3.5/5

Back in the gemworld with a f/f story. Adventure + librarians + time travel magic = excellent story. I do wish it was expanded to full-length. Knowledge and how it’s both used and withheld key themes.

Unfortunately, I did not get. the chance to read this ARC prior to its release--I'm hoping to work through my backlist now that we're home for the coming weeks!--but we did end up buying this book for the library collection.

I read both The Jewel and Her Lapidary and The Fire Opal Mechanism back-to-back, and though they are about as different as books in a linked world could be, they definitely make for a fascinating read together. The Fire Opal Mechanism is set far, far forward in time from the first book, and as such has a totally different feel from the high fantasy I was expecting - I ended up loving this way more, in fact.

An incredibly smart story, it takes themes of historiography, literature, censorship, democracy, and personal identity in history, and weaves them all into an enthralling story. It sound like it should be dry and academic, but it's not. I think if each book set in the world continues to add such richness, this could well end up one of the most interesting fantasy series currently available.

The Fire Opal Mechanism revels in the power of words to shape generations, detailing a world where books are being stripped of their sentences under the guise of the greater good. It’s a powerful book with many layers, beginning with a conversation on knowledge and who gets to access it.

The Pressman, an obsessed group of cultists intent on stripping the world of books, seem to have the populace’s best interests at heart. They claim to be reclaiming knowledge for the people, providing access to anything and everything instead of locking it away in universities. The reality is quite shocking as we get further into the book, revealing a dystopian future where words are gobbled up by a monster that defies logic. It’s a brilliant look at the power of books to hold their own stories, never giving up their words no matter the sway of public opinion or hatred of their content. By combining time, a love of the written word, and a hastily formed friendship, our protagonist shows how powerful knowledge can be when wielded properly.

The time travel aspect of the book is also quite fascinating, centering on a group of gemstones with mystical powers that remain shrouded at the end. We follow our protagonists to many different times, through quarrels and dire moments of panic. Above all, we see their understanding of the dark force in their world grow. This form of time travel is more personal than most, transcending a typical device or machine to inhabit a living gem. It becomes a part of the protagonist, telling her what to do and where to go. I’ve never read anything like it.

Overall, The Fire Opal Mechanism is a deftly written journey into a fascinating world on the verge of collapse. Its pages are filled with secrets waiting to be revealed. It’s an exciting trek across time that left this reader extremely satisfied and desperate to know more.

Review to be published on 7/18: http://reviewsandrobots.com/2019/07/18/the-fire-opal-mechanism-book-review

Fran Wilde returns to the Gemworld in a bite-sized multi-layered time travel adventure

What will the current era of fantasy and science fiction literature be remembered for, hundreds of years in the future? It's a question usually asked in a much shorter timeframe and in a cautionary context: just as most books, even the most beloved, of one or two or three hundred years ago have been forgotten, so our favourites from the current moment, as brilliant as they are, aren't like to stand the test of time. But for those who do archive and protect and study the speculative literature of our generation, what's going to stand out? The magic systems? The particular interplay of social themes and fantastic elements and what it says about what we are and aren't interrogating at a given moment? Maybe people of the future will admire the pretty covers?

The Fire Opal Mechanism, the second Tor.com standalone in Fran Wilde's Gemworld, has all of these features; while it would be meaningless and unfair to speculate on any specific book's longevity, the text's own treatment of the retention and transmission of information leaves plenty to chew over that's relevant to our own world as well. Set centuries after The Jewel and Her Lapidary, in a different part of the world, The Fire Opal Mechanism once again opens immediately before an invasion: this time, it's the university at which librarian Ania works which is being threatened by The Pressers, a political force which intends to democratise knowledge by destroying the elite universities in which books have to date been hoarded (of which the Far Reaches is the last). The Pressers have developed a mysterious technology which allows them to repurpose books into "Universal Compendiums of Knowledge", texts which constantly update themselves as they acquire new books. For obvious reasons not everyone is on board with the destruction of the world's unique and individual texts in order to create a single source of centralised information: books "are made to grow old, to grow, occasionally, wrong," as Ania's mentor tells us early.

Into Ania's desperate and futile hiding of some of the university's most valuable and interesting books comes Jorit, a thief who is seeking to steal and turn in some of the books hidden in the library for money to escape the Far Reaches - as she's done several times previously. Unfortunately for Jorit, she's quickly running out of places to escape to and after receiving some bad advice from a university student who turns out to be working for the Pressers, her plans quickly start to go sideways. Jorit and Ania end up trapped in the University as it's being blown up around them when a last method of escape presents itself: a clock mechanism powered by a long-forgotten gem, whose magic can send the pair back in time to try and resolve events with the Pressers before they begin. Events do intersect with the first book, but Ania and Jorit's story still stands on its own as an alternate entry point into this world.

The threat of the Pressers, and of the mechanism they use to print their "Universal Compendiums" - a mechanism which can literally pull ink from the pages of books and render them worthless - is truly terrifying, all the more so because it's a radical ideology which preys on genuine sympathetic desire. The use of the point of view of Xachar Oubliant, the student working for the Pressers, is used sparingly but to great effect, demonstrating how easy it was for this invading authoritarian force to manipulate the desire for knowledge and the frustration at the expense of university for ordinary people in the Six Kingdoms in order to make their case. At the same time, the printing press imagery - of a machine devouring unique books as its users blow up an ancient building around it - makes it viscerally apparent that this is not a sympathetic force, despite the complexity of the wider issue at play. Wilde makes the question of "who owns knowledge" into a compelling driving force with no easy answers while still making the Pressers and their machine compellingly villainous, and it's an impressive line to walk.

In The Jewel and her Lapidary, the valley of the gems and its everyday magical working is initially encountered through a travel guide written much later (though before Ania and Jorit's time), presenting a contrast between the desperation and immediacy of Lin and Sima's struggle and the lens of its impact on the far future, where the gems themselves have been forgotten. Through its time travel mechanic The Fire Opal Mechanism revisits that concept, almost demonstrating it the other way around: what is important in the past doesn't always link the way we'd expect to what's important in our own time. These scenes pack a ton of character- and worldbuilding and flesh out Ania and Jorit impressively in the time available, and their evolving relationship to each other and resolve to address the threat to their own time is fascinating to watch, though necessarily it all happens fairly fast.

Because the Gemworld is so dense and multilayered, spanning not just the contemporary Six Kingdoms but its historical states and the transmission of knowledge and the lens through which the present views the past, this is a book that demands careful attention, and it's the plot itself which - time travel shenanigans aside - gets a bit short-changed in the "how much is it even possible to fit into this length of book". There's nothing at all wrong with that, but it's important to note that what happens in this book is very much a vehicle for showcasing that worldbuilding and the characters' emotional responses to their own world, and those expecting a more action-packed "time heist" are probably going to be disappointed (plenty of other media has you covered on that front). The Gemworld also feels very indifferent to the actual "system" of its gem magic, except in the ways that they intersect with the themes of the books themselves; in another author's hands, there could no doubt be doorstop trilogies written about owning and using gems and managing the risks associated with their powers (go read with Jade City if that's a thing you want), but the focus is instead on how gems work in the fabric of human civilisation, even in an age where they've been all but forgotten.

The Fire Opal Mechanism is an excellent, thought provoking read, which delivers impressively on complex themes and worldbuilding while still offering a satisfying "underdog vs. unambiguously negative societal forces" plot. The Jewel and her Lapidary was one of my favourite stories of its length in the year it came out and if anything this story is a step up. I hope this isn't the last we see of the Gemworld and its complex, evolving history - regardless of how the future treats it, this is a series that deserves to be high up in your memory, at least for next year's awards.

When the Pressmen come to the Far Reaches looking to confiscate all the books so they can form their Universal Compendiums of Knowledge, librarian Ania seems to be the only holdout, wanting to protect the knowledge her books hold rather than give it up to some faceless group to decide what garners passing along to the masses.

Meanwhile Jorit, branded a thief, is looking for a way out of the Far Reaches, and teaming up with Ania seems to be the best option she has. While barricaded in the library, hiding from the Pressmen, Jorit and Ania discover a clock powered by a powerful jewel. Just when their time is up and their discovery by the Pressmen is near, they’re transported to the past. While there, they discover what has lead the Far Reaches to its current present, and hopefully helps them find a way to preserve the future.

The Fire Opal Mechanism very much reminded me of Rachel Caine’s The Great Library series with the idea of this great power, this kind of omniscient presence making decision for the populace as a whole.

Knowledge for all—and access for all to that knowledge—is an ideal concept, but it’s negated when that knowledge is controlled and parceled out by a single entity. When someone determines what it is, exactly, that people are allowed to read. Almost like pushing their own agenda in lieu of letting people decide for themselves.

It’s an interesting concept and, for the most part, Fran Wilde does a great job of exploring it within the confines of a rather short story. I just felt like there was a little bit lacking in regards to seeing how the past has influenced where the story begins in the present.

I haven’t read the first book in the series, and while this story certainly stands well on its own—no issues following along whatsoever—I feel like the connection between the books plays a much more intrinsic part of opening up the story and really appreciating what occurs here.

I’m very interested in giving the first book a read and putting the references together to form the whole picture. As it stands, I give Fran Wilde much credit for giving us such a contemplative story that asks readers to think about what they’re reading and maybe appreciating where it comes from just a little bit more.

The Fire Opal Mechanism is the second novel in the Gemworld series. I was a little conflicted about this novella. On the one hand – I desperately wanted to see more of this world. On the other hand, I wasn't quite over the heartbreak caused by The Jewel and Her Lapidary (a brilliant novella, but one that hit me on an emotional level).
The world has changed since the time of The Jewel and Her Lapidary. Gems and lapidaries have all but faded out of existence. And in their place, a war has been waged. One against books and academies. Shudder the thought, I know.
Ania was the librarian at one of the last standing academies. And she's determined to save as many books as possible from the Pressmen. The Pressmen are the big bad in this novella – they're the ones going after what they consider 'private knowledge' and trying to force into the public. By taking books and destroying schools. There's more to it than that, of course.
Meanwhile, Jorit is just doing what it takes to survive. She's always done what it takes. That is, until she met Ania, where everything changed for her.

The Fire Opal Mechanism took the story told in The Jewel and Her Lapidary and brought it to whole new heights. It had a different material focus – books and words over gems and lapidaries, but it was still extremely powerful.
Books, determination, passion, and time travel are all major elements in this novella. And I couldn't have been happier with their inclusions. This was a fast-paced novella, one whose heart I couldn't sympathize with more if I tried.
I was surprised that the focus changed slightly. From gems to books. Granted, gems still play a part in this new (and arguably darker) world. Just a different role than I had expected. Despite that, I greatly enjoyed the portrayal.
Ania and Jorit's adventure and attempts to save the written word were powerful and fascinating. I loved so much about this. Starting from their emotional ties to their pasts, to their determination to keep going forward. And admittedly I also appreciated just how different these two are, and how they came together despite it all.
While I loved everything about The Jewel and Her Lapidary (and found myself moved by it) I feel like I was more emotionally compelled by this tale. Perhaps it was the subject of books that really brought it home for me. No matter the reason, I'm happy for it.
I don't know if there will be more to tell from Gemworld, but I certainly hope to see more of this unique and magical world.

This book was such a tightly-paced timey-whimey adventure. Something goes wrong in the archives of the Pressmen, and a Librarian, a Thief, and an intern go on trial for a clock breaking down and literally stealing the ink from books.

The exploration of different time periods in the Gemworld was so well-done. The time travel went flawlessly, and the main characters were just visitors in realms where they have to be careful of what they can reference and the names things are based on the time they're in. I really liked the chemistry between them and the magic system in this book is the coolest.

If you're into libraries, heists, and fixing mistakes, definitely give The Fire Opal Mechanism a read.

This is a beautiful puzzle of a novella, an updated spin on Farenheit 451 with a fantasy setting and time travel. As always, I really savored Wilde's prose, and her overall authorial vision is quite enchanting.

Would recommend for fans of fantasy, time travel, hero librarian stories, and f/f romances.

Whoa. What a strong installment to the Gemworld series! It expands and deepens the world building from the first book where the premise revolves around a kingdom where rulers draw their power from gems. The Jewel and Her Lapidary wasn't my favorite book but I was extremely interested in where it was going to go and, in that respect, this didn't disappoint.

The world-building is the strongest feat of this book. Ambitious, audacious and fresh. This is something to be taught, in fact. Ms. Wilde's writing style is another strong point. Sharp and clear, yet beautiful prose. It kept me turning the pages. My only negative is I wish it was longer. The action and suspense definitly packed one heck of a punch in a small amount of time.