The Alchemist is a novella by Paolo Bacigalupi that was paired with Tobias Buckell’s The Executioness as they are different stories set in the same shared world. I have shared my love of Bacigalupi’s writing previously and feel that The Windup Girl(my review) was one of the best books of 2009. And this book is no disappointment. The writing and the ideas from Bacigalupi are amazing and I only wish the book were longer. I did not read the Buckell story, so I can’t comment on how the two work together. Let’s see what my this book so good.

The book starts with the alchemist/inventor Jeoz selling his daughter’s bed. It is a  piece of furniture that she loves, but the need for money is greater. His daughter starts spending more time out of the house, while Jeoz works on his great invention. If only he could get it working. Then his daughter is brought home deathly injured and covered with bramble. For, you see, the bramble is the outcome of magic. Every time someone does magic, more bramble grows. So magic has been outlawed and there is a bounty on bramble seeds. She was going after bramble seeds to raise money to buy her bed back.

Jeoz’s invention is a bramble killer. His alchemy invention will output a bramble poison that will not only stop the bramble from encroaching on the city, but kill enough that will allow magic to flow freely. But it’s not quite working and Jeoz needs to use some magic to keep his daughter alive. His great hope is that his invention will allow enough magic to be used that his daughter can be cured. When he finished his invention, Jeoz brings it to the king and his magician to show. But as his invention is turned to more sinister uses, Jeoz must make decisions that will affect his future and the health of his daughter.

The book is a wonderful dark fantasy with a dystopian feel that is common in Bacigalupi’s work. The characters are well drawn. Even the bad guys (the mayor and his magician) have reasons for their sinister work (a reason I sympathized with). This creates a much better story as you can understand all sides, even if your sympathy is on Jeoz’s side. The ending is a little weak, but overall I loved the story. I would love to read this story to be expanded to novel length. I also enjoyed the whole idea of the bramble. It was a great way to handle the proliferation of magic that I had not seen previously. Once again, I think Bacigapuli is one of the best writers in the genre. Highly recommended.