Customer Reviews

The Poison Master

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In "The Poison Master" Liz Williams, author of two "social-science fiction" novels ("The Ghost Sister," "Empire of Bones"), now turns her cynical attention to borderline fantasy. Dedicated to Jane Austen, William Burroughs, and Jack Vance (you hardly need to have the Vance connection spelled out for you), the author cleverly weaves together speculations about a historical figure, Elizabethan alchemist-astrologer John Dee, and the fictional Alivet Dee, a distant ancestor, who works as an alchemist on a planet called "Latent Emanation."

Plot mechanations soon throw her into the arms of the mysterious, witty poison-master Ghairen from yet another planet, Hathes, and soon Alivet is drawn up in a plot to free her world of the mysterious Lords of Night and their collaborators, the "Unpriests"--and more than incidentally to free her twin sister Inki.

She's attracted to Ghairen, but can she trust him? Williams spins out the answers cleverly, gorgeously, giddily. The byplay between Alivet and Ghairen is to treasure. Her descriptive passages are lush. Her prose dances and sparkles and the characters (unsurprisingly considering the debt to Austen) seem believable and all too human.

Williams just keeps getting better and better.

Described in the biographical paragraph in the back of the book as the daughter of a stage musician and gothic novelist, it sounds like Liz Williams could be a character in one of her own books.

I recommend this book particularly for those who enjoy the Baroque and who have a strong ability to visual the scenes described. The alchemical imagery meshes well with the culture that has arisen from the combination of Elizabethan era dessenters and alien culture. There's also a great sense of the theatrical in the descriptions of the Anubes-- enigmatic natives of the planet where the humans find themselves, and the great palaces where certain indentured humans labor to provide their alien masters with subtle pleasures.

Also there is a darkly humorous take on the traditional gothic novel in the relationship between the lead characters and the situation the heroine discovers herself in for the last part of the novel. While serious in intent, the author is quite playful in execution of parts of this novel.

All in all a definite reading pleasure.

The Poison Master is the story of an alchemist, Dee. She lives on a faraway planet with weird creatures and strange beliefs. Dee is trying to save money to rescue her sister from the hands of the Lords when one of her clients suddenly dies after taking some of Dee's drug concoctions. Dee does the only thing she can - she runs ... straight into the arms of a stranger from another planet, Ari, who says he can save her. But, there is something a little odd about Ari, the Poison Master.

Despite it all, Dee agrees to help him destroy the Lords and travels to Ari's planet, when his household help tells Dee that Ari is actually planning to poison her after they achieve their goal. The question is, whom should Dee believe, since she really knows neither party very well.

Liz Williams demonstrates sophisticated story telling skills. The dialogue runs smoothly and the story is captivating. In addition, she has some imagination! One of the reasons it took me so long to get into this book was due to all the strange references and situations/creatures that Dee runs into to. There is a small parallel story, running back to Earth's 16th century which adds interest, and though it was probably not really necessary, it completes the story.

Four stars for imagination, writing and characters. I would have liked a smoother storyline transition and more characters to give a fully fledged fantasy.

You cannot do justice to this book in a brief synopsis. The author paints vivid pictures of strange worlds, weird characters, and travels between worlds. We are taken on one wild ride after another with our intrepid heroine, Alivet. This is a MUST READ!

Centuries ago on the orb Latent Emanation, the alien Lords of the Night made the planet their own with 1,000 humans as their servant slaves. In the present, the Lords rule with an iron grip abetted by the human Unpriests who willingly serve their masters while the rest of humanity swells as second class citizens, knowing that anytime they can be enbonded, forced to directly serve their masters.

Alchemist and apothecary Alivet Dee is saving her money to get her sister Inki unbonded but her goal seems futile when one of her clients dies and she is wanted for murder. On the run she meets Fifth Grade poisoner Ari Mahedi Ghairen of the planet Hathes who needs her help in destroying the Lords of the Night. She travels with him to his own world where they devise a poison that might free her world of her enemies. However, first she must discover if Ari is the friend he appears or the enemy that will kill her as predicted to her by one whom knows him very well.

Liz Williams has created a very innovating, cutting edge science fiction thriller that starts off at supersonic speed and turns into faster than light until the plot attains a satisfying if startling climax. The hero is an enigma who readers never really get to understand but the heroine endears herself to the audience from the start with her plans to reclaim her sister from indentured servitude. THE POISON MASTER is science fiction at its thought provoking very best.

Harriet Klausner

This was really good once it got going. It took maybe a third of the book before I was really engaged, but after that it was a page-turner. Alivet is an accomplished alchemist who comes from a world that is controlled by monsters whose secret police abuse the populice. Alivet's sister Inki is a prisoner in one of the palaces. When Alivet is accused of murder she has to trust a man she just met who calls himself a Poison Master and says he wants to help her free her sister. She travels to his world where she is kept virtually a prisoner in his home "for her own protection" while she helps him concoct a drug/poison that will take out the Lords of Night that rule her world. Meanwhile, she still doesn't know if she can trust him or if he is responsible for her murder accusation. Things are further complicated by conspirators who try to gain Alivet's help against the Poison Master, not to mention her own feelings of attraction to him despite fears about how he is treating his mysterious daughter.

There were a few bits of the writing that didn't work for me. The last page was a bit forced, and every chapter started with a storyline set in Elizabethan days that was the tale of how these people came to be under the rule of the Lords of Night. That story was only rarely engaging and most of the time I was annoyed at it for pulling me out of the main plot. I wish the author had done without it or included it in some other way if she wanted us to know what had happened.

Still, I would recommend this book, sure.

This is the story of Alivet Dee, an alchemist who lives on a planet where humans are oppressed by the mysterious Night Lords. Alivet is struggling to rescue her sister, who has been impressed as a slave by the Lords, but discovers a possible chamce to do much more when she is approached by Gahiren, a Poison Master from another world, who has a plan to end the rule of the Night Lords permanently. Alivet is plunged into an atmosphere of mystery and suspicion, never sure who she can trust.

It's a good story, and written nicely. Williams has used alchemy and Kabbalah as a background for the novel, creating an environment that mixes elements of fantasy and science fiction.

An interweaved story focuses on John Dee, a real Elizabethan alchemist. The story gives added background, but isn't genuinely essential for the main story.

Liz Williams has managed to produce a novel that is a mix of fantasy and sci-fi and works on both fronts. Set on the world of Latent Emanations, the story revolves around the alchemist Alivet. Her sister has been taken by the Lords of the Night and Alivet's mission is to find and help her.
After she is framed for murder, Alivet finds herself on the run, helped by the mysterious 'Poison Master' who seems to have plans of his own for the young alchemist. Having taken her to his own world, the poison master has Alivet kept in his own house and, for most of the time, under lock and key. Alivet begins to fear that she will never return home, and may even become a victim of her hosts' skills when she has outlived her usefulness.
Although no heavyweight of literature, this book is certainly worth a look if you fancy something other than the usual sword and sorcery type fantasy. A good read for anyone who likes something a little different.

First off let me say that i enjoyed this book - however it has been done before - countless times. I cant tell you how many books involve a person being chased by "the bad guys" and the heroine just runs into mini adverture after mini adventure, solving all easily with no real chance of death. This book is about an apprentice poison worker that meets a master of poison/assasin and spend much of the book running. There are flashbacks to 15th century earth to help explain how and why these people ended up on this distant planet enslaved by aliens. This is a very interesting sub plot, but not one that is needed. I mean do we really need to know why people are on a plantet? Usually its enough for the author to jsut tell us they are there and for the reader to accept it...Anyhow bring this one along if you have a long car trip...otherwise dont bother...

This is Liz Williams' third novel, and her best so far. She weaves the story of alchemist Alivet Dee with that of her ancestor, the Elizabethan courtier Dr. John Dee.

Williams' prose, as usual, is beautifully crafted and unobtrusive. Both branches of the story kept me interested, and fit together neatly without feeling at all contrived. I'm looking forward to reading it again, and to finding some good books about the real life of John Dee.