Wednesday, January 3, 2018

A Feather in Her Cap, by Mary Robinette Kowal

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(Mannerpunk) Biantera doesn’t make enough in her hat business, so she moonlights as an assassin. A customer has stiffed her, so she decides to teach him a lesson. (4,541 words; Time: 15m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

"A Feather in Her Cap," by (edited by C.C. Finlay), appeared in issue 01-02|18, published on by .

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

Pro: Biantera wants to earn the money to buy back the family estates. Thanks to this caper, she’s got what she needs. The process of getting there has plenty of thrills and excitement to make the story enjoyable.

The interactions between her and Evario are amusing. His calm confidence in his abilities as a thief contrast sharply with the way she bungles her attempts to leave a message for her unfaithful client. When she asks how he escaped, his response is priceless. “Well . . . strangely, no one was paying any attention to my end of the house. . .  So I was able to boldly waltz out the front door.”

Con: It seems highly unlikely that the Master of the House of Votto would fail to figure out who stole his wealth. Instead of buying her family estates, she should be leaving town, and taking her relatives with her under assumed names.

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4 comments (may contain spoilers):

  1. This was fun -- would like to see further adventures of Biantera and Evario. I think the "assassination attempt" on the heir may put some question into who the thief was.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I'd definitely like to see more of their adventures.

      I was more concerned that when she suddenly turned up with enough money to buy her estates, people would be suspicious.

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    2. But the whole escapade was to teach him that he couldn't get away without paying her...that she'd been close enough to take his life but just gave him a rash and took money instead. And she is planning to wait a bit before buying the estate back.

      What sort of idiot stiffs an assassin anyway? All the more reason to kill him if he's just revealed he knows your identity. He's the one who should be running or at least getting better security. You don't like the hat -- is the target not dead enough for you??

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    3. Good point on not paying assassins. Worse than not paying exorcists. (You get repossessed.)

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