've read by Tchaikovsky so far, and this is no exception. Recommend for fans of LeGuin.
Elder Race follows Lynesse, a royal daughter eager to prove her value by vanquishing a demon threatening neighbouring territories, and Nyr, an archaeologist from the society Lynesse's descends from but whom Lynesse's people believe is a wizard. The book alternates perspectives between the two, with a single brilliant chapter juxtaposing them by including each of their perspectives side by side. I quite enjoyed this book! I will say that the interplay between the main characters, and particularly Nyr's internal struggles with his situation and the chasm of misunderstanding between himself and Lynesse, interested me far more than the demon-slaying plot did. The climax of the plot - the confrontation with the menacing force - seemed a little bit rushed, but I found I didn't mind in the slightest because I was more interested in what Nyr was thinking about. I've enjoyed everything I've read by Tchaikovsky so far, and this is no exception. Recommend for fans of LeGuin.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, and Gore
mjwhitlock18's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
Such an interesting mix of SciFi and Fantasy. Nyr is a clinically depressed cultural anthropologist living in and studying a world colonized long ago by people from earth. Because he has more advanced science and tech, the people from the world think he’s a sorcerer, and due to a failure of translation, he can’t explain to them that his science isn’t magic. A childishly naive, youngest sister/warrior princess comes to him to beg for his magic help fighting off a “demon” plague that is taking over part of her mother’s kingdom. This novella is quick, witty, genre-bending, and explores some good themes around communication, solitude, and the bravery in the face of hopelessness.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Suicidal thoughts
eegekay's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Lynesse braves her mother’s wrath to beg help from the sorcerer in his tower to fight demons invading the land. Nyr awakens after 200 years asleep to discover that his one big adventure is now history, and he must decide whether to help once more, or to retreat into his anthropologist’s detachment.
The worldbuilding blew me away. There’s a well-described communication gap between the main characters. It’s beautifully executed, and is such a wonderful way to portray artificially-assisted translation in real time. This means that for everything that’s happening, the two main characters have unique vocabulary for describing the scene and different understandings of what’s relevant. It generates depth and meaning in the narrative through something that sci-fi often handwaves away.
The narration is asymmetric, Nyr narrates in first person but Lynesse narrates in third person. This could mean anything from slightly favoring Nyr’s version of events to indicating that whatever Lynesse is speaking doesn’t translate into first person the way Nyr’s thoughts do. Nyr deals with technologically-assisted disassociation, meant to help him cope with stress in the moment and then exacting a heavy toll later. Narratively, this works to show the level of technological entanglement Nyr has on a moment-to-moment basis, distancing himself from the locals even while he’s helping them.
This is excellent, a story which uses the genre entanglement of sci-fi and fantasy to its utmost, creating something that couldn’t happen with either alone.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Blood, and Vomit