The Knife and the Serpent is the latest novel from author Tim Pratt. Pratt is an author who I don't think is super known but whom I've read a lot over the last few years. Pratt, a genderfluid author, generally writes some really fun and often quirky sci-fi featuring often zany, space opera, and/or multiversal protagonists who usually find themselves in situations well beyond their expectations. I've never not at least been amused by his books (even his tie-in Twilight Imperium stuff is great and I don't play that game), and the only negative I can say about his works is that I've found his conclusions to multi book series underwhelming. But that isn't really a problem with The Knife and the Serpent, which is a stand alone novel in and of itself.
It might also be my favorite Pratt novel too. The novel is very queer - it's most important protagonist, Glenn is genderqueer - and also very much in a kinky relationship with his girlfriend Viv...which is very relevant to the plot and themes (dealing with consent, relationships, control, and of course the fight against fascism) even if the novel goes any specific intimate descriptions of their sex acts. And it features not just Glenn's romance with Viv, which takes a turn when it turns out Viv is a secret agent for a multiversal force that fights against fascist agents throughout the multiverse, but also the really well story of his ex Tamsin....who turns out to be the last member of a ruling family of another world and decides upon learning that that she should take pack power and control. It's a short novel, but it really does feel somewhat complete, is always a fun blast, and handles some tropes and ideas other books don't nearly use as well, so I'd highly recommend it.
More after the Jump:
Plot Summary:
Glenn's life has been great ever since his girlfriend Viv came into his life. They have incredibly really kinky sex (where Glenn can really lean into his preferences and his gender fluidity) and just enjoy being together, to the point where they've gotten matching tattoos and even a leg bracelet. But then one day, Glenn finds himself warped by that tattoo into strange other place to find out that Viv has been keeping something from him: she's a secret agent for a group called the Interventionalists, who try to fight off fascist forces who would like to conquer Nigh-Space (the multiverse) and prevent people from living and enjoying their own lives. Soon Glenn finds himself learning more about Nigh-Space, the strange worlds that are out there, and truth about Viv herself and has to figure out if he wants the relationship to survive this breach of trust...if he isn't killed in the process first.The Knife and the Serpent tells what are essentially two contrasting stories for most of the book up until the last third, when the stories later converge. In Glenn's story, he* and Viv must deal with Viv's revelations about her true identity as a champion of Nigh Space (basically a multiversal antifascist secret agent) and how it relates to him and whether he can accept how her lies affected his ability to consent to what she has secretly asked of him. Tamsin's story meanwhile features the opposite: Tamsin doesn't seek anyone's consent, but upon discovering she's from another dangerous world and a family that used to rule, she immediately starts thinking of ways to manipulate and take power for herself.
Meanwhile, Tamsin Culver is a young woman working on a fresh new tech company she hopes might make her rich. But when her brilliant scientist granny is murdered by a pair of strange bounty hunters with strange powers, she soon finds out her life isn't what she thought it was: she's really from another world, which her Granny fled with her when their rich oligarch family was killed by their enemies. Discovering this, Tamsin makes a choice: to employ her pursuers for her own purposes and to take back her family's wealth and power....to rule the world she was born in (and maybe more). And so she finds herself in a world far more advanced but dangerous than our Earth, but one not yet prepared for the steps Tamsin is willing to take to get what she wants.....
*Glenn is genderqueer but the book uses he/him pronouns for him, so I will as well.
To make that contrast, Pratt turns quite frequently to the kinkiness and queerness of the relationship between Glenn and Viv. The story never goes into a full on sex scene, but makes clear how much their relationship is based upon a mutual love of kinky sex, with Glenn as the submissive one who might get tied up or played with various restraints and who has to rely upon his trust that Viv won't take things too far. So of course Viv's use of a tattoo on him to without his knowledge help her secret agent work as well as her other lies about what she actually does really shakes that trust and the two of them have to figure out a new equilibrium if they want to make it work.
But of course Glenn's story isn't just serious themes or questions around consent through kink (not that that isn't fun either), but also features with Glenn and Viv - together with the silly and sometimes overconfidently naive AI spaceship Eddie - dealing with the reality of Nigh-Space, from the fascist forces who might infest parts of it to the boring reality that Viv once called home. It's a lot of fun, especially as we see Viv through Glenn's eyes kick ass and deal with Eddie's witty and sometimes screwing up dialogue.
Tamsin's story by contrast as I mentioned, features a pretty much sociopathic protagonist in Tamsin try to use people and weapons to get what she wants in this new dangerous world she finds herself in. And this too is a lot of fun, even as you realize pretty quickly Tamsin is not a good person: it's just a blast to see how the new world features bizarre mad scientist assassins, host-linked robots, and other strange and deadly beings and how Tamsin navigates it all to gain power. And of course when the two storylines converge, it's pretty fun to see how Tamsin is going to deal with the clearly better equipped Viv, for it's sure that the backstab is eventually coming.
The result is a very fun book that doesn't outstay its welcome with a couple of really enjoyable lead characters to follow. Not everything works perfectly of course - for instance, during the final act one would think things would go wrong even sooner than they do for Tamsin because of something she lacks knowledge of....only for Eddie to tell her straight out for no reason, which felt a little too easy. But the story works well enough and ends in a real satisfying fashion, making this a really great stand alone sci-fi story that I definitely recommend.
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