Prelim Review: Though this is paired with THE EXECUTIONESS, I found myself less enchanted with this book. I emphasized less with the main character in this book then I did with Tana and while the magic was interesting to read about, I found the bitter truths that Tana sought after and fought more intriguing.

Full Review to be posted at Poisoned Rationality ( )

The Alchemist is a fantastic story. One of the most exciting invented worlds I've read in years. Hope to see many, many more in that setting. I can't judge The Executioness because I was so blown away with the other. ( )

Paolo Bacigalupi has recently become one of my favorite authors. He creates this magnificent worlds that full of magic and wonder and so very well developed. I was little unsure of this story with an additional author unknown to me (sorry Tobias Buckell). But I shouldn't have worried. This are two beautiful interlinked stories and I fell in love with all the characters (although I have to admit that I was quite upset to leave the Alchemist and move to the Executioness). The sentences were just beautiful in these stories. If I had been reading a physical book, I would have stopped more than once to marvel over their composition. Jonathan Davis and Katherine Kellgren were wonderful narrators (as usual). ( )

Two short novellas set in a shared world universe around the city of Khaim. Sometime in the past experiments with magic have created a virrulent weed, bramble, that feeds upon the slightest magics, reproducing widely with it's virulent sleep inducing toxic thorns and fire based reproduction it is a true super weed. This has resulted in the city's draconian ban on magic enforced by death. The two stories look at the personal consequences of an Alchemist who develops a method for destroying the bramble, and a daughter who inherits her father's role as the city Executioner.

They share many similar themes and writing styles and work quite well, but I think I'd prefer to read a bit more detail in a full length novel than these 60page snippets. ( )

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

The Alchemist and The Executioness caught my eye as soon as it went up at Audible.com. Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell offering linked fantasy novellas that take place in a shared world? Bacigalupi's story read by Jonathan Davis? What could be more promising? (It turns out that had I been familiar with Katherine Kellgren, who read Buckell's story, I would have been even more excited about this one!)

In this shared world, the use of magic causes the growth of bramble, a fast-growing, pervasive, and deadly plant that has taken over cities, making them uninhabitable. Crews of workers must fight back the bramble daily, burning it and collecting its seeds. Magic is forbidden and those who are found using it are executed, yet some citizens are willing to risk their lives if a bit of magic might help them. Who cares if a patch of bramble sprouts in a stranger's garden if a magic spell might heal their only child?

The Alchemist is about a metal and glass worker who has given up all of his riches and is building an instrument which he hopes will destroy the bramble, restore his fortune, and give him the license to use magic to cure his daughter's wasting cough. When he presents his invention to the city government, things start to go wrong.

I liked Bacigalupi's characters — the focused scientist who's so task-oriented that he misses important social cues and the strong woman whose support is crucial but mostly goes unnoticed — and I enjoyed the laboratory setting because it reminded me of my own frustrating days at "the bench." It was intriguing to explore the idea that small and secret lawbreaking, even for a good cause, can accumulate to destroy a nation or, as one of Bacigalupi's characters says: "If we grant individual mercies, we commit collective suicide." That got me thinking of all sorts of current political, economic, and social parallels.

With The Executioness, Tobias Buckell becomes the hero of middle-aged mothers everywhere. Since I'm now one of those, I loved this story about a mom who loses her family and finds herself. Tana is a desperate woman who just does what any mother would do in the same circumstances. It's hard for me to imagine becoming a hero, but Tana's story is completely believable and after hearing it, now I wonder if maybe I could be...

The Executioness was read by Katherine Kellgren, whom I'd never heard before. She was incredible and brought so much personality to Buckell's protagonist. She sounded lost, distressed, frightened, and brave at just the right times. I already adored Jonathan Davis (I heard him read Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar books) and I now have a new favorite in Katherine Kellgren.

I can highly recommend The Alchemist and The Executioness to fantasy lovers of all ages. I wish it had been longer. It's exclusively available on audio at Audible.com. So far, everything I've listened to by Audible Frontiers has been of the highest quality — excellent sound quality, excellent narration, and a large collection of superior fantasy works. ( )