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lisalark's review
4.0
I really liked this odd and sort of creepy little fantasy novella. It's creative and engrossing and rewarding and interesting. Need to read more Elizabeth Bear . . .
raygina's review
4.0
If this were a full series, I would run out and get the next one. A wonderful read, and while it did make me cry, it also had parts that made me laugh.
jmeston's review
4.0
Memorable image of the magician's compound/workshop. An affecting ending. I will have to read this series.
coolcurrybooks's review
4.0
This little novella is probably one of my favorite things Elizabeth Bear has ever written.
Bijou the Artificer is a wizard of Messaline, and she has remained such for over eighty years. Now, near the end of her life when she only wants to create her fantastical metal animals in peace, a former apprentice has brought her a feral child, poisoned by a sorcerous spell. It is the clear work of Kaulas the Necromancer, Bijou’s old enemy. He has plans afoot, and both Bijou and the unnamed child will find themselves being swept into them.
Bone and Jewel Creatures is set in the same world as several of Bear’s other fantasy stories. Most notably, this is the home of Range of Ghosts, the first book in her epic fantasy trilogy, and The Stone in the Skull, a new novel and the start of a swords and sorcery series. While it is a second world setting, it draws heavily on our own world, specifically Central Asia. The cultural analogs range from Nepal to Mongolia to India to Arabia. Messaline is a trading city, similar to our own Silk Road cities. However, you don’t really need to know this or need to have read any of her prior work to make sense of Bone and Jewel Creatures. But the world building is wonderous and gorgeously wrought!
Bijou rends down dead animals for their bones, then refashions the skeletons into fantastical animals, embedded with jewels. She brings these creations to life with her magic, and they serve as friends and companions. Hence, the title. Still, there’s a large difference between Bijou’s bone and jewel creatures and the still-living child she’s given to raise. The interactions between the two are one of my favorite parts.
The child in question is mute and doesn’t consider herself human. She was raised by the jackals that haunt the city’s shadows, and those jackals are her family. Yet, she has capabilities that surpass them, as she is beginning to realize. I love how Elizabeth Bear always creates such vibrant female characters, and she again achieves this in Bone and Jewel Creatures. How often have you read about a girl raised by jackals and a ninety-something-year-old female wizard?
So what makes Bone and Jewel Creatures stand out from Bear’s other work? Why is it one of my favorite? Simply put, I think it’s stronger in plot than many of her other stories, even if it is shorter. The other stories in this world I’ve read are always beautifully imagined and full of interesting characters, but the plots tend to feel fairly standard. Bone and Jewel Creatures might have had a necromancer for a villain (not an unusual choice), but it never felt stale, boring, or trope ladened.
I loved Bone and Jewel Creatures, and I’d love more about these characters! It’s a truly gorgeous novella with a bit of a fairytale feel. I recommend it to anyone looking for an enchanting story.
Review from The Illustrated Page.
Bijou the Artificer is a wizard of Messaline, and she has remained such for over eighty years. Now, near the end of her life when she only wants to create her fantastical metal animals in peace, a former apprentice has brought her a feral child, poisoned by a sorcerous spell. It is the clear work of Kaulas the Necromancer, Bijou’s old enemy. He has plans afoot, and both Bijou and the unnamed child will find themselves being swept into them.
Bone and Jewel Creatures is set in the same world as several of Bear’s other fantasy stories. Most notably, this is the home of Range of Ghosts, the first book in her epic fantasy trilogy, and The Stone in the Skull, a new novel and the start of a swords and sorcery series. While it is a second world setting, it draws heavily on our own world, specifically Central Asia. The cultural analogs range from Nepal to Mongolia to India to Arabia. Messaline is a trading city, similar to our own Silk Road cities. However, you don’t really need to know this or need to have read any of her prior work to make sense of Bone and Jewel Creatures. But the world building is wonderous and gorgeously wrought!
Bijou rends down dead animals for their bones, then refashions the skeletons into fantastical animals, embedded with jewels. She brings these creations to life with her magic, and they serve as friends and companions. Hence, the title. Still, there’s a large difference between Bijou’s bone and jewel creatures and the still-living child she’s given to raise. The interactions between the two are one of my favorite parts.
The child in question is mute and doesn’t consider herself human. She was raised by the jackals that haunt the city’s shadows, and those jackals are her family. Yet, she has capabilities that surpass them, as she is beginning to realize. I love how Elizabeth Bear always creates such vibrant female characters, and she again achieves this in Bone and Jewel Creatures. How often have you read about a girl raised by jackals and a ninety-something-year-old female wizard?
So what makes Bone and Jewel Creatures stand out from Bear’s other work? Why is it one of my favorite? Simply put, I think it’s stronger in plot than many of her other stories, even if it is shorter. The other stories in this world I’ve read are always beautifully imagined and full of interesting characters, but the plots tend to feel fairly standard. Bone and Jewel Creatures might have had a necromancer for a villain (not an unusual choice), but it never felt stale, boring, or trope ladened.
I loved Bone and Jewel Creatures, and I’d love more about these characters! It’s a truly gorgeous novella with a bit of a fairytale feel. I recommend it to anyone looking for an enchanting story.
Review from The Illustrated Page.
abetterjulie's review
2.0
Great concept, poor execution. The characters weren't well done, in my opinion. I felt like I had to keep trying to grasp a slippery vision of who/what/how they were. The last few pages were the best part because the writing and story were laid out more clearly. The whole thing read like a concept piece for a whole book, instead of a novella. I am hoping her writing style is different in the next book I try.
carol26388's review
4.0
Text with pictures at my blog: http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2014/11/14/bone-and-jewel-creatures-by-elizabeth-bear-sparkling/
A jewel of a novella.
“Bijou’s fingers angled from her palms as if someone had bent them aside under great heat and pressure. She shuffled about her cavernous, shadowed workshop in parody of a bride’s hesitation step. Eighty years a Wizard of Messaline–the city of jackals, the empire of markets–had left their wear.“
How often do you find an elderly, arthritic heroine in fantasy? From the first sentence, Bear had my attention. Her enjoyable, vivid writing kept it.
The story begins with Enchanter Bijou in her workshop where she has been building creatures for herself and others out of bone, metals and found objects. She’s finishing a creation when her former apprentice Brazen brings her a mute, wild street urchin. Examination reveals the child has a necrotic growth in her arm, and even closer examination identifies a foreign object as cause. From there, the plot moves quickly, although somewhat predictably. I was glad that Bear choose to limit involvement of politics in the story, as there wasn’t enough time to adequately broaden focus of the lives of the main characters. Personally, I let the glittering enchantments of the workshop entertain me, wandering around the menagerie of Bijous’ creations.
The writing is vivid, the creations delightful, and I have a whole set of images in my head of her servants that I can’t seem to find on the web, although I’m sure I’ve seen them. I imagine Bijou’s creations look a lot like this, only with more rubies:
This little novella has definitely sold me on trying more Elizabeth Bear, including the stand-alone prequel, Book of Iron. I highly recommend it, particularly to fans of Valente.
A jewel of a novella.
“Bijou’s fingers angled from her palms as if someone had bent them aside under great heat and pressure. She shuffled about her cavernous, shadowed workshop in parody of a bride’s hesitation step. Eighty years a Wizard of Messaline–the city of jackals, the empire of markets–had left their wear.“
How often do you find an elderly, arthritic heroine in fantasy? From the first sentence, Bear had my attention. Her enjoyable, vivid writing kept it.
The story begins with Enchanter Bijou in her workshop where she has been building creatures for herself and others out of bone, metals and found objects. She’s finishing a creation when her former apprentice Brazen brings her a mute, wild street urchin. Examination reveals the child has a necrotic growth in her arm, and even closer examination identifies a foreign object as cause. From there, the plot moves quickly, although somewhat predictably. I was glad that Bear choose to limit involvement of politics in the story, as there wasn’t enough time to adequately broaden focus of the lives of the main characters. Personally, I let the glittering enchantments of the workshop entertain me, wandering around the menagerie of Bijous’ creations.
The writing is vivid, the creations delightful, and I have a whole set of images in my head of her servants that I can’t seem to find on the web, although I’m sure I’ve seen them. I imagine Bijou’s creations look a lot like this, only with more rubies:
This little novella has definitely sold me on trying more Elizabeth Bear, including the stand-alone prequel, Book of Iron. I highly recommend it, particularly to fans of Valente.
glennisleblanc's review
3.0
I've sat on this novella for a while. I tend to do that with novellas and I just wait until I want to read an entire story in one sitting but don't want to commit a lot of time to it. I'm happy to say that I can read more about this universe since it is set in the same world as the Eternal Sky series. Now this means I will have to start reading it in my spare time.
The story is set in a world of magic and the beginning of a wizard war in the city. The necromancer is making a bid for power over the other wizards. Bijou is brought a feral child by her old apprentice and she creates a hand out of bone and jewels to replace the infected one that had to be removed. Her home is filled with the magical bone creatures that serve her and she creates more of them for her customers. In the space of a few pages you find out how the city politics work and a lot of history between the wizards. A good read and I'm glad there is more for me to read as well.
The story is set in a world of magic and the beginning of a wizard war in the city. The necromancer is making a bid for power over the other wizards. Bijou is brought a feral child by her old apprentice and she creates a hand out of bone and jewels to replace the infected one that had to be removed. Her home is filled with the magical bone creatures that serve her and she creates more of them for her customers. In the space of a few pages you find out how the city politics work and a lot of history between the wizards. A good read and I'm glad there is more for me to read as well.
rachela1eaf's review
3.0
An intriguing little read. The world and characters were rich and innovative, truly delightful. I would love to explore more of it, though I don't believe this particular novella should have been any longer. In fact, I did feel it dragged a bit in the first half; it may have been better served as a short story. Still, an enjoyable read with interesting concepts and memorable characters.
singinglight's review
3.0
Has the elegant language and dreaminess of Patricia McKillip at her best. I was less caught by the characters, though, and some of the motivations and reactions at the big showdown just didn’t work for me. Still lovely, though. [Feb 2012]
karter's review
2.0
The book kind of plodded along, despite being a quick read. I felt like nothing really happened, and there was too much description for my taste. It wasn't a bad story, just kind of boring and slow. The concept of wizards and such is interesting, but it was never fully explained. Like you had this character called the Bey, who is referred to as important, but in the end he barely serves a purpose.
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