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shaynexb's review
4.0
This was an extremely solid fantasy/crime mash-up about tiny sentient homunculi and the teenage thief they've decided to work with. Excellent world-building, great characters and voices. Highly recommended.
tashasbookishcorner's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fun novella, in an innovative world. We don't find out too much about the world itself but all the worldbuilding surrounding the homunculi was interesting, particularly the fact they have different types and are made from different things. Coppelia was a likeable main character.
ithinktfiam's review
4.0
A novella (I'm ever sure how to tell the length, but it's not really a novel) about a city with magic. Coppelia is an orphan in a poorer section of town and she meets up with some tiny, artificial people. They get involved in city politics and mayhem occurs. A simple story, told nicely.
onetrooluff's review
5.0
The story and characters are excellently crafted. I've read three of Tchaikovsky's novellas now and they've all been 5 stars for me. I will move onto some of his longer fiction but I'm not sure what to start with.
borborygm's review
3.0
Possibly I'm rating this lower because of who wrote it - it doesn't stack up to his great works. This is a cute story whose climax doesn't work for me. The fight doesn't go the way it should have given the setup IMO. Tchaikovsky is a versatile writer and worth reading, even when not at his best.
beentsy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
ranaldclouston's review against another edition
5.0
What a delight it is to discover an author you really enjoy, and they've got a massive catalogue of other books! This little fantasy novella by Adrian Tchaivoksky tells a charming and fairly simple adventure story with such spark and wit.
spenkevich's review
3.0
Who, as a child, didn’t imagine their toys coming to life and interacting with them? I mean, Toy Story certainly aided in that, though it was rather creepy to think they were hiding their lives from you and gave me a huge guilt-complex about throwing away old toys, but there was also that story about the cupboard that brought toys to life. Would your toys menace you or would they be your friends and aid you on epic adventures? Made Things, the novella from the marvelous Adrian Tchaikovsky, brings us into a Victorian-era-esque fantasy world where two puppets have been brought to life. Coppelia, a Dickens-esque street thief who has escaped the orphanage and is always in the processes of escaping the police, has the ability to bring tiny homunculi to life and together they form a cute and charming team. When a heist for a gollum goes wrong, the three will have to work together and need more than their magic to save them in this page-turner of a story that might be a bit light on plot but excels in fantastical world building and blissful imaginative playfulness.
‘What’s the world coming to?...I remember when this was simple. And now there’s little doll people threatening me with a shave. Fuck me.’
This is a cool story and I’ve come to really respect Tchaikovsky for his wit and charm, managing to usually balance funny and heartfelt with gritty darkness and rather deep themes and ideas. While Made Things is certainly on the lighter side for him, it still manages to blow your mind from time to time. Plus he’s always able to write really excellent women leads as well as include a lot of queer representation so naturally into his stories. He’s doing an event at our library this summer (shoutout to Annaka for being the coolest librarian ever and making that happen) so I’ll be on a Tchaikovsky kick for awhile (if you want to attend, let me know and I can make a digital link happen). The world building here is spectacular, being done with only the minimal amount of details needed to imply a much vaster magical world just beyond the pages. The story takes place in the magical city of Loretz and the whole thing feels very British and it’s impossible to read this without implying an accent in your head (especially the cops running about calling Coppelia “moppet” all the time) and that just adds to the fun. This would make a wonderful film (please adapt novellas instead of novels, they work better and you don’t have to cut things out!) and if I had my way it would be done as claymation. It’s just a really cute story with plenty of action and heart.
‘This city is ruled by magicians who hoard their magic. The poor are ruled by thieves who hoard gold and what magic they can get. Anything the human girl has can be taken from her.’
On the subject of world building, I really enjoyed how much this story gets into the society of Loretz, especially in terms of social class. We have a definite ruling class that oppresses the poorer classes, and within them there is a hierarchy such as the thief lords and their band of petty thieves. Made Things is rather trope-y and straightforward, but he uses tropes in fun and interesting ways to create this magical world. It feels familiar in a good way, the way the best of children’s films or books tend to do and makes me wonder if this would actually have been improved being written more aimed at a younger audience (which is to say, fan of [a:Neil Gaiman|1221698|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1234150163p2/1221698.jpg] would likely enjoy this book and should definitely check out his others). There is also a wonderful excursion through the world of magic and all the different sorts of living puppets. Coppelia is helping them expand their society and this becomes a rather lovely look at found families, the sort you might least expect.
Overall, this is quite cute and fun, but a bit light. I'm also very underversed in fantasy so that might play a part in it. Had this been any other author I might have enjoyed this a bit more but I just know Tchaikovsky has more in him and also after a few really excellent novels “in the genre” this just felt more like a palette cleanser than anything. Which is fine, and it works wonderfully as such and I suspect a lot of readers will have a blast with this. I will certainly be reading more Tchaikovsky.
3.5/5
‘What’s the world coming to?...I remember when this was simple. And now there’s little doll people threatening me with a shave. Fuck me.’
This is a cool story and I’ve come to really respect Tchaikovsky for his wit and charm, managing to usually balance funny and heartfelt with gritty darkness and rather deep themes and ideas. While Made Things is certainly on the lighter side for him, it still manages to blow your mind from time to time. Plus he’s always able to write really excellent women leads as well as include a lot of queer representation so naturally into his stories. He’s doing an event at our library this summer (shoutout to Annaka for being the coolest librarian ever and making that happen) so I’ll be on a Tchaikovsky kick for awhile (if you want to attend, let me know and I can make a digital link happen). The world building here is spectacular, being done with only the minimal amount of details needed to imply a much vaster magical world just beyond the pages. The story takes place in the magical city of Loretz and the whole thing feels very British and it’s impossible to read this without implying an accent in your head (especially the cops running about calling Coppelia “moppet” all the time) and that just adds to the fun. This would make a wonderful film (please adapt novellas instead of novels, they work better and you don’t have to cut things out!) and if I had my way it would be done as claymation. It’s just a really cute story with plenty of action and heart.
‘This city is ruled by magicians who hoard their magic. The poor are ruled by thieves who hoard gold and what magic they can get. Anything the human girl has can be taken from her.’
On the subject of world building, I really enjoyed how much this story gets into the society of Loretz, especially in terms of social class. We have a definite ruling class that oppresses the poorer classes, and within them there is a hierarchy such as the thief lords and their band of petty thieves. Made Things is rather trope-y and straightforward, but he uses tropes in fun and interesting ways to create this magical world. It feels familiar in a good way, the way the best of children’s films or books tend to do and makes me wonder if this would actually have been improved being written more aimed at a younger audience (which is to say, fan of [a:Neil Gaiman|1221698|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1234150163p2/1221698.jpg] would likely enjoy this book and should definitely check out his others). There is also a wonderful excursion through the world of magic and all the different sorts of living puppets. Coppelia is helping them expand their society and this becomes a rather lovely look at found families, the sort you might least expect.
Overall, this is quite cute and fun, but a bit light. I'm also very underversed in fantasy so that might play a part in it. Had this been any other author I might have enjoyed this a bit more but I just know Tchaikovsky has more in him and also after a few really excellent novels “in the genre” this just felt more like a palette cleanser than anything. Which is fine, and it works wonderfully as such and I suspect a lot of readers will have a blast with this. I will certainly be reading more Tchaikovsky.
3.5/5
ladyduckofdoom's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5