The Book of Gems

April 3, 2023
Wilde’s fulfilling third Gem Universe novella (after The Fire Opal Mechanism) pits science against myth—and the winner is not as clear as one might expect. The Jeweled Valley that once created the magical gems that power this world has long since been destroyed. Now Dev Brunai and her fellow Society scientists work to create synthetic gems—but Dev holds out hope that true gems may still exist, and she’s galvanized by an archaeological dig’s recent rediscovery of the Palace of Gems. When her mentor goes missing at the dig site, Dev uses the disappearance as an opportunity to visit the site herself. She’s met by frequent earthquakes and hostile locals, who know that the Society will plunder whatever bounty they find. She soon learns there’s more to the gems than she realized. Meanwhile, her cousin, Lurai, investigates the disappearance of her own mother, who also vanished from the dig site. Readers will root for the cousins to find answers, and even those new to the series will be swept up in Wilde’s inventive worldbuilding. This is a bite-size treat.

May 31, 2023
Dev is an eager scientist-in-training who studies gems under Neatherby, a man notorious for his genius and his not-so-nice demeanor. Neatherby has gone off to explore a dig for gems in the Valley, noted for its less-luxurious lifestyle compared to her home of Ironford, and taken with him important evidence Dev has uncovered. When Neatherby seems to disappear without a trace, Dev takes off after him, desperate to find what she believes will change what everyone believes about the gems. She reunites with her distant cousins during the trip--they own the inn where she's staying--and discovers that, indeed, there is far more to the gems' power than what people think. In addition to uncovering truths about the gems, one of Dev's cousins hopes to find out the truth of her mother's whereabouts, and Dev becomes enmeshed with the search for truth. The Book of Gems is Wilde's latest novella in the Jewel series (after The Fire Opal Mechanism, 2019), and readers will identify with Dev's desire to prove herself to her superiors and gain their respect, along with the bond she forges with her cousins.

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May 1, 2023

This third entry in the "Gem Universe" series brings the story full circle, back to where it all began in The Jewel and Her Lapidary. Dr. Devina Brunai defies the orders of her research institution to chase after the mentor who stole her research, her professional reputation, and a prized heirloom from her family's flight from the Jeweled Valley. Dev believes that her inherited jewel holds the key to academic prestige if it unlocks the ruins of the Palace of Gems, while others want to open the Palace for its long-buried riches. But the Palace itself wants to be opened because the treasure it holds is deadly. Initially, this reads like a story of the viciousness of academic politics working hand in glove with the rapaciousness of empire to exploit a small country for its resources and its heritage. Then it digs deeper, into the history of the Jeweled Valley and Dev's own family, touching on events in the earlier books of the series and tying them into the present deadly mystery. VERDICT Recommended for fans of moody aesthetic academia or fantasy mystery and anyone who enjoyed The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older.--Marlene Harris

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