Rating: 7.5/10
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
Thanks to the publisher and author for an advance reading copy of Made Things in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this ARC did not influence my thoughts or opinions on a novella.
Having read Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time last year, I just knew that I had to get some more of his books into my ever growing TBR. Made Things stood out simply based on the gorgeous cover by Red Nose Studio. It perfectly captures the look of the two (2) main homunculi, Tef and Arc, and gives you just a dose of what to expect from the story.
Made Things, while small in scale in regard to page count and character size, expands the imagination on an epic scale when it comes to world-building and history. While it sits at approx 192 pages, there is an entire world being created and manipulated in such a way as to feel like a full-scale novel. From the humans to the homunculi, the city streets to the depths of the underground, not a stone is left unturned.
What I enjoyed most about the novella was the history of the homunculi and the vast differences between each one. Each tiny puppet-like creation is given its own personality and motivations, creating a super unique story that I haven’t seen since Small Soldiers or Toy Story. Also, the magic behind their life source, etc is pretty fascinating.
I recommend Made Things if you are a casual fantasy fan and want a quicker read than your normal epic 800-page quests. It can be read in a couple of lunch hours, depending on your speed, and its a very entertaining little romp like most Tor.com novellas are. Also, its Tchaikovsky. Need I say more?
I had been wondering about this book, so thank you for the review. I have not read Tchaikovsky, yet, but Children of Time is on my radar. Did you like that one?
For sure! Children of Time was absolutely amazing. Still need to read the sequel that was released in 2019.
Going to have to check it out.
Oh my, I definitely need to read this! My TBR is never ending and now that I am back into the book community is looking more hominous than never but I have to add this title on it!
Hah. Take your time and once you get to it, I hope you enjoy!