Published: September 22, 2020
Publisher: Tor.com
Series: Standalone
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 176 (Paperback)
My Rating: 3.75/5.0
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
Daniel Polansky returns with The Seventh Perfection, an innovative, mind-bending fantasy mystery
When a woman with perfect memory sets out to solve a riddle, the threads she tugs on could bring a whole city crashing down. The God-King who made her is at risk, and his other servants will do anything to stop her.
To become the God-King’s Amanuensis, Manet had to master all seven perfections, developing her body and mind to the peak of human performance. She remembers everything that has happened to her, in absolute clarity, a gift that will surely drive her mad. But before she goes, Manet must unravel a secret which threatens not only the carefully prepared myths of the God-King’s ascent, but her own identity and the nature of truth itself.
I had initially been excited about checking The Seventh Perfection out because it seemed like a good introduction to Daniel Polansky’s writing. Well…. This may not be the very best book to start out with. Or maybe it is and I won’t know until I pick another up. This is just a very odd book, primarily due to the writing style. It’s written so that you only get one side of the conversation, like eavesdropping on someone’s phone call.
The main character Manet is somewhat of a mystery. She works in some capacity for the god-king and it’s clear that she holds some power because the folks she speaks to become deferential when it comes up. Small details are revealed as the story goes along and soon it becomes apparent that she is highly trained and has mastered all of the “perfections” which is quite rare. She is clearly searching for someone – a woman in a locket picture – and the questions she’s asking aren’t safe.
The story follows Manet’s search for this woman pictured in the locket and each chapter is the next step in her search. It takes place over the course of a few days and escalates into quite an adventure by the end. The writing style leaves a great deal of room for the reader to interpret as far as Manet’s actions because you only get the side of the person she’s speaking to.
Overall, this is one of the most unique short stories I’ve read and while I feel that it’s not representative of the author’s usual writing style, I can at least say it’s made me curious about his other work. This was a bold piece of art, perfectly suited for novella format.
Powder & Page 
Glad to see you mostly liked this one, I hope to be checking it out soon. I do like unique so I guess we’ll see haha. 😀
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