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Academic Exercises
Academic Exercises is the first collection of shorter work by master novelist K.J Parker, and it is a stunner. Weighing in at over 500 pages, this generous volume gathers together thirteen highly distinctive stories, essays, and novellas, including the recent World Fantasy Award-Winner, “Let Maps to Others”. The result is a significant publishing event, a book that belongs on the shelf of every serious reader of imaginative fiction.
The collection opens with the World Fantasy Award-winning “A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong,” a story of music and murder set against a complex mentor/pupil relationship, and closes with the superb novella “Blue & Gold,” which features what may be the most beguiling opening lines in recent memory. In between, Parker has assembled a treasure house of narrative pleasures. In “A Rich, Full Week,” an itinerant “wizard” undergoes a transformative encounter with a member of the “restless dead.” “Purple & Black,” the longest story in the book, is an epistolary tale about a man who inherits the most hazardous position imaginable: Emperor. “Amor Vincit Omnia” recounts a confrontation with a mass murderer who may have mastered an impossible form of magic.
Rounding out the volume—and enriching it enormously—are three fascinating and illuminating essays that bear direct relevance to Parker’s unique brand of fiction: “On Sieges,” “Cutting Edge Technology,” and “Rich Men’s Skins.”
Taken singly, each of these thirteen pieces is a lovingly crafted gem. Together, they constitute a major and enduring achievement. Rich, varied, and constantly absorbing, Academic Exercises is, without a doubt, the fantasy collection of the year.
Table of Contents:
A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong
A Rich, Full Week
Amor Vincit Omnia
On Sieges
Let Maps to Others
A Room with a View
Cutting Edge Technology
Illuminated
Purple & Black
Rich Men’s Skins
The Sun and I
One Little Room an Everywhere
Blue & Gold
The collection opens with the World Fantasy Award-winning “A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong,” a story of music and murder set against a complex mentor/pupil relationship, and closes with the superb novella “Blue & Gold,” which features what may be the most beguiling opening lines in recent memory. In between, Parker has assembled a treasure house of narrative pleasures. In “A Rich, Full Week,” an itinerant “wizard” undergoes a transformative encounter with a member of the “restless dead.” “Purple & Black,” the longest story in the book, is an epistolary tale about a man who inherits the most hazardous position imaginable: Emperor. “Amor Vincit Omnia” recounts a confrontation with a mass murderer who may have mastered an impossible form of magic.
Rounding out the volume—and enriching it enormously—are three fascinating and illuminating essays that bear direct relevance to Parker’s unique brand of fiction: “On Sieges,” “Cutting Edge Technology,” and “Rich Men’s Skins.”
Taken singly, each of these thirteen pieces is a lovingly crafted gem. Together, they constitute a major and enduring achievement. Rich, varied, and constantly absorbing, Academic Exercises is, without a doubt, the fantasy collection of the year.
Table of Contents:
A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong
A Rich, Full Week
Amor Vincit Omnia
On Sieges
Let Maps to Others
A Room with a View
Cutting Edge Technology
Illuminated
Purple & Black
Rich Men’s Skins
The Sun and I
One Little Room an Everywhere
Blue & Gold
536 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 31, 2014
54 people are currently reading
1137 people want to read
About the author
K.J. Parker
134 books1,670 followersK.J. Parker is a pseudonym for Tom Holt.
According to the biographical notes in some of Parker's books, Parker has previously worked in law, journalism, and numismatics, and now writes and makes things out of wood and metal. It is also claimed that Parker is married to a solicitor and now lives in southern England. According to an autobiographical note, Parker was raised in rural Vermont, a lifestyle which influenced Parker's work.
According to the biographical notes in some of Parker's books, Parker has previously worked in law, journalism, and numismatics, and now writes and makes things out of wood and metal. It is also claimed that Parker is married to a solicitor and now lives in southern England. According to an autobiographical note, Parker was raised in rural Vermont, a lifestyle which influenced Parker's work.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
January 3, 2023
Well, that pisses me off. Somehow GR deleted all the mini-reviews I had for all the stories within here. Infuriating. Just know this is a stellar collection of short fiction, the highlights of which include Purple and Black, A Small Price For Birdsong, Let Map To Others, The Sun and I, and the three brilliant nonfiction essays about sieges, swords, and armor.
September 11, 2016
***** A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong
A re-read... when I first read it, I wrote: 'I believe this is the second story I've read by Parker, and I'm very impressed. The Renaissance-ish fantasy setting is rich and enjoyable, but the meat of the story is in the complex relationship between two renowned composers, as their fortunes shift. Definitely going to seek out more from this author. (Just ordered two more books!)'
Loved just as much if not more, the second time around!
***** A Rich, Full Week
An adept is sent out by the Brotherhood to investigate and deal with a report of a village plagued by an undead. It's not an unusual assignment for one in his position, but it is his first time dealing with this specific kind of problem.
Excellent characterization & thoughtfulness elevates this a good step above most tales with a 'vampire-hunter confronts monster' theme.
***** Amor Vincit Omnia
Re-read; previously read in Strahan's 2011 'Year's Best' anthology, when I said, "A very classic fantasy tale of power struggles amongst wizards. It's also very good; I loved the conclusion."
The idea of the story is summed up in this quote, "If a man exists who is immune to force, even if he's the most blameless anchorite living on top of a column in the middle of the desert, he is beyond government, beyond authority, and cannot be controlled; and that would be intolerable."
The wizards in this story have all kinds of spells which can be used as terrible weapons - but they have never been able to discover a universal defense. They argue about whether such a thing is even possible, But now, an untrained, wild talent is rumored to have discovered the secret. And the wild talent is no peaceful hermit, but a mad killer. Brother Framea is sent to investigate.
Along the way, as Parker loves to do, there's quite a lot of commentary of the subjects of ethics and corruptibility.
On Sieges
Informative essay on the history of siege warfare.
**** Let Maps to Others
Another re-read...
"Another excellent short story by Parker, which makes me pleased that I ordered two books from this author since reading "A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong." This is similar in feel There are really two parts to this story - the first explores academic competition and one-upmanship, taken to a disturbing level. The second, following from the results of the first, probes literal exploration, and the consequences of obsession - with a heaping dose of irony."
Three hundred years ago, an explorer returned from a newly-discovered land, Essecuivo, with tales of fabulous riches and favorable trade agreements. However, the coordinates of this place were kept secret - and lost. Fortunes were made and lost in speculative ventures and investments in future expeditions. Nothing ever came of them. Now, our narrator is a scholar, known as the foremost expert on Essecuivo (the little that's known of it). His career has been dedicated to it, his personal obsession with the topic has been lifelong. But he has a rival who hates him...
**** A Room with a View
A wizard-scholar who's, shall we say, not the most successful graduate that the Studium has churned out, is given an unenviable assignment: he has to check a large number of dogs for the unlikely signs of demonic possession, before the animals can legally be cleared for sale. Not only is this an onerous, tedious, and near-pointless task, he has to also train a junior student how to do the job, meaning he can't even slack off.
But when this student he's supposed to be mentoring arrives, he's in for a surprise... not only is she a woman, but something seems strange about her...
Cutting Edge Technology
Extremely interesting and entertaining essay on the history of swordmaking and the techniques of swordfighting.
**** Illuminated
On assignment, instructed only to "investigate," an arrogant, chauvinistic wizard and his junior assistant are looking into a remote, abandoned tower. It looks like this tower was inhabited, not terribly long ago, by a rogue wizard. From the evidence found in a difficult-to-decipher manuscript, it looks like this wizard, in a situation eerily mirroring that of the investigators', also had a talented but inexperienced female trainee. And his experiments with new spells may have been less than ethical.
*****Purple and Black
An epistolary novella consisting mainly of correspondence between two young school friends - one of whom has recently unexpectedly become emperor, and the other of whom has been appointed governor of a province by that emperor. While the letters concern matters of politics and affairs of state, the tone is the chatty, informal one one might expect from best friends, and also have to do with keeping up with mundane personal topics and keeping up with other members of their little school clique...
And somehow, along the way, the story twists from an entertainingly gossipy glimpse into the politics of empire, into a musing on the nature of power and the fate of idealism. Excellently done.
Rich Men’s Skins
An essay on the history of armor. A good companion to the previous essay on swordsmithing.
**** The Sun and I
A re-read.
I really enjoy KJ Parker's style. This is a fun and irony-filled tale of a group of dissipated young men who decide to start a new religion as a way to jump-start their cash flow. However, when the scheme succeeds past their wildest dreams, the joke might end up being on them - or on the world at large.
**** One Little Room an Everywhere
Our protagonist is a graduate from the Studium (KJ Parker's school for wizards [or maybe scientists], which is a recurring feature in his fiction), but has barely scraped through graduation by the skin of his teeth. He's simply unable to master many of the expected skills, and is certainly not going to get a job placement. His advisor counsels him to go into another field - a non-magical one. The arts maybe, or accounting.
Naturally, our narrator is disappointed. Were his years of study wasted? Nevertheless, he seems to take his advisor's advice, and goes into painting religious icons. But, he didn't actually graduate from the Studium without learning anything. He's got a "cheat" - a forbidden spell. As his fame and fortune grows, one would think he'd managed to grasp the best of both worlds. But there's always a catch, isn't there?
**** Blue and Gold
KJ Parker revisited the character of Saloninus, introduced here, in 'The Devil You Know,' which I read a few months ago. I understand why - it's a great character! (Imagine if Leonardo da Vinci had been an amoral conman and alchemist?) If you've read either one, some of the details here will be familiar to you.I did think that 'The Devil You Know' was slightly better, but this one was great too.
KJ Parker's wry cynicism regarding human nature is on display in top form, in this story.
The narrator tells you upfront that he's unreliable: a liar, a criminal, and not to be trusted. He also tells us that he discovered the secret of transmuting base metals to gold, and that he murdered his wife. Should we believe either of these things?
Along the way, Saloninus' stories shift a bit - sometimes more than a bit - but they're always entertaining. I liked the commentary on how discovering the secret of how to create gold might not really be the best thing for its discoverer... along with many other gems.
A re-read... when I first read it, I wrote: 'I believe this is the second story I've read by Parker, and I'm very impressed. The Renaissance-ish fantasy setting is rich and enjoyable, but the meat of the story is in the complex relationship between two renowned composers, as their fortunes shift. Definitely going to seek out more from this author. (Just ordered two more books!)'
Loved just as much if not more, the second time around!
***** A Rich, Full Week
An adept is sent out by the Brotherhood to investigate and deal with a report of a village plagued by an undead. It's not an unusual assignment for one in his position, but it is his first time dealing with this specific kind of problem.
Excellent characterization & thoughtfulness elevates this a good step above most tales with a 'vampire-hunter confronts monster' theme.
***** Amor Vincit Omnia
Re-read; previously read in Strahan's 2011 'Year's Best' anthology, when I said, "A very classic fantasy tale of power struggles amongst wizards. It's also very good; I loved the conclusion."
The idea of the story is summed up in this quote, "If a man exists who is immune to force, even if he's the most blameless anchorite living on top of a column in the middle of the desert, he is beyond government, beyond authority, and cannot be controlled; and that would be intolerable."
The wizards in this story have all kinds of spells which can be used as terrible weapons - but they have never been able to discover a universal defense. They argue about whether such a thing is even possible, But now, an untrained, wild talent is rumored to have discovered the secret. And the wild talent is no peaceful hermit, but a mad killer. Brother Framea is sent to investigate.
Along the way, as Parker loves to do, there's quite a lot of commentary of the subjects of ethics and corruptibility.
On Sieges
Informative essay on the history of siege warfare.
**** Let Maps to Others
Another re-read...
"Another excellent short story by Parker, which makes me pleased that I ordered two books from this author since reading "A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong." This is similar in feel There are really two parts to this story - the first explores academic competition and one-upmanship, taken to a disturbing level. The second, following from the results of the first, probes literal exploration, and the consequences of obsession - with a heaping dose of irony."
Three hundred years ago, an explorer returned from a newly-discovered land, Essecuivo, with tales of fabulous riches and favorable trade agreements. However, the coordinates of this place were kept secret - and lost. Fortunes were made and lost in speculative ventures and investments in future expeditions. Nothing ever came of them. Now, our narrator is a scholar, known as the foremost expert on Essecuivo (the little that's known of it). His career has been dedicated to it, his personal obsession with the topic has been lifelong. But he has a rival who hates him...
**** A Room with a View
A wizard-scholar who's, shall we say, not the most successful graduate that the Studium has churned out, is given an unenviable assignment: he has to check a large number of dogs for the unlikely signs of demonic possession, before the animals can legally be cleared for sale. Not only is this an onerous, tedious, and near-pointless task, he has to also train a junior student how to do the job, meaning he can't even slack off.
But when this student he's supposed to be mentoring arrives, he's in for a surprise... not only is she a woman, but something seems strange about her...
Cutting Edge Technology
Extremely interesting and entertaining essay on the history of swordmaking and the techniques of swordfighting.
**** Illuminated
On assignment, instructed only to "investigate," an arrogant, chauvinistic wizard and his junior assistant are looking into a remote, abandoned tower. It looks like this tower was inhabited, not terribly long ago, by a rogue wizard. From the evidence found in a difficult-to-decipher manuscript, it looks like this wizard, in a situation eerily mirroring that of the investigators', also had a talented but inexperienced female trainee. And his experiments with new spells may have been less than ethical.
*****Purple and Black
An epistolary novella consisting mainly of correspondence between two young school friends - one of whom has recently unexpectedly become emperor, and the other of whom has been appointed governor of a province by that emperor. While the letters concern matters of politics and affairs of state, the tone is the chatty, informal one one might expect from best friends, and also have to do with keeping up with mundane personal topics and keeping up with other members of their little school clique...
And somehow, along the way, the story twists from an entertainingly gossipy glimpse into the politics of empire, into a musing on the nature of power and the fate of idealism. Excellently done.
Rich Men’s Skins
An essay on the history of armor. A good companion to the previous essay on swordsmithing.
**** The Sun and I
A re-read.
I really enjoy KJ Parker's style. This is a fun and irony-filled tale of a group of dissipated young men who decide to start a new religion as a way to jump-start their cash flow. However, when the scheme succeeds past their wildest dreams, the joke might end up being on them - or on the world at large.
**** One Little Room an Everywhere
Our protagonist is a graduate from the Studium (KJ Parker's school for wizards [or maybe scientists], which is a recurring feature in his fiction), but has barely scraped through graduation by the skin of his teeth. He's simply unable to master many of the expected skills, and is certainly not going to get a job placement. His advisor counsels him to go into another field - a non-magical one. The arts maybe, or accounting.
Naturally, our narrator is disappointed. Were his years of study wasted? Nevertheless, he seems to take his advisor's advice, and goes into painting religious icons. But, he didn't actually graduate from the Studium without learning anything. He's got a "cheat" - a forbidden spell. As his fame and fortune grows, one would think he'd managed to grasp the best of both worlds. But there's always a catch, isn't there?
**** Blue and Gold
KJ Parker revisited the character of Saloninus, introduced here, in 'The Devil You Know,' which I read a few months ago. I understand why - it's a great character! (Imagine if Leonardo da Vinci had been an amoral conman and alchemist?) If you've read either one, some of the details here will be familiar to you.I did think that 'The Devil You Know' was slightly better, but this one was great too.
KJ Parker's wry cynicism regarding human nature is on display in top form, in this story.
The narrator tells you upfront that he's unreliable: a liar, a criminal, and not to be trusted. He also tells us that he discovered the secret of transmuting base metals to gold, and that he murdered his wife. Should we believe either of these things?
Along the way, Saloninus' stories shift a bit - sometimes more than a bit - but they're always entertaining. I liked the commentary on how discovering the secret of how to create gold might not really be the best thing for its discoverer... along with many other gems.
October 27, 2019
Una bella raccolta di racconti di Parker, che spaziano un po' in tutto il suo tipico bagaglio, dall'Impero perennemente oscillante tra l'Imperatore fratello del Sole Invincibile e il desiderio di diventare una repubblica all'ordine di Fratelli eruditi che operano magie che chiamano scienza, negando veementemente di essere maghi.
Non occorre dire che ci sono storie meglio riuscite e storie un po' più deboli, ma il fatto che la maggior parte delle storie "deboli" non siano storie, ma saggi in cui con la sua solita ironia l'autore ripercorre la storia di spade, armature o assedi dovrebbe far capire il buonissimo livello di questa raccolta.
In dieci storie (e tre saggi), oltre alla consueta ironia e alla scrittura piacevole abbiamo alcuni temi ricorrenti: la magia vista come scienza, la convinzione che il miglior governante possibile sia colui che non vuole governare, l'assenza di eroi e di eroismi, la predilizione per truffe e inganni.
Particolarmente degne di nota, soprattutto per chi ha letto altre storie di Parker, sono le storie in cui scopriamo l'origine del culro del Sole Invincibile, quella che ci porta (come in Devil You Know) al fianco di Saloninus, la geniale storia in forma epistolare ambientata nell'Impero e alcune storie che ci offrono una maggiore conoscenza delle arti magiche dei Fratelli e delle loro Stanze.
Decisamente un autore bravissimo nello scrivere racconti!
Non occorre dire che ci sono storie meglio riuscite e storie un po' più deboli, ma il fatto che la maggior parte delle storie "deboli" non siano storie, ma saggi in cui con la sua solita ironia l'autore ripercorre la storia di spade, armature o assedi dovrebbe far capire il buonissimo livello di questa raccolta.
In dieci storie (e tre saggi), oltre alla consueta ironia e alla scrittura piacevole abbiamo alcuni temi ricorrenti: la magia vista come scienza, la convinzione che il miglior governante possibile sia colui che non vuole governare, l'assenza di eroi e di eroismi, la predilizione per truffe e inganni.
Particolarmente degne di nota, soprattutto per chi ha letto altre storie di Parker, sono le storie in cui scopriamo l'origine del culro del Sole Invincibile, quella che ci porta (come in Devil You Know) al fianco di Saloninus, la geniale storia in forma epistolare ambientata nell'Impero e alcune storie che ci offrono una maggiore conoscenza delle arti magiche dei Fratelli e delle loro Stanze.
Decisamente un autore bravissimo nello scrivere racconti!
January 12, 2020
This is a collection of 10 short stories or novellas plus 3 essays distributed over 500 pages. If you’re already a Parker fan then you won’t be disappointed. For me, it was like supping on 500 pages worth of hot chocolate fortified with a tot of rum. Funnily enough I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as a starting point for those not so familiar with the author (that’s if you can get hold of the book, see later) as he has more accessible longer stories for the beginner (e.g Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City).
Most of the stories are set in Parker’s default imagined land, a type of medieval Byzantium or renaissance Italian city state. They include much more magic than I’ve read in previous Parker stories, which often have none at all. In fact a common theme in about half of the stories is the presence of a university for ‘adepts’ where those with the talent are trained in the detailed stages to graduate as a sort of magician (they prefer to say magic doesn’t exist - just some cause and effect processes that aren’t currently explainable!). Several of the stories outline adventures and tasks undertaken by different adepts. Interesting to see Parker outline his version of a magic system given he usually avoids them!
My favourite is probably the first and non-magical tale ‘A small price to pay for Birdsong’, similar to the Mozart/Salieri interaction in Amadeus by Peter Schaefer but more poignant. In fact, poignant is the word of choice to describe many of the stories, as I’ve seen other reviewers say. There’s never a ‘happy ever after’ ending to a Parker story and only rarely a ‘happy at the moment it finishes’ ending.
I also particularly enjoyed the novella Purple and Black, a simple but cleverly constructed tale described only by an exchange of letters between a new nervous emperor, unexpectedly crowned, and one of his best friends who he’s sent on a critical state mission.
Also a clever tale where some university graduates short of money invent a religion as a temporary cash earning exercise (not that unique an idea) but find their invented religion gets more traction than they expected.
But every story had its strengths and interest for me.
Many of the tales are told in the first person and allow the author to take us deep into the narrators motives and thoughts. And sometimes Parker uses a trick he’s tried before - the unreliable narrator, where you can’t be sure he’s telling you the truth. The Parker trademark of the story including many detailed diversions to fill out the characters and the environment is as evident as ever.
As well as the fiction there are three essays: firstly on siege warfare over the millennia, from the point of view of the attacker and the besieged; then on swords, and especially on how they were made to suit different requirements; finally armour over the ages, up until muskets made it redundant. Very instructional. No doubt the results of the author’s researches on the subjects to support a range of his published fiction.
A couple of weaknesses for me. The personalities of the different magician adepts didn’t vary a great deal. All very smart, arrogantly so, and somewhat chauvinistic. Almost all were male. And with so many first person narrations in this book of short stories sometimes the detailed reflections and background story of each different individual accumulated almost to overload level over the course of the book, given that I read through it over a short time span. I just found too much ‘first person’ detail in one book with so many different lead characters.
Finally, although a marvellous book for Parker fans it isn’t easy to find. Originally issued as a limited edition hardback it’s no longer in print and I obtained mine, none too cheaply, on eBay.
Recommended for committed fans of the author but for those who enjoy the Parker style there are plenty more cheaper reads available, just as good.
However, 5* from me despite some caveats. I always enjoy KJ Parker’s style and the imagination across the short stories was impressive and kept me very entertained over a few days of unexpected immobility!
Most of the stories are set in Parker’s default imagined land, a type of medieval Byzantium or renaissance Italian city state. They include much more magic than I’ve read in previous Parker stories, which often have none at all. In fact a common theme in about half of the stories is the presence of a university for ‘adepts’ where those with the talent are trained in the detailed stages to graduate as a sort of magician (they prefer to say magic doesn’t exist - just some cause and effect processes that aren’t currently explainable!). Several of the stories outline adventures and tasks undertaken by different adepts. Interesting to see Parker outline his version of a magic system given he usually avoids them!
My favourite is probably the first and non-magical tale ‘A small price to pay for Birdsong’, similar to the Mozart/Salieri interaction in Amadeus by Peter Schaefer but more poignant. In fact, poignant is the word of choice to describe many of the stories, as I’ve seen other reviewers say. There’s never a ‘happy ever after’ ending to a Parker story and only rarely a ‘happy at the moment it finishes’ ending.
I also particularly enjoyed the novella Purple and Black, a simple but cleverly constructed tale described only by an exchange of letters between a new nervous emperor, unexpectedly crowned, and one of his best friends who he’s sent on a critical state mission.
Also a clever tale where some university graduates short of money invent a religion as a temporary cash earning exercise (not that unique an idea) but find their invented religion gets more traction than they expected.
But every story had its strengths and interest for me.
Many of the tales are told in the first person and allow the author to take us deep into the narrators motives and thoughts. And sometimes Parker uses a trick he’s tried before - the unreliable narrator, where you can’t be sure he’s telling you the truth. The Parker trademark of the story including many detailed diversions to fill out the characters and the environment is as evident as ever.
As well as the fiction there are three essays: firstly on siege warfare over the millennia, from the point of view of the attacker and the besieged; then on swords, and especially on how they were made to suit different requirements; finally armour over the ages, up until muskets made it redundant. Very instructional. No doubt the results of the author’s researches on the subjects to support a range of his published fiction.
A couple of weaknesses for me. The personalities of the different magician adepts didn’t vary a great deal. All very smart, arrogantly so, and somewhat chauvinistic. Almost all were male. And with so many first person narrations in this book of short stories sometimes the detailed reflections and background story of each different individual accumulated almost to overload level over the course of the book, given that I read through it over a short time span. I just found too much ‘first person’ detail in one book with so many different lead characters.
Finally, although a marvellous book for Parker fans it isn’t easy to find. Originally issued as a limited edition hardback it’s no longer in print and I obtained mine, none too cheaply, on eBay.
Recommended for committed fans of the author but for those who enjoy the Parker style there are plenty more cheaper reads available, just as good.
However, 5* from me despite some caveats. I always enjoy KJ Parker’s style and the imagination across the short stories was impressive and kept me very entertained over a few days of unexpected immobility!
June 22, 2020
An intriguing read. Very thought provoking. I am amongst the minority of Parker’s fandom who prefer his full length stories/series. Recommended.
October 15, 2014
This collection includes ten pieces of short fiction and three essays. I found the quality of the stories uneven: some were exceptional ("Let Maps to Others,""The Sun and I," and the remarkable "A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong"), others enjoyable enough but by themselves nothing special.
Except … well, except that in this case the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The characters in these stories face moral and ethical dilemmas, challenges to their artistic and academic integrity, reap the unexpected consequences of good (and bad) intentions, betray, are betrayed ... so that, in combination, the stories add up to a brilliant exploration of all these themes and how each relates to the others.
In the process, Parker introduces a varied cast: philosophers, alchemists, academics, and magicans; rogues, confidence men, and opportunists. There are no answers here, only ambiguities and bitter ironies. The convolutions of the longer stories (each with several twists before the end) can be hard to follow, but are ultimately worth the effort.
If the rating system allowed, I'd give this book a 4 1/2.
Except … well, except that in this case the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The characters in these stories face moral and ethical dilemmas, challenges to their artistic and academic integrity, reap the unexpected consequences of good (and bad) intentions, betray, are betrayed ... so that, in combination, the stories add up to a brilliant exploration of all these themes and how each relates to the others.
In the process, Parker introduces a varied cast: philosophers, alchemists, academics, and magicans; rogues, confidence men, and opportunists. There are no answers here, only ambiguities and bitter ironies. The convolutions of the longer stories (each with several twists before the end) can be hard to follow, but are ultimately worth the effort.
If the rating system allowed, I'd give this book a 4 1/2.
September 18, 2022
Really enjoyed this short story collection. He writes a great rougish smart asshole type character from first person really well and it doesn't get old even though his characters have similar personalities. He also understands military history very well and the fighting feels authentic.
His characters usually have unique careers that are outside what you're used to in other fantasy stories such as engineers, alchemists, scholars, and academics. Even his wizards are misunderstood philosophers and scientists.
Looking forward to reading more by him in the future.
His characters usually have unique careers that are outside what you're used to in other fantasy stories such as engineers, alchemists, scholars, and academics. Even his wizards are misunderstood philosophers and scientists.
Looking forward to reading more by him in the future.
February 23, 2015
K.J. Parker is an author whose prose I’ve always enjoyed; on the other hand, nobody else ever seems to have read any of their work, and that is, frankly, a crime. As such, today we’re going to talk about Parker’s short fiction anthology, ‘Academic Exercises’ – which doesn’t require any knowledge of existing series to read through, and is, not to give the game away, really rather good.
The text collects a variety of Parker’s short fiction; some of it has been available before in the form of novella (e.g. ‘Purple and Black’, an epistolary tale of ambition, power and trust), and some of it has even been made available for free in the publisher’s ongoing magazine (the marvellous ‘Let Maps to Others’, discussing the value and necessity of document authenticity, in a thick stew of revenge). There’s also a set of work I hadn’t seen before, which may well mean it’s new – it’s certainly new to me.
So, what makes this anthology worth reading? Immediately, two things: first, the quality of Parker’s prose. Each story is written in the first person, and each inner monologue is presented with their own voice – across all the different stories, the narrators are easily distinguishable from each other, which is quite an achievement. Tonally, the narrators are quite similar – there’s a dry, grim, resigned wit that permeates Parker’s work, and whilst it’s rarely laugh-out-loud funny, it’s often amusing.
At the same time, the words themselves are a pleasure to read – well crafted, with excellent description of both worlds and ancillary characters. The latter are perhaps not as well drawn as the main characters – but that may be a factor of the first person narrative form.
So, the first reason to read Parker’s work is that the setting is well drawn, the characters feel like people, and the whole is both cohesive and a pleasure to read.
What’s the second reason?
Parker unflinchingly approaches larger themes through their characters, and unrelentingly pursues all sorts of complex aspects of the human experience. The stories aren’t afraid to talk about history, for example –a bout what makes a thing authentic, and what makes people that way too. It doesn’t shy away from philosophy, and several of the narratives explore the strands of thought around the question of whether the motivation for actions matters, or merely the result.
Alongside these broader themes there are characters who are very clever indeed, and use that cleverness to drive their own actions – in many cases, dragging the reader after them kicking and screaming. By no means does “intelligent” equate with ‘nice’. Within these characters, the author throws in a lot fo the deeper human emotions – fear, loss, pride, revenge, and drills into their often catastrophic effect on the human condition. Each protagonist is convincingly portrayed, and the end result is that I, for one, couldn’t stop turning pages.
Parker is also a wonderful writer of the twist denouement; this is less obvious in their other work, but most, if not all of the short stories presented here have at least one sting in the tail. This is perhaps an issue, in the context of reading the entire collection back-to-back; I started looking for plot twists, even expecting them, rather than just letting them surprise me – but that’s not a fault of the stories themselves, so much as an observance of a common theme in the author’s work.
There’s a few non-fiction articles thrown in here for good measure, on the rise and development of weapons and armour – and these are written in the same accessible style, and quite entertaining. It would be nice to see the references used for these, but in context, they’re still very interesting.
At any rate, at the close of the book, I’d say K.J. Parker is writing some of the smartest, sharpest, most well observed prose available in the genre today – and that this collection would serve as a good intro to their style and body of work, if you wanted to dip your toe in the water.
The text collects a variety of Parker’s short fiction; some of it has been available before in the form of novella (e.g. ‘Purple and Black’, an epistolary tale of ambition, power and trust), and some of it has even been made available for free in the publisher’s ongoing magazine (the marvellous ‘Let Maps to Others’, discussing the value and necessity of document authenticity, in a thick stew of revenge). There’s also a set of work I hadn’t seen before, which may well mean it’s new – it’s certainly new to me.
So, what makes this anthology worth reading? Immediately, two things: first, the quality of Parker’s prose. Each story is written in the first person, and each inner monologue is presented with their own voice – across all the different stories, the narrators are easily distinguishable from each other, which is quite an achievement. Tonally, the narrators are quite similar – there’s a dry, grim, resigned wit that permeates Parker’s work, and whilst it’s rarely laugh-out-loud funny, it’s often amusing.
At the same time, the words themselves are a pleasure to read – well crafted, with excellent description of both worlds and ancillary characters. The latter are perhaps not as well drawn as the main characters – but that may be a factor of the first person narrative form.
So, the first reason to read Parker’s work is that the setting is well drawn, the characters feel like people, and the whole is both cohesive and a pleasure to read.
What’s the second reason?
Parker unflinchingly approaches larger themes through their characters, and unrelentingly pursues all sorts of complex aspects of the human experience. The stories aren’t afraid to talk about history, for example –a bout what makes a thing authentic, and what makes people that way too. It doesn’t shy away from philosophy, and several of the narratives explore the strands of thought around the question of whether the motivation for actions matters, or merely the result.
Alongside these broader themes there are characters who are very clever indeed, and use that cleverness to drive their own actions – in many cases, dragging the reader after them kicking and screaming. By no means does “intelligent” equate with ‘nice’. Within these characters, the author throws in a lot fo the deeper human emotions – fear, loss, pride, revenge, and drills into their often catastrophic effect on the human condition. Each protagonist is convincingly portrayed, and the end result is that I, for one, couldn’t stop turning pages.
Parker is also a wonderful writer of the twist denouement; this is less obvious in their other work, but most, if not all of the short stories presented here have at least one sting in the tail. This is perhaps an issue, in the context of reading the entire collection back-to-back; I started looking for plot twists, even expecting them, rather than just letting them surprise me – but that’s not a fault of the stories themselves, so much as an observance of a common theme in the author’s work.
There’s a few non-fiction articles thrown in here for good measure, on the rise and development of weapons and armour – and these are written in the same accessible style, and quite entertaining. It would be nice to see the references used for these, but in context, they’re still very interesting.
At any rate, at the close of the book, I’d say K.J. Parker is writing some of the smartest, sharpest, most well observed prose available in the genre today – and that this collection would serve as a good intro to their style and body of work, if you wanted to dip your toe in the water.
March 24, 2018
Metaphorosis Reviews
3.5 stars
I've noted before that K.J. Parker is a formulaic writer. He approaches each story with almost exactly the same blend of irony, fatalism, and humor. All his stories and novels have the same general feel. He gets away with it because it's an effective formula, and because there's just enough that's new to maintain our interest. He also introduces substantial and thorough background information.
This collection contains the first non-fiction I've seen from Parker - detailed essays on siegecraft, armor, and weaponry. They echo the detail that comes through in his stories, and confirm that Parker has dug deeply into his topics; he's not just looking things up on Wikipedia.
The stories work, in my view, better than the novels, because they provided more variability in setups and characters. The tone is consistent, but the scenery is more interesting. We also get some insight into the fairly vague magic system Parker has used in several pieces, and into the geography of Parker's vague shared world.
It's a bit of a mystery to me why I keep coming back to Parker, considering the criticisms above, but the fact is that while he is following a formula, he's following it really well. I'd wish for a lot more variation in tone, but the rest of the stories and characters is compelling and well constructed. One problem in reviewing an anthology, unfortunately, is that the stories all run together. Because of the flat tone, no one story is particularly memorable. That said, my favorites were:
A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong - largely because it deals with music, which is a bit of a change for Parker.
Amor Vincit Omnia - because it digs a little deeper into the magic system the stories follow.
The Sun and I - the most fully developed characters of the set, and an interesting look at the backstory to some of the other pieces.
3.5 stars
I've noted before that K.J. Parker is a formulaic writer. He approaches each story with almost exactly the same blend of irony, fatalism, and humor. All his stories and novels have the same general feel. He gets away with it because it's an effective formula, and because there's just enough that's new to maintain our interest. He also introduces substantial and thorough background information.
This collection contains the first non-fiction I've seen from Parker - detailed essays on siegecraft, armor, and weaponry. They echo the detail that comes through in his stories, and confirm that Parker has dug deeply into his topics; he's not just looking things up on Wikipedia.
The stories work, in my view, better than the novels, because they provided more variability in setups and characters. The tone is consistent, but the scenery is more interesting. We also get some insight into the fairly vague magic system Parker has used in several pieces, and into the geography of Parker's vague shared world.
It's a bit of a mystery to me why I keep coming back to Parker, considering the criticisms above, but the fact is that while he is following a formula, he's following it really well. I'd wish for a lot more variation in tone, but the rest of the stories and characters is compelling and well constructed. One problem in reviewing an anthology, unfortunately, is that the stories all run together. Because of the flat tone, no one story is particularly memorable. That said, my favorites were:
A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong - largely because it deals with music, which is a bit of a change for Parker.
Amor Vincit Omnia - because it digs a little deeper into the magic system the stories follow.
The Sun and I - the most fully developed characters of the set, and an interesting look at the backstory to some of the other pieces.
September 15, 2016
A brilliantly conceived and executed series of plots in a well-paced collection... in which there's pretty much just one male character, in one type of voice, repeated over and over again, sometimes in conversation with itself.
This is a satirical look at academia. One gets the sense that, in many places, the author is making fun of the fact that some of our written record is made of voices like the one he chose. But Parker/Holt's idea of academia as masculine and unvarying ultimately killed the book for me. As a caricature of academia, Parker's cynical, lazy elitists are only slightly less cringeworthy than the stereotypical nearsighted, tweed-and-bow-tie professor. And when you have all of your characters repeating tired tropes about women without variation for your entire book, when all of your female characters are demons or victims or useless or dead, when you make it literally biological that women get magic later in life--sorry, you've failed. I'm a medievalist by training and a classicist by subsequent study--I can tell you there are voices we fail to hear here, and that was the unfortunate choice of the author, not a reflection of history.
Now don't get me wrong: I gave this a decent amount of stars because the stories are entertaining, sometimes even surprising. But if character development matters to you, or you're an academic tired of certain tropes, it really isn't the collection for you.
This is a satirical look at academia. One gets the sense that, in many places, the author is making fun of the fact that some of our written record is made of voices like the one he chose. But Parker/Holt's idea of academia as masculine and unvarying ultimately killed the book for me. As a caricature of academia, Parker's cynical, lazy elitists are only slightly less cringeworthy than the stereotypical nearsighted, tweed-and-bow-tie professor. And when you have all of your characters repeating tired tropes about women without variation for your entire book, when all of your female characters are demons or victims or useless or dead, when you make it literally biological that women get magic later in life--sorry, you've failed. I'm a medievalist by training and a classicist by subsequent study--I can tell you there are voices we fail to hear here, and that was the unfortunate choice of the author, not a reflection of history.
Now don't get me wrong: I gave this a decent amount of stars because the stories are entertaining, sometimes even surprising. But if character development matters to you, or you're an academic tired of certain tropes, it really isn't the collection for you.
August 12, 2022
I've read a couple of these, but not the collection (yet). Yet Another GR forced merge that had me scratching my head. Fixed now. Review & rating is solely for the following two stories.
"Let Maps to Others"
Won the World Fantasy Award for best novella, 2013. I first read it in the Strahan Best, vol. #7. Strong story, if not among my favorites. Try it, see for yourself: Online copy at https://subterraneanpress.com/magazin...
"A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong," won another World Fantasy Award for best novella.
Also read and liked. Is there a copy online? Yes, https://subterraneanpress.com/magazin...
Recommended reading.
Some day, I'll come across this collection.... Kindle copy is $7, as of 3/4/22.
"Let Maps to Others"
Won the World Fantasy Award for best novella, 2013. I first read it in the Strahan Best, vol. #7. Strong story, if not among my favorites. Try it, see for yourself: Online copy at https://subterraneanpress.com/magazin...
"A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong," won another World Fantasy Award for best novella.
Also read and liked. Is there a copy online? Yes, https://subterraneanpress.com/magazin...
Recommended reading.
Some day, I'll come across this collection.... Kindle copy is $7, as of 3/4/22.
December 18, 2014
Amazing short fiction and nonfiction collection by one of my favorite fantasy writers. Unlike most short story collections this one isn't uneven at all; every story is engaging and challenging. The stories are mostly set in the vaguely shared Renaissance fantasy universe Parker has created, but without much reference to any specific events in other books, so everything stands alone nicely. As the title suggests, most of the main characters in these stories are scholars and academics, and the stories tell of how they use and abuse their learning.
Strongly recommended.
Strongly recommended.
February 15, 2016
Yeah, so, turns out my opinion on this book was already said far better by Foz Meadows. One star for Birdsong, and a big wet you're-a-giant-sexist-douche,-book raspberry for the rest.
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2015/2...
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2015/2...
April 26, 2021
Reading through this anthology by one of my favourite writers and I'll try to keep my thoughts on each story/essay up-to-date as I go. I've read a couple of the longer ones before, but I might reread them because, well...Parker. Duh.
(Should note that most of these stories are available for free on Subterranean Press' website, for those interested. I think Purple and Black and Blue and Gold are the only ones not...)
A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong
The first of two winners of the World Fantasy Award for best novella in this collection and it's easy to see why it a) Won and b) was chosen to open the anthology. It's a remarkable piece that really manages to boil down Parker's style; thematically well-rounded and thought-provoking, while remaining funny and philosophical. The narrator is, as always with Parker, both a fantastic character and a literary device. I think perhaps most interesting for me in this story was what seemed the obvious homage to another (in)famous short story, Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. Though Parker remains unique throughout, of course. Really superb and completely deserving of its WFA.
A Rich, Full Week
Weirdly, this was actually my first exposure to Parker. I read it originally a few years back in the Swords and Dark Magic anthology and it made a big impression. On rereading it’s certainly not Parker’s best (hard to imagine it could be!) but it’s a very fun story that uses magic (something Parker almost never does or even alludes to) and even has zombies. Parker’s zombies, that is. It’s even a bit wacky, and again has a narrator who is very much central to the narrative, rather than a passive cypher. I’d love to see more of Parker’s magic in the future, even though there’s no such thing… All in all a good breather after the intensity of A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong, and it also has a cracker of an ending.
Amor Vincit Omnia
Perhaps the most directly ‘academic’ story so far – despite Birdsong actually featuring an academic – Amor Vincit Omnia (‘Love Conquers All’) is also one of the stranger Parker stories I’ve read. There’s less deception involved (at least between POV and reader) and instead Parker is more intent on showing off the pointless nature of academia. There’s some action, humour and lots of latin-ish stuff in here. It’s one of the more awkward Parker stories I’ve read, but luckily it is placed brilliantly in this anthology. With the foundations of Parker’s world’s academia and ‘magic’ laid down in the previous two stories, this one resonates a lot more than it would reading it cold.
On Sieges
This is the first of three essays in the collection, and it’s a mighty fine (and typically Parker-esque) look into the basic history of military sieges. There was lots of stuff in here I’d never really considered before, and some really nice little factoids. It’s all tied together by Parker’s very natural scholarly prose – not excluding her knack for irony. I would happily pay for more of Parker’s non-fiction, and for all we know there may just be lots more out there.
Let Maps to Others
This may just be my favourite of Parker's novellas. The voice is easily as strong as that of the main character in Blue and Gold, but there is a lot more substance in the plot. It has all the Parker staples: snarky MC, holier-than-thou scholars, dark humour, a clever structure, a slow-building plot that gets more and more tangled in its own web and a really quite deep exploration of many things, like academia, exploration and economics. It's probably the best starting point for reading Parker (along with perhaps The Folding Knife and A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong) as it's quite substantial at around 75 pages and incredibly satisfying with an ending that really pays off. Brilliant stuff.
A Room with a View
A bit Parker-lite this one. The story is interesting enough - and it includes that oh-so-rare thing: Parker magic. In fact, this story acts almost as Parker's treatise on his magic system, introducing us to the concept of 'Rooms' that act as physical-mental conduits between reality and magic. Conceptually its interesting and well executed, and there's a nice twist in there, but ultimately this is just a bit 'lesser' when read against the likes of Let Maps to Others or Purple and Black.
Cutting Edge Technology
Essay no.2, and once again Parker knocks it out of the park! I would read a whole book of these. It's an authoritative look at the history of swords and their uses in different cultures (and indeed, their ultimate 'usefulness'). It's just as snarky as you'd expect from KJP, and genuinely made me think about some of the things I take for granted in reading a lot of fantasy fiction.
Illuminated
Interesting story, if a bit confusing. Parker returns to the teacher/pupil dynamic of A Room with a View, with quite a similar pair of characters. The narration jumps around between them and a third party. There's a bit more on Parker's magic system here (sidenote: I'm curious if it will come up in a future novel, because it's really well conceived) and it's one of Parker's more sinister stories. Indeed, I'd go as far as to say it's almost straight-up horror. I wasn't convinced by this one, but it might reward rereading.
Purple and Black
I've read this novella before in its previous Subterranean Press edition, and reviewed it on my blog. In short I thought it was outstanding and one of Parker's best.
(Copied from http://wildersbookreview.com/2014/05/... ):
Purple and Black is an epistolary novella that focuses on the war dispatches sent between an emperor and his general in the field. For each entry there is a short, official military dispatch written in purple ink; but next to it – written in black ink (duh) – are the less official personal dispatches between these two old friends. As ever, Parker’s writing is top-notch and clever to the point of annoying for any other writer out there, and slowly reveals both the world, relationships and underlying conspiracies behind the dispatches. Superb stuff.
Rich Men's Skins: A Social History of Armour
Another great essay from Parker here that looks at the realities of creating, developing, using, and in some cases 'perfecting' armour throughout the centuries. I think there was maybe a little less of Parker's trademark snarky wit in this one, though it was certainly evident in the footnotes. Again, really informative and, essentially, and academic essay that reads like it's written by someone with a sense of humour and an eye for being entertaining - something most academics don't really aim for.
The Sun and I
Wow wow wow, what a great story. This is right up there with A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong and Let Maps to Others - an absolutely terrific novella, I'm surprised that it didn't garner Parker another WFA, or at the very least a nomination.
This is KJP on organised religion and man alive he does not hold any punches. A group of con men decide to create God and through a series of coincidental and lucky (or are they...) events quickly rise to be the prominent 'religion' of the world: The Invincible Sun. Yes, this is essentially Parker's creation myth, The Invincible Sun being a deity that pops up in almost every story or novel he has written. Narrated by another unreliable character, this is truly superb writing that I highly recommend anyone interested in Parker gives a shot.
One Little Room an Everywhere
A shorter interlude between the longer form stories that sandwich it, One Little Room an Everywhere is an interesting one. Well placed in the anthology as it in many ways takes a lot of what Parker has worked towards in the previous stories. The studium, his magic system, the Invincible Sun, the relationship between art-capitalism-religion, it's all here in a tight story once again told by - what else? - an unreliable narrator. Hard to sum this one up, and certainly not a story I'd recommend starting with, here a former student of the Studium decides to use a secret and dangerous spell he's come across/stolen (bit of a grey area) to create the finest works of iconography ever known to man, and sell them to the pious for obscene amounts of money. Only it seems that everywhere one of his works is placed something horrible happens...
Definitely one of the better shorter stories by Parker, though it is hard to get away from the fact that he seems to work at the peak of his powers on novellas in that sweet spot of around 15k-30k words.
Blue and Gold
I've reviewed this one previously, here: https://wildersbookreview.wordpress.c...
Blue and Gold is essentially Parker taking the whole device of using an unreliable narrator and doing his absolute best to twist it and play with every possible trope. Saloninus, a character we seem to have heard of in previous stories as some sort of historical figure, is easily the most devious of Parker's creations, telling the reader almost immediately that he is a liar and a cheat. This is probably the most outright 'fun' of Parker's novellas and a good one to end the anthology on, if only because its final line is one of the most devious I have ever had the pleasure to read.
Concluding thoughts
Well, I've dipped in and out of this anthology over the last year or so, reviewing each story as I did so. If it isn't clear on reading my thoughts above, I'm an enormous fan of K.J. Parker, and this anthology is exactly the reason why. It is a seminal collection of fiction by one of the best writers out there right now, in any genre. His essays in this collection are hilarious and informative. His short stories are each unique and particularly in this format it is easy to see the development of his 'world' as the anthology plays out.
But where Parker truly shines is in his novellas. Two World Fantasy awards is hardly a fluke, and indeed I'd happily argue that The Sun and I, and possibly even Purple and Black were deserving of the same or similar accolades. It's not easy to get ahold of this collection in hard copy anymore, limited as it was to 1000 copies, but the eBook is still available, and most of the stories are easily found with a quick google search. Start with A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong or Let Maps to Others and find out for yourself why K.J. Parker is one of the best writers of fiction out there today.
(Should note that most of these stories are available for free on Subterranean Press' website, for those interested. I think Purple and Black and Blue and Gold are the only ones not...)
A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong
The first of two winners of the World Fantasy Award for best novella in this collection and it's easy to see why it a) Won and b) was chosen to open the anthology. It's a remarkable piece that really manages to boil down Parker's style; thematically well-rounded and thought-provoking, while remaining funny and philosophical. The narrator is, as always with Parker, both a fantastic character and a literary device. I think perhaps most interesting for me in this story was what seemed the obvious homage to another (in)famous short story, Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. Though Parker remains unique throughout, of course. Really superb and completely deserving of its WFA.
A Rich, Full Week
Weirdly, this was actually my first exposure to Parker. I read it originally a few years back in the Swords and Dark Magic anthology and it made a big impression. On rereading it’s certainly not Parker’s best (hard to imagine it could be!) but it’s a very fun story that uses magic (something Parker almost never does or even alludes to) and even has zombies. Parker’s zombies, that is. It’s even a bit wacky, and again has a narrator who is very much central to the narrative, rather than a passive cypher. I’d love to see more of Parker’s magic in the future, even though there’s no such thing… All in all a good breather after the intensity of A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong, and it also has a cracker of an ending.
Amor Vincit Omnia
Perhaps the most directly ‘academic’ story so far – despite Birdsong actually featuring an academic – Amor Vincit Omnia (‘Love Conquers All’) is also one of the stranger Parker stories I’ve read. There’s less deception involved (at least between POV and reader) and instead Parker is more intent on showing off the pointless nature of academia. There’s some action, humour and lots of latin-ish stuff in here. It’s one of the more awkward Parker stories I’ve read, but luckily it is placed brilliantly in this anthology. With the foundations of Parker’s world’s academia and ‘magic’ laid down in the previous two stories, this one resonates a lot more than it would reading it cold.
On Sieges
This is the first of three essays in the collection, and it’s a mighty fine (and typically Parker-esque) look into the basic history of military sieges. There was lots of stuff in here I’d never really considered before, and some really nice little factoids. It’s all tied together by Parker’s very natural scholarly prose – not excluding her knack for irony. I would happily pay for more of Parker’s non-fiction, and for all we know there may just be lots more out there.
Let Maps to Others
This may just be my favourite of Parker's novellas. The voice is easily as strong as that of the main character in Blue and Gold, but there is a lot more substance in the plot. It has all the Parker staples: snarky MC, holier-than-thou scholars, dark humour, a clever structure, a slow-building plot that gets more and more tangled in its own web and a really quite deep exploration of many things, like academia, exploration and economics. It's probably the best starting point for reading Parker (along with perhaps The Folding Knife and A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong) as it's quite substantial at around 75 pages and incredibly satisfying with an ending that really pays off. Brilliant stuff.
A Room with a View
A bit Parker-lite this one. The story is interesting enough - and it includes that oh-so-rare thing: Parker magic. In fact, this story acts almost as Parker's treatise on his magic system, introducing us to the concept of 'Rooms' that act as physical-mental conduits between reality and magic. Conceptually its interesting and well executed, and there's a nice twist in there, but ultimately this is just a bit 'lesser' when read against the likes of Let Maps to Others or Purple and Black.
Cutting Edge Technology
Essay no.2, and once again Parker knocks it out of the park! I would read a whole book of these. It's an authoritative look at the history of swords and their uses in different cultures (and indeed, their ultimate 'usefulness'). It's just as snarky as you'd expect from KJP, and genuinely made me think about some of the things I take for granted in reading a lot of fantasy fiction.
Illuminated
Interesting story, if a bit confusing. Parker returns to the teacher/pupil dynamic of A Room with a View, with quite a similar pair of characters. The narration jumps around between them and a third party. There's a bit more on Parker's magic system here (sidenote: I'm curious if it will come up in a future novel, because it's really well conceived) and it's one of Parker's more sinister stories. Indeed, I'd go as far as to say it's almost straight-up horror. I wasn't convinced by this one, but it might reward rereading.
Purple and Black
I've read this novella before in its previous Subterranean Press edition, and reviewed it on my blog. In short I thought it was outstanding and one of Parker's best.
(Copied from http://wildersbookreview.com/2014/05/... ):
Purple and Black is an epistolary novella that focuses on the war dispatches sent between an emperor and his general in the field. For each entry there is a short, official military dispatch written in purple ink; but next to it – written in black ink (duh) – are the less official personal dispatches between these two old friends. As ever, Parker’s writing is top-notch and clever to the point of annoying for any other writer out there, and slowly reveals both the world, relationships and underlying conspiracies behind the dispatches. Superb stuff.
Rich Men's Skins: A Social History of Armour
Another great essay from Parker here that looks at the realities of creating, developing, using, and in some cases 'perfecting' armour throughout the centuries. I think there was maybe a little less of Parker's trademark snarky wit in this one, though it was certainly evident in the footnotes. Again, really informative and, essentially, and academic essay that reads like it's written by someone with a sense of humour and an eye for being entertaining - something most academics don't really aim for.
The Sun and I
Wow wow wow, what a great story. This is right up there with A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong and Let Maps to Others - an absolutely terrific novella, I'm surprised that it didn't garner Parker another WFA, or at the very least a nomination.
This is KJP on organised religion and man alive he does not hold any punches. A group of con men decide to create God and through a series of coincidental and lucky (or are they...) events quickly rise to be the prominent 'religion' of the world: The Invincible Sun. Yes, this is essentially Parker's creation myth, The Invincible Sun being a deity that pops up in almost every story or novel he has written. Narrated by another unreliable character, this is truly superb writing that I highly recommend anyone interested in Parker gives a shot.
One Little Room an Everywhere
A shorter interlude between the longer form stories that sandwich it, One Little Room an Everywhere is an interesting one. Well placed in the anthology as it in many ways takes a lot of what Parker has worked towards in the previous stories. The studium, his magic system, the Invincible Sun, the relationship between art-capitalism-religion, it's all here in a tight story once again told by - what else? - an unreliable narrator. Hard to sum this one up, and certainly not a story I'd recommend starting with, here a former student of the Studium decides to use a secret and dangerous spell he's come across/stolen (bit of a grey area) to create the finest works of iconography ever known to man, and sell them to the pious for obscene amounts of money. Only it seems that everywhere one of his works is placed something horrible happens...
Definitely one of the better shorter stories by Parker, though it is hard to get away from the fact that he seems to work at the peak of his powers on novellas in that sweet spot of around 15k-30k words.
Blue and Gold
I've reviewed this one previously, here: https://wildersbookreview.wordpress.c...
Blue and Gold is essentially Parker taking the whole device of using an unreliable narrator and doing his absolute best to twist it and play with every possible trope. Saloninus, a character we seem to have heard of in previous stories as some sort of historical figure, is easily the most devious of Parker's creations, telling the reader almost immediately that he is a liar and a cheat. This is probably the most outright 'fun' of Parker's novellas and a good one to end the anthology on, if only because its final line is one of the most devious I have ever had the pleasure to read.
Concluding thoughts
Well, I've dipped in and out of this anthology over the last year or so, reviewing each story as I did so. If it isn't clear on reading my thoughts above, I'm an enormous fan of K.J. Parker, and this anthology is exactly the reason why. It is a seminal collection of fiction by one of the best writers out there right now, in any genre. His essays in this collection are hilarious and informative. His short stories are each unique and particularly in this format it is easy to see the development of his 'world' as the anthology plays out.
But where Parker truly shines is in his novellas. Two World Fantasy awards is hardly a fluke, and indeed I'd happily argue that The Sun and I, and possibly even Purple and Black were deserving of the same or similar accolades. It's not easy to get ahold of this collection in hard copy anymore, limited as it was to 1000 copies, but the eBook is still available, and most of the stories are easily found with a quick google search. Start with A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong or Let Maps to Others and find out for yourself why K.J. Parker is one of the best writers of fiction out there today.
October 18, 2024
(Had previously read & reviewed anything not listed here either on its own - Blue, Purple - or under A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong's page)
Still very interesting to me that Parker uses the same world for many stories, including dates, but that it's so often mismatched.
A Rich, Full Week - 4/5
Heh, nice twists and creepy details - though kinda wish the original premise of the zombies/vampires had been resolved/explained a little more.
On Sieges
A cool essay that reflects the origins of many details of his “The Siege” trilogy, especially the first book. Appreciate reading about his outlook on war, given how much of his work explores it.
A Room with a View - 4/5
Absolutely incredible, fascinating worldbuilding went into this short story. And I have no idea what the ending means. Are we doing an Inception? Is she possessing him? Did he help her get home (I think this is the implication, and the rest is overthinking)? Also, does he know her? What does the bit about the bodies mean? Absolutely no clue.
Cutting Edge
Another cool essay that probably ties into Parker’s Fencer trilogy much like the previous essay tied in with the Siege trilogy. An interesting insight that however symbolic swords are, they were (almost) always a little behind the times in terms of actual use.
Illuminated 3.5/5
Second read, still quite beyond my mortal understanding but I’m willing to offer a little more patience for the weird sex/gender stuff. Books as violence is an interesting idea, especially alongside the prospect of living texts. Worth another read eventually.
One Little Room an Everywhere 4/5
God I love this magic system with the rooms and forms and whatnot. I respect the choice to keep things strange and the narrator unlikable here, but as with many of these stories a little more detail would be nice.
Still very interesting to me that Parker uses the same world for many stories, including dates, but that it's so often mismatched.
A Rich, Full Week - 4/5
Heh, nice twists and creepy details - though kinda wish the original premise of the zombies/vampires had been resolved/explained a little more.
On Sieges
A cool essay that reflects the origins of many details of his “The Siege” trilogy, especially the first book. Appreciate reading about his outlook on war, given how much of his work explores it.
A Room with a View - 4/5
Absolutely incredible, fascinating worldbuilding went into this short story. And I have no idea what the ending means. Are we doing an Inception? Is she possessing him? Did he help her get home (I think this is the implication, and the rest is overthinking)? Also, does he know her? What does the bit about the bodies mean? Absolutely no clue.
Cutting Edge
Another cool essay that probably ties into Parker’s Fencer trilogy much like the previous essay tied in with the Siege trilogy. An interesting insight that however symbolic swords are, they were (almost) always a little behind the times in terms of actual use.
Illuminated 3.5/5
Second read, still quite beyond my mortal understanding but I’m willing to offer a little more patience for the weird sex/gender stuff. Books as violence is an interesting idea, especially alongside the prospect of living texts. Worth another read eventually.
One Little Room an Everywhere 4/5
God I love this magic system with the rooms and forms and whatnot. I respect the choice to keep things strange and the narrator unlikable here, but as with many of these stories a little more detail would be nice.
March 4, 2023
სათითაოდ რომ დამეჯამებინა უფრო 4-ისკენ იქნებოდა, მაგრამ this is greater than the sum of its parts :D
ჭკვიანი კაცის მიერ დაწერილი ჭკვიანი პერსონაჟები კაი რამეა <3 ყოველ შემთხვევაში, მინიმუმ ჩემზე ჭკვიანია ეს კაცი რომ მომხიბლოს :D რამდენიმეგან მივხვდი თვისთი საითკენ მიდიოდა და გამართლდა, მარა იმ ერთი თვისთის იქით მომიტრიალდა და blew my mind მაინც :დ
Purple and Black არის ჩემი ფავორიტი აქედან, სადაც ყველაზე ნაკლები დოზითაა ფენტეზი არადა.
ბოლო ნოველაში სალონინუსთან შეხვედრას ძალიან ველოდი და ერთის მხრივ, იმედი არ გაუცრუებია და ისეთი განდონია როგორც საუკუნეების შემდეგ რეპუტაცია დარჩა, მაგრამ მეორეს მხრივ არც ისე მომხიბვლელი იყო როგორც მინდოდა :( მაგრამ მაინც კაი წასაკითხია პირველ პირში მთხრობელი პერსონაჟი ყოველ აბზაცში რომ რაღაცას გატყუებს და suspicious სახით კითხულობ :D
მოკლედ, ობიექტურად ბევრ ნაკლს ვუპოვიდი ამ კრებულს, მაგალითად იმას რომ პერსონაჟები საკმაოდ გვანან ერთმანეთს, მაგრამ ჩემთვის პირადად ისეთი დეტალები აქვს ბევრი სხვა წიგნებში სანთლით რომ ვეძებ ხოლმე და აქ ერთად თავმოყრილმა ძლიერ მასიამოვნა <3
ჭკვიანი კაცის მიერ დაწერილი ჭკვიანი პერსონაჟები კაი რამეა <3 ყოველ შემთხვევაში, მინიმუმ ჩემზე ჭკვიანია ეს კაცი რომ მომხიბლოს :D რამდენიმეგან მივხვდი თვისთი საითკენ მიდიოდა და გამართლდა, მარა იმ ერთი თვისთის იქით მომიტრიალდა და blew my mind მაინც :დ
Purple and Black არის ჩემი ფავორიტი აქედან, სადაც ყველაზე ნაკლები დოზითაა ფენტეზი არადა.
ბოლო ნოველაში სალონინუსთან შეხვედრას ძალიან ველოდი და ერთის მხრივ, იმედი არ გაუცრუებია და ისეთი განდონია როგორც საუკუნეების შემდეგ რეპუტაცია დარჩა, მაგრამ მეორეს მხრივ არც ისე მომხიბვლელი იყო როგორც მინდოდა :( მაგრამ მაინც კაი წასაკითხია პირველ პირში მთხრობელი პერსონაჟი ყოველ აბზაცში რომ რაღაცას გატყუებს და suspicious სახით კითხულობ :D
მოკლედ, ობიექტურად ბევრ ნაკლს ვუპოვიდი ამ კრებულს, მაგალითად იმას რომ პერსონაჟები საკმაოდ გვანან ერთმანეთს, მაგრამ ჩემთვის პირადად ისეთი დეტალები აქვს ბევრი სხვა წიგნებში სანთლით რომ ვეძებ ხოლმე და აქ ერთად თავმოყრილმა ძლიერ მასიამოვნა <3
June 14, 2015
I don't know anything about KJ Parker but he can really spin a good story. The humor is decidedly dry, with a good amount of tongue-in-cheek observations. I really enjoyed it. This collection of stories centers around people in academic situations (research, experiments, teaching, etc), but most of them seemed to be set in an alternate history where there is a type of "science" that really is a form of magic. Perhaps an alternate Byzantine period. There was also a really interesting section on the history and development of armor, and the history and development of the sword, both of which I found fascinating (and I admit that I am one of those sword enthusiasts who owns one simply so he can cut a plastic jug full of water).
Anyway, really a great collection of short stories.
A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong. 4 stars
About a young protege who is a genius at creating music, which his professor labors at. The professor ends up passing off one of the songs as his own and struggles with knowing he could be found to be a fraud.
A Rich, Full Week. 3 stars
An "field magician" out hunting what is essentially an undead. Actually suspenseful and enjoyable.
Amor Vincit Omnia. 4 stars
Is there really such a thing as invincibility, and has someone unknowingly discovered it, rendering them unstoppable?
On Sieges. 3 stars
Just like it sounds. The history of sieges, very informative.
Let Maps to Others. 5 stars
An academic who researches a lost island, piecing together fragments of information and guesswork, forges a document to replace one that was lost, yet verifies his research. The prince asks him to accompany him on an expedition to find it. A neat exercise in academic integrity and fear of being found out.
A Room with a View. 4 stars
A man searching the minds of dogs (for demons) finds something he wasn't expecting...
Cutting Edge Technology. 5 stars
On swords. Absolutely fascinating and informative.
Illuminated. 3 stars
The discovery of how to transmit a person's entire knowledge to another, with the consequences. Creepy.
Purple and Black. 5 stars
A collection of "letters" back and forth between two friends, one just become emperor, the other made general. Absolutely brilliant insight into the difference between ideals and reality. Loved it.
Rich Men's Skins. 4 stars
History of armor. Really interesting and informative.
The Sun and I. 4 stars
A group of con-men start a new religion, only to find out that it's true...retrospectively at least.
One Little Room an Everywhere. 4 stars
Really cool short story of a man who discovers an incantation to make him a perfect artist, but there are consequences...
Blue and Gold. 5 stars
Loved this story. The epitomy of the unreliable narrator, the teller continually informs you of information he left out when he first mentioned it and the full story starts unfolding bit by bit. He's an alchemist by the way, creating the elixer of life. Or transmuting lead into gold. At least, that's what people believe. He is the greatest living alchemist after all...
Anyway, really a great collection of short stories.
A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong. 4 stars
About a young protege who is a genius at creating music, which his professor labors at. The professor ends up passing off one of the songs as his own and struggles with knowing he could be found to be a fraud.
A Rich, Full Week. 3 stars
An "field magician" out hunting what is essentially an undead. Actually suspenseful and enjoyable.
Amor Vincit Omnia. 4 stars
Is there really such a thing as invincibility, and has someone unknowingly discovered it, rendering them unstoppable?
On Sieges. 3 stars
Just like it sounds. The history of sieges, very informative.
Let Maps to Others. 5 stars
An academic who researches a lost island, piecing together fragments of information and guesswork, forges a document to replace one that was lost, yet verifies his research. The prince asks him to accompany him on an expedition to find it. A neat exercise in academic integrity and fear of being found out.
A Room with a View. 4 stars
A man searching the minds of dogs (for demons) finds something he wasn't expecting...
Cutting Edge Technology. 5 stars
On swords. Absolutely fascinating and informative.
Illuminated. 3 stars
The discovery of how to transmit a person's entire knowledge to another, with the consequences. Creepy.
Purple and Black. 5 stars
A collection of "letters" back and forth between two friends, one just become emperor, the other made general. Absolutely brilliant insight into the difference between ideals and reality. Loved it.
Rich Men's Skins. 4 stars
History of armor. Really interesting and informative.
The Sun and I. 4 stars
A group of con-men start a new religion, only to find out that it's true...retrospectively at least.
One Little Room an Everywhere. 4 stars
Really cool short story of a man who discovers an incantation to make him a perfect artist, but there are consequences...
Blue and Gold. 5 stars
Loved this story. The epitomy of the unreliable narrator, the teller continually informs you of information he left out when he first mentioned it and the full story starts unfolding bit by bit. He's an alchemist by the way, creating the elixer of life. Or transmuting lead into gold. At least, that's what people believe. He is the greatest living alchemist after all...
March 22, 2025
I'm a Parker man and a Parker stan. This is the third full book I've read by KJ Parker (a collection of short stories and novellas), the other two being standalone novels The Folding Knife and Savages, and so far everything has been excellent. His prose is sharp, his plots twisty, his characters usually nefarious and cynical but always multifaceted, even with the spatial limitations of shorter fiction. This collection in particular had some absolute bangers in it, with hardly any low or boring points at all. Mostly themed around academia via the in-universe Studium of "magic" (which is just "science we can't explain yet"), Academic Exercises had a hell of a lot to offer and makes me excited to continue with Parker's other material.
A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong ★★★★★
The complicated relationship of an established composer to his genius student, who happens to be on death row. This was a perfect story to open the book with, as it showcases everything that makes Parker's short fiction so great. Twists, complex characters, and nuanced and cynical discussion with plenty of technical detail (in this case about music, composition, and creativity in general). Easy to see why it was a World Fantasy Award winner.
A Rich, Full Week ★★★★★
A down-on-his-luck wizard is sent to deal with the zombie terrorizing a village in the sticks, and gets more than he bargained for. I loved this one too. From what I've experienced, magic is mostly omitted from Parker's full novels, so to get such an in-depth look at it here was quite interesting. With an added twist of horror, this story left me with quite a few memorable images.
Amor Vincit Omnia ★★★★★
Another academia-focused story, this time focusing on a young wizard with a lot to prove who's assigned to deal with a rogue mage who has seemingly discovered the secret to invulnerability. There's a lot of interesting philosophizing here, as a man immune to violence is effectively also immune from the State (and must summarily be dealt with).
On Sieges
The first of three technical essays on medieval technology, On Sieges shows just how much Parker's knowledge base backs up the technical detail in his stories. Parker's perspective on sieges here shows just how much the Siege and the evolving defense against it have shaped all aspects of life through the ages.
Let Maps to Others ★★★★★
A renowned scholar finally learns the secret whereabouts of the mysterious continent of Essecuivo, loses them, forges them again to assure his legacy, and gets more than he expected when is then roped along into the disastrous journey to go there. Along with A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong, this is probably the most outstanding work in the collection. It's astounding how much content Parker packed into a relatively short page count here. Reminding me of The New World by Mark Lawrence, I'm a total sucker for age of sail exploration stories calling back to Columbus's "discovery" of America.
A Room with a View ★★★★
A wizard and his female apprentice explore the mysterious "Rooms" that constitute an important part of Parker's magic system. This one is certainly great and twisty, and the addition of an important female character adds an interesting dynamic, but I found it somewhat confusing and overall less memorable than the excellent stories preceding it.
Cutting Edge Technology
Another essay, this time on the history of swords. Parker's main thesis is that, while swords collectively feature heavily in our modern imaginations, because they're "cool", but they've never been the most effective weapons, and always seem to peak in technical proficiency just as they're becoming obsolete.
Illuminated ★★★★
Another short story featuring a wizard and a female apprentice, this one focused on the provenance of a mysterious manuscript found in the ruin of an old lookout tower (or something to that effect). Like its counterpart A Room with a View this story, while overall great, is a bit less memorable than those surrounding it.
Purple and Black ★★★★★
The longest story in the book, really a novella, and also told in an epistolary format between an Emperor who never expected to be crowned, and his best friend, who never expected to be elevated to a regional governor in the middle of an insurgency. Purple and Black has a lot of depth to it, with probably its main theme being that of the young academic's idealism (this motif recurs often through Academic Exercises, enough that I assume it must be true of Parker/Tom Holt himself) bearing up against cold, hard reality. It takes a while (relatively speaking) for the plot to get going, but the twists come hard and tragic.
Rich Mens' Skins; A Social History of Armour
Another essay, on the development of armor and its importance, like the siege and the sword covered previously, to the overall history of technology.
The Sun and I ★★★★
A group of charlatans and fraudsters conspire to invent a religion - that of the Invincible Sun that features in so many other Parker works including many of the stories in this collection. This is a more famous KJ Parker story but I thought it lacked a bit of plot oomph that my favorite stories from Academic Exercises had. Still, it was fun to see the origin of the Invincible Sun religion. You don't often get these more "hard worldbuilding" looks into the few shared elements between stories set in Parker's world. Another one of these (also featured later in the collection) is the philosopher Saloninus.
One Little Room an Everywhere ★★★★★
A failed wizard learns the magical secret to forging beautiful iconographic art, but tragically realizes the reason such secret was forbidden. A fun, shorter story hewing to the classic mold of a rapscallion looking for a score, only to get more than he bargained for in the end.
Blue and Gold ★★★★
Functioning as a capstone to the collection, this novella features the recurring historical figure Saloninus in his wry and cynical glory, attempting to escape persecution for the (accidental?) killing of his wife, who happens to be the local Prince's sister, a Prince who is very interested in Saloninus's nearly-completed attempts at turning base metals into gold. This story features all of the Parker trademarks ably demonstrated in Academic Exercises - humor, twists, clever writing - but it just wasn't my favorite. I'm still not sure what the implications of the very ending are.
A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong ★★★★★
The complicated relationship of an established composer to his genius student, who happens to be on death row. This was a perfect story to open the book with, as it showcases everything that makes Parker's short fiction so great. Twists, complex characters, and nuanced and cynical discussion with plenty of technical detail (in this case about music, composition, and creativity in general). Easy to see why it was a World Fantasy Award winner.
A Rich, Full Week ★★★★★
A down-on-his-luck wizard is sent to deal with the zombie terrorizing a village in the sticks, and gets more than he bargained for. I loved this one too. From what I've experienced, magic is mostly omitted from Parker's full novels, so to get such an in-depth look at it here was quite interesting. With an added twist of horror, this story left me with quite a few memorable images.
Amor Vincit Omnia ★★★★★
Another academia-focused story, this time focusing on a young wizard with a lot to prove who's assigned to deal with a rogue mage who has seemingly discovered the secret to invulnerability. There's a lot of interesting philosophizing here, as a man immune to violence is effectively also immune from the State (and must summarily be dealt with).
On Sieges
The first of three technical essays on medieval technology, On Sieges shows just how much Parker's knowledge base backs up the technical detail in his stories. Parker's perspective on sieges here shows just how much the Siege and the evolving defense against it have shaped all aspects of life through the ages.
Let Maps to Others ★★★★★
A renowned scholar finally learns the secret whereabouts of the mysterious continent of Essecuivo, loses them, forges them again to assure his legacy, and gets more than he expected when is then roped along into the disastrous journey to go there. Along with A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong, this is probably the most outstanding work in the collection. It's astounding how much content Parker packed into a relatively short page count here. Reminding me of The New World by Mark Lawrence, I'm a total sucker for age of sail exploration stories calling back to Columbus's "discovery" of America.
A Room with a View ★★★★
A wizard and his female apprentice explore the mysterious "Rooms" that constitute an important part of Parker's magic system. This one is certainly great and twisty, and the addition of an important female character adds an interesting dynamic, but I found it somewhat confusing and overall less memorable than the excellent stories preceding it.
Cutting Edge Technology
Another essay, this time on the history of swords. Parker's main thesis is that, while swords collectively feature heavily in our modern imaginations, because they're "cool", but they've never been the most effective weapons, and always seem to peak in technical proficiency just as they're becoming obsolete.
Illuminated ★★★★
Another short story featuring a wizard and a female apprentice, this one focused on the provenance of a mysterious manuscript found in the ruin of an old lookout tower (or something to that effect). Like its counterpart A Room with a View this story, while overall great, is a bit less memorable than those surrounding it.
Purple and Black ★★★★★
The longest story in the book, really a novella, and also told in an epistolary format between an Emperor who never expected to be crowned, and his best friend, who never expected to be elevated to a regional governor in the middle of an insurgency. Purple and Black has a lot of depth to it, with probably its main theme being that of the young academic's idealism (this motif recurs often through Academic Exercises, enough that I assume it must be true of Parker/Tom Holt himself) bearing up against cold, hard reality. It takes a while (relatively speaking) for the plot to get going, but the twists come hard and tragic.
Rich Mens' Skins; A Social History of Armour
Another essay, on the development of armor and its importance, like the siege and the sword covered previously, to the overall history of technology.
The Sun and I ★★★★
A group of charlatans and fraudsters conspire to invent a religion - that of the Invincible Sun that features in so many other Parker works including many of the stories in this collection. This is a more famous KJ Parker story but I thought it lacked a bit of plot oomph that my favorite stories from Academic Exercises had. Still, it was fun to see the origin of the Invincible Sun religion. You don't often get these more "hard worldbuilding" looks into the few shared elements between stories set in Parker's world. Another one of these (also featured later in the collection) is the philosopher Saloninus.
One Little Room an Everywhere ★★★★★
A failed wizard learns the magical secret to forging beautiful iconographic art, but tragically realizes the reason such secret was forbidden. A fun, shorter story hewing to the classic mold of a rapscallion looking for a score, only to get more than he bargained for in the end.
Blue and Gold ★★★★
Functioning as a capstone to the collection, this novella features the recurring historical figure Saloninus in his wry and cynical glory, attempting to escape persecution for the (accidental?) killing of his wife, who happens to be the local Prince's sister, a Prince who is very interested in Saloninus's nearly-completed attempts at turning base metals into gold. This story features all of the Parker trademarks ably demonstrated in Academic Exercises - humor, twists, clever writing - but it just wasn't my favorite. I'm still not sure what the implications of the very ending are.
July 1, 2015
This collection of short stories starts with the brilliant "A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong." A young composer, a genius, comes to his professor, the narrator, a career academic whose music lacks "wings." In exchange for help escaping the police, he offers a symphony that the professor can represent as his own. It is a joy to watch the exchange shape both lives.
Each story in the collection is in some way memorable. Each features entirely different characters, but is recognizably set in the same world of magic, money, and the worship of the Invincible Sun, and they arise from interesting questions. How would one's psychology be affected if his magic made him perfectly impervious to all harm, physical or psychic? Can an enlightened individual be emperor? How is reading similar to being possessed? Might your hoax accidentally turn out to be true?
Also included are three non-fiction essays on the social history of siege warfare, swords, and armour. Set among the fiction, they have a strange impact that would be lost if they appeared alone.
I finished the collection, then went right back to the beginning to reread "Birdsong."
Each story in the collection is in some way memorable. Each features entirely different characters, but is recognizably set in the same world of magic, money, and the worship of the Invincible Sun, and they arise from interesting questions. How would one's psychology be affected if his magic made him perfectly impervious to all harm, physical or psychic? Can an enlightened individual be emperor? How is reading similar to being possessed? Might your hoax accidentally turn out to be true?
Also included are three non-fiction essays on the social history of siege warfare, swords, and armour. Set among the fiction, they have a strange impact that would be lost if they appeared alone.
I finished the collection, then went right back to the beginning to reread "Birdsong."
September 21, 2019
Three hundred years ago a man made a trip to another world, and he returned with riches (lemons) that he sold for an utter fortune. The man was Aeneas Peregrinus and the place was Essecuivo. The location of the continent is lost to history, somewhere in the notes and journals of Peregrinus. So much so that it has become a fable. Fortunes invested and lost in the search for it. Reputations ruined, men gaoled, and so on.
No one has been able to return; oh they get close, but there are storms, and unknown winds and they get so close… if only they had the actual co-ordinates.
If only they had a scholar who had studied all the words of Peregrinus, and a Duke who would pay to find it.
888
Sometimes it’s a journey – I was listening to the ‘Be the Serpent’ podcast and they had a link to this story. The episode title was: Episode 21: Believing the Little Lies – its here if you want to listen
https://betheserpent.podbean.com/e/ep...
the story itself is… amazing.
Read it here: https://subterraneanpress.com/magazin...
5 stars
No one has been able to return; oh they get close, but there are storms, and unknown winds and they get so close… if only they had the actual co-ordinates.
If only they had a scholar who had studied all the words of Peregrinus, and a Duke who would pay to find it.
888
Sometimes it’s a journey – I was listening to the ‘Be the Serpent’ podcast and they had a link to this story. The episode title was: Episode 21: Believing the Little Lies – its here if you want to listen
https://betheserpent.podbean.com/e/ep...
the story itself is… amazing.
Read it here: https://subterraneanpress.com/magazin...
5 stars
December 29, 2014
K.J. Parker is a relatively recent discovery of mine, and she (?) is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Known for her dry cynicism, understated humor, and intriguing explorations of morality, her stories are set in a historically informed world fleshed out with Parker’s rich historical knowledge.
Collected here in her first anthology, Academic Exercises, her short fiction has so far won two World Fantasy Awards for her novellas “A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong” and “Let Maps to Others.” Included in this anthology are also three non-fiction essays on historical subjects such as siege warfare, and the history of swords, and armor.
K.J. Parker's short fiction differs from her longer works in that they frequently feature magical elements, something that her longer works largely stay away from. Although some... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
Collected here in her first anthology, Academic Exercises, her short fiction has so far won two World Fantasy Awards for her novellas “A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong” and “Let Maps to Others.” Included in this anthology are also three non-fiction essays on historical subjects such as siege warfare, and the history of swords, and armor.
K.J. Parker's short fiction differs from her longer works in that they frequently feature magical elements, something that her longer works largely stay away from. Although some... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
April 25, 2015
Definitely a solid collection, and I appreciate that almost all of it was novella length, but unfortunately Parker's stories are too similar for 500 pages, especially how they're all set in the same academic environment with relatively similar narrators. My favorites were "A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong," "Let's Map to Others," and the three essays on the history, social politics, and technology of siege warfare, swords, and armor. This kind of fascination with detail and engineering is a big element of Parker's work, though it's also brilliantly written and constructed. But yeah, there's just not enough variety in this collection, though I'm sure I'll read one of Parker's series eventually, since the writing is excellent and I love how solid it all feels.
Also, I just read that Parker's hidden identity/gender was just revealed WHILE I WAS READING THIS BOOK, which is really odd and cool, since people have been speculating for years.
Also, I just read that Parker's hidden identity/gender was just revealed WHILE I WAS READING THIS BOOK, which is really odd and cool, since people have been speculating for years.
May 9, 2016
I'd never read any KJ Parker before, but I will be after this. All the stories in this take place in the same world, but in different countries, all tied together with mention to the Studium - a university that studies everything from philosophy and history to alchemy and magic. The stories are all great, with realistic characters, and hints at the magic system of the Studium (just enough to give a flavour of how it works, not enough to make it predictable). There's also a few essays in here, which I thought I would end up skipping, but they were fantastic, well written and interesting, didn't feel like a lecture or a college-essay. There's hints of the interconnectedness of the stories as they progress, references to previous ones, although the lack of a map or timeline makes it a little hard to tell how they fit together exactly. Overall, the best collection of short stories I've read
March 5, 2022
Parker's prose is brilliant and his characters are presented in all their glorious flaws. The short story is on of my favorite genres, and as far as I know, not used much within the fantasy genre. This collection of stories are typical Parker, and really well developed within the constraints of a short story. Apart from a couple of essays on the genesis of sword making and medieval armor, I found each story immediately engaging and ending with a surprising twist. My favorites stories were "Purple and Black," and "Blue and Gold." Since I read mostly on my Kindle, I missed seeing the purple ink used in the printed copy of "Purple and Black," although it is explained in the story. If you've never read Parker before, this is a good place to start. If you like his writing, I think you'll thoroughly enjoy Parker's "Folding Knife."
September 8, 2014
Parker is one of my favorite authors, so this short story collection was a pleasure. Parker's short stories are a distillation of unique style involving brilliant machinations, magic, and clever plot twists. The three nonfiction essays included about siege warfare, swords, and armor were a surprise for me, since I didn't know the author wrote nonfiction. They add some important details to the realism of sword and sorcery fantasy. The fiction essays mostly seem to take place in the same world with the same kind of magic system, so more about the world is revealed through different stories. There's plenty here for a full novel or three. But again, what I enjoy most about Parker's work is revealed more cleanly in these short stories than in long form work I've read in the past.
September 27, 2014
Really liked every story in this collection (there are also three reasonably entertaining essays--on swords, armor, and sieges--included). Four stars rather than five mostly because Parker's story structure seems so consistent. Not predictable in the details, but ultimately fairly homogeneous on the whole.
Still, I enjoy the clockwork plots, clever, morally ambiguous (well, generally morally deficient to some extent) protagonists, and spare, sharp prose each time. I also enjoyed getting a bit more history of the world shared by some of Parker's novels (The Folding Knife, The Company, The Hammer).
Here's the first story in the collection, a favorite:
http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine...
Still, I enjoy the clockwork plots, clever, morally ambiguous (well, generally morally deficient to some extent) protagonists, and spare, sharp prose each time. I also enjoyed getting a bit more history of the world shared by some of Parker's novels (The Folding Knife, The Company, The Hammer).
Here's the first story in the collection, a favorite:
http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine...
March 25, 2016
Academic Exercises is a collection of novellas by K.J. Parker. There's a range of topics featured in the book, dealing with various arts, religion, magic, war, and even some non-fiction work which covers siege warfare, swords and armour.
Although classified as a fantasy, it's not the typical worlds with imaginative creatures and magic spells. Instead, the humans which are gifted in magic don't see themselves as wizards, but as philosophers, specialising in mental energies. They often use these powers to exorcise demons.
Most of the stories deal with similar characters, ones with personal failures which lead them into immoral situations.
The majority of stories were really enjoyable and the non-fiction work was fascinating.
Although classified as a fantasy, it's not the typical worlds with imaginative creatures and magic spells. Instead, the humans which are gifted in magic don't see themselves as wizards, but as philosophers, specialising in mental energies. They often use these powers to exorcise demons.
Most of the stories deal with similar characters, ones with personal failures which lead them into immoral situations.
The majority of stories were really enjoyable and the non-fiction work was fascinating.
June 9, 2017
There's probably something wrong with you if you like KJ Parker's books. I'm sorry, but there it is.
Another fine example of how even the fictional history of a fantasy world is a series of blunders, lies, and crimes against humanity. In case you were having day with too much sunshine, a lottery win, or a fine time with friends, this collection of short stories and essays will depress you enough that you will no longer secretly feel something bad will happen to you, because it already has. Really, someone should get Lemony Snickett to write an introduction to KJ Parker's works. "This level of cynicism," he might say, "can only be achieved after a severe case of alexthemia, a word which here means the inability to feel emotions."
Another fine example of how even the fictional history of a fantasy world is a series of blunders, lies, and crimes against humanity. In case you were having day with too much sunshine, a lottery win, or a fine time with friends, this collection of short stories and essays will depress you enough that you will no longer secretly feel something bad will happen to you, because it already has. Really, someone should get Lemony Snickett to write an introduction to KJ Parker's works. "This level of cynicism," he might say, "can only be achieved after a severe case of alexthemia, a word which here means the inability to feel emotions."
March 29, 2015
Fans of KJ Parker will love this collection of the author's shorter fiction. If you're not a fan of KJ Parker already, this will serve as a strong introduction to the author's style, tone, obsessions and techniques. For those of us who are fans, these 500 pages are full of what we've come to love. Acerbic wit, wildly interesting descriptions of magic systems, crackling dialogue, completely believable characters in settings that breathe with life.
May 13, 2016
A remarkable collection. All were good and some were great.
The opener, A Small Price for Birdsong, in particular was terrific and ably set the tone for the rest.
I also enjoyed the essays on Weapons and Armour. Informative as well as entertaining.
In addition, the stories provided some tantalizing glimpses of the shared history and mythology Parker has established. I would really like to see a map and a time line of all the novels and stories.
The opener, A Small Price for Birdsong, in particular was terrific and ably set the tone for the rest.
I also enjoyed the essays on Weapons and Armour. Informative as well as entertaining.
In addition, the stories provided some tantalizing glimpses of the shared history and mythology Parker has established. I would really like to see a map and a time line of all the novels and stories.
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