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The Art of Deception
by
Niko Hrabanic was once a famous swordsman. But after a scandal-laden departure from his last job at a royal court, he's now hiding out in a rural inn, making himself useful to his attractive landlady in all sorts of ways that don't actually involve paying rent...
...until a summons from the mysterious and dangerous White Library shakes up his life all over again. His landla ...more
...until a summons from the mysterious and dangerous White Library shakes up his life all over again. His landla ...more
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Kindle Edition, 48 pages
Published
August 10th 2016
by Five Fathoms Press
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Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
Aug 11, 2016
Stephanie
added it
· (Review from the author)
Shelves:
books-that-i-wrote,
f-sf-for-adults
This epic (and romantic) fantasy novelette for adults is my tribute to The Prisoner of Zenda, The Three Musketeers, and every other cloak-and-dagger adventure with flashy swordfights and romance that I've ever devoured in books or on film. I wrote it as a Christmas gift for my brother Dave, who asked for a story with "swordfighting, banter and a twisty plot." It was so much fun to write!
It was originally published in the fabulous adult f/sf anthology Insert Title Here, ed. Tehani Wessely, and it ...more
It was originally published in the fabulous adult f/sf anthology Insert Title Here, ed. Tehani Wessely, and it ...more
This was an Instabuy in 2017, based on Ilona Andrew‘s recommendation. Finally picked it up. It was ok. Pretty forgettable, actually. Deception after deception folded into each other. Minimal world building, okay characters, a sword master that mostly spent his time wanting to grab his sword or unsheathing it in a dramatic fashion, to not do much with it. Whatever. Not picking up anything else by the author in a hurry.
2.75 illusionary stars
2.75 illusionary stars
Thoughts after reading
This was a breath of fresh air.
A novella that managed to pack illusionists, assassins, several plot twists and sword fighting into just 48 pages. I have read some hundreds of pages long books with less story.
Recommended.
Thoughts after buying
This is all Ilona's fault.
She read this 48 pages long novelette and liked it enough to recommend it on Twitter, so I better read this soon.
This was a breath of fresh air.
A novella that managed to pack illusionists, assassins, several plot twists and sword fighting into just 48 pages. I have read some hundreds of pages long books with less story.
Recommended.
Thoughts after buying
This is all Ilona's fault.
She read this 48 pages long novelette and liked it enough to recommend it on Twitter, so I better read this soon.
A novella of riddles within riddles - funny, clever and just delightful.
My only complaint is that this story was too short, so I read it twice back to back. I picked this novella up as a recommendation from one of my favorite authors and I loved it. Great world, interesting characters and fun story. Get this now you won't be disappointed!
The most enjoyable short story I've read in a long time. It's twisty-clever, but in a nice way, rather than the type of clever that sneers at everyone. Perfect length, but my goodness, I would love so. many. more.
Puts me in mind of The Princess Bride
Great novella. Pity it's not a full length book.
I think everyone knows by now that Stephanie Burgis has become one of my favorite authors recently. Ever since reading Snowspelled at the end of last year, I’ve been hooked. This is a short fantasy romance novella/novelette (not sure what the cut off is, but it’s only about 50 or so pages), centered around Hrabanic, a sort of maybe retired famous swordsman, and Julia–his landlady. Or supposed landlady. This short book once again proves why I love Burgis so much as a writer. Here she’s taken the
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A fun, twisty novelette
I'm glad I followed Ilona Andrews's recommendation, and picked up this quick, enjoyable read. Swords and schemes, magic and banter, what's not to love? And the writing and editing are both excellent. I'd be happy to read more of this pair's adventures, and maybe to find out just exactly what happened when Hrabanic was "not fired" by his previous employers.
I'm glad I followed Ilona Andrews's recommendation, and picked up this quick, enjoyable read. Swords and schemes, magic and banter, what's not to love? And the writing and editing are both excellent. I'd be happy to read more of this pair's adventures, and maybe to find out just exactly what happened when Hrabanic was "not fired" by his previous employers.
So many things to love here! A fascinating magical library, a twisty and intrigue-filled plot, assassins and sword fights and romance, humour and warmth – this is a perfect one-sitting read for a day when you’re looking for pure enjoyment.
Read the full review at Starship Library.
Read the full review at Starship Library.
fun little story. a good fight and the usual rule about don't tell everything you know. a good fluff for an hour or so.
I liked the ideas behind this story, but it was just too short in my opinion.
I originally thought Hrabanic and Julia's relationship was of the casual kind due to the beginning of the story. But as the story develops, it seems like their relationship is deeper and more serious than is portrayed. I could have actually believed these two loved each other without saying "I love you," but the story was too short for the author to show that perfectly.
The world-building, though short, was pretty intere ...more
I originally thought Hrabanic and Julia's relationship was of the casual kind due to the beginning of the story. But as the story develops, it seems like their relationship is deeper and more serious than is portrayed. I could have actually believed these two loved each other without saying "I love you," but the story was too short for the author to show that perfectly.
The world-building, though short, was pretty intere ...more
a fun layering of twist on twist
this story comes from the Sword and Sorcerer tradition, like Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, some of Terry Brook’s work or Violette Malan’s Dhulyn and Parno series. They’re joyful stories peopled by wonderfully skilled swordsmen/women, often burdened by secrets (and occasionally by outrageously high self-esteem) and strong intelligent companions who use wit to cut down their partner’s bombast. Lots of fun, the requisite medieval setting, political maneu ...more
this story comes from the Sword and Sorcerer tradition, like Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, some of Terry Brook’s work or Violette Malan’s Dhulyn and Parno series. They’re joyful stories peopled by wonderfully skilled swordsmen/women, often burdened by secrets (and occasionally by outrageously high self-esteem) and strong intelligent companions who use wit to cut down their partner’s bombast. Lots of fun, the requisite medieval setting, political maneu ...more
2 stars
Too short and too much happen, this novelette didn't give me enough time (har har) to invest to the characters and world building.
Some reviews stated that this remind them of Princess's Bride. Sadly, I'm not read it yet (even I already borrow my friend's copy) and not watch it yet, maybe that's why. I also read this when I'm so tired, so maybe my lack of alertness kinda to blame. The writing is easy to enjoy tho, both characters are charming, but well...already state it at first, the l ...more
Too short and too much happen, this novelette didn't give me enough time (har har) to invest to the characters and world building.
Some reviews stated that this remind them of Princess's Bride. Sadly, I'm not read it yet (even I already borrow my friend's copy) and not watch it yet, maybe that's why. I also read this when I'm so tired, so maybe my lack of alertness kinda to blame. The writing is easy to enjoy tho, both characters are charming, but well...already state it at first, the l ...more
Novella.
Totally worth your time. Brief, well knit, non-standard ending, stands alone.
This bears repeating: worth reading.
Strong characters, well built, consistent. Interesting repartee. Fun relationship --and it turns out, a relationship of equals. If you have an hour to spare, and you want just ... a good piece of fantasy writing to read, not too sexualised and about the world and the characters, this may be what you're looking for.
Totally worth your time. Brief, well knit, non-standard ending, stands alone.
This bears repeating: worth reading.
Strong characters, well built, consistent. Interesting repartee. Fun relationship --and it turns out, a relationship of equals. If you have an hour to spare, and you want just ... a good piece of fantasy writing to read, not too sexualised and about the world and the characters, this may be what you're looking for.
This novelette is cute enough, but it's the kind of story that would have benefited from being a longer novella instead. It moved too quickly for me with very little detail, making the story rather forgettable.
3.75 stars. Fun short story! The characters were complex and mature. The world was intriguing and, with this being a short story, there was a lot more to be explored at the end. I've never read Burgis before but I definitely will be reading more now.
Swordfighting + wordplay
This is a great mixture of witty dialogue, action scenes, and mystery. Stephanie Burgis's short stories always have a twist and I do like how this one stayed twisting the whole time.
This is a great mixture of witty dialogue, action scenes, and mystery. Stephanie Burgis's short stories always have a twist and I do like how this one stayed twisting the whole time.
The problem with deception after deception after deception is that by the end, I don't buy any of it - including the story itself. I didn't care much for the characters, and the minimalist world-building appropriate to the story length was insufficient.
This was fun! light and fluffy, sure, but well written and a quick read. Makes me want to check out her other works...
Entertaining little fantasy adventure tale that fits a lot into a small package.
Fun - short, but complete and mysterious librarians
quite delightful! would have gladly read an entire novel of this or even an entire series of julia and hrabanic's adventures!
That was fun. I liked all the deceptions and illusions going round.
I'd love to read more, both a about the library and about Niki and Julia.
I'd love to read more, both a about the library and about Niki and Julia.
Very cute short story about a couple surviving the attacks of a bunch of illusionist wizards. This ended well.
3.5 stars
It was a bit shorter than I'd expected, but overall pretty good for it's length.
very fun, really short 'short story'!
I think that I would have been able to give this story a better rating and review if the formatting hadn't been such a mess. I purchased the story from Amazon for my e-reader. At least a dozen times the story didn't transition properly from one page to the next. At some points a line or even several paragraphs would be repeated on the following page. At other points when I turned a page it was obvious that entire sections of the story were missing. I don't know how much was missing because regar
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I grew up in America, but now I live in Wales with my husband, fellow writer Patrick Samphire, our sons, "Mr Darcy" and "Mr X", and our sweet (and extremely vocal) tabby cat, Pebbles. I write fun, funny MG fantasy novels (most recently The Girl with the Dragon Heart) and wildly romantic adult historical fantasy novels and novellas (most recently Thornbound).
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