Synopsis
In a Wild West where mathematics is outlawed, mathematicians are the deadliest gunslingers. Mad Malago Browne just wants a peaceful life, but when she’s forced to take up her protractor, she’ll ride against the Capitol to exact justice and return freedom to the West.
Review
Let’s get the obvious out of the way, shall we? Triggernometry is an exceptional pun. Who in their right mind doesn’t wish they’d thought of that!
What may seem like a bit of a joke — making history’s mathematicians the bad boys and cowboys of the Wild West — is treated with such sincerity across the series that you can’t help but wonder why nobody has equated mathematicians with gunslingers before. Of course they’d be able to calculate the most efficient way of killing people based on an almost superhuman understanding of principles that underpin the world! If you doubt that maths can be cool, this trilogy of novellas will change your mind. Guaranteed.
Let’s take them one at a time so I can show my working, and then you can see why I’ve reached the conclusion that this series is a must-read for any fan of the weird west.
Book #1 — Triggernometry
The first novella introduces us to some amazing characters in what is, ostensibly, a train robbery heist. Mad Malago Browne is pulled into Pierre de Fermat’s scheme to rob a train of all its gold and cripple the Capitol (a government hell-bent on keeping mathematics outlawed).
The world building is second to none. You’ll find it so compelling that you won’t even realise it’s over until the final page. It’s propulsive and action packed, but rooted in character. There’s nothing gimmicky about this. It’s a soulful look at a weird west that takes you outside the box, but leaves you in relatable terrain. I was so impressed by the pacing and the twists and turns.
You know how the strongest liquor is poured out in the smallest shots? That’s what this book is — it’s a shot of whiskey for the imagination. Outstanding stuff.
Book #2 — Advanced Triggernometry
What could make The Magnificent Seven cooler? The answer is: If they were all mathematicians. This is very much a case of The Mathnificent Seven, and I’m only the tiniest bit disappointed that this wasn’t the title of the book!
It makes for a worthy follow-up to Triggernometry. It expands the world even further. It opens us up to new characters and to new looks at familiar faces. A town needs a hero, and who better than Mad Malago Browne to reluctantly leave her schoolteaching life and get back in the saddle for the sake of justice?
A sequel should make everything about the first story cooler. That’s exactly what this book does. It’s got vibes coming out of its grizzled pores. And it features the best take on Archimedes I’ve ever seen.
Book #3 — Triggernometry Finals
In the final conundrum, who better to face off against a mathematician than another mathematician? The stakes in this third instalment have never been higher. But what I especially loved about it were its themes.
In the first two instalments, the themes aren’t really riding front and centre. The conceit of the world and the plight of the characters is what hooks you. But in this book, I was riveted by the way the story explored concepts like culpability and value. What is a life worth? What responsibility does knowledge place upon a person? Can you calculate the price of freedom? There are so many variables that are explored here, and I loved how deep it went, as well as the questions it left me thinking about.
This is a searching, satisfying ending that will haunt you long after you’ve finished reading. It’s got all the trademark humour and coolness that carry on through from book one, and it’ll make you desperate to see a big screen adaptation of the series. But it’s also the perfect reflection of what this whole series is about — a story that equates to being more than the sum of its parts.
Togethernometry
Taken all together, these three books will delight you in every conceivable way. They’ll make you smile with their clever use of compasses and protractors as deadly instruments of death, but in the back of your mind, make you feel invincible for having them in your pencil case. After all, we remember thinking how lethal they were in our high school maths lessons, right? And yet, peer a little deeper and you’ll see warnings that hint at a future where learning is criminal, where knowledge is outlawed in favour of rhetoric, and where the bad guys aim to limit freedoms while the baddest rebels are the geeks in spectacles.
All this works on a surface level (“hey, wasn’t it cool when she used that protractor as a throwing star?”), remains accessible (“owch, I hurt myself on my compass again!”), and reaches a deeper truth in the social commentary it makes about the world we live in right now (“when was the last time I calculated anything for myself without being told what to do or how to do it?”). That’s why it’ll delight you in every way — because it searches through you on every level. This makes it feel full and rich and fun and frenetic and earnest and enlightening and just plain awesome.
You’ll come away from this series feeling cleverer. You’ll resonate with the characters who are forced into the mold that society shapes them into. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll think. You’ll feel. And the action scenes are next level turn-of-the-century stuff that read like John Wick walked into a stationary shop.
Full disclosure — I read all of these in one sitting from beginning to end, and could’ve kept going. That’s how good they are!
You won’t find a more solid trilogy of weird west novellas anywhere. The atmosphere and tone is second to none. The setting is as authentic a western as you’ll read in fiction, and the characters are so vivid that they’ll make you want to cosplay.
Simply put, the Triggernometry Series is an absolute masterpiece. Full marks. Congratulations, Stark Holborn, you’ve just gone to the top of the class.
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