Fiction Reviews
Made Things
(2019 / 2025) Adrian Tchaikovsky, Tor, £20, hrdbk, ISBN 978-1-035-07169-2
This is a longish novella, really, first published in 2019 but now (2025) fancily repackaged with an additional in-universe short story that together makes a very pleasing package. It’ a contrast in style and tome to the other Tchaikovsky novel just out – the almost 700 pages worth of Children of Strife – but less can quite often be more. I’m not sure that’s quite the case here, because Children of Strife is value for every one of its pages, but I enjoyed this little tale of little people with big ideas.
It’s all about the world building, is Made Things, pulled together with a flimsy-ish plot involving thieves and golems and mages. It’s set in a pretty standard mediaeval fantasy city run by mages where poor people scratch a living, often by thieving, and nasty enforcers, the Catchpoles, go around making their lives miserable. The twist is that there are little people (homunculi) in this city – creations of wood and metal animated by magic, and they have a stealthy plot to grow in number and spread. No-one really knows they’re there apart from the young puppeteer Coppelia, who has joined forces with Tef and Arc, barely six inches tall, to fleece the patrons of her puppet show. Coppelia’s very useful to the homunculi because she can either make or steal small bodies that can be animated with stolen magic.
Because of her puppeteering skills Coppelia is arm-twisted by crime bosses into tracking down and potentially reanimating a golem, which turns out to be much more than it seems. Chaos ensues…
There are some strong characters in this story, and there is plenty of scope for more stories set in this world and with these people – the coming of age Coppelia, the thief-with-a-heart Shabby Lilith and the slightly rebellious homunculi Tel and Arc (with his razor-blade sword) – and despite their renegade appeal, the short length of this story doesn’t really give them space enough to fully breath and the whole enterprise would serve well as a stet up for something grander.
That said, it’s charming, and despite its high body count (never dwelled on, always rushed past) it is quite uplifting. It teeters on the edge of YA in style, tone and protagonist age but that shouldn’t put anyone off – it’s an entertaining read whether you’re nine or ninety. And there has surely got to be a Tchaikovsky adaptation coming soon on a streamer – this one would be a good place to start.
Mark Bilsborough
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