Triggernometry

Triggernometry #1

by Stark Holborn

Triggernometry is a brand-new novella from Nunslinger author Stark Holborn, mixing the grit of the west with a cast of mathematicians from across history to create a truly unique and unforgettable western adventure.

“I hereby arrest the fugitive “Mad” Malago Browne for murder, arson, robbery and acts of pernicious arithmetic against the Capitol States. Also the fugitive Pierre “Polecat” de Fermat, for sundry of the same.”

In the Western States, it doesn’t pay to count your blessings.

Professor Malago Browne, once the most notorious mathematician in the west, has been trying to leave her outlaw past behind and lead a quiet life. But all of that changes when her former partner – the deadly and capricious Pierre de Fermat – shows up with a proposition of a lifetime.

One last job, one last ride: a heist big enough to escape the tyranny of the Capitol forever.

Genres: Fantasy, Westerns, Novella, Fiction, Short Stories, Speculative Fiction, Weird West

56 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 8, 2020

About the author

Stark Holborn is a novelist, games writer, film reviewer, and the author of Nunslinger, Triggernometry and Ten Low.

Reviews

[Oscar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oeste y Matemáticas. ¿Quién lo iba a decir? Estamos ante una de las novelas cortas más originales que he leído últimamente. Se trata de un weird western francamente bien escrito. Nos encontramos en unos Estados Unidos alternativos, donde los números, las matemáticas, pero sobre todo los matemáticos y personas dedicadas a trabajos afines, es decir, banqueros, contables, etc., están perseguidos a muerte. Y la más buscada es la profesora Browne, considerada una matemágica muy peligrosa. Esta suele viajar junto a Ferm, los dos a caballo y huyendo o pasando desapercibidos constantemente. El porqué de esta persecución a los matemáticos no llega a explicarse excesivamente, pero peligrosos sí que lo son, ya que son capaces de realizar cálculos de trayectorias de balas en décimas de segundo, buscando el tiro perfecto, el rebote imposible. Y claro, esto supone una amenaza.

A este par de desesperados se les encomienda una misión, referente a un tren y un dinero, que tendrá que descubrir el lector. Una lectura muy recomendable, que te deja con un continuará para morderse las uñas.

[manuti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bien, entretenido y correcto. Me ha sabido a poco por eso las 3 estrellas ***. También me ha defraudado algo que las matemáticas solo son una excusa, buena, pero no más que un decorado a veces artificial.
El universo en que se desarrolla todo sí que me ha parecido interesante a pesar de estar más sugerido que otra cosa. ¿Es un pasado alternativo? ¿Es un futuro de devastación y persecución a los científicos?
En definitiva una escritora a seguir para ver si estas historias pueden convertirse en algo más grande o se queda en mera diversión, que no es poca cosa.

[imyril · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful - I desperately hope this is the pilot episode of a series I can enjoy for yonks. Acts of pernicious arithmetic in a Wild West setting are exactly the joy you expect. Would love to read more adventures of Browne and her gang of mathmos.

Full review

I received a free copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

[Bibliotecario De Arbelon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Western y matemáticas. Una mezcla que me llamó muchísimo la atención y que ha cumplido con creces las expectativas que tenía con esta novela corta.

En un mundo donde los matemáticos son repudiados, la profesora Browne ha dejado su pasado delictivo atrás y procura pasar desapercibida. Hasta que Ferm, su antiguo compañero, aparece para ofrecerle la oportunidad de dar un último gran golpe que les permitirá vivir sin preocupaciones.

He disfrutado mucho con esta novela corta dónde la magia son las matemáticas unidas junto a un toque western que le va como anillo al dedo a la historia. Una trama cargada de acción constante que deja con ganas de más sobre este mundo y sobre los personajes.

Una lectura ágil y refrescante.

[Leona Lecturopata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matemáticas y el lejano oeste, dos conceptos que no tienen nada en común pero con los que la autora ha sabido tejer una novela la mar de original y entretenida. El problema es que te quedas con ganas de mucho más.

[Pilar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soy la jéiter number one de todo lo que tenga que ver con el Oeste. En serio, me aburre a muerte. Pero ¿cuántas veces se encuentra una con una idea completamente original que parte de dos cosas tan mundanas? Una historia que se lee en un pispás y te deja con ganas de leer la siguiente (porque publicarán la siguiente, ¿verdad? ¿VERDAD?). En fin, un extraordinario trabajo de escritura, traducción, diseño y edición. ¡Y eso que ni recuerdo cómo se hacen las raíces cuadradas!

[Consuelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una historia del oeste con matemágicos, acción y traiciones. Entretenida e imaginativa. Se lee en un par de horas.

[Malapata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un divertimento cortito y poco más. El convertir a grandes matemáticos de la historia en forajidos del salvaje oeste le da un punto de originalidad, pero a ratos queda demasiado forzado. Quitando esto, como historia es bastante estándar.

[Elchamaco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Puede funcionar una novela de profesores de escuela pistoleros, perseguidos por una sociedad intolerante con las ciencias.

Pues si funciona y muy bien.

[Para (wanderer) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been looking for decent weird westerns for a while, to not much success – a lot of what little I could find either couldn’t hold my attention or didn’t have the flavour and atmosphere I was looking for, and I haven’t even made it halfway down my list before I inevitably got distracted and put my “hunt down SFF westerns” project aside. Until now, I suppose, when my mood reading led me to try this. And it’s one of the best (if not the best) I found so far, enough that I got the second novella while I was still reading the first. A rare thing.

With unique worldbuilding, fast pacing, great writing, and a fantastic concept, it’s easy to recommend. And of course, it’s a shitload of fun.

A traitor, the body. Over the years, I had trained my mind and trained it hard. But every time I fired the rifle, or thought about it, my body remained. My body remembered the death that I had dealt.

Set in an alternate wild west where mathematicians are persecuted and their abilities make them fantastic at shooting, the story follows Mad Malago Browne. A wanted outlaw and one of the most infamous mathematicians in the west, she tries to settle for a quiet life and fails repeatedly as her past and notoriety find her.

The worldbuilding is the main selling point of this novella series and with good reason – wild west featuring mathematician outlaws? It’s certainly a memorable concept, and it’s done incredibly well. I’m not much for math (despite my odd fondness for discrete), I’m sure there are plenty of equation and other mathematical in-jokes in chapter titles and elsewhere I simply couldn’t catch, but regardless, it was an absolute delight.

And most of all, it’s short and fast-paced and a riot to read. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for any potential sequels.

Enjoyment: 4.5/5
Execution: 4.5/5

Recommended to: fans of westerns, math nerds, those looking for a short, fun read
Not recommended to: hmm…can’t think of any obvious deal-breakers

More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.

[Kaoss · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 o 3,5

La idea es buena y original, pero el desarrollo se queda a medias.

[Daniel Polansky]

Fair warning, Stark and I are old friends, but this brief story of a mythical west where mathematics have been outlawed and rogue academics rob trains was thoroughly enjoyable and well worth a few hours of your time. Lots of fun.

[Laura Maquilón · Rating 4 out of 5]

Divertida y ágil, todo lo que podía pedir a esta aventurilla de western. Además, la edición es superbonita, el Transbordador siempre trabaja muy bien el diseño de los libros. Tiene mucha acción y escenas trepidantes, muy peliculera. Genial para el verano. ¡Más transportadores de ángulos, por favor!

[Sensei_cor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me ha decepcionado :( Principalmente porque tenía muchas esperanzas en él, ya que me parecía un planteamiento original, pero también porque termina como dicen por aquí "a cuchillo", en mitad de la acción.

Vale que al haberlo leído en inglés seguro que me habré perdido detalles, aunque no tantos como para subirle del 5 pelón (3/5).

Creo que tampoco me ha ayudado que sea una distopía porque es un género que veo que en general no me motiva nada.

Por decir algo bueno, es muy muy corto y se lee en un rato prácticamente del tirón.

[Fer Yuvre · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 en realidad. Es una premisa genial, pero se queda en poco más que eso. Parece una introducción a una historia mucho mayor,pero como novela cerrada se me queda muuuy cortito. Leeré plomo Al cubo con la esperanza de saber más de la historia y ver si se me pasa un poco el sabor agridulce.

Inisito, la premisa y el mundo descrito me parecen una genialidad.

[Javier Romero]

No me ha convencido. La premisa me parecía divertida, mezclar matemáticas con el oeste, y ver que la publicidad lo marcaba como un weird western, junto con la maravillosa cubierta que tiene el libro de triggernometry, hizo que me decidiera a comprarlo. Lo de weird no termino de verlo, pero es que al final la historia es demasiado típica de las películas que podíamos ver los mediodías en cualquier canal de televisión, así que, cuando terminé el libro, pensé: ¿qué hago leyendo una historia de vaqueros si casi no me gusta ninguna película de vaqueros? Como siempre digo, puede que el problema de entrar en el libro sea mío, no porque no sea bueno.

[Runalong · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great fast paced tale of an alternate Wild West where mathematicians are the outlaws - professor Malago Browne agrees to one last heist but can she trust her new employer? Excellent fun

Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...

[Carlex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and half equations.

It was fun: a western in which mathematics are forbidden and scholars are outlaws. For now I do not know if I will read the sequel "Advanced Triggernometry" (and any that may come).

[Andrés Zelada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Odio a las personas que critican las novelas cortas por ser "demasiado corta". Por otra parte, es casi lo único que tengo que decir de este libro, así que me voy a convertir en la clase de persona que odio. Le faltan páginas. Mete en 150 páginas lo que debería ir en 300: es más un conjunto de escenas chulas que otra cosa, y mejoraría varios niveles dejando cocer mejor las relaciones entre los personajes y dando más marco a las escenas de acción.

Aun así, es de los mejores conjuntos de escenas chulas que he leído últimamente y la ambientación (un Oeste donde las matemáticas están prohibidas y los matemáticos son forajidos) es potentísima.

[tetiana i... · Rating 3 out of 5]

A western where mathematicians are outlaws - good fun. Even though it is not my genre, I'm intrigued enough to pick up the next novella eventually.

[T.O. Munro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having got an ARC of book 2 in the series, Advanced Triggernometry, I thought I'd better get up to speed with the basics of book 1. A short but enjoyable read, I'll put up a review of this opening volume along with the review of its sequel in due course on fantasy-Hive here

[James Latimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Punchy, action-packed, and embraces the central gag with winning sincerity."

Full review at The Fantasy Hive:
https://t.co/94hh2ftmxO

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gun-slinging mathematicians in an alternate history Wild West shouldn’t work, right? Right? Well, I am here to tell you that it, in fact, does because that’s exactly what we have in Stark Holborn’s two Triggernometry novellas and somehow she manages to make math look cool.

Mathmo, he had daubed across my house. But it might as well have been Monster.

Like I mentioned before, the Triggernometry novellas are set in an alternate history Wild West where mathematics have been outlawed and the former professors and students of it have turned to a new field, triggernometry. All of the Mathmos, as they’re colloquially known, have either been rounded up and imprisoned, forced to work for the government, or they have become outlaws. Since math has been declared illegal, money is no longer commonly used, with people bartering in handfuls of beans or other sundries. It’s a bleak world and one that oddly parallels some of today’s ignorance surrounding the validity of science.

Both novellas follow ‘Mad’ Malago Browne, a former geometry professor turned mathmo turned station clerk. Browne has somewhat of a legendary reputation, having been an outlaw since the laws banning mathematics were put in place, and it’s really fun to see how others react to her upon learning who she is. At the beginning of Triggernometry, Browne has left the life of a Mathmo behind and settled down to a quiet life. All of that is shattered, however, when an old acquaintance shows up and forces Browne to come back for one more job. The character interactions are all richly written and the tension between Browne and Fermat, her old accomplice, are expertly handled. The plot could be pulled straight out of the best spaghetti westerns. Well, except that you’d need to season them with a dash of math. Advanced Triggernometry sees Browne back in the proverbial saddle yet again. Most of the supporting cast are made up of famous mathematicians from all throughout history, from Pierre de Fermat, a French mathematician credited with creating the basis for calculus, and Emmy Noether, a German algebraist, to Charles Reason, the first black college professor in the US, and Wang Zhenyi, a Qing Dynasty Chinese astronomer and mathematician. It was exciting for me to look up these characters and see all of the accomplishments of their real world inspirations. I will say that most (all) of the math in here went completely over my head, but this didn’t affect my enjoyment.

I took out the protractor. ‘Let X be a random variable with a finite number of finite outcomes,’ I murmured, and looked up. ‘Let them try to stop us.’

There’s something so absurdly cool about protector-wielding mathematician working out the appropriate angle at which to fire her gun in order to take out a room full of enemies with a single shot. The novellas take their namesake from the in-world martial art of triggernometry. Basically, think of gun fu taken to the extreme, where split second mathematical calculations tell the practitioner the exact angles at which to fire based on any number of factors (gun caliber, bullet velocity, weather conditions, etc.) Add to this all of the other ‘tools’ Mathmos use, such as the sword-like sharpened rulers, and you have some very over the top, yet still very exciting, action.

My only complaint is the lack of real character development and worldbuilding. Sure, we know that math is illegal and all, but it’s never expounded upon past that point. I want to know more! I want to know what happened and how we got where we are at this point in the story. I don’t know if this is the fault of the format or just the relentlessly fast pace that the books kept up, but there were several times where I was so frustrated because it seemed as if some substantial character development/worldbuilding was about to happen only for something to get in the way. The story is never given the opportunity to breathe, with one event happening on the heels of the one before it. I think that given the space she could craft a hell of tale because she was able to do so much here with so little (both novellas combined are only a hair over 100 pages).

‘What’s it called,’ she murmured, ‘when you know something is true?’
I met her eyes. ‘In mathematics, it’s called law.’

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Triggernometry and its sequel Advanced Triggernometry. While I was ultimately a bit frustrated with the lack of character development and worldbuilding, I think Holborn has managed to pack quite a lot into these two little novellas. The setting is unique and the action is ridiculously cool. I would be hard pressed to find a better way to spend an afternoon and I look forward to reading more of Holborn’s work in the future.

[David Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm grateful to Stark Holborn for a free advance copy of Triggernometry to consider for review.

I knew Holborn as the author of Nunslinger, an excellent alt-Western which I reviewed here.

Now Holborn is back with a novel that packs the punch of an even alt-ier story. Again all the Western touchstones are there - the wilderness, the railroads as lifelines, Frontier (lack of) justice, the protagonist who wants to put the past behind - and the past that won't be so put.

But here there is an exotic spin to the whole thing. This is a world, or at least an America, where mathematics and mathematicians are reviled, feared. They are the despised "maths" with prices on their heads, sometimes tolerated - just - for useful skills but only if those skills can be cloaked in some polite fiction, or hawked at dead of night, which is where we meet "Mad” Malago Browne and her sidekick, Pierre Fermat. Holborn has fun throughout introducing figures from the history of maths and, in Emmy Noether, physics. She generally paints them as a crew of hard-drinking, ruthless desperadoes, albeit fallen due to persecution rather than intent.

Of course there's a shootout.

Of course there are desperate nighttime rides.

Of course there's a loyal hound called, simply, Dog.

The central conceit is maintained very well: just why might maths be seen as dangerous? Holborn makes you believe that those instrument sets, those methods and solutions, may, indeed, in the wrong hands, constitute threats. Browne is deadly when she can find an angle, and she and Fermat are a formidable team. All the more pity, then, they had a falling out all those years back...

In a world of rough mining camps, ranches, anarchists, bank raids and posses, it all seems to make a lot of sense. The drive of the narrative, combined with Browne's bitterness through most of the book and her bickering with "Ferm", carries the reader along magnificently. In a relatively short book that relationship is central and Holborn conveys it very well - yes that love-hate thing between a pair of outlaws is another classic Western trope yet Holborn makes it into something slightly different, adding a wistfulness at the mathematical life that has been lost: at one stage Ferm whoops in delight when employing a particular clever technique to solve a problem and the book has that sense of infectious fun throughout.

A great read, whether you speak maths or not - if you do you'll spot some in-jokes and references as well as understanding the chapter heading equations, if you don't you'll still enjoy this fun and gripping story.

[Susana Calvo · Rating 3 out of 5]

La historia está bien construida y cuenta con los elemento típicos del Western, incluso los personajes arquetípicos del género. Está narrado en primera persona por la profesora Malago Browne, una importante matemática que ha dejado atrás su pasado al margen de la ley.

La premisa es muy original western+matemáticas y una pizca de magia. Sin embargo, si se prescinde del artificio de las matemáticas la historia se queda algo corta. Además, el recurso de las fórmulas se repite demasiado y no estoy segura de haber captado todos los matices emocionales que pretendían reflejar con ellas.

No quiero decir que sea un libro malo, pero quizás crea expectativas demasiado altas con las premisas iniciales.

[Ottavia Allgood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plomo al cuadrado es un western puro y duro. Una novela ágil, entretenidísima y que se lee en un suspiro. Te recomiendo que saques una tarde entera porque como tengas que parar... VAS A SUFRIR. La lectura es adictiva y te lees el libro sin darte cuenta porque necesitas saber qué pasa en todo momento con cada une de les personajes de esta novela corta.

Es como leer una película, un spaguetti western, pero renovada y actualizada. En un mundo donde las matemáticas han sido prohibidas (conocerlas y usarlas es un crimen), les mathematics deben esquivar la ley y convertir los números en armas. Es una historia original, cruda y llena de pólvora.

Te animo a descubrir el primer libro de la trilogía.

[Ayesha]

Honestly I’m terrible with measuring a book in terms of stars but I WILL tell you this much: this lil cutie of a book didn’t disappoint. I was over here googling all the names and learning about all of these mathematical concepts and people and DUDE I consumed this in a couple of hours (yeah I know, I’m a slow reader!) hahaha

Holbein does what they do best: character driven storytelling. I love the way mad malago browne wrestled with her values and actions and pair that with camaraderie!?! I mean, it’s so easy to want to see them overcome these impossible probabilities.

Either way, I recommend you check it out! I bought it directly from the author on their website and I’m onto the second one!

[Toporage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relato corto (?) novela corta (?) novellete (?) no sé, pero hay vaqueros matemáticos que calculan sus disparos y usan portadores de ángulos o compases de arma. Está guay, es cortísimo y no busca más que eso, ser una curiosidad.

[Maria Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

La reseña completa https://inthenevernever.blogspot.com/...

«”Matemágica”, había pintado en la pared de mi casa. Aunque lo mismo podría haber escrito: “Aberración”».

¿Qué ocurriría si tus conocimientos te convirtieran en un objetivo? ¿Si saber matemáticas te marcara como una proscrita, una criminal? Imaginen una versión del oeste americano en el que los matemáticos fuesen una especie de forajidos, perseguidos y ajusticiados por el Capitolio. Esos que quieren convertir los números y su saber en algo arcano, peligroso e ilegítimo, todo para mantenerse en el poder. Pueden dejar de imaginar. Precisamente ese es el ingenioso escenario que nos presenta mi segunda lectura del #LeoAutorasOct: Plomo al cuadrado, de Stark Holborn. Un adictivo western weird que me ha fascinado.

[Sammi · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I picked this up because RJ Barker recommended it on a Reddit thread somewhere and I freaking love his stuff. And I really liked this! It was really unique and interesting and kind of absurdly funny. There's this one town the main characters go to called "Faculty" where all of the illegal mathematicians hide from the normal population, and the whole scene is just so ridiculous and over the top that you just can help but love it. As our hero rides into town ("eyeglasses flashed from the shadows,", like, OMG) they notice the geometry majors ("The first enclave we came to was set at a defiant angle to the main strip. Geometrists. ") and then a ragged man who of course must be a statistician by the look of him--the whole thing is just really funny. And then their "powers" in this world are used in a really interesting and unique way too.

Anyway, this was just a short novella but I think it was a perfect length; the joke didn't get beaten to death, and I wasn't yet tired of all the math jokes that went way over my head. Just a cute little story and I liked it a lot.