Saturday, July 8, 2017

The Worshipful Society of Glovers, by Mary Robinette Kowal

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(Historical Fantasy) A young apprentice at making magic gloves considers breaking the rules to make a special pair to control his sister’s epilepsy. (10,070 words; Time: 33m)

Rating: ★★★★☆ Hard, Cold, Effective

"The Worshipful Society of Glovers," by (edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas), appeared in issue 17, published on .

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Pro: We really empathize with Vaughn, and we root for him in his struggle to support himself and his sister. His boss is quite a jerk, but we eventually learn that he’s not all bad either.

Littleberry seems sympathetic to Vaughn, so it’s quite a shock when Mossthicket kills him, even though we shouldn’t be surprised. Vaughn has paid a very high price for those gloves for Sarah.

Con: The ending is distressing. This is not what anyone would call a “fun read.”

The plot is fairly simple for a story of this length.

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3 comments (may contain spoilers):

  1. That was a rather shocking twist towards the end. Very effective though. I think I was lulled into a false sense of security by assuming this was in the mode of her previous Regency fantasy novels.

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  2. Dark, chilling folktale. I liked it! Interesting that the princess gloves were like Donkeyskin's dresses.

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  3. I agree with the rating of 4. I liked it. The ending is dark.

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