Award-winning author Kelly Robson returns with High Times in the Low Parliament, a lighthearted romp through an 18th-century London featuring flirtatious scribes, irritable fairies, and the dangers of Parliament.

“Funny, literally outlandish, and deeply relevant.”—Malka Older

A Most Anticipated Pick for Autostraddle | LGBTQ Reads

Lana Baker is Aldgate’s finest scribe, with a sharp pen and an even sharper wit. Gregarious, charming, and ever so eager to please, she agrees to deliver a message for another lovely scribe in exchange for kisses and ends up getting sent to Low Parliament by a temperamental fairy as a result.

As Lana transcribes the endless circular arguments of Parliament, the debates grow tenser and more desperate. Due to long-standing tradition, a hung vote will cause Parliament to flood and a return to endless war. Lana must rely on an unlikely pair of comrades—Bugbite, the curmudgeonly fairy, and Eloquentia, the bewitching human deputy—to save humanity (and maybe even woo one or two lucky ladies), come hell or high water.

Q: Would you get high with a fairy, given the chance? (You have to supply the goods.)

3.5 Stars

It's very, VERY important I tell you that HTitLP is about a flirtatious parliament scribe and her wee cranky fairy friend tripping on mushrooms in the morning and getting stoned on golden yeast at night. (While some troublemaking politicians try to enact fantasy-England Brexit.)

So. While I overall enjoyed HTitLP and Robson's writing, HTitLP has a few key issues holding it down, particularly the world and characters.

There's a lot going on with HTitLP's worldbuilding and history, with almost none of it explicitly explained. There's some hints now and again, but the novella format doesn't allow an entire explanation, so the reader takes a lot at face value.

Now, readers will overlook giant, hideous, festering issues of every brand and genre if they love the characters, but while Lana was fun, she was never quite endearing in the way an MC requires. Lana has her moments, such as when she realizes the depth of her friendship with BB, but it's hard to forget that her initial overture to BB didn't come from a place of kindness: it was social engineering. And when Lana doesn't have any drive outside of momentary pleasure, in these instances she comes off as slimy.

I really enjoyed the political commentary–Britain is going through it right now, folks–and the focus on the importance of real democracy and participating in elections. Robson also has fun, readable prose. It brings a sense of whimsy to the doom-and-gloom talk, and fits Lana's personality perfectly.

Rec'd for readers looking for something sapphic and whimsical, with a side of political commentary.

(Thank you to Tordotcom and Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!)

I was given a copy of High Times in the Low Parliament by Kelly Robson on Net Galley by Tordotcom in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Tordotcom!

High Times in the Low Parliament takes place in a fictionalized England - called Angland in the story. In this alternate world, humans and fairies both live in their own communities and societies. However, due to humans' tendency towards war, an agreement was made more than two centuries ago. Humans would govern themselves through Parliament, but as soon as their disagreements became insurmountable, the fairies would flood Parliament. This would kill every member of the governing body, and the humans would be expected to start all over. In this way, the fairies enforced the rules humans set in place to govern themselves.

However, Lana Baker, scribe extraordinaire, isn't worried about any of that. Instead, she has lived her life chasing the next drink and the next pretty lady. She is a bit of a disgrace to her family who cares little for her and her them. Unfortunately, Lana's self-centered search for carnal gratification and inability to look beyond a pretty face lands her in a sticky spot. She gets sent to be a scribe for the Low Parliament.

This is not the cushy assignment it seems to be. Parliament is situated on a kind of island that seems to be inspired by real-life Mont-Saint-Michel in France. The crumbling buildings are surrounded by wet sands or the ocean depending on the tides, and no one can leave without permission. Anyone who tries to leave without permission is foiled, and often killed, by the enchanted road which will lead them along a dangerous path of quicksand and sea pits.

Additionally, Parliament has been unable to come to a unanimous decision in months. With every vote being hung, the flooding of Parliament seems imminent to both the humans and fairies in residence. It is into this precarious situation that Lana Baker is unceremoniously plunged, without even a drink to cushion the fall.

This all sounds like the basis for an interesting story, and it is! However, my biggest gripe with this novella was how long it took for me to really understand what was going on in the story. It took at least half of the story for me to figure out what Parliament was, how the fairies fit into anything, and why Lana should be afraid to be stuck in Parliament at all. When a book is only 160 pages long, that seems like a long time to set up the world and get to the point to me.

That being said, once I did figure out what was going on, I mostly enjoyed learning more. Mostly, Lana was fun to read about, but she was equally exasperating. She literally only cares about drugs, alcohol, and women. Generally, in that order. Almost as soon as she arrives, she manages to befriend the fairy in charge of the Parliamentary scribes, named Bugbite, by sharing some sort of yeast-like drug with her. Just as quickly, Lana happens to witness a member of Parliament dancing in a courtyard and falls in love with her.

The whole time Lana is chasing her next high or coming up with schemes to meet the "dancer," Parliament is figuratively and literally crumbling to pieces. Not a single vote has been decided, and it's worsened by one faction of deputies who keep fomenting dissent and confusion. Lana doesn't care about any of this at all until almost 75% of the story is over. She is immature and self-centered, until she magically isn't anymore. It just seemed like convenient character development to resolve the main conflict of the plot.

The last quarter of the story is the most exciting. Several things happen at once to resolve the conflict, but I just felt like everything was tied up too neatly. I almost got reading whiplash from the change in story. At first, everyone is sure to die, and no one can get along, but then all of a sudden, we have a happy ending for everyone. This issue, along with Lana's immaturity, really impacted my ability to stay immersed in the story of this book.

The only way this story makes more sense is if it's taken as being satirical. I did think the visual descriptions of the crumbling Parliament buildings could be construed as a metaphor for current world affairs. It also makes sense that one faction of a governing body would constantly sabotage any attempt at cooperation to achieve their own ends. However, I felt like maybe this story just wasn't for me. I still don't feel like I understand what it was trying to say, and I probably won't read it again. I will be thinking about it for a while, though.

High Times in the Low Parliament by Kelly Robson only earned two stars from me which is disappointing. I really wanted to like it, but this novella was just not for me. I found the main character to be annoying, I had immersion issues that never resolved, and I really didn't enjoy the Deus ex machina that solved the main conflict. I can see how this story may be enjoyable for others, though, so if it sounds interesting to you still give it a shot!

Unfortunately this was not the book for me, The premise sounded interesting, but I felt so lost the entire time.
I didn't understand why Lana was sent to Low Parliament, all of a sudden there is a possible war?
I don't know.

For a short story this felt incredibly long.

When I read the title, I thought it would be something else. High times wouldn’t mean literal “high times” where there wasn’t a moment someone wasn’t on mushrooms or yeast. Fairy dust was spread everywhere! I know not every story should have a “moral lesson” we need to adopt, but also I was curious to see where this was going. And still waiting…

Lana was a scribe, a good one. She was also a flirt, which got her into trouble a lot. She delivered a letter as a favor and that got her sent to Low Parliament, where fairies and humans were fighting. All votes were hung votes and if things continued to go at this rate, hung votes would mean end of humans. Lana became friends with a fairy and fell in love with a representative human. While they were getting high on anything they could find, they also started to think of ways that could save the parliament.

Sure it was a quick and fun story, but I also I could have convinced myself to stop at any given moment. If you are into fairy world and fantasy queer stories, you might enjoy this.

2.5 stars

Okay, so this book wasn’t bad. I just had no idea what was going on. This human ends up being forced to be a scribe in the lower parliament (England), and there are fairies who seem to act as a sort of go-between for the humans that are forced to work there and the parliamentarians? Sort of? But then the parliamentarians are actively trying to get parliament to collapse. Maybe that means proroguing parliament, I’m not sure. And when parliament fails all the humans will be drowned.

It was very confusing. The writing in and of itself was good, it just didn’t really make any sense.

This book Will be better in longer format. Why?
Because I don't get the answer for "why" questions?
Why the Parliament exist? And such.

But...
But...

The satire jokes... I love it. Lana's personality and her love interest... Really glad that this novella is a sapphic book. After all this book was fun. And maybe... Just maybe... The longer version of Lana's story? I Will be happy to read them

I received an advanced copy of High Times in the Low Parliament by Kelly Robson through Netgalley so I could share my review with you! Be sure to head over to my blog (link in bio) to see a full synopsis and more details about the book!

This book contained some extremely compelling components, including:
- Optimists who don’t know what’s good for them (or who are too busy flirting to care about impending doom)
- More lesbians and queer women than I could count
- An absolute disaster gay protagonist
- The healing power of dance
- Fairies who have absolutely had it with human politicking

Novellas are one of my favorite formats to read, especially when they’ve got queer representation, so High Times in the Low Parliament was the perfect read for me! I loved Lana’s easy-going personality and how it clashed with the high-stakes world around her. The world needs more characters who, when faced with imminent doom, flirt their way out.

My Recommendation-
If you love a queer story with a flirtatious, devil-may-care protagonist, you need to grab a copy High Times in the Low Parliament as soon as possible! I would especially recommend this novella to readers who prefer short-and-sweet stories, like Princess Floralinda and the Forty Flight Tower!

This book was really weird and kind of whimsical! It’s also really short, so we never really find out what is going on, there’s simply not enough space. Why are there only women in this world? Why do fairies rule everyone? Not a problem, not an issue, just deal with it. Worldbuilding? No! Here is a world, take it or leave it. And you need to know that piece already before you get into it, I think. Interesting character development! I got this on audiobook AND ebook, and I started the audiobook and ended up finish it as an ebook during a doctor’s appointment. Which was perfectly fine! Three and a half stars, rounded up for Netgalley/Goodreads.

This book seems…. Unfinished. There is an outline of a really cool plot, but there’s absolutely no worldbuilding and more than a few editing errors, plus I just straight up did not understand what was going on or why anyone was doing anything. I think it’s very challenging to establish enough worldbuilding for a fantasy novella to actually work, and it’s really apparent here.
I skimmed the whole second half because I just wanted to finish it bc I hate dnfing ARCs but just… eh. If this book was given a polish and 50-100 more pages I’d love to read it again. Lana was a great MC, I thought she was really funny with how she was straight up ogling every female character that walked by but overall I just didn’t enjoy this as it was when I read it.

In an alternate 18th century London, Lana Baker is Aldgate's finest scribe. She delivers a message in exchange for kisses from another scribe but is sent to Low Parliament as a punishment from an angry fairy. Debates in Parliament are tense, and a hung vote will cause Parliament to flood and return to endless war. Lana must work with a fairy named Bugbite and a human deputy named Eloquentia to save humanity.

It's never clear what made the fairy angry with Lana, but she's sent to Low Parliament anyway. Those that pass through the gates are unable to leave without permission; if they try, they die in quicksand or by drowning. This alternate world has Angland and other countries of the British Isles as separate countries, and European countries are also present in Parliament. Fairies had determined this was the best way for humans to communicate, avoiding the yearly wars that used to happen. Women are in charge, and are trying to make everything happen; I don't think there's a single male character in the book other than a figurative Hanged Man. In a world where yeast and common mushrooms make people high, it seems fair that its social structure is different, too.

Lana is the kind of character that is perpetually silly, taking nothing seriously and intending to flirt her way into friendship or assignations. She uses this method to make a friend out of the fairy overseer for the scribes, and charms her way to speaking with a Parliament member. The trio is concerned about the possibility of humans drowning and seems to be the only ones that don't want it happening. Everyone else is more interested in getting their own points across, which definitely seems to be the point. The conclusion is just as goofy as Lana is, as she bumbles her way through. This is a quick and silly romp through a fantasy land, cute and fluffy with little bits of seriousness in it.

High Times in the Low Parliament by Kelly Robson is a Tor.com novella about fairies, politics and bureaucracy. It has the vibes of the UK Houses of Parliament crossed with a good dose of magic and supernatural threat – though it often feels like the fantasy elements thinly veil the author’s contempt at contemporary politics. While I very much agree with the sentiment, I’m not sure it makes for a great reading experience, especially for someone caught in the middle of the futile squabbling of a largely incompetent government. Lana is a scribe, brought to the Low Parliament by circumstance and thrown into these political machinations with little warning. Her allies are only two – a fairy named Bugbite and a human politician called Eloquentia – and those both have their own agendas. As a whole, this novella feels more like a satire with fantasy elements than the fantasy story I was expecting – and I think my lack of enjoyment was more due to timing and circumstance than the quality of the writing or the story.

Do you see this cover? It's amazing and from the very first time, I saw it I wanted to read what was inside. The same goes for the blub - a novella with fairies, scribes, and romantic parts - sign me in! If you like reads that I can qualify as eccentric and not something that falls into most popular genres - then High Times in the Low Parliament is for you!
Are you history geeks? If s then you know the basics of the XVIII century in England but here we are facing alternation, as we have faires that for sure are not sweet and innocent type. Our heroine got herself, to her unfortunate luck, exiled to low Parliament, a place that can be her death bed if she will not play by some really strange rules! What rules? Well - you will have to read the book!
Also, I have to mention that this book contains LGBTQ content - which got me surprised especially when it's FF (female-female) relationship it's a minority in the industry o books. I would love to see some more information about the world in this story, as we get very little of it, which made it hard for me to connect with the story and what exactly matters in this alternative world. This story reminds me of the song by Beyonce -> "Who Run the World (Girls)", so if you are interested, give it a try!

I’m having trouble finding the words to adequately quantify how much I adored High Times in the Low Parliament, but I urge everyone to go read it right now! The writing in this book is so breathtakingly romantic that at times it had me audibly sighing. I found myself reading certain passages over and over because the verbiage was so beautiful.


This wonderfully offbeat story takes place in a world run by women and follows Lana, a very affectionately insatiable scribe with a penchant for flirting, who is banished to the Low Parliament, where she befriends a psychedelic indulging fairy named Bugbite, and quirky hijinks ensue!

Each character in this book is so endearing, the world so intriguing, that you will not want to put it down.

If fae politics and intrigue, quick wit, sapphic romance and a little weirdness sprinkled between relevant societal topics are things you’re looking for in your next read, I HIGHLY recommend High Times in the Low Parliament. 4.75 ⭐️

High Times in the Low Parliament by Kelly Robson stars Lana Baker, a prominent scribe whose effusive love for women gets the better of her when a ploy for kisses causes her to be punished and sent to Low Parliament. The author has described this novella as “lesbian stoner buddy comedy” and that is exactly what this eccentric novella delivered, in a flavour that may be an acquired taste for some.

What I loved about this novella were the three main characters: Lana, Bugbite, and Eloquentia. Between Lana’s unapologetic desire for women and all-around good nature, Bugbite’s curmudgeonly and prickly shell guarding a tender center, and Eloquentia’s… well, eloquence and grace… it’s a nice trifecta of energy. I definitely laughed out loud at several of their interactions, and I found the romance that develops within this trio a surprise and delight. I also loved that there are zero men in this world and it’s never made an issue of, which is refreshing.

What I loved less was the lack of worldbuilding. There is next to zero explanation given to any of the facts of this world—why ARE fairies casually ruling over humankind? why WILL they drown humanity over votes in Parliament? what are they even voting FOR?—and it detracted from my enjoyment. I am usually happy to let things go unexplained or not have context, but so much context was missing that it became confusing. The lack of worldbuilding contributed to a muddled plot that tried to do too many things at the same time.

Overall, if you think you’d enjoy a bizarre, intriguing, quick read with stoner lesbians forming friendships and enduring interminable legislature via lots and lots of drugs, this is the novella for you.

Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.

as much as i wanted to love high times in the low parliament—the blurb is so intriguing!—this novella just didn’t work for me.

lana is a scribe in an alternate england where men don’t exist (why?) and faeries control everything (i think?) including who can have children and when. they can also drown all of parliament—and they will if parliament can’t reach a two-thirds majority vote, even though this will cause a war (apparently). this is a concern for lana because she’s been summoned to parliament as a scribe (for no particular reason), and drowning will interfere with her plans to get high and womanize.

while the concept is certainly unique, the execution fell flat. it attempts to be a brexit metaphor meets “lesbian stoner buddy comedy,” but it doesn’t succeed at either. the humor is forced, lana’s “flirting” is unbearable, and the intended commentary on brexit is unclear because lana just doesn’t care about politics. i feel like i understand less about the plot now than i did before reading the book.

3.25 Stars. This was a very quirky little novella. I normally write my reviews right after I read a book -or the following day if it’s late- when my memory and feelings are the freshest, but I read this book a few days ago and believed that I needed more time to get my thoughts together. I’ve now taken that time but unfortunately I’m not sure if it helped as much as I hoped. I don’t know if I really know what to think of this oddball little book. I really struggled in the beginning and did not care for the story or the characters much at all, but then parts of the middle were interesting or even sweet, and the actual last chapter put a big smile on my face. I think my final overall verdict is that this story was a mix for me but in the end I enjoyed it a bit more than I had issues with it.

I think the main issue for me was the length. I’m actually a novella fan, but I think it is very hard to write a fantasy story that is heavy on the fantasy and lighter on the realism, in the short page allowance of a novella. It just doesn’t give you the time to world build which was really needed in this story. It took me a long time to even realize that there were no men in this world. I kept rereading things wondering if I missed a background male character. I did like that this led to the main character’s sexuality not being an issue -even if her perceived lesbian Casanova personality was super annoying-.But then I brought myself down a rabbit hole wondering if there are trans and nonbinary people that live in this world? And then I wondered if there really are only women in this world, then why is the government still just as fucked-up that people are willing to drown and die rather than agree in Parliament? Which leads me to an important storyline, if Parliament can’t agree, then fairies -which are the overseers- will drown all of Parliament –which includes scribes, cooks, cleaners, everyone in this little self-contained town will die- and then the people of the world would have to, hopefully, elect a new government that works. Again, why is this the way it is? Briefly it was mention that previous wars might be part of the reason but I need to know how this all came to be. Did the wars wipe out the men and that’s why they are gone? Are men in other counties somewhere? This seems to be the kind of book where you have to just wing it and go with the flow or otherwise you just can’t enjoy it. Once I realized that, and turned off my fantasy world questioning brain, I started to enjoy the story more.

I don’t want to make this review too long since this is a novella, but I do want to mention that I liked the character growth and the relationship between the main human character and the main fairy character the most. The main character is really selfish and is basically one big flirt, but she comes to understand there are things more important, like friendship and love, besides just scoring the ladies. You also see a huge amount of growth with the main fairy character which I won’t talk about as her journey is quite a surprise and I would not want to spoil any of it for potential readers. Her character is flawed and just plain mean at times, but she ended up being my favorite in the end.

TLDR: This book ended up being about average for me. I really struggled with it in the beginning and thought for sure that this would not be my kind of book. Luckily, as the story went on, it started to grow on me and by the end it did put a smile on my face. Characters that were hard to even stomach at first, developed into characters that I started to root for. I think the problem is that this fantasy story really needed some good world and character building, but as a novella there just wasn’t the time for it. As you can tell from the title, there is a lot of drug use. It includes fairy mushrooms and these happy yeast drugs, so nothing scary but I figured I would mention it since there is a high amount of use. This book is a mixed bag and it’s pretty clear to me that it won’t be for everyone. This is the kind of book that if you can go with the flow and not question too many things, I think it would be easier to enjoy that way. I’m finding it hard for me to recommend this one, but if your library has a copy I think it would be worth the try for readers who like quirky and or fantasy.

Thanks to @netgalley & Kelly Robson for this #gifted e-Advanced Reader Copy of High Times In The Low Parliament

This novella follows Lana Baker, Aldgate's finest scribe. She is charming, sociable & eager to please. She agrees ri deliver a message to another scribe in exchange for kisses... which causes her to be sent to Low Parliament by a temperamental fairy. As Lana transcribes the endless arguments of Parliament & a looming return to endless war Lana must rely on an unlikely pair of comrades—Bugbite, the curmudgeonly fairy, and Eloquentia, the bewitching human deputy—to save humanity (and maybe even woo one or two lucky ladies), come hell or high water.

What I loved 😍
🧡 lesbian main character
🧡 Lana's bubbly personality
🧡 Bugbite was just fun to read!
🧡 The concept was fun & engaging!

What I wasn't keen on 😭
More world building... as it was novella length we didn't really get to see why this Low Parliament exists & the Fairies enforce it, as well as other aspects of the world. I just felt this could have been a full length novel.

💭 On the whole if you enjoy cute fantasy novellas with fab lesbian representation then check this one out!

🏷 #HighTimesInTheLowParliament #NetGalley #BookReview #bookstagram #booksta #bookstagrammer #bookish #BookNerd #BooksConnectUs #literaryadventureswithgabby

High Times in the Low Parliament is a fun fantasy novella. Lana Baker, is tricked by a fellow scribe and summoned to serve at Parliament. Lana is a constant flirt, known for her positive attitude, and always looking for a good time. She makes the most of her time at Parliament, despite being trapped and facing imminent death by drowning.

I enjoyed the fantasy world created with humans and fairies living side by side in disharmony. Lana and Bugbite the fairy make an entertaining odd-couple. I'd love another story following their mischief.

Due to their shortened length, novellas can be a bit sparse in character development and details. I would have liked a better understanding of Eloquentia, a Deputy in Parliament, and the third featured character. There are also holes in the narrative that I found frustrating.

Overall, this was a quick read and worth the time.

When Lana Baker, the best scribe in Aldgate, is sent to work in the Low Parliament, she expects long and tedious working hours. She did not foresee the threat of flooding that hung over the human politicians and workers…
From the exciting cover to the fascinating book description, I expected this novel to be enjoyable. It was quite a disappointment. It seemed that the central theme of the story and Lana’s main character trait was her flirtatious nature. There were just too many descriptions of female beauty and too many attempts at winning a lady’s attention. Especially in such a short position. The political intrigues or the conflict between fairies and humans became secondary, while I believe the novel would benefit from bringing them to the centre.