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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
This isn't a novel but four novellas, two written by Bacigalupi and two by Buckell, loosely linked, set in the city of Khaim and the neighbouring lands.
In Khaim, magic comes with a cost: it makes poisonous bramble grow, one prick from which can send a human into a coma from which hardly anyone recovers. But it is hard to stop using magic when someone you love is very ill and the only cure is a magical one. Everyone has an excuse to use a little bit of magic ... but the cumulative effect of all these little individual actions is the loss of land to the bramble, the loss of cities, the loss of empire. So the rulers of Khaim have decreed that anyone caught casting spells will be executed.
In the first story an poverty-stricken alchemist finds a way of destroying bramble but the authorities want to use his invention for their own ends. In the second the daughter (and stand-in) of a public executioner loses her sons to raiders from Paikan so she embarks on a quest to find them. In the third a boy and his sister, rich children fallen on hard times, are working as peasants collecting bramble seeds when she is pricked; he can't afford to keep her alive so should he cut her throat? In the fourth a blacksmith's daughter has to make a suit of armour for a corrupt nobleman.
There is a clear allegorical meaning to the novel. Magic, I think, represents science: we all individually have good reasons for wanting scientific progress - it makes us healthier, wealthier, and more comfortable - but our inability to cut down on things like cars have led to global warming which threatens the world. Responses might include a police state and Draconian punishments for polluters (magic has a sulphurous smell) with exceptions for those at the top of society who won't abide by the rules they set for everyone else. "Every spell maker has a reasonable excuse. If we grant individual mercies, we commit collective suicide." (1.6) Alternatively, in Paikan, the response has been religious: the magic-denying 'the Way'. This, with its pilgrimage, and its fanatical jihadists (and even the name of the city, which so resembles Pakistan) seems to be a metaphor for an Islamic solution.
But if the allegories are thinly disguised, and the characters rather too obviously either good or bad, the world-building is brilliant. Bacigalupi provides baroque, gloriously over-the-top, descriptions: "A month later, as the muddy rags of cruel spring snow turned to the sweet stink of warming earth ..." (1.3) And the action never ceases: in each story the protagonist gets themselves into an impossible situation from which they can only extricate themselves with some form of sacrifice.
A fascinating concept provides the backdrop to four very readable stories.
In Khaim, magic comes with a cost: it makes poisonous bramble grow, one prick from which can send a human into a coma from which hardly anyone recovers. But it is hard to stop using magic when someone you love is very ill and the only cure is a magical one. Everyone has an excuse to use a little bit of magic ... but the cumulative effect of all these little individual actions is the loss of land to the bramble, the loss of cities, the loss of empire. So the rulers of Khaim have decreed that anyone caught casting spells will be executed.
In the first story an poverty-stricken alchemist finds a way of destroying bramble but the authorities want to use his invention for their own ends. In the second the daughter (and stand-in) of a public executioner loses her sons to raiders from Paikan so she embarks on a quest to find them. In the third a boy and his sister, rich children fallen on hard times, are working as peasants collecting bramble seeds when she is pricked; he can't afford to keep her alive so should he cut her throat? In the fourth a blacksmith's daughter has to make a suit of armour for a corrupt nobleman.
There is a clear allegorical meaning to the novel. Magic, I think, represents science: we all individually have good reasons for wanting scientific progress - it makes us healthier, wealthier, and more comfortable - but our inability to cut down on things like cars have led to global warming which threatens the world. Responses might include a police state and Draconian punishments for polluters (magic has a sulphurous smell) with exceptions for those at the top of society who won't abide by the rules they set for everyone else. "Every spell maker has a reasonable excuse. If we grant individual mercies, we commit collective suicide." (1.6) Alternatively, in Paikan, the response has been religious: the magic-denying 'the Way'. This, with its pilgrimage, and its fanatical jihadists (and even the name of the city, which so resembles Pakistan) seems to be a metaphor for an Islamic solution.
But if the allegories are thinly disguised, and the characters rather too obviously either good or bad, the world-building is brilliant. Bacigalupi provides baroque, gloriously over-the-top, descriptions: "A month later, as the muddy rags of cruel spring snow turned to the sweet stink of warming earth ..." (1.3) And the action never ceases: in each story the protagonist gets themselves into an impossible situation from which they can only extricate themselves with some form of sacrifice.
A fascinating concept provides the backdrop to four very readable stories.
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
A fantastic collection of stories taking place in the same world. The Tangled Lands is a more raw, more realistic version of fantasy grappling with climate change than you’ll find in a lot of “hope punk” narratives. The 1% will be fine. The rest of us? Not so much.
Disclaimer: I received this book free from Netgalley in return for an un-biased review.
Before now, I’ve never been a fan of short stories. I think that’s a holdover from my high school days. I loved nothing more than getting a nice big novel to read in English class. I was so sad when we, in my opinion, wasted time on an anthology of short stories. Ugh. Disappointment! I want a real book! A Tale of Two Cities! Pride and Prejudice! … wait … no … no, Hemmingway … I take it back, Mr. Cheney!
That aversion to the short story started to change when I picked up a book by Alice Munro. Who knew short stories could be so engrossing and meaningful? Then, a couple of months ago I was approved to be a First Reader for a Sci-fi/Fantasy E-zine called Deep Magic. This means I, as part of a crack story reading team, read TONS of short story submissions and pass the best of the best along to the editors for hopeful acceptance into the magazine. All of this means I’ve learnedto be less prejudiced against the short story genre. Thank goodness, because if not then I’d have missed this little book entirely!
The Tangled Lands is a set of 4 short stories, all of them set in one fantasy world. They are written by two separate authors, but they suit one another perfectly. Khaim is a kingdom in a world that has suffered an immense ecological disaster. In the past, Magic was discovered and used with wild abandon, providing wealth and health to it’s many inhabitants. However, overuse has created an imbalance. Now the slightest use of magic, which people have come to rely on for daily life, causes a poisonous hedge called “Bramble” to spring up everywhere. A person who touches it slips slowly into a coma/deathlike trance. They can never wake up from it. The stuff is insidious and deadly.
So just stop using magic right? Look around us. How easy is it in our own world to convince people of the importance of taking care of the environment? If doing so means less money or power to the rich and powerful then how easily do they abandon it’s use? We all know the answer to that question. It’s no different in Khaim. These stories, however, introduce us to a few unassuming characters of humble origin, these few people are going to make a difference. Women and children as agents of change figure heavily in these stories. You know that makes me happy right!
I enjoyed everything about this book, except it’s length. I wish it could have gone on much longer!! I hope that everyone who reads this review, and loves fantasy will buy this book. Please, give these two authors reason to write another, longer book in this fascinating world. Until then, I’m definitely looking up some of their backlist. I enjoyed their style and look forward to reading more from both of them.
Song for this book: Sign of the Times – Harry Styles
Before now, I’ve never been a fan of short stories. I think that’s a holdover from my high school days. I loved nothing more than getting a nice big novel to read in English class. I was so sad when we, in my opinion, wasted time on an anthology of short stories. Ugh. Disappointment! I want a real book! A Tale of Two Cities! Pride and Prejudice! … wait … no … no, Hemmingway … I take it back, Mr. Cheney!
That aversion to the short story started to change when I picked up a book by Alice Munro. Who knew short stories could be so engrossing and meaningful? Then, a couple of months ago I was approved to be a First Reader for a Sci-fi/Fantasy E-zine called Deep Magic. This means I, as part of a crack story reading team, read TONS of short story submissions and pass the best of the best along to the editors for hopeful acceptance into the magazine. All of this means I’ve learnedto be less prejudiced against the short story genre. Thank goodness, because if not then I’d have missed this little book entirely!
The Tangled Lands is a set of 4 short stories, all of them set in one fantasy world. They are written by two separate authors, but they suit one another perfectly. Khaim is a kingdom in a world that has suffered an immense ecological disaster. In the past, Magic was discovered and used with wild abandon, providing wealth and health to it’s many inhabitants. However, overuse has created an imbalance. Now the slightest use of magic, which people have come to rely on for daily life, causes a poisonous hedge called “Bramble” to spring up everywhere. A person who touches it slips slowly into a coma/deathlike trance. They can never wake up from it. The stuff is insidious and deadly.
So just stop using magic right? Look around us. How easy is it in our own world to convince people of the importance of taking care of the environment? If doing so means less money or power to the rich and powerful then how easily do they abandon it’s use? We all know the answer to that question. It’s no different in Khaim. These stories, however, introduce us to a few unassuming characters of humble origin, these few people are going to make a difference. Women and children as agents of change figure heavily in these stories. You know that makes me happy right!
I enjoyed everything about this book, except it’s length. I wish it could have gone on much longer!! I hope that everyone who reads this review, and loves fantasy will buy this book. Please, give these two authors reason to write another, longer book in this fascinating world. Until then, I’m definitely looking up some of their backlist. I enjoyed their style and look forward to reading more from both of them.
Song for this book: Sign of the Times – Harry Styles
Well-developed world where magic is outlawed and people who practice it hunted down and killed. The story is told in four parts from different perspectives which I felt just made the world even more realistic.
I give it 5 stars because I enjoyed reading it. It is not the same 5 stars I give to Tolkien or Martin. If I were to be more specific, I would give Tolkien and Martin 5 diamonds and this book 5 silver ingots… It is fiction, yet the challenges the people of Khaim face are all too real. I like it. I am not a fan of short stories but I really enjoyed reading these 4. Tobias S Buckell is my favourite of the two authors in this book. I feel in love with his characters more deeply.
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3.5 -- 4 novellas set in a magical land destroyed by the after effects of magic. No resolution, just a peak at four people whose lives are destroyed by the discovery of a way to detect those who used magic, and the tyrant controlling this discovery.
Will they go back to explore this world? I'd be happy to revisit, especially a full length story.
Will they go back to explore this world? I'd be happy to revisit, especially a full length story.
Interesting experiment in collaborative world building. Didn't expect a series of short stories set in the same world instead of a single novel, but still enjoyed them all.
3.5 stars. I really liked this book for the first portion but at some point they lost my interest a bit. I loved the multiple stories we got to experience but I wanted a bit more connection between the characters’ aside from the bramble. I understand the intent was to be open ended but for me it just felt under developed instead.. I felt it was really a missed opportunity because some of the stories were so engaging. (Except for the executioness tale which was a bit too easy/cringe I loved the test) Would read a sequel if only for more of what i enjoyed.
3,5? Loved the worldbuilding - I'd watch the HBO miniseries for sure. When in doubt, read the first story, skip the rest.