Elder Race

by

eBook, 176 pages

English language

Published Nov. 15, 2021 by Tom Doherty Associates.

ISBN:
978-1-250-76871-1
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5 stars (6 reviews)

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…

2 editions

reviewed Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Science-Fantasy mal anders

5 stars

Elder Race ist tatsächlich mein erstes Buch von Adrian Tchaikovsky - und warum zum Teufel habe ich so lange damit gewartet, mal etwas von ihm zu lesen? In dem eher kurzen Roman erzählt der Autor eine doppelte Geschichte: Da ist eine in Ungnade gefallene Prinzessin, die versucht, mit der Hilfe eines mysteriösen Magiers der "Elder Race" ein gefährliches Monster zu besiegen und so bei ihrer Familie Anerkennung zu finden. Dann ist da aber auch noch ein Anthropologe der Menschheit, der den Forschungsposten auf einer weit abseits gelegenen Kolonie betreut und schon seit Jahrzehnten den Kontakt zur Erde verloren hat.

So erzählt Tchaikovsky dieselbe Geschichte aus zwei Perspektiven, die unterschiedlicher nicht sein könnten, und es trotz aller Versuche auch nicht schaffen, wirklich miteinander zu kommunizieren. Ein für mich bisher vollkommen unbekannter Take für das etablierte Genre der Science-Fantasy. Lesen.

reviewed Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Started with an interesting premise, ended deeply satisfying

5 stars

She is a fourth daughter of royalty with no hope of advancement in station, determined to invoke the promise of aid given to her ancestor generations ago by a powerful wizard when her mother refuses to engage a demon threatening the kingdom.

He is a long-lived exo-socialogist, sent to observe these people but not interfere. He broke that directive once before, many years ago, and now another of them has shown up at his outpost door...

I've never seen a story play with Clarke's Third Law ("Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.") like this before. Each chapter alternates POV between the two main characters, so it is half science fiction and half fantasy. Sometimes the same events are told both ways. The story is interesting on its own, but told this way it also becomes a lesson on empathy and understanding.

It surprisingly also became a story about …

reviewed Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Review of 'Elder Race' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

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!

reviewed Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Short and good!

4 stars

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.

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