Actual rating is a 3.75

Throughout the reading of this, I've had this nagging sensation of de ja vu that just won't leave me be. I've never read this book before, so why? Something about the the made things seems so familiar. I would read a couple pages then stop to do a search and type in :

Movie based on Made things...

No no...clear search, type again:

Made things based on movie...

Okay not that, maybe this:

Tv series inspired by Made Things...

And finally, type in this:

What inspired Adrian to write Made Things...

The google results did not subdue that feeling. So I read and read.

The characters, the setting the entire lore just scritching and scratching at me it was almost annoying in it's barrage of familiarity bloody dejavuing me. The Folded Lord, Shallis with its paper edges and nervous demeanor, Arc and his metal resolve and battered armor and Tefwith her intricate facial features delicately placed in wood - the not-real-people who did real things and lived real lives and had real human-sized stakes harrassed me with their familiarity .

Of course it would hit me days after I'd read the book. The made-monster/Ariel = real boy/real girl trope. This one is a strange mix of Pinocchio, and Dr Frankenstein's monster. They want autonomy, but have no interest in becoming real people. They desire a place to call their own, power or agency and to self-determine their existance. Ah yes, everything that makes a human well, human.

Plus. A good Heist. Who doesn't love a good heist.


By the by; I think Adrian wrote this while chilling with his dogs or got a dog around this time because I counted a heck of a lot of dog-related similies and metaphors. NO shade. My own dogs would feature heavily in my art if I were the "artsy" kind ( )

A lovely little novella about an orphaned girl with good manual skills who makes a living crafting dolls in a city filled with magic. Then she's approached by two homiculae (whom she hasn't crafted) that are part of a tribe of magic imbued people. They have an arrangement - she crafts them new bodies, and they help her steal magic items.

It's all going well until the gangster lord of the area discovers a full sized 'doll' and wants some expert opinion...

I've enjoyed all of Aidan's work, and this is another fine example, slightly weird, mostly fun, with great characters and a wonderfully inventive world. ( )

This has a coupe of things I'm not a huge fan of in fantasy (or any other genre, really): it's pretty short, and it takes place in a sort of Victorian era society. It doesn't change anything that it's a magical society. However, the concept of made things is an interesting one the story was fast paced and kept me reading to find out where it was going. ( )

Tchaikovsky, Adrian. Made Things. Made Things No. 1. Tor, 2019.
Adrian Tchaikovsky, who lately has been playing evolution games in deep space, here turns his attention to a preindustrial fantasy world. Set in Magic City, the world is populated by powerful mages and much less powerful half-mages, like our heroine Coppelia, a.k.a. Moppet. Operating in the shadows are their magical and half-magical creations—from tiny homunculi to huge metal golems. Coppelia is an artisan, a puppeteer, and a thief. She works with some homunculi who steal from the audience distracted by her puppet shows. Things go sideways when she attracts too much attention from the ruling mages. Behind it all is some subtle and not-so-subtle commentary on class struggle. There is always a little more than you expect from Tchaikovsky’s work. He is a little like Coppelia in that way. 4 stars. ( )

English