Sections
Foundryside is a great urban fantasy novel set in a world where people can change the properties of matter – an ability held by powerful merchant houses that monopolize knowledge to maximize profit and control the city of Tevanne with an iron fist.
The protagonist is Sancia, a young thief with a very special ability: she can “communicate” with any object she touches with her bare skin, feeling what it feels, seeing its strengths and weakness, and also its history – where it has been, what hands have touched it. Although using it hurts her, it’s still a very useful talent for a thief to possess, as she can sense what any vault contains without opening it, among other [...]
The Goblin Emperor is a steampunk novel that is primarily interested in its characters, relegating plot and action to the sidelines – and, in that sense, it’s a breath of fresh air. However, the book’s focus exacerbates its most glaring flaw: the characters are not complex enough to sustain the constant gaze directed towards them.
The narrative follows the ascension of a half-goblin to the throne of the Elflands, after a disaster kills the rest of his family. This half-goblin – which means he has dark skin – is called Maia. He is young and inexperienced. He has lived his whole life as a pariah, consciously forgotten by his father, the late Emperor, and being raised by an [...]
Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti, Genevieve Valentine’s first novel, is a different and ambitious book, with a narrative that stands out for being peculiar and strange.
The Circus Tresaulti is known for its extraordinary members: people who have had various parts of their body – such as their legs, eyes, or even their heart – replaced by gears, scrap metal, and utensils of iron and steel. These pieces are set inside their bodies by the director of the circus – to whom everyone refers simply as “Boss” – to make them more resistant than their original selves, helping their work in the circus. The process is absurdly painful and, in the end, it is not [...]