Elder Race (2021, Tordotcom)
paperback, 208 pages
Published Nov. 16, 2021 by Tordotcom.
A junior anthropologist on a distant planet must help the locals he has sworn to study to save a planet from an unbeatable foe.
Lynesse is the lowly Fourth Daughter of the queen, and always getting in the way.
But a demon is terrorizing the land, and now she’s an adult (albeit barely) and although she still gets in the way, she understands that the only way to save her people is to invoke the pact between her family and the Elder sorcerer who has inhabited the local tower for as long as her people have lived here (though none in living memory has approached it).
But Elder Nyr isn’t a sorcerer, and he is forbidden to help, for his knowledge of science tells him the threat cannot possibly be a demon…
Absolutely blasted through this in two days.
I really loved that it wasn't a huge novel, but now I've finished it I find myself wishing it was so much longer.
I guess I need to read some more Tchaikovsky even sooner than I was already planning to.
A fast, fun, rewarding read.
This kept me reading from the first page to the last. What's happening isn't at all a puzzle, unlike some other books that use the same general concept (some of which I now want to go back and re-read). The way the high-tech protagonist's depression was dealt with was fascinating to me, and not one I've seen before; and having clinical depression myself, I found it plausible and relatable. And the relationship(s) between the high-tech protagonist and the indigenes who see him as a wizard were done well, feeling genuine on both sides.
Very recommended!
A nice little read with interesting ideas. I’ve been reading loooong books these last months, so it’s a good reprieve from the big-plot-storage mindset.
I especially liked how the setting is fully compréhensible as a Fantasy and as a sci-fi setting. The world works as both, the characters become more aware of the other side's point of view, as the plot works well in both ways.
