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A review by honnari_hannya
The Seventh Perfection by Daniel Polansky
3.0
I'm not quite sure what to make of THE SEVENTH PERFECTION. While not necessarily for me, it is certainly an interesting, difficult read. Extremely effective as a novella. If there ever was a genre mash of "experimental fantasy noir," this would probably fit the bill. Would recommend if you like books like THE RAVEN TOWER by Ann Leckie or THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone for their experimental styles, or A CONSPIRACY OF TRUTHS by Alexandra Rowland for sheer voicey-ness.
There's a mystery at the heart of this novella, told through a series of one-sided conversations between various characters and Manet, our silent protagonist, a high-ranking servant of the God-King. Because of this, she is in a precarious position as she investigates the origins of a locket that was anonymously sent to her. As she digs deeper into the mystery of who the woman in the locket is, she uncovers things about the city, its God-King, and her own past that could very well lead to treason—and even blasphemy.
That's a very loose interpretation of the plot, at least. The book itself is rather more vague due to the style that Polansky chose to write it in. Because you never get to hear Manet speak or get insight into her thoughts, there is a definite distance that took away from any sort of tension that readers might have felt otherwise. Still, Polansky did a remarkable job at character building through these one-sided conversations. You get as full a picture of Manet as you can in a story this short: her motivations, her personality, a little of her history.
I think the most interesting thing about this book is probably the idea of mythmaking—who controls history, who benefits from it, and what are the consequences of pursuing truth to its bitter end.
Thanks to Tor and NetGalley for providing this free eARC in exchange for an honest review.
There's a mystery at the heart of this novella, told through a series of one-sided conversations between various characters and Manet, our silent protagonist, a high-ranking servant of the God-King. Because of this, she is in a precarious position as she investigates the origins of a locket that was anonymously sent to her. As she digs deeper into the mystery of who the woman in the locket is, she uncovers things about the city, its God-King, and her own past that could very well lead to treason—and even blasphemy.
That's a very loose interpretation of the plot, at least. The book itself is rather more vague due to the style that Polansky chose to write it in. Because you never get to hear Manet speak or get insight into her thoughts, there is a definite distance that took away from any sort of tension that readers might have felt otherwise. Still, Polansky did a remarkable job at character building through these one-sided conversations. You get as full a picture of Manet as you can in a story this short: her motivations, her personality, a little of her history.
I think the most interesting thing about this book is probably the idea of mythmaking—who controls history, who benefits from it, and what are the consequences of pursuing truth to its bitter end.
Thanks to Tor and NetGalley for providing this free eARC in exchange for an honest review.