Synopsis
She was good at making friends.
Coppelia is a street thief, a trickster, a low-level con artist. But she has something other thieves don’t… tiny puppet-like friends: some made of wood, some of metal. They don’t entirely trust her, and she doesn’t entirely understand them, but their partnership mostly works.
After a surprising discovery shakes their world to the core, Coppelia and her friends must reexamine everything they thought they knew about their world, while attempting to save their city from a seemingly impossible new threat.
Review
Continuing my Novella November reading challenge, I dived into another of Tchaikovsky’s shorter works! This one is doing the rounds lately as well, due to The Broken Binding’s special edition of it 😀
Although not one of my favourite Tchaikovsky books, it is perhaps the most whimsical that I’ve read, with true heart, underdogs, and found family running through its core.
There are so many wonderful characterisations and descriptions in this world that I had to re-listen to lines over and over again. This is full of the child-like wonder and awe of knowing there is real magic out there in the world, and the small made things can actually have life. The small puppets and the vastly larger golem bring a sprinkling of wonder to this magic-drenched city, where thieves and half-mages exist in a tenuous balance. It reminded me in equal parts of Toy Story, A Wizard’s Guide To Defensive Baking, and The Borrowers.
It dives a bit deeper into that, with the homunculi having their own desires, needs, and fears, and how those living in the gutters of society would do anything to increase their survivability. There are the standard tropes of an upper and under city, and we’re always rooting for the lower classes to keep out of the clutches of authority.
I enjoyed how history is written by winners, and what we’re told to believe isn’t always accurate. This tale occasionally brushes some darker themes, but the story doesn’t focus on that, which keeps everything very surface level and light hearted.
It feels like the story is set in a world much grander and more lived in than we get to see in these handful of pages, and one I’d love to explore as a full novel or series. It’s wonderfully atmospheric, with a rag-tag group of characters trying to make the best of what they have in a world that is ultimately against them. This is a setting and story that I feel will resonate with many people!
The audiobook was also expertly narrated by the author himself, which always brings an extra element of authenticity to the read.
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