Moriarty and the Apothecary
No, not in the same story. (Come to think of it, that’s a story someone should write.) We just watched two anime series that were a world apart, yet shared intricate conspiracies and protagonists who notice what everyone else misses. And both had themes of low-born individuals standing against the abuses of the upper class.
Moriarty the Patriot casts Sherlock Holmes’ arch nemesis as a fervent believer in dismantling the oppressive British class system. Using a number of stories from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the series bends the episodes into an overarching plot to bring about social reform without the devastating loss of life caused by the French Revolution. All the characters from the stories are here: Holmes, Mycroft, Lestrade, Irene Adler, Milverton, and more. Stories like A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four form parts of a new narrative that were allegedly a repressed story behind the scenes of Doyle’s tales. I thought it was clever and entertaining.
In Apothecary Diaries, set in Imperial China, a young girl named Maomao is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Rear Palace (women’s quarters). Trained by her father as an apothecary, she quickly identifies the cause of several deaths among the Emperor’s concubines and children. This brings her to the notice of Jinshi, head eunuch of the Rear Palace, who employs her as a food taster while secretly deploying her detective talents to unravel the plots and deceits rampant in the palace. The dynamic between Maomao and Jinshi is a large part of the fun of this series.
Both are tales involving the powers of observation and deduction, and using those powers to help those oppressed by noble rulers.
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A holiday short story set in the world of Knots. Escher and Emeline have brought a tree into the house to decorate. Trefoil the cat is quick to investigate—and discovers something unusual. This isn’t just any tree; it’s home to a dryad, and she’s not happy about being uprooted. As mayhem unfolds, it’s up to Trefoil to defend the house from the growing chaos… if he doesn’t get put outside first.
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Knots
Chuck Boeheim
Knots and folds are the tools of magic in a world where a deadly game of Topomancy has rearranged the map of Europe.
When a thief who calls himself Escher steals an amulet in the mages’ game, he becomes a game piece himself. The mage who recovers the piece stands to win the game. But for Escher, the amulet might be his only way home.
“Knots is filled with unexpected characters, plot twists, literal location twists, mystery, and redemption.” – R.E. Flynn
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This genre-defying novel combines fantasy, mystery, and adventure into a mind-bending tale of magic, redemption, and discovery.
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In a fractured near-future California, Virtual Light follows Berry Rydell, a disillusioned former cop, and Chevette Washington, a bike courier whose impulsive theft of high-tech sunglasses pulls her into a dangerous conspiracy. The glasses contain encrypted plans for the redevelopment of a San Francisco that never recovered from “the big one,” threatening the city’s most vulnerable residents.
On the run, Chevette seeks refuge in the Bay Bridge community, a patchwork society built on the ruins of the earthquake-damaged bridge. Rydell, hired to recover the glasses, grows uneasy with the motives of those pursuing her. Together, they’re minnows swimming among sharks, forced to devise a way to protect themselves.
It’s a story that resonates deeply today, with California’s devastating fires and billionaires cozying up to politicians. The stage seems set for this book to become reality.
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Under My Skin
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Under My Skin by K.J. Parker is a collection of short stories, though Parker often stretches the definition of “short” as much as he stretches the truth. It’s full of con artists who became great, great men who were conned, frauds who are scholars, and vice versa. Don’t believe any of them. Parker is the master of the unreliable narrator.
Take Saloninus, for example. He’s spoken of in reverent tones throughout earlier tales as a cross between Galileo and Shakespeare, a genius without peer. But when we finally get to his story—oh my. Another tale involves magic that isn’t magic, undead revenants, and the bitter competition for the chair of the department that doesn’t deal with magic (because, of course, magic doesn’t exist). Then there’s The Best Man Wins, the story of a smith forging a sword for a customer. Every step of the process, told in loving detail, is a metaphor. About what? You’ll have to read to the end, because I’m not giving it away.
Parker’s deep knowledge of literature, war, alchemy, and medieval crafts like forging lends the stories an extraordinary texture of reality. Every detail feels painstakingly authentic, grounding the tales even as the characters and their truths slip out of reach.
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