The Poison Master / Liz Williams

The Poison Master

category: gothic, fantastic, science fiction!?, author:

Liz Williams

published by Bantam Press,
original copyright 2003, read in July 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

Quite an... unusual book. In a good way!

It's science fiction. No question. Yet the science is, well, mystical! Presented as science -- from the era of mysticism, astrology, philosopher's stone for transmutation... and counting angels on a pinhead. Very strict scientific from the very early days of scientific discovery. The author is "the daughter of a Gothic novelist" -- so, I decided, The Poison Master may itself be "Gothic"... whatever that means :-)

The heroine is an apothecary. As she breathes in the fumes (or otherwise ingests) the various potions of her trade, she communicates with the spirit of the potion. Clever idea! She is able to follow, influence, ignore, listen to and occasionally direct, the spirit. The apothecary's art includes the ability to interact with these spirits.

The various planets are influenced by the basic elements: a hot planet of "fire", a swampy planet of "water" and so on. Aliens from another dimension are the Lords who rule planets. They appear to the more religious humans as angels. This is science fiction as it could be written by an alchemist.

The action is, perhaps, a little weaker than the science. On the other hand, it is a book of the human spirit overcoming obstacles, rather than bashing over obstacles. Good guys and bad are not always as they seem, baddies are defeated rather than exterminated, the heroine wants to save her world but that does not stop her from saving her friends.

When the bad guys are defeated it is revealed that they were glad to be sent back to their own dimension. The heroine has dreamt of the happy life ahead once she has rescued her family. Then the family demonstrate that they are uncrushed by past suffering, by setting off on their own visions for a happy future. A happy ending with no predetermined dream ending!

I enjoyed this book. Reading required some concentration at first -- the unique science needed to be followed. Then I slipped into the world and read happily to the end.

Strange, distinctive, enjoyable, good.

..o0o..

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