What do you think?
Rate this book
High Times in the Low Parliament
High Times in the Low Parliament is an epic fantasy novel from author Kelly Robson…
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
160 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 9, 2022
79 people are currently reading
3366 people want to read
About the author
Kelly Robson
70 books284 followersLike you, I'm a passionate reader. I spent most of my teenage years either hanging out at the drugstore waiting for new issues of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine, or when I was in the city, lurking in the SF and Fantasy section of the bookstore. This was pre-Internet and since there were no bookstores in my town and the library was pretty bare, good books -- the kind that made my heart sing -- were precious treasures.
To this day, nothing is more important to me than reading, nothing is more delicious than a great novel, and few people are as important as my favorite writers.
My writing life has been pretty diverse. I've edited science books, and from 2008 to 2012 I had the great good luck to write a monthly wine column for Chatelaine, the largest women's magazine in Canada.
I've published short fiction at Tor.com, Asimov's Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, and a number of anthologies. Several of my stories have been chosen for "year's best" anthologies, and in the past two years I've been a finalist for several high-profile awards.
To this day, nothing is more important to me than reading, nothing is more delicious than a great novel, and few people are as important as my favorite writers.
My writing life has been pretty diverse. I've edited science books, and from 2008 to 2012 I had the great good luck to write a monthly wine column for Chatelaine, the largest women's magazine in Canada.
I've published short fiction at Tor.com, Asimov's Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, and a number of anthologies. Several of my stories have been chosen for "year's best" anthologies, and in the past two years I've been a finalist for several high-profile awards.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 462 reviews
August 10, 2022
3.25 Stars. This was a very quirky little novella. I normally write my reviews right after I read a book -or the following day if it’s late- when my memory and feelings are the freshest, but I read this book a few days ago and believed that I needed more time to get my thoughts together. I’ve now taken that time but unfortunately I’m not sure if it helped as much as I hoped. I don’t know if I really know what to think of this oddball little book. I really struggled in the beginning and did not care for the story or the characters much at all, but then parts of the middle were interesting or even sweet, and the actual last chapter put a big smile on my face. I think my final overall verdict is that this story was a mix for me but in the end I enjoyed it a bit more than I had issues with it.
I think the main issue for me was the length. I’m actually a novella fan, but I think it is very hard to write a fantasy story that is heavy on the fantasy and lighter on the realism, in the short page allowance of a novella. It just doesn’t give you the time to world build which was really needed in this story. It took me a long time to even realize that there were no men in this world. I kept rereading things wondering if I missed a background male character. I did like that this led to the main character’s sexuality not being an issue -even if her perceived lesbian Casanova personality was super annoying-.But then I brought myself down a rabbit hole wondering if there are trans and nonbinary people that live in this world? And then I wondered if there really are only women in this world, then why is the government still just as fucked-up that people are willing to drown and die rather than agree in Parliament? Which leads me to an important storyline, if Parliament can’t agree, then fairies -which are the overseers- will drown all of Parliament –which includes scribes, cooks, cleaners, everyone in this little self-contained town will die- and then the people of the world would have to, hopefully, elect a new government that works. Again, why is this the way it is? Briefly it was mention that previous wars might be part of the reason but I need to know how this all came to be. Did the wars wipe out the men and that’s why they are gone? Are men in other counties somewhere? This seems to be the kind of book where you have to just wing it and go with the flow or otherwise you just can’t enjoy it. Once I realized that, and turned off my fantasy world questioning brain, I started to enjoy the story more.
I don’t want to make this review too long since this is a novella, but I do want to mention that I liked the character growth and the relationship between the main human character and the main fairy character the most. The main character is really selfish and is basically one big flirt, but she comes to understand there are things more important, like friendship and love, besides just scoring the ladies. You also see a huge amount of growth with the main fairy character which I won’t talk about as her journey is quite a surprise and I would not want to spoil any of it for potential readers. Her character is flawed and just plain mean at times, but she ended up being my favorite in the end.
TLDR: This book ended up being about average for me. I really struggled with it in the beginning and thought for sure that this would not be my kind of book. Luckily, as the story went on, it started to grow on me and by the end it did put a smile on my face. Characters that were hard to even stomach at first, developed into characters that I started to root for. I think the problem is that this fantasy story really needed some good world and character building, but as a novella there just wasn’t the time for it. As you can tell from the title, there is a lot of drug use. It includes fairy mushrooms and these happy yeast drugs, so nothing scary but I figured I would mention it since there is a high amount of use. This book is a mixed bag and it’s pretty clear to me that it won’t be for everyone. This is the kind of book that if you can go with the flow and not question too many things, I think it would be easier to enjoy that way. I’m finding it hard for me to recommend this one, but if your library has a copy I think it would be worth the try for readers who like quirky and or fantasy.
A copy was given to me for an honest review.
I think the main issue for me was the length. I’m actually a novella fan, but I think it is very hard to write a fantasy story that is heavy on the fantasy and lighter on the realism, in the short page allowance of a novella. It just doesn’t give you the time to world build which was really needed in this story. It took me a long time to even realize that there were no men in this world. I kept rereading things wondering if I missed a background male character. I did like that this led to the main character’s sexuality not being an issue -even if her perceived lesbian Casanova personality was super annoying-.But then I brought myself down a rabbit hole wondering if there are trans and nonbinary people that live in this world? And then I wondered if there really are only women in this world, then why is the government still just as fucked-up that people are willing to drown and die rather than agree in Parliament? Which leads me to an important storyline, if Parliament can’t agree, then fairies -which are the overseers- will drown all of Parliament –which includes scribes, cooks, cleaners, everyone in this little self-contained town will die- and then the people of the world would have to, hopefully, elect a new government that works. Again, why is this the way it is? Briefly it was mention that previous wars might be part of the reason but I need to know how this all came to be. Did the wars wipe out the men and that’s why they are gone? Are men in other counties somewhere? This seems to be the kind of book where you have to just wing it and go with the flow or otherwise you just can’t enjoy it. Once I realized that, and turned off my fantasy world questioning brain, I started to enjoy the story more.
I don’t want to make this review too long since this is a novella, but I do want to mention that I liked the character growth and the relationship between the main human character and the main fairy character the most. The main character is really selfish and is basically one big flirt, but she comes to understand there are things more important, like friendship and love, besides just scoring the ladies. You also see a huge amount of growth with the main fairy character which I won’t talk about as her journey is quite a surprise and I would not want to spoil any of it for potential readers. Her character is flawed and just plain mean at times, but she ended up being my favorite in the end.
TLDR: This book ended up being about average for me. I really struggled with it in the beginning and thought for sure that this would not be my kind of book. Luckily, as the story went on, it started to grow on me and by the end it did put a smile on my face. Characters that were hard to even stomach at first, developed into characters that I started to root for. I think the problem is that this fantasy story really needed some good world and character building, but as a novella there just wasn’t the time for it. As you can tell from the title, there is a lot of drug use. It includes fairy mushrooms and these happy yeast drugs, so nothing scary but I figured I would mention it since there is a high amount of use. This book is a mixed bag and it’s pretty clear to me that it won’t be for everyone. This is the kind of book that if you can go with the flow and not question too many things, I think it would be easier to enjoy that way. I’m finding it hard for me to recommend this one, but if your library has a copy I think it would be worth the try for readers who like quirky and or fantasy.
A copy was given to me for an honest review.
August 18, 2022
Lana is a fantastic scribe, known for her penmanship and her sass. She believes herself to be quite the charmer as well; in an attempt to get in good with a lovely lady, she delivers a message to the Low Parliament in exchange for some kisses. But she finds herself roped into the politics and forced to be a scribe at the Low Parliament, where fairies harangue the humans for not being able to agree on anything. Lana soon discovers that if Parliament can’t agree, then their lives will be in danger and war will likely begin. Can she do anything to keep this from becoming a reality?
I’m really not sure what I just read.
There was a lack of explanation for almost everything, including plot-important details and quirky details that just made no sense (e.g., a slight pinch of yeast was equivalent to doing drugs?). With no explanations given to these things, the whole work felt disjointed and nonsensical. Similarly, there was no worldbuilding, no grounding of the world’s facts, no explanations, nothing. Why does Low Parliament exist? Why would Parliament be eradicated if they couldn’t agree? Why did a faction want this to happen? Why were there no males in this world?
The characters were lacking. I enjoyed Lana at first, though her overuse of the word “beauty” began to get on my nerves. Her character had no real development, other than that she liked drugs and hooking up with folks. It was fun to watch her relationship with BB evolve and grow, but other than that, there was no character depth, development, or growth.
Unfortunately, I have nothing good to say about this work other than that I’m glad it wasn’t any longer. The narrator did a good job with the audiobook, though. I don’t recommend this work. My thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for allowing me to review this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
I’m really not sure what I just read.
There was a lack of explanation for almost everything, including plot-important details and quirky details that just made no sense (e.g., a slight pinch of yeast was equivalent to doing drugs?). With no explanations given to these things, the whole work felt disjointed and nonsensical. Similarly, there was no worldbuilding, no grounding of the world’s facts, no explanations, nothing. Why does Low Parliament exist? Why would Parliament be eradicated if they couldn’t agree? Why did a faction want this to happen? Why were there no males in this world?
The characters were lacking. I enjoyed Lana at first, though her overuse of the word “beauty” began to get on my nerves. Her character had no real development, other than that she liked drugs and hooking up with folks. It was fun to watch her relationship with BB evolve and grow, but other than that, there was no character depth, development, or growth.
Unfortunately, I have nothing good to say about this work other than that I’m glad it wasn’t any longer. The narrator did a good job with the audiobook, though. I don’t recommend this work. My thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for allowing me to review this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
December 4, 2022
This is the golden age of the fantasy and SciFi novella, and High Times in the Low Parliament is another great exemplar of this trend. Like many of the best of these novellas, I got to the end and wanted more; I felt the book was to short. Not because the plot was too short (although some character and relationship development was abbreviated) but because I wanted more of this world and these characters. The fairy-led female-only universe was fascinating and the main character was a rarely seen trickster-bureaucrat, a delightfully debauched non sequitur of a scribe. I look forward to reading more about her and this world.
October 5, 2022
Lana the scribe is a slacker, a womanizer and likes getting stoned. When she's tricked into a job with the Low Parliament she initially thinks that the move will be just a change in venue for her (in)activity, but it becomes apparent that the fairies that rule over the Low Parliament will punish inaction and dissent their by drowning the whole place ... and the Parliament has been hung for months. But what's Lana the happy go-lucky lowly scribe going to do about it?
Lana is a relentlessly cheerful personality who makes friends wherever she goes, so she makes a fun point-of-view character. Her friendship with the fairy that oversees the scribes is engaging, as is her clumsy wooing of the only good politician in the place.
But the world-building is a little strange. No male gender or biological sex for a start and babies come from the blessing of a natal fairy on human women. The parliament is mandatory and inescapable for attendees and is more like the European parliament than our English one in composition, but its theatrics are straight out of the Brexit-era Bercow English parliament. The "Anglish" parliament attendees behave horribly, making it very clear that Brexit is the target, but also making commentary on politicians acting in bad faith in their official roles.
I just wish real life had such a hopeful ending.
Lana is a relentlessly cheerful personality who makes friends wherever she goes, so she makes a fun point-of-view character. Her friendship with the fairy that oversees the scribes is engaging, as is her clumsy wooing of the only good politician in the place.
But the world-building is a little strange. No male gender or biological sex for a start and babies come from the blessing of a natal fairy on human women. The parliament is mandatory and inescapable for attendees and is more like the European parliament than our English one in composition, but its theatrics are straight out of the Brexit-era Bercow English parliament. The "Anglish" parliament attendees behave horribly, making it very clear that Brexit is the target, but also making commentary on politicians acting in bad faith in their official roles.
I just wish real life had such a hopeful ending.
September 10, 2022
Lana Baker, a London scribe, is sent to work in the Low Parliament, which is in danger of being drowned if the members cannot come to an agreement on their politics.
Highs and lows is absolutely right for this book. There were parts I loved, as well as parts that really began to wear on my nerves.
There was certainly interesting world-building at play - crotchety fairies live alongside humans, and it seems only women populate this world. I especially loved the relationship between Lana and Bugbite, and how their friendship grew deep despite the dislike that fairies and humans traditionally held for each other. And to my surprise, I liked Lana, who genuinely charmed me despite (or was it because of?) her feckless, cheerful personality.
However, the plot underwhelmed. I definitely understood the analogue between the events of this book and Brexit, but I did not understand Angland's motivation for their actions here. There also was a good deal of tension lacking despite the threat of imminent death hanging over everyone's heads. I also wished I had known beforehand that this book has been described as "lesbian stoner buddy comedy." I do not, alas, much enjoy stoner comedies, and I was certainly taken aback by the amount of "yeast" and "mushrooms" that were ingested in this book.
I listened to this book as an audiobook, which was narrated by Amy Scanlon. I thought she did a great job in performing Lana's chirpy personality, and I liked how she did the voices of Bugbite and the other fairies. Despite all the female characters, I was able to tell all the voices apart easily.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
Highs and lows is absolutely right for this book. There were parts I loved, as well as parts that really began to wear on my nerves.
There was certainly interesting world-building at play - crotchety fairies live alongside humans, and it seems only women populate this world. I especially loved the relationship between Lana and Bugbite, and how their friendship grew deep despite the dislike that fairies and humans traditionally held for each other. And to my surprise, I liked Lana, who genuinely charmed me despite (or was it because of?) her feckless, cheerful personality.
However, the plot underwhelmed. I definitely understood the analogue between the events of this book and Brexit, but I did not understand Angland's motivation for their actions here. There also was a good deal of tension lacking despite the threat of imminent death hanging over everyone's heads. I also wished I had known beforehand that this book has been described as "lesbian stoner buddy comedy." I do not, alas, much enjoy stoner comedies, and I was certainly taken aback by the amount of "yeast" and "mushrooms" that were ingested in this book.
I listened to this book as an audiobook, which was narrated by Amy Scanlon. I thought she did a great job in performing Lana's chirpy personality, and I liked how she did the voices of Bugbite and the other fairies. Despite all the female characters, I was able to tell all the voices apart easily.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
August 7, 2022
I was expecting scrapes, shenanigans, and pickles in a parliament setting with fun, lovable characters. What I got could *kind of* be described that way, but it ended up being a very different vibe than I was expecting.
We follow a main character whom I didn't find lovable. Perhaps others will. I found her to be self-involved and lazy. Her characterization revolves around being a horny, high lesbian. Yeah, I wasn't expecting "high times" to literally be characters getting high constantly.
The world building is also very strange. The main character has to go work as a scribe in parliament...which is basically a prison you can't leave. And, everyone there is at risk of being drowned if parliament can't get a 2/3 majority vote. And some factions seem to want that? And fairies are rascally little wranglers who oversee human parliament and sting people. It was all just very strange and I didn't get it.
Ultimately, I was very bored and confused and didn't care about anything.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom for the e-arc.
Sexual violence? I don't remember any. Other content warnings? Drug use, death
We follow a main character whom I didn't find lovable. Perhaps others will. I found her to be self-involved and lazy. Her characterization revolves around being a horny, high lesbian. Yeah, I wasn't expecting "high times" to literally be characters getting high constantly.
The world building is also very strange. The main character has to go work as a scribe in parliament...which is basically a prison you can't leave. And, everyone there is at risk of being drowned if parliament can't get a 2/3 majority vote. And some factions seem to want that? And fairies are rascally little wranglers who oversee human parliament and sting people. It was all just very strange and I didn't get it.
Ultimately, I was very bored and confused and didn't care about anything.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom for the e-arc.
Sexual violence? I don't remember any. Other content warnings? Drug use, death
March 16, 2023
I went into this almost completely blind, and thus had no idea that this has been described by the author as a "lesbian stoner buddy comedy". I'm glad I didn't know that going in, because even by those standards it completely missed the mark.
This had the bare bones of an interesting story and world building, but it was completely soured for me by how much I disliked the main character Lana by the end. I don't even care about all the questions this world building raised (WTF is that fairy and human relationship? Are there no men in this world?), I don't even care that it's a satire of how messy and useless our governments can be. I just couldn't STAND Lana. I gave her a lot of grace in the first third because this had promise, but then...she doesn't ever change. At all. She doesn't do a damn thing except get high with her fairy friend and lust after another human. She doesn't change or even try to do anything until she's forced into action in the last 15% of the book, and then...someone else dancing saves the day? I cannot. I CANNOT.
This had the bare bones of an interesting story and world building, but it was completely soured for me by how much I disliked the main character Lana by the end. I don't even care about all the questions this world building raised (WTF is that fairy and human relationship? Are there no men in this world?), I don't even care that it's a satire of how messy and useless our governments can be. I just couldn't STAND Lana. I gave her a lot of grace in the first third because this had promise, but then...she doesn't ever change. At all. She doesn't do a damn thing except get high with her fairy friend and lust after another human. She doesn't change or even try to do anything until she's forced into action in the last 15% of the book, and then...someone else dancing saves the day? I cannot. I CANNOT.
February 14, 2023
DNF ★
the fact i couldn't get through this 150-page novella says it all
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • StoryGraph
the fact i couldn't get through this 150-page novella says it all
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • StoryGraph
August 9, 2022
Ahoy there mateys! This was me first book by the author. It is short and yet I was left shaking me noggin in complete confusion when done. I had no idea what the point of the book was and the world building was nonsense. The story follows scribe Lana whose life revolves around drinking and flirting and doing the least amount of work possible. She inadvertently (and for no real reason) gets sent to Angland's session of Parliament to take minutes of the proceedings. If Parliament does not come to an agreement then the fairies will make the world flood and start over. Aye, fairies. I am not sure what Parliament is discussing because Lana doesn't care and only wants to be high and flirt. The only reason Lana ends up getting involved is because she lusts after a politician. And how the day is saved makes NO sense. Seriously. The only good part of this book was that men don't exist. However, the women seem to make a botch of everything anyway. In trying to figure out what I missed in this novella, I was told the author described this book as a “lesbian stoner buddy comedy” and it is supposed to be a comment on Brexit. Like Brexit this book makes no sense and maybe ye have to be high to enjoy it. Arrrr!
August 8, 2022
Thanks to NetGalley and Recorded Books for the ARC. It hasn't affected the content of my review.
This is genuinely one of the weirdest books I've ever read. It has a lot of flaws baked in. The worldbuilding is there but never explained, there is so much going on that none of it really fully works: lesbian stoner buddy comedy, political satire, the alternate history and fantasy elements, a romance . . . I spent a large portion of the book very confused. And yet, I also had a great time, and it didn't seem to matter very much that I was never sure what exactly was going on.
I really liked Lana as a character. She's an incorrigible flirt, and spends half her life high on mushrooms, but she's friendly and kind and people like her. The friendship between her and the fairy Bugbite was the best part of the book.
Everything is absurd in this book, but not so absurd that you don't wish there was a coherent explanation for why there are no men? And why the fairies even keep creating the humans if they are so scared of them? For just two examples. Also . . . the climactic scene . . . I don't even know if my thoughts can encompass it. Is it genius? It is stupid? Is it both???
But, I liked it. I liked listening to it, and I would listen to it again! So, those are my thoughts as conflicting, and confused as they may be.
[3.5 stars, rounding up for the good times, man]
This is genuinely one of the weirdest books I've ever read. It has a lot of flaws baked in. The worldbuilding is there but never explained, there is so much going on that none of it really fully works: lesbian stoner buddy comedy, political satire, the alternate history and fantasy elements, a romance . . . I spent a large portion of the book very confused. And yet, I also had a great time, and it didn't seem to matter very much that I was never sure what exactly was going on.
I really liked Lana as a character. She's an incorrigible flirt, and spends half her life high on mushrooms, but she's friendly and kind and people like her. The friendship between her and the fairy Bugbite was the best part of the book.
Everything is absurd in this book, but not so absurd that you don't wish there was a coherent explanation for why there are no men? And why the fairies even keep creating the humans if they are so scared of them? For just two examples. Also . . . the climactic scene . . . I don't even know if my thoughts can encompass it. Is it genius? It is stupid? Is it both???
But, I liked it. I liked listening to it, and I would listen to it again! So, those are my thoughts as conflicting, and confused as they may be.
[3.5 stars, rounding up for the good times, man]
July 31, 2022
A tantalizing tease of worldbuilding sets this book up like a honey trap: I want to know more about everything. I want a series of novellas, each one peeling back another layer of how this world works, what makes these fairies tick, and why Lana is Like That. She's fabulous and I adore her. I adore this book. I sincerely hope there will be more.
July 19, 2022
Thanks to the publisher (Tordotcom) for the ARC of this book.
I was really looking forward to this one (the description! the cover!), but alas. The plot was a total mess. Thematically, I think it was meant to be a satire of Brexit, maybe, or perhaps about politicians being useless windbags and politics being nonsense and how a common person is needed to save the day, which is a theme that has gotten old, oh, a few hundred years ago, and got the world nowhere good recently. Or something. I've no idea. It ended up being muddled beyond recognition and left me wondering what was the all-important point.
As for the humour, I know I'm a notorious curmudgeon about comedic books, but I hated it. Very very much. Especially Lana's awkward and forced attempts at flirting. Her personality, apart from being a woman of the people who doesn't really care about politics is pretty much being a womanizer fond of drugs who flirts with everyone (and I can't overstate how awful said flirting is), and if she was a man (there are only women in this world) or if this was a novel instead of a novella, I'd have tossed my ereader against the wall a few pages in.
Enjoyment: 1/5
Execution: 2/5
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.
I was really looking forward to this one (the description! the cover!), but alas. The plot was a total mess. Thematically, I think it was meant to be a satire of Brexit, maybe, or perhaps about politicians being useless windbags and politics being nonsense and how a common person is needed to save the day, which is a theme that has gotten old, oh, a few hundred years ago, and got the world nowhere good recently. Or something. I've no idea. It ended up being muddled beyond recognition and left me wondering what was the all-important point.
As for the humour, I know I'm a notorious curmudgeon about comedic books, but I hated it. Very very much. Especially Lana's awkward and forced attempts at flirting. Her personality, apart from being a woman of the people who doesn't really care about politics is pretty much being a womanizer fond of drugs who flirts with everyone (and I can't overstate how awful said flirting is), and if she was a man (there are only women in this world) or if this was a novel instead of a novella, I'd have tossed my ereader against the wall a few pages in.
Enjoyment: 1/5
Execution: 2/5
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1645808644i%2F7494844._UX200_CR0%2C6%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
dnf
August 14, 2022NOT feeling this writing style at all. Which sucks because I was really looking forward to this one!
July 26, 2022
On my blog.
Rep: lesbian mc, sapphic lis, sapphic side characters
Galley provided by publisher
High Times in the Low Parliament is a fun novella, following Lana who, self-confessedly, is a bit of an irresponsible flirt. When she gets herself sent to the Low Parliament in place of another scribe, all she can really think about is flirting with one of the deputies, despite the fact that, if the Parliament cannot agree, they will all be drowned. (I didn’t quite get this bit, which I will come to later. For now, just roll with it.)
First and foremost, Lana has a vibrant and fun voice. She’s the reason you keep reading this one, through any confusion. It’s nice to see a lesbian character who’s just allowed to flirt with almost every woman she meets and isn’t somehow penalised for it. And Lana was so unrepentant about it that you couldn’t help but like her.
And then there’s Bugbite, who I have to mention in a whole separate paragraph to herself just because of how much I loved her. The growth of her relationship with Lana was the best part of this book. Yes, she still remains a little sharp and spiteful by the end, but softened.
Really, the only issue I had with this one was that I thought it needed to be longer than novella length. Not simply because I wanted more of it (although I did), but I thought that it needed to better explain just why this Low Parliament existed and why exactly the fairies had to enforce it (and why it would end in humans drowning?). Perhaps there was something I missed right at the beginning but even so. A little more exposition would have been welcome.
That aside, though, I thought this was a thoroughly enjoyable read. If you haven’t picked up a Kelly Robson book before, this is a great one to start with. If you have, well, you’ll only enjoy this one all the more.
Rep: lesbian mc, sapphic lis, sapphic side characters
Galley provided by publisher
High Times in the Low Parliament is a fun novella, following Lana who, self-confessedly, is a bit of an irresponsible flirt. When she gets herself sent to the Low Parliament in place of another scribe, all she can really think about is flirting with one of the deputies, despite the fact that, if the Parliament cannot agree, they will all be drowned. (I didn’t quite get this bit, which I will come to later. For now, just roll with it.)
First and foremost, Lana has a vibrant and fun voice. She’s the reason you keep reading this one, through any confusion. It’s nice to see a lesbian character who’s just allowed to flirt with almost every woman she meets and isn’t somehow penalised for it. And Lana was so unrepentant about it that you couldn’t help but like her.
And then there’s Bugbite, who I have to mention in a whole separate paragraph to herself just because of how much I loved her. The growth of her relationship with Lana was the best part of this book. Yes, she still remains a little sharp and spiteful by the end, but softened.
Really, the only issue I had with this one was that I thought it needed to be longer than novella length. Not simply because I wanted more of it (although I did), but I thought that it needed to better explain just why this Low Parliament existed and why exactly the fairies had to enforce it (and why it would end in humans drowning?). Perhaps there was something I missed right at the beginning but even so. A little more exposition would have been welcome.
That aside, though, I thought this was a thoroughly enjoyable read. If you haven’t picked up a Kelly Robson book before, this is a great one to start with. If you have, well, you’ll only enjoy this one all the more.
March 18, 2023
This novella gets 5 stars on the basis of having literally everything that could possibly appeal to me: an entirely sapphic world, with fairies and a main character who's a shamelessly optimistic flirt, organized around a plot about how the process of representative government is such a slog it can only be improved by liberal amounts of intoxication, and which involves dance as a climactic point and my VERY FAVORITE type of romantic ending. It's eerily like this story was designed for Stefanie. And it was SO FUN.
The story follows Lana, a scribe whose breezy focus on love affairs and the finer things in life ends her up in a scrape that has her packed off to the Low Parliament. Things are quite dire there as the humans from various countries can't agree on anything and the fairies that oversee them are quite grumpy about it - in fact, threatening to drown everyone there if things won't resolve. Lana, meanwhile, is mostly focusing on turning her fairy overseer Bugbite into a friend and pursuing one of the legislators (called "deputies") Eloquentia. One way or another, can she and her allies figure a way out of this mess? Maybe, but in the meantime, they'll keep eating mushrooms and a self-regenerating yeast that functions kind of like cannabis or MDMA to help them get through the day.
Robson writes the tale in a style that isn't exactly but has callbacks to traditional fairy tale wording and sentence structure. It helps the reader slip into the world of the story and makes the wry observations even more droll. Since Lana is so focused on fun and love affairs, this story has a lightness to it that follows the main character's perspective. It was a joy to pick up this book again anytime life intervened and I had to stop reading.
I treasure this book even more since it directly followed my reading experience with super sad How High We Go in the Dark, which I found to be quite meh. So the combo of a constellation of my favorite story elements at the right reading moment was truly alchemical. My thanks to the reading gods that guided me to selecting this novella at this time, and Kelly Robson for distilling it out of her big, beautiful brain. I really liked Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach but this was even better.
The story follows Lana, a scribe whose breezy focus on love affairs and the finer things in life ends her up in a scrape that has her packed off to the Low Parliament. Things are quite dire there as the humans from various countries can't agree on anything and the fairies that oversee them are quite grumpy about it - in fact, threatening to drown everyone there if things won't resolve. Lana, meanwhile, is mostly focusing on turning her fairy overseer Bugbite into a friend and pursuing one of the legislators (called "deputies") Eloquentia. One way or another, can she and her allies figure a way out of this mess? Maybe, but in the meantime, they'll keep eating mushrooms and a self-regenerating yeast that functions kind of like cannabis or MDMA to help them get through the day.
Robson writes the tale in a style that isn't exactly but has callbacks to traditional fairy tale wording and sentence structure. It helps the reader slip into the world of the story and makes the wry observations even more droll. Since Lana is so focused on fun and love affairs, this story has a lightness to it that follows the main character's perspective. It was a joy to pick up this book again anytime life intervened and I had to stop reading.
I treasure this book even more since it directly followed my reading experience with super sad How High We Go in the Dark, which I found to be quite meh. So the combo of a constellation of my favorite story elements at the right reading moment was truly alchemical. My thanks to the reading gods that guided me to selecting this novella at this time, and Kelly Robson for distilling it out of her big, beautiful brain. I really liked Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach but this was even better.
August 14, 2022
This is a tough book to review, because it’s hard to disentangle my feelings about the book from the fact that this was likely a mismatch for me as a reader due to some mistaken assumptions about the content on my part. I somehow missed that the author referred to this book as a “lesbian stoner buddy comedy” and was expecting something more akin to a bite-size Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell – a sharp, witty fantasy of manners. Alas.
High Times at the Low Parliament takes place in an alternate England called “Angland”, where many things have stayed the same, but also there are absolutely no men and now everyone’s a lesbian. None of this is really explained, so you just have to roll with it. Various Angland constituencies are also represented in an EU Parliament (consisting of a collection of real and fake jurisdictions I couldn’t quite get my head around) that’s monitored by vicious fairies, and – like many real parliaments – the debate is pretty acrimonious. So acrimonious, in fact, that if they can’t agree, the Parliament will flood and everyone will go back to endless warfare between nations – and the fairies will also suffer as war inevitably destroys their territories.
Into this mess wanders our narrator, Lana, a scribe who isn’t particularly interested in politics, but is interested in getting drunk and bedding other ladies.
Putting aside the utterly ludicrous world-building, which I found far too convoluted and nonsensical for such a short piece, Robson isn’t the first author to take on Brexit via fantasy fiction, and I’m sure she won’t be the last. There are plenty of moral lessons and endless seeds of stories to come from that political calamity.
In one sense, there is a really interesting Brexit metaphor here; most of this book is taken up by Lana getting high on psychadelic mushrooms and arguing/flirting with her fairy companion Bugbite and one of the politicians, while Parliament disintegrates into chaos around her and rogue parliamentarians slowly undermine the institution without anyone at first noticing. On the other hand, that metaphor is mostly lost because the reader can’t make sense of why this parliament even exists in the first place, or what’s at stake in this version of united Europe. By setting this story in a fake “Angland” with a completely different social structure to the country we know, any connection to England and therefore the politics of Brexit is severed, and it feels like the politicians are just fighting in the background over nothing of real importance, while Lana contemplates how to get a fairy into her bed.
That said, I did like the idea of an alternate world where sexism and misogyny are not a key issue plaguing politics (particularly having just survived the recent Australian election campaign), and I always appreciate books where characters are openly queer and explicit about their intentions in that regard, but those ideas didn’t really mesh neatly with the rest of this book at all. If you just want a fun romp, you might well still enjoy this book, but if you’re expecting a treatise on parliamentary democracy – or even just a parliamentary system that actually makes sense – you might want to look elsewhere.
High Times at the Low Parliament takes place in an alternate England called “Angland”, where many things have stayed the same, but also there are absolutely no men and now everyone’s a lesbian. None of this is really explained, so you just have to roll with it. Various Angland constituencies are also represented in an EU Parliament (consisting of a collection of real and fake jurisdictions I couldn’t quite get my head around) that’s monitored by vicious fairies, and – like many real parliaments – the debate is pretty acrimonious. So acrimonious, in fact, that if they can’t agree, the Parliament will flood and everyone will go back to endless warfare between nations – and the fairies will also suffer as war inevitably destroys their territories.
Into this mess wanders our narrator, Lana, a scribe who isn’t particularly interested in politics, but is interested in getting drunk and bedding other ladies.
Putting aside the utterly ludicrous world-building, which I found far too convoluted and nonsensical for such a short piece, Robson isn’t the first author to take on Brexit via fantasy fiction, and I’m sure she won’t be the last. There are plenty of moral lessons and endless seeds of stories to come from that political calamity.
In one sense, there is a really interesting Brexit metaphor here; most of this book is taken up by Lana getting high on psychadelic mushrooms and arguing/flirting with her fairy companion Bugbite and one of the politicians, while Parliament disintegrates into chaos around her and rogue parliamentarians slowly undermine the institution without anyone at first noticing. On the other hand, that metaphor is mostly lost because the reader can’t make sense of why this parliament even exists in the first place, or what’s at stake in this version of united Europe. By setting this story in a fake “Angland” with a completely different social structure to the country we know, any connection to England and therefore the politics of Brexit is severed, and it feels like the politicians are just fighting in the background over nothing of real importance, while Lana contemplates how to get a fairy into her bed.
That said, I did like the idea of an alternate world where sexism and misogyny are not a key issue plaguing politics (particularly having just survived the recent Australian election campaign), and I always appreciate books where characters are openly queer and explicit about their intentions in that regard, but those ideas didn’t really mesh neatly with the rest of this book at all. If you just want a fun romp, you might well still enjoy this book, but if you’re expecting a treatise on parliamentary democracy – or even just a parliamentary system that actually makes sense – you might want to look elsewhere.
August 26, 2023
3.5
Very fun
Very fun
August 13, 2022
At times sharp and political, but with a hazy dreamlike quality. This little novella packs a punch.
Set mostly in an unstable and chaotic parliament, High Times in the Low Parliament manages to establish an interesting and fully fledged world in such a short time.
Weird and wonderful, I need this novella to get the Wayward Children treatment. I'm not ready to leave this world yet.
The narrator does a fantastic job of making all the characters distinguishable and the way she voices the fairy Bug Bite is especially great.
Overall this was strange, charming, and bitter. Like biting into a tart blueberry. What a joy. 3.75 stars
Thank you again RB Media and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
Set mostly in an unstable and chaotic parliament, High Times in the Low Parliament manages to establish an interesting and fully fledged world in such a short time.
Weird and wonderful, I need this novella to get the Wayward Children treatment. I'm not ready to leave this world yet.
The narrator does a fantastic job of making all the characters distinguishable and the way she voices the fairy Bug Bite is especially great.
Overall this was strange, charming, and bitter. Like biting into a tart blueberry. What a joy. 3.75 stars
Thank you again RB Media and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
April 7, 2023
OK, imagine you're a first-year at Smith, and one of your hallmates is a radfem polyamorous lipstick lesbian. Her breakfast every morning is a fat blunt and her dinner every night is a bottle of Two-Buck Chuck. She has a terrible crush on the RA, a Performance and Movement major who spent her junior year abroad in Paris. And your hallmate's first love was Tinkerbell from the 1953 Disney film.
One night she falls asleep watching CSPAN (while drunk and high, as always for her), and the next morning she wakes up, kidnaps you from your room, ties you to a chair, and narrates her dream to you while you struggle to escape. You're picking at the rope on your wrists as she meanders from scene to scene, and any time to try to ask her a clarifying question -- wait, there are no men in this world?? what happened to cause that?? why are you acting like the bad people in your dream are the ones who don't want to be subservient to an alleged master race?? -- she acts like she didn't hear you. By the end of her monologue, you're weeping with confusion and exhaustion. "And me and our RA and Tinkerbell all live happily ever after," she concludes, but you've gone deep inside your own mind to stave off the madness. She lets you go in time to make your 10 AM econ lecture.
If that sounds like an experience you'd like to have, I guess you should read this book. If it sounds like literal torture to you, as it does to me, please do yourself a favor and skip it.
One night she falls asleep watching CSPAN (while drunk and high, as always for her), and the next morning she wakes up, kidnaps you from your room, ties you to a chair, and narrates her dream to you while you struggle to escape. You're picking at the rope on your wrists as she meanders from scene to scene, and any time to try to ask her a clarifying question -- wait, there are no men in this world?? what happened to cause that?? why are you acting like the bad people in your dream are the ones who don't want to be subservient to an alleged master race?? -- she acts like she didn't hear you. By the end of her monologue, you're weeping with confusion and exhaustion. "And me and our RA and Tinkerbell all live happily ever after," she concludes, but you've gone deep inside your own mind to stave off the madness. She lets you go in time to make your 10 AM econ lecture.
If that sounds like an experience you'd like to have, I guess you should read this book. If it sounds like literal torture to you, as it does to me, please do yourself a favor and skip it.
July 22, 2022
I’m a simple woman, I hear “lesbian stoner buddy comedy” and dive right in. Part political satire, part romance, and part high-stakes fantasy, High Times in Low Parliament is a bite-sized treat. Lana, a down-on-her luck playboy scribe is conscripted into a global governing body known as Parliament, where deputies must pass decisions of risk being drowned by angry fairies.
The protagonist Lana, swaggering and suave, makes a great duo with the impulsive enforcer fairy by day, hallucinogenic mushroom farmer by night, Bugbite. I thoroughly enjoyed the version of fairies in this story; they lean more towards the puckish, being small and loud and distasteful of humans. I also found the human society to be fascinating: while never directly explained or referenced it seems that men do not exist and newborn children are somehow gifted to prospective mothers by the fairies themselves. This leads to a society built entirely by women. Related to this, my one frustration was the frequent lack of motivated world-building. The island of Parliament itself was well-established but the rest of the world existed only in theory, despite the story’s reliance on Parliament being a coming together of representatives from around the world.
The protagonist Lana, swaggering and suave, makes a great duo with the impulsive enforcer fairy by day, hallucinogenic mushroom farmer by night, Bugbite. I thoroughly enjoyed the version of fairies in this story; they lean more towards the puckish, being small and loud and distasteful of humans. I also found the human society to be fascinating: while never directly explained or referenced it seems that men do not exist and newborn children are somehow gifted to prospective mothers by the fairies themselves. This leads to a society built entirely by women. Related to this, my one frustration was the frequent lack of motivated world-building. The island of Parliament itself was well-established but the rest of the world existed only in theory, despite the story’s reliance on Parliament being a coming together of representatives from around the world.
January 8, 2024
I read this in part from a reco by a GR friend, author Sue Burke, who wrote:
"The author describes this as “a lesbian stoner buddy comedy with fairies about Brexit.” It’s not really about Brexit, although I can see the inspiration. Genuinely funny, light-hearted, and light-weight, in a good way. Expect shenanigans, not a treatise on governance."
Humor is tricky, and this was just an OK read for me. The story didn't make much sense, but it was genial, generally fun, and had some well-drawn characters, notably the lesbian stoner scribe Lana, who is a hoot. And the tale comes to a feel-good ending. A 3-star read for me: pretty good, but not as good as I had hoped. I liked the references to prehistoric Doggerland, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doggerland
I paid $5 for a Kindle copy and got about $3 worth of entertainment.
If your library has a copy and the higher-star reviews ring a bell, you might want to give it a try. Short novella, 2-3 hour read at most. Note that the current (1/8/24) average reader rating is 3.2+ stars, pretty close to my call.
Author's preview, with flattering review excerpts: https://kellyrobson.com/high-times-in...
"The author describes this as “a lesbian stoner buddy comedy with fairies about Brexit.” It’s not really about Brexit, although I can see the inspiration. Genuinely funny, light-hearted, and light-weight, in a good way. Expect shenanigans, not a treatise on governance."
Humor is tricky, and this was just an OK read for me. The story didn't make much sense, but it was genial, generally fun, and had some well-drawn characters, notably the lesbian stoner scribe Lana, who is a hoot. And the tale comes to a feel-good ending. A 3-star read for me: pretty good, but not as good as I had hoped. I liked the references to prehistoric Doggerland, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doggerland
I paid $5 for a Kindle copy and got about $3 worth of entertainment.
If your library has a copy and the higher-star reviews ring a bell, you might want to give it a try. Short novella, 2-3 hour read at most. Note that the current (1/8/24) average reader rating is 3.2+ stars, pretty close to my call.
Author's preview, with flattering review excerpts: https://kellyrobson.com/high-times-in...
November 16, 2024
This sounded so fun, and it is, but only if you're ready to exist in the drunk/high space our MC lives in.
Things that were fun:
-Super power is friendship. Our MC is whatever, but she's mega good at making friends, and that's cute.
-A fae take on post-scarcity. Imagine striking a bargain to end war and starvation. I don't actually think it did a great job exploring that, but it's a fun idea.
-Exuberant writing. Turn off brain, words make the happy thoughts.
It wasn't good though:
-Vapid. Our MC just wants to get stoned and make out with people. She knows she's pretty and while generous and kind and other worthy virtues, the main thing that does her thinking is her pleasure center.
-Cringe. There are a few points, the, uh, climax, in particular, where you're like "surely it won't be so cliche--oh, wow, no it wasn't because it was even more trite."
It was short, and this week I don't hate feeling like I'm a few brain cells lighter, but my highest praise is that I didn't actually roll my eyes except the once at the end, and I did want our plucky girl to get hers.
Things that were fun:
-Super power is friendship. Our MC is whatever, but she's mega good at making friends, and that's cute.
-A fae take on post-scarcity. Imagine striking a bargain to end war and starvation. I don't actually think it did a great job exploring that, but it's a fun idea.
-Exuberant writing. Turn off brain, words make the happy thoughts.
It wasn't good though:
-Vapid. Our MC just wants to get stoned and make out with people. She knows she's pretty and while generous and kind and other worthy virtues, the main thing that does her thinking is her pleasure center.
-Cringe. There are a few points, the, uh, climax, in particular, where you're like "surely it won't be so cliche--oh, wow, no it wasn't because it was even more trite."
It was short, and this week I don't hate feeling like I'm a few brain cells lighter, but my highest praise is that I didn't actually roll my eyes except the once at the end, and I did want our plucky girl to get hers.
April 4, 2023
So.
The book was about a girl with only romance in her head who enjoyed getting high with her new weird friend, while being witness to failing parliamentary proceedings which might lead to some seriously unpleasant consequences for people. Or so I think.
The world-building in this novella was completely peculiar and I'm not sure, if I really understood it, or even if I was supposed to understand it. There was kind of Europe, with many European countries mentioned, but distorted - and that doesn't even take the magical elements into consideration. But somehow, for some reason I had fun anyway. I just went along with the madness. The book gave me a bit of "Alice in Wonderland" vibes.
It was possibly one big metaphor about the inefficiency of our current parliamentary systems? Some of the events in the Low Parliament definitely reminded me of the everyday news from the section "Local politics".
The book was about a girl with only romance in her head who enjoyed getting high with her new weird friend, while being witness to failing parliamentary proceedings which might lead to some seriously unpleasant consequences for people. Or so I think.
The world-building in this novella was completely peculiar and I'm not sure, if I really understood it, or even if I was supposed to understand it. There was kind of Europe, with many European countries mentioned, but distorted - and that doesn't even take the magical elements into consideration. But somehow, for some reason I had fun anyway. I just went along with the madness. The book gave me a bit of "Alice in Wonderland" vibes.
It was possibly one big metaphor about the inefficiency of our current parliamentary systems? Some of the events in the Low Parliament definitely reminded me of the everyday news from the section "Local politics".
October 27, 2022
The most accurate word to describe this book would be "charming". The writing style? Charming. The fantastical, pseudo-european setting? Charming. The flirtatious main character? Charming, even if her head is full of rocks.
I really loved the vibe of this! It's a quick, quirky read about a reluctant scribe at the Low Parliament, a pan-European court monitored by fairies as a way to keep continental peace. If the humans can't come to a conclusion, the fairies will simply flood the parliament, killing all the humans present and triggering a potential war. Don't think "looking death" and "court intrigue" means anything serious -- this is a lesbian stoner comedy through and through, one set in a glittery, candyfloss fantasy world.
This was a great light read right when I needed it! I'm shocked the reviews are so low. Yes, there is some handwavy world building at times -- but I thought that some of the vague world building with regard to the world beyond the Low Parliament actually contributed to the dreamy, secluded atmosphere of the Low Parliament. Also, the amount of people like "um how does YEAST get you high???" As if this isn't a fantasy story full of fairies with whiskers that trail glitter and have magic guns??? Where's the imagination!
I absolutely loved the writing. I think Robson nailed a very specific vibe that's like....girly, a little saccharine, but still irreverent and really funny. The irreverence and humor really helped keep this story from being trite. The world that Robson created is so cute and charming, even though there's a lot of snark and some darker undertones at times. I genuinely don't know how to describe it except for me, the writing felt the way a magical girl manga looks. I totally felt like I was reading a grown up, snarky version of the kind of world you see in manga series like Witch Hat Atelier or Cardcaptor Sakura. The stories aren't close at all, but it's about the vibes. I loved the writing and the atmosphere and it felt like such a treat to read, like a perfectly puffed and artfully iced little pastry.
The characters were fun and funny --a little thin, at times, but it's a novella! I would happily read more stories set in this world.
It's a very unique novella, so it's hard to compare it to anything else! But I think this might appeal to fans of Tamsyn Muir's Floralinda and the Forty Flight Tower, which shares similar vibes of fairy-tale whimsy and snark, though Floralinda is obviously MUCH darker. I was also vaguely reminded of Neil Gaiman's Stardust and Dianna Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle, again due to the fairytale whimsy. The fantasy politics, alternative Europe, and fae angle could also make this appealing to fans of C.L. Polk's Kingston Cycle.
I really loved the vibe of this! It's a quick, quirky read about a reluctant scribe at the Low Parliament, a pan-European court monitored by fairies as a way to keep continental peace. If the humans can't come to a conclusion, the fairies will simply flood the parliament, killing all the humans present and triggering a potential war. Don't think "looking death" and "court intrigue" means anything serious -- this is a lesbian stoner comedy through and through, one set in a glittery, candyfloss fantasy world.
This was a great light read right when I needed it! I'm shocked the reviews are so low. Yes, there is some handwavy world building at times -- but I thought that some of the vague world building with regard to the world beyond the Low Parliament actually contributed to the dreamy, secluded atmosphere of the Low Parliament. Also, the amount of people like "um how does YEAST get you high???" As if this isn't a fantasy story full of fairies with whiskers that trail glitter and have magic guns??? Where's the imagination!
I absolutely loved the writing. I think Robson nailed a very specific vibe that's like....girly, a little saccharine, but still irreverent and really funny. The irreverence and humor really helped keep this story from being trite. The world that Robson created is so cute and charming, even though there's a lot of snark and some darker undertones at times. I genuinely don't know how to describe it except for me, the writing felt the way a magical girl manga looks. I totally felt like I was reading a grown up, snarky version of the kind of world you see in manga series like Witch Hat Atelier or Cardcaptor Sakura. The stories aren't close at all, but it's about the vibes. I loved the writing and the atmosphere and it felt like such a treat to read, like a perfectly puffed and artfully iced little pastry.
The characters were fun and funny --a little thin, at times, but it's a novella! I would happily read more stories set in this world.
It's a very unique novella, so it's hard to compare it to anything else! But I think this might appeal to fans of Tamsyn Muir's Floralinda and the Forty Flight Tower, which shares similar vibes of fairy-tale whimsy and snark, though Floralinda is obviously MUCH darker. I was also vaguely reminded of Neil Gaiman's Stardust and Dianna Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle, again due to the fairytale whimsy. The fantasy politics, alternative Europe, and fae angle could also make this appealing to fans of C.L. Polk's Kingston Cycle.
June 4, 2022
It's hard to know how to start with this review. The blurb drew me in, as it sounded like an interesting premise and a story with plenty of action, but it failed to meet my expectations. The world building was minimal and I had so many questions about the setting and background of the tale that were never satisfactorily answered. Lana never captured my heart as a character; I found her annoying and her relationships with Bugbite and Eloquentia unconvincing and forced. And by the time the book ended, I couldn't see what the point of it had been, as the story never seemed to really go anywhere and I never once felt any tension or excitement over the potential flooding of Parliament: the stakes just never felt real or came across well. I am giving this book 2.5 stars. There was potential in the idea, but I think a longer page count with more detailed world building, deeper development of the characters beyond drug-taking and flirting, and a little more action and tension were needed to see that potential realised.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
August 10, 2022
A delightfully horny novella!
This little book was a blast to read, or listen to as was the case for me. Politics, shenanigans, and a protagonist so horny Gideon Nav would ask her if it wasn't all a bit much.
Lana, our protagonist, is your basic fantasy lady himbo, except instead of a sword, she's good with a pen. She's a delight from top to bottom, looking for kisses and highs and kinda stumbling into saving all of Europe.
This book is an intentional satire of brexit, and some may find its politics naive. I think that's a very intentional choice. It is hopeful and bright in a fantasy world of political idiocy, because we need hopefulness and brightness in our own world of political idiocy.
It's also a book about friendship and love and beauty, about weird found families. And it is full of women. Human women and fairy women, angry women and horny women. Friends and enemies and lovers and political operators. All women. Gloriously queer women.
Disclaimers: I was able to listen to the audio edition thanks to Netgalley and RB Media. Also, the author is a pal.
This little book was a blast to read, or listen to as was the case for me. Politics, shenanigans, and a protagonist so horny Gideon Nav would ask her if it wasn't all a bit much.
Lana, our protagonist, is your basic fantasy lady himbo, except instead of a sword, she's good with a pen. She's a delight from top to bottom, looking for kisses and highs and kinda stumbling into saving all of Europe.
This book is an intentional satire of brexit, and some may find its politics naive. I think that's a very intentional choice. It is hopeful and bright in a fantasy world of political idiocy, because we need hopefulness and brightness in our own world of political idiocy.
It's also a book about friendship and love and beauty, about weird found families. And it is full of women. Human women and fairy women, angry women and horny women. Friends and enemies and lovers and political operators. All women. Gloriously queer women.
Disclaimers: I was able to listen to the audio edition thanks to Netgalley and RB Media. Also, the author is a pal.
November 21, 2022
Clever, engaging, with a wit as sharp as a fairy's nails. A deceptively easy read that will stick with you long after it's done.
Refreshing and recommended. Oh yes.
Refreshing and recommended. Oh yes.
February 11, 2023
This is a weird fantasy novella by Kelly Robson. Her previous novellas were 2 times nominated for Nebula (and her novelette scored a win) and once for Hugo. While I cannot say that I’m her fan, these works were definitely interesting. I read it as a part of the monthly reading for February 2023 at SFF Hot from Printers: New Releases group.
The setting is an alternate Earth roughly two centuries after 1666 Fire of London. There is roughly period tech (maybe a bit less advanced, for example, steam engines aren’t mentioned) but the story doesn’t move much around this setting. Instead, most of the story is set in the Low Parliament, where deputies from all around Europe are trying to adopt new legislation. The fantasy element is in the fact that the parliament is supervised by fairies.
The protagonist is a young (still living with her mother and sisters) girl scribe Lana Baker. She is ordered to become a scribe in the parliament and was taken there – somewhere on British islands near London but next to a sea. The job is a punishment, not an opportunity, for deputies are bickering and cannot pass laws. This means that fairies will dissolute it, drowning it, with all deputies and their stuff, including Lana.
Lana’s job is to stenograph English speeches in the parliament and the scribes are supervised by fairies, who are small, nailless, winged, leaving traces of their glamour scales elsewhere. Also, they are arrogant and prone to causing mild harm like an urgent need to scratch at a whim. To scribe is Lana’s job, but to fall in love with every pretty girl (homosexuality here is a norm, or more precisely men are never explicitly mentioned, all characters, whose gender can be guessed by pronouns or names are female except for a picture of the Hanging Man an ancient gilded-wood icon that hung over the Speaker, twice the size of life and ten times as gory) is her hobby and she is quite successful in it. This time she is infatuated by Eloquentia de la Barre, la députée de Dauphine-Provence, a beautiful dancer, and Lana decides to conquer her. She also befriends their fairy supervisor Bugbite. Now, these three have to save the parliament from drowning and do it being high on different substances, from alcohol to dry yeast that works like weed and scales of psychedelic mushrooms.
The story hasn’t worked for me on several levels. Firstly, the ways how the parliament (doesn’t) work are often satire for satire’s sake. Secondly, I am not a fan of characters who are high most of the time. Quite likely I ain’t the intended audience/readership for this book.
The setting is an alternate Earth roughly two centuries after 1666 Fire of London. There is roughly period tech (maybe a bit less advanced, for example, steam engines aren’t mentioned) but the story doesn’t move much around this setting. Instead, most of the story is set in the Low Parliament, where deputies from all around Europe are trying to adopt new legislation. The fantasy element is in the fact that the parliament is supervised by fairies.
The protagonist is a young (still living with her mother and sisters) girl scribe Lana Baker. She is ordered to become a scribe in the parliament and was taken there – somewhere on British islands near London but next to a sea. The job is a punishment, not an opportunity, for deputies are bickering and cannot pass laws. This means that fairies will dissolute it, drowning it, with all deputies and their stuff, including Lana.
Lana’s job is to stenograph English speeches in the parliament and the scribes are supervised by fairies, who are small, nailless, winged, leaving traces of their glamour scales elsewhere. Also, they are arrogant and prone to causing mild harm like an urgent need to scratch at a whim. To scribe is Lana’s job, but to fall in love with every pretty girl (homosexuality here is a norm, or more precisely men are never explicitly mentioned, all characters, whose gender can be guessed by pronouns or names are female except for a picture of the Hanging Man an ancient gilded-wood icon that hung over the Speaker, twice the size of life and ten times as gory) is her hobby and she is quite successful in it. This time she is infatuated by Eloquentia de la Barre, la députée de Dauphine-Provence, a beautiful dancer, and Lana decides to conquer her. She also befriends their fairy supervisor Bugbite. Now, these three have to save the parliament from drowning and do it being high on different substances, from alcohol to dry yeast that works like weed and scales of psychedelic mushrooms.
The story hasn’t worked for me on several levels. Firstly, the ways how the parliament (doesn’t) work are often satire for satire’s sake. Secondly, I am not a fan of characters who are high most of the time. Quite likely I ain’t the intended audience/readership for this book.
August 23, 2022
Well this was painful. I started listening to this audiobook 3 times and kept giving up because despite my best efforts (low speed, doing nothing, closing my eyes) I could not follow the text at all. It was not just the story, the world would glide over me and I could not absorb a single bit of information.
I do not know what to think about the audiobook narrator she is clearly acting her heart out but it gets annoying so fast. Especially the fairy voices would at certain points were just impossible to understand. I do not know whether it was her or the writing that made me ne being able to engage with the text.
It's not that I am unfamiliar with works where the worldbuiling is vague or confusing, some of my favourite works do that but it's always with a goal in mind, it is a narrative choice serving a purpose. Here I don't know. I have no idea what was in this book. There are a flirty lesbian, fairies, a parliament and scribes. That's the only thing I can remember. I can't tell you anything else because this book felt like a long string of words spoken one after the others.
I am sure it has some redeeming quality in terms of story and characters for the people for whom it did not feel like a bad fever dream and that's why I can't rate it 1 star
I do not know what to think about the audiobook narrator she is clearly acting her heart out but it gets annoying so fast. Especially the fairy voices would at certain points were just impossible to understand. I do not know whether it was her or the writing that made me ne being able to engage with the text.
It's not that I am unfamiliar with works where the worldbuiling is vague or confusing, some of my favourite works do that but it's always with a goal in mind, it is a narrative choice serving a purpose. Here I don't know. I have no idea what was in this book. There are a flirty lesbian, fairies, a parliament and scribes. That's the only thing I can remember. I can't tell you anything else because this book felt like a long string of words spoken one after the others.
I am sure it has some redeeming quality in terms of story and characters for the people for whom it did not feel like a bad fever dream and that's why I can't rate it 1 star
August 6, 2022
I don’t know what exactly I was expecting from this. The author did mention that this features a stoner lesbian protagonist and that’s exactly what we got. Lana loves flirting with every beautiful woman she encounters, is not interested at all in the scribing job she has been forced into, makes friends with a grumpy fairy and loves getting stoned. The story on the other hand is probably a satire on governments in general where politicians keep arguing with each other and not doing anything productive even when the country gets destroyed due to their inaction. I had fun while reading it but neither the characters nor the world are fleshed out too much, so it just ultimately doesn’t leave much of an impression after we finish reading it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 462 reviews