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A review by chillvamp
A Year and a Day in Old Theradane by Elizabeth Bear, Scott Lynch, Katherine Addison
5.0
I first read this one a few years ago, and come back to it now and then because it's so good. Nobody does endearingly reckless rogues like Scott Lynch. I love this particular flavor of low fantasy thievery with magical mishaps thrown in for some extra spice.
The descriptions are superb, as usual, and feel much more integrated into the fabric of the story than some of the eagle's eye view paragraphs in the Rogues of the Republic series (which I love unconditionally anyway, and there's more room to abstract from the plot and describe setting when it's a full-length novel, but there it is). Theradane feels like a real, living and breathing city, which is always a joy to see in a story: a setting so central to the plot that it feels like another character!
I love Amarelle and her crew as well, and the members of the wizards' parliament make for very interesting antagonists. While the story ends with a budding scheme on the part of the protagonists to dismantle the Parliament of Strife and buy their freedom in the larger world, and I would love to read more of their escapades, the story doesn't feel inconclusive or like a novel or series stuffed in the too-small shoes of a novella. I have no doubt I'll keep coming back to this story in the future while I eagerly await whatever delights Lynch's imagination brings us next.
I love Amarelle and her crew as well, and the members of the wizards' parliament make for very interesting antagonists. While the story ends with a budding scheme on the part of the protagonists to dismantle the Parliament of Strife and buy their freedom in the larger world, and I would love to read more of their escapades, the story doesn't feel inconclusive or like a novel or series stuffed in the too-small shoes of a novella. I have no doubt I'll keep coming back to this story in the future while I eagerly await whatever delights Lynch's imagination brings us next.