thanks to netgalley & tor for a copy of this in exchange for a review.

The Seventh Perfection is pretty distinctive book in such a way that it's hard to give it a star rating or to say it's an instant recommendation, but ultimately I did like it and am glad to have read it. Manet is our main character, but the story is told via the second person POV in a conversational narrative style. Manet is trying to understand the past by going on a journey which involves talking to a variety of people. Each chapter is one of these conversations but just the other person's narrative side such that a lot of the story is implied and requires to the reader to be curious about what isn't explicitly said.

I started with the ebook but switched to some of the audiobook and actually really recommend the audiobook format because the narrator does wonders for making each character especially distinctive.

I love seeing books use second person POV but it’s a tricky one that can be as engaging as it is off-putting. There was a bit of that going on for me in this book as we’re fed information through a series of interviews while the outer story speaks of revolution. The way the story unfolds is almost like a mystery slowly unraveling. I stayed engaged from start to finish and even when I set the book aside I was drawn back to it quickly. That said, there were times where the style did throw me out but I think that had less to do with the writing and more to do with my mood while reading. I loved the subtle sci-fi edge, the sort that’s ever-present but not in your face. It’s a strange little book that’s hard to put into words but worth picking up if you like unusual narrative styles and ways of storytelling in a speculative space.

This book is absolutely stunning. It’s one of those books that I’m not sure I got… but even months after having read it, it sticks in my mind, bidding me to return and reread it. The story is written in second person, with the reader receiving only the answers to Manet’s questions and having to piece these answers together into the narrative.

Overall there’s very little information about who Manet is, and so much is delivered just through the dialogue of other characters. It was such an interesting experience and the voice of all the other characters are done so well. The world building is fascinating, and the only way to experience it is through the eyes of the other characters.

This is one of those books that will appeal most to readers who enjoy unusual structures and especially those who prefer narratives that give very few definitive answers. It’s a book that I think really lends itself to be reread and I personally look forward to reading it again.

I started reading this book and found that it was not for me. It didn't seem fair for me to review a book that I didn't finish.

What an odd little book, every time I picked it up I would be so confused but it would only take me a few pages to get really invested in the story. I think the format was a fun experiment and I liked being able to explore a new fantasy world so quickly, but this could also easily work as a longer novel with more worldbuilding and character work. Definitely intrigued to pick up more of Polansky's work.

Thank you so much to net galley. I was excited to read this book but it wasn’t anything like the description and I just didn’t enjoy it at all.

Even though is a novella, it took me some time to actually engage with the story. This is a unique story with a distinctive structure that makes the reading some different to the usual. I haven't read anything from Polansky since The Builders and for starters I would recommend that one. For braver people looking for really new stories and structures, The Seventh Perfection is some to have a look at.

“When a woman with perfect memory sets out to solve a riddle, the threads she tugs on could bring a whole city crushing down”

This part of the plot was the main reason i decided to read it.
I’m a huge fan of any kind of mystery thriller, but this one didn’t convince me.
It was a bit too confusing and I didn’t appreciate the narrative stile.

The Seventh Perfection by Daniel Polansky is a Tor.com Publishing novella about a woman with perfect memory setting out to be a God-King’s Amanuensis. 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. However, it was written in a very experimental form, closer to highbrow literary fiction than what readers of speculative genre fiction are more used to. I struggled to connect with the story, especially due to its fragmented, second-person narrative, and so this ended up really not being a book for me. I have been realising more and more that, with a few exceptions, I am really more of a straight-forward narrative type if I get the choice. I prefer stories that are experimental in content rather than form, if that makes sense. But I can totally see how this would be brilliant for readers who appreciate authors playing with form, and who are more avant-garde than I am.

The Seventh Perfection is a second-person-perspective fantasy mystery novel about the events surrounding the origination of a god.

Because this is a mystery novella that plays heavily with story structure in order to add to the experience, I'm going to end up being pretty vague. Nearly everything that happens could be considered a spoiler, but I think I can give a good feel for the book without wrecking the experience.

As is common amongst the mystery novels I've read, The Seventh Perfection drops us in just after what might be the first chapter or so in a novel. The event that sets our main character in motion has already occurred, and we're dropped into her already-active path. The second-person perspective also hides some details from us. We really don't know anything about the character everyone else is speaking to. We don't know motivations, expectations, or what she knows about her task. Heck, we don't even see her sentences, her questions towards the speaking people.

Now, that might sound like a recipe for a disaster where we're separated from our main character, but Polansky pulls off the miracle. In a limited wordcount, he gives us a character's history, personality, and goal, all through a second-person series of conversations. We get huge looks into an expansive world, and while there are scenes that effectively function as an info-dump, it's definitely not grating or poorly-done.

Polansky manages to give us what I've already explained, a deep and intriguing world and a fully fleshed character who we never see or hear, while also giving us a riveting plot. It does take a few chapters to get rolling, but that's less of a mistake and more of just a side effect to being dropped into a story that's already happening.

The ending itself is definitely fulfilling. Is it a completely closed, concrete ending? Not really. On the scale of open-to-closed, it leans towards open, for sure. Is it clearly an ending, an ending that leaves the reader satisfied? It did for this reader, anyway.

If you're open to books being experiences or even just non-straightforward stories, check this out. It's short enough to read in a sitting or a few, and it's not an expensive book.

Sometimes, you know a book will be perfect for you going into it. Sometimes, like here, you stumble into it completely unawares. It was the cover that first caught my eye, and then the blurb – a woman with a perfect memory looking for answers. But it was the prose and the narrative style that won me over. I’ve never seen anything like it. I still think it’s best to go in blind and knowing no more than that, but if you need more convincing…

The narrative is fragmentary, each chapter from the point of view of a different character telling something to our protagonist, who remains invisible. She moves through the story like a ghost, seen and spoken to, but never heard. A trick like that takes skill. I’m not sure it would work in a novel, but Polansky did it masterfully.

Along the way, we slowly learn what Manet, our protagonist is looking for and how the current state of affairs came to be. The setting and its history are a delight. I also loved how it played with themes of truth and the cost of learning it, propaganda, revolutions, power.

Since the hints are dribbled slowly, since none of the narrators is very reliable and many of them are odd, you have to do some assembly yourself. But oh, do I ever love it.

The Seventh Perfection shows what is possible with a fantasy novella, it's one of those books that is hard to review without spoilers so I won't even try.

All I will say is that is is definitely worth the read as it's very creatively written as the story is told through other people talking to the 'narrator' alone though dialogue alone, sounds weird I know but it's so cleverly done that it's very impressive how well it works without all the descriptive work you usually get. This is really a book you have to read to believe so read it, you'll love it!

This is a fascinating, experimental novella. It is told in pseudo second person; our protagonist is silent, nameless, and only we only know them through the observations of others. Polansky has given us half a conversation, but a whole story.

It touches on broad themes, such as the fragility of empire, the role of propaganda, and the sacrifices inherent in learning hard truths. The main character both accomplishes her goal and becomes what she fears and hates most, all in one fell swoop.

The worldbuilding is deft and seamless. Each little tidbit we’re granted pulls ten times its own weight when it comes to creating a sense of atmosphere and grounding. While it’s temping to label it dreamlike, oneiric, that would do poor justice to the sense of existence that Polansky manages to convey.

I would highly recommend this novella to fans of KJ Parker’s novellas. It has the same sense of irreverence and experimentality.

the humor in the book, the characters, the worldbuilding, all of it created this masterpiece of a book. I was so excited to be able to get an early copy of this, and I wasn't disappointed at all. the pov was definitely interesting and took a second to get over, but it didn't hinder my reading by any means.

Unfortunately, I lost this copy and can't read it. I'll rate it high due to that I feel like this can be a new favorite of mine.

Daniel Polansky es uno de los autores de fantasía épica que más he disfrutado en los últimos años. Hace unos años publicó un "re-telling", si lo podemos llamar así, o revisitó la historia de los 47 ronin pero en clave animalesca. Ya sabéis, la historia del grupo de guerreros desterrados que van a rescatar a su señor o capitán del castillo donde lo tienen preso. Pero los protagonistas son gatos, ratas, tejones, perros y demás. Una chulada. Desde entonces cada vez que sale un libro suyo me lanzo a leerlo sin pensarlo. Con The Seven Perfection he tenido algunos problemillas, el mayor de todos es que no he logrado entrar a la historia, pero vamos por partes. Conocemos a Manet que va en busca de una mujer a petición del Dios Rey (o Rey Dios) del lugar. Es peculiar porque aunque la protagonista del libro es Manet, nunca la escuchamos ni oímos su punto de vista. Sus intenciones y sus pensamientos quedan ocultos al lector. El libro está narrado a través de una serie de entrevistas, declaraciones y monólogos de la gente con la que ella habla para rastrear a esa otra mujer.

Manet tiene memoria perfecta, ya que ella ha logrado controlar a la perfección las siete perfecciones (aunque nunca se especifica exactamente qué son ni cuáles son todas las siete, ni siquiera si es algo real o no). Y Manet solo tiene un retrato de la mujer a la que busca. La trama per se nunca me acabó de llamar la atención, y me ha parecido más un experimento literario que otra cosa. Y aquí radica el punto fuerte de libro, que es tremendamente original el cómo está contado. Que nuestro narrador no fiable sea precisamente no fiable al 100% por el simple hecho de que jamás se dirige al lector directamente crea un efecto extraño y peculiar. Es como leer declaraciones sobre una persona pero nunca llegar a ver, conocer o escuchar a la persona de la que hablan. El lector crea expectativas completamente irreales del personaje y traduce todos estos relatos en un algo abstracto que parece ser nuestra protagonista.

Y por esto me ha gustado el libro y lo recomiendo. No sé si era intención o no del autor pero mi lectura ha sido la de una disertación sobre cómo interpretamos las redes sociales y sobre cómo nos creamos expectativas sobre alguien que desconocemos. A menudo ocurre que oímos mucho sobre alguien, quizá en una polémica o solo comentarios sueltos y comenzamos a crear una imagen en nuestra cabeza de esa persona. Quién es, cómo es, cómo piensa. Retazos subjetivos y falsos sobre alguien que recomponemos para que encaje en nuestros parámetros. Y como al final, cuando por fin conocemos a esa persona, nos asaltan dos posibilidades, o aceptamos la realidad y pensamos "anda, no pensaba que fueras así" o negamos la realidad con paranoia y desconfianza. Me ha parecido un libro interesante pero difícil de recomendar. Es un libro complejo y que no goza de acción ni de grandes batallas. Pero que mantiene bien el misterio a lo largo de sus breves páginas con declaraciones de lo más intrigantes.

This was a very strange read and although I ultimately enjoyed it, there was a bit of me that felt it was being clever just for the sake of it. It tells the story of an amanuensis looking for a murderer and investigating her own past at the same time. The premise is an interesting one, but the execution makes the plot a little hard to parse. The narrative is written as one side of a conversation, as we follow our protagonist through several interviews with potential suspects or witnesses, but we only get their testimony. As such, it does take a minute to get used to the structure and I am quite sure that it won't be for everyone. For me, this is definitely a story I will remember more for the innovative form over the plot and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys experimental writing.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is a story about a woman, Manet, who mastered all seven perfections (??), thus becoming a virtuoso and having perfect memory, and her search for another woman of whom she only has a portrait in a locket.

The most interesting part is that the story is told in a kind of 2nd PoV monologue, as the interviewed people answer Manet/you to questions that are only implied. These monologues are the only way we learn about the world and its history. I really liked that, instead of making it a long standard fantasy novel about a troubled world and a revolution and a God-King, all these things are just hinted at through this ingenious way of writing, and we are given only slivers of information and thereby we are free to supplement the story with out own oppinions and thoughts.

Overall, a very interesting and satisfying read.

* Plot: 4.5★
* World building: 3.5★
* Characters: 3.5★
* Coherence/Consistency/ Sense of time: 3.5★
* Language/Humor/Witticism: 4★
* Enjoyability: 4+★

This is probably the weirdest thing I have read this year, but I liked it.

I just finished The Seventh Perfection by Daniel Polansky. This novella feels very experimental and is unlike anything I have read before. There were also some parts that were a little hard for me to understand. I have an engineering degree and read a lot, so this isn’t a common experience for me. Not sure how I feel about that, actually. Brb, existential crisis.

Full disclosure, I received an arc of this book on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Macmillan-Tor/Forge for continuing to approve my arc requests.

On the surface, The Seventh Perfection is a story about a woman named Manet who is trying to figure out the identity of the woman pictured in her locket. Manet is special. She has reached the Seventh Perfection, mastering her body and mind to reach the highest level of service to her God-King. She can remember everything she has ever encountered, so as she tracks people down to gain information for her quest, she has no need to write anything down, only to listen.

And this is where the book gets clever.

The story is told in 2nd person, through chapters of monologues titled with the names of the people Manet is speaking to. Through these monologues we learn about the history of the place Manet grew up in, how there was a revolution led by students years ago that led to an Empress getting deposed and replaced with the current God-King, and the tragic but noble loyalty the woman he loved provided to the cause. But as the story progresses, we also learn that there’s a difference between the history and what really happened. As the point of view shifts through the characters that Manet speaks with, we learn bits and pieces of what happened and who the mysterious woman in the locket is. Each character speaks what they believe to be the truth, but their truths don’t exactly line up. Manet and the reader are forced to reconcile between those truths to figure out what is actually going on.

This book is less than 200 pages, and it’s super enthralling and easy to get lost in, but that doesn’t make it an easy read. I’ve read it once and will probably have to go back and read it a couple more times before I finally understand it. Honestly, it’s giving me a headache writing this review because even though I thoroughly enjoyed the book, it’s hard to put the experience of reading it into words. Without giving up any spoilers, the book started out as a small scale quest for Manet to find the truth, whatever that means, and turns into something with potentially more far reaching consequences. I think this rush of confusion and passion for continuing the search is something Manet and the reader share, especially because of the way the second person point of view forces the reader to become intimately familiar with Manet even though she doesn’t really have her own voice in this story. Also, while each person or group of people she spoke to had their own distinct voice and biases that made them enjoyable to read, it was also hard to piece together what the truth actually was. This story made me work in order to understand it, and I don’t think that I completely do understand it. That experience as a reader is really weird, and a little unsettling. Usually reading a book is the least complicated part of my day. It’s the way that I relax after working at a job where I basically rent out brain time to complicated problems. This book was like exercise, exhausting but invigorating at the same time, until you realize that you don’t have a six pack yet. Basically, you need to take a shower after this book.

If you are looking for a beautiful piece of fantasy that will blow your mind, then I think you should pick up this book.

Having read Those Above and Those Below, I approached this book with positive anticipation and I was not disappointed. A fantasy land with echoes of old empires and older gods, but the same human foibles underpin a rollicking story. With well-judged pace and a plot that reveals detail up to the very end, I lok forward to the next Polansky