Made Things
By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
My Rating: Four out of Five Stars
Best for: Adults

Having a name like Tchaikovsky–that’s a lot to live up to. If Made Things is any indication, Adrian Tchaikovsky is holding up pretty good.

I think the most talented writers are ones who can build a whole world in less that 200 pages, and that’s what’s happened here.

This is a clever story about magic, thievery, and what happens when you mix the two. It’s a bit fantasy and a bit steam punk. Living puppets, unlikely friendships, street rats sticking to to the upper class. I loved this world and I want to read more of it. There were so many great details and hints to a bigger story to be told. Lot’s of great one-liners, too. Check this one out:

The workshops of her mind were minting sincerity in unprecedented quantities, depressing the market for years to come with their adulterated coinage.

Cool, right?

I found this story very readable and enjoyable. A whole bunch of creativity packed into just a few pages. I’d love to read more of this world. I’ll have to check out Tchaikovsky’s other books while I wait.

Maybe I’ll listen to The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, too.

18 and up. Towards the end the f-bomb count tipped over the edge as some of the more foul-mouthed thieves took center stage.

Happy Reading!