This was a very interesting read. Alivet Dee, the main character is living in a world where humans are oppressed by interdimensional aliens. She is given the opportunity to defeat them with the help of a person from a different world, Ari Ghairen. There is a lot of intrigue, and she isn't sure if she can trust him, but she is thrust into perilous circumstances that force her into close proximity with him. We soon learn that her distrust of Ghairen is unearned, and the result of living in a harsh world. She also discovers that the interdimensional aliens, masquerading as angels, have taken people from earth through portal to other worlds that are based on the four humors. The magic system is very interesting and seems to be based on Jewish mysticism and Catholicism without being overtly religious. This is story of good and evil is very well thought out and the worldbuilding and atmosphere are phenomenal. ( )

A novel in which the world building is good and we meet some strange and interesting characters and societies, plus there is an overall attempt to link this to Cabbalistic beliefs from the middle ages. The story is divided between a timeline in the 16th century and one in the far future. In the 16th century, the historical character, Dr John Dee, initially an artificier, alchemist and mathematician with big ideas, constrained by the need to avoid reprisals from the Catholic Church, eventually becomes the leader of an expedition to a 'new world', one which is extraterrestrial but which he, contacted by an 'angel', begins to suspect may not be quite what it seems.

In the far future, the main character is his distant descendant, Alivet Dee, a talented alchemist and apothecary, engaged in one of the few trades which poor women such as herself are allowed to work in. She is attempting to save enough money to release her twin sister from enbonding: slavery to the alien overlords which do not fully exist in the physical dimension. The humans on her planet are descendants from those brought there by those overlords. Disaster strikes when Alivet is framed for the murder of one of her clients and has to go on the run. She is helped by a strange man with red eyes, who turns out to be Ghairen and the title character. He is from another planet where he is part of a guild of poisoners, and he needs Alivet's help to distill a substance which he hopes will kill the alien rulers.

The ideas in this book are based on alchemy and the Cabbalistic belief system, which calls Earth and various other planets by different names. Some of this was vaguely familiar as I'd read a book on the subject many years before. There is also the strange notion that the various drugs used in the story have their own 'spirit' which the alchemist can communicate with while in a trance state. I found it interesting although not entirely convincing. There is also the crime/adventure element of Alivet having to learn to survive, eventually on two other worlds, and to deal with various people who may or may not be lying and using her for their own ends.

I would have enjoyed the story more if the rather forced romance between Alivet and the poison master, Ghairen, had been dropped. It doesn't come across as convincing and is, in fact, distasteful, given that at one point she thinks he might be sexually abusing his daughter and still finds him a turn on. That element could have been expunged without harming the story in any way. For that reason, what would probably have been a 4-star rating reduced by the end to a 3. ( )

I may have to re-read this at some stage but when I eventually got into it it was such a twist on what I expected of the story. it's hard to discuss the story without spoilers but it features humans as a lower class in a planet Latent Emanation. One of those humans is Alivet Dee who can't help but question the Lord's Rule, particularly as her sister has been taken to serve in their palace. She has saved to rescue her but the rescue goes wrong and things change forever for her. It's a tale of alternative worlds and humanity and the changes that can happen with different influences and environments.
It took me a while to start it but once I got into it it was great. It requires a lot of suspension of disbelief at first and just going with the flow until it started to flow for me. ( )

The Poison Master was interesting and the world was original.
Alivet, the protagonist, is an alchemist on Latent Emenation, a dark, damp world ruled by the insectoid Lords of Night who keep humans enslaved via a brutal system enforced by "unpriests". The people themselves are docile, sodden with drugs and despair, their only rebellion the secret meetings where they search for their origin in drug-induced dreams. Alivet works constantly to try to earn enough to release her sister, Inki, from the clutches of the Lords, where she is an "embonded" slave. Alivet's quiet life is cut short, however, when a girl she is helping to "Experience" drugs recreationally dies, and she is forced to take the aid offered by an alien stranger, who she suspects of being complicit in the death. The stranger requests her aid in return--and given the implicit threat, Alivet feels forced to comply. She is thrown into literally a different world as she seeks to escape her situation and rescue her sister.

The story did a great job of intertwining two different stories: that of Dr. John Dee, mathematician of Earth, whose story is told in brief sections at the start of each chapter, and Alivet, the protagonist.
However, I had significant issues with both the characters and the world. The interactions between Alivet and Ghairen, the stereotypical Mysterious Dark Stranger, runs in a prototypical Jane Eyre fashion. Despite her distrust and dislike, Alivet is drawn to him. Honestly, I can't see why. He is domineering and immoral--he is a professional poisoner--and Alivet even suspects him of raping his own daughter. I found his Byronic appearance, cynicism, and total lack of any sort of morality to be incredibly irritating. Even so, apparently Ghairen is supposed to be magnetically attractive. Alivet herself is, in terms of personality, possibly quite strong, but she is dominated and controlled throughout the novel. The tired old trope of female "mastery" or "domination" via their sexual desirability is also thrown around. I would say that since Ghairen apparently effectively traps Alivet into her situation, routinely locks her into her room at night, forbids her to go outside, forces and restricts her actions, and lays down ultimatums, it is pretty clear that Alivet and he do not have an equal relationship. Personally, I couldn't respect a man who did that, no matter how devilishly attractive he is. Yet, for example, when he puts handcuffs on her right after their first meeting, Alivet has a strong desire for him to "take her" etc. Yuck. Add to it that Ghairen's actions are ambiguous and we can't be sure how immoral he is or what his eventual intentions for Alivet are, and I was completely unable to relate to his character. My lost sympathy for Alivet meant that my main interest in the book was the worldbuilding.

The world was indeed interesting, but again, I was left feeling that it was somehow incomplete and parts seemed to me to be partially contradictory. Either the background was not fully realized or not enough was explained for me to fully understand the backgrounds of the creatures who Alivet meets.

Overall, I found the characters unsympathetic and drawn from the Bronte-style tropes, so the book fell flat for me. However, the book was indeed interesting, and readers who are more interested in original worldbuilding and very clever ties between science fiction and fantasy will really enjoy it. ( )

Really rather good but flawed - intriguing, quite gripping, definitely unpredictable. I can't say that the romance element convinced me, and the clash of 16th century England vs futuristic other worlds was disorienting as well as interesting, so I wouldn't whole-heartedly recommend it. ( )