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The Alchemist - Paolo Bacigalupi
The Alchemist
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4.03 100
Magic has a price. But someone else will pay. Every time a spell is cast, a bit of bramble sprouts, sending up tangling vines, bloody thorns, and threatening a poisonous sleep. It sprouts in tilled fields and in neighbors' roof beams, thrusts up from between street cobbles, and bursts forth from... show more
Magic has a price. But someone else will pay. Every time a spell is cast, a bit of bramble sprouts, sending up tangling vines, bloody thorns, and threatening a poisonous sleep. It sprouts in tilled fields and in neighbors' roof beams, thrusts up from between street cobbles, and bursts forth from sacks of powdered spice. A bit of magic, and bramble follows. A little at first, and then more--until whole cities are dragged down under tangling vines and empires lie dead, ruins choked by bramble forest. Monuments to people who loved magic too much.In paired novellas, award-winning authors Tobias Buckell and Paolo Bacigalupi explore a shared world where magic is forbidden and its use is rewarded with the axe. A world of glittering memories and a desperate present, where everyone uses a little magic, and someone else always pays the price.In the beleageured city of Khaim, a lone alchemist seeks a solution to a deadly threat. The bramble, a plant that feeds upon magic, now presses upon Khaim, nourished by the furtive spellcasting of its inhabitants andthreatening to strangle the city under poisonous vines. Driven by desperation and genius, the alchemist constructs a device that transcends magic, unlocking the mysteries of bramble s essential nature. But the power of his newly-built balanthast is even greater than he dreamed. Where he sought to save a cityand its people, the balanthast has the potential to save the world entire--if it doesn t destroy him and his family first.
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Format: hardcover
ISBN: 9781596063532 (159606353X)
ASIN: 159606353X
Publisher: Subterranean
Pages no: 96
Edition language: English
Bookstores:
Community Reviews
Olga Godim
Olga Godim rated it
4.0 The father's sacrifice
I loved this short novella, my first book by Bacigalupi. Written in the expressive, lyrical language, it depicts a world rich in detail and traditions that have a slightly Eastern flavor. Although the plotline is rather uninspiring, the magical system is original, the pacing fast, and the protagonis...
Book Trauma
Book Trauma rated it
4.0 The Alchemist
What a powerful little novella! This is the second that I've read by this author and I must say that I am impressed. Bacigalupi has managed to write an insightful, fully fledged and charming story in less words than it takes some authors to write a prologue. I noticed earlier that there's a sort of ...
midnight coffee monster
midnight coffee monster rated it
4.0 Book Review: The Alchemist by Paolo Bacigalupi & J.K. Drummond
In all my reading, I do my best not to compare books unless they are written by the same author. Despite mentally bludgeoning my brain with punches, I couldn’t help it. The fact that I took to reading this book within minutes after finishing a novel that left me disappointed, Bacigalupi’s The Alchem...
Readundant
Readundant rated it
4.0 The Alchemist
Chances are good that you checked this book out of the library accidentally, and you actually wanted The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I mean, it is understandable: slim novellas of the same name by two dudes with similar Italian-sounding names (Paolo/Paulo! What are the odds?). Count yourself lucky --...
mayhap
mayhap rated it
Bacigalupi's first venture into fantasy rhymes thematically with his science fiction, with magic and bramble for technology and post-peak oil.
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