The Knife and the Serpent’s Epic Cosmic Quest Reviewed
We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
Hold onto your space helmets, folks, because Hugo award winning author Tim Pratt is back with a bang in The Knife and the Serpent. This high-concept space opera delivers a rollercoaster of technology, family secrets, and the astronomical price we pay to follow our destiny. Imagine uncovering your grandmother’s legacy as an interdimensional oligarch while a grad student from the Bay Area discovers his girlfriend is a secret agent for an organization dedicated to protecting alternate realities.
Throw in sentient starships, alien planets, and cyborg augmentations, and you’ve got a reality-spanning adventure that’s nothing short of spectacular. Buckle up for a wild ride across the Nigh Space continuum, where betrayal, starship battles, and catastrophic complications await!
Title: The Knife and the Serpent
Author: Tim Pratt
Publisher: Angry Robot
Genre: Space Opera, Science Fiction
Pages: 400
Star Rating: 3.5 stars
Spice Rating: 0 chili peppers
The Blade and The Beast
Tim Pratt comes back to the reader scene with a standalone space opera. This light-hearted and humorous novel is filled with adventure and narrow escapes. In The Knife and The Serpent, the two narrators of the tale discover the existence of multiple universes. With aliens thrown into the mix, creating high stakes.
The first POV we are presented with is Glenn’s. A grad student Glenn makes an unforeseeable discovery (it’s truly the one thing he would have never imagined). His girlfriend Vivian (Vivy) is a secret agent from another universe. Working with an interdimensional organisation devoted to protecting the people of Nigh-Space from tyranny. This throws Glenn for a loop. His dom-sub relationship with Vivy is perfect, and now he feels like their relationship is a lie. To add insult to injury the jewelry that Vivy had once presented him with would “snap trace” him anywhere. Including onto a sapient ship to save Vivy (talk about mind blown).
“Nigh-Space- ‘near-space'”
Then there’s Tamsin, whose grandmother just died, leaving her to return home (somewhere she doesn’t want to be). This reacquaintance with the familiar home doesn’t go as planned (as you can imagine). As Tamsin Culver leaves behind her life and unravels the truth behind her and her family, she discovers that her grandmother ruled and is an oligarch from another universe (an adjacent reality to Nigh-Space). Having vast wealth locked behind various vaults around the city coded to their genetics. Meaning Tamsin is a princess and she will stop at nothing to gain her “throne” back.
Despite having a tainted relationship with a strange pair of mercenaries, Tamsin decides to pass through a door to her homeland and recover the power that is rightfully hers. Even if that means fighting the other oligarchs that have risen to power since her family’s disappearance.
Sci-Fi Fantasy Field of Books
The Knife and The Serpent is my first space opera. From the first page, the story sucks you into its orbit circling the planet of the words as if you’re an astronaut and this is your first entry into space. Marveling at everything surrounding you.
The story is character-focused. Written (at least from Glenn’s POV) as if it is a story being told to you. Oftentimes Glenn finds himself in trouble. Other times the situation becomes catastrophically complicated, keeping you on your toes and laughing. And getting the happenings hearing from his POV makes you feel as if you are right alongside him
The Knife and The Serpent is detailed and descriptive. Giving substance to the story that allows it to play out like a movie in your mind. The foreshadowing is one of amazement, with little things happening to not set off alarm bells but hint at what’s to come through the pages.
“That’s because of fuckery…”
Adding to the great presence of the tale is what feels like “rom-com” vibes. I am not sure if that is due to it being a space opera or just this story in general but with its witty banter, hilarious moments, and a budding romance with the setting of space and aliens it is easy to make the comparison. It’s not often that I say that a science fiction novel is cute but that is exactly what The Knife and The Serpent is. It is really cute. *side note* I don’t think the author would appreciate me saying it’s cute so let’s keep that between us ok lol.
On the downside, I lost interest in the story a little over midway through. The Knife and The Serpent dips into a middle valley in the book that feels boring with nothing keeping your interest. Slowing the pace to a lull in these moments for me. Primarily happening through Tamsin’s arc. Which would make sense because Tamsin is unlikable. And, I wholeheartedly disliked her (so obviously Glenn’s was a clear favorite). Tamsin’s chapters aren’t engaging and fun the way Glenn’s are.
At that midway point, the POVs converge because there are secret connections among the group. This weaving of the story (while something it needed to make sense) feels like it drags down the storyline. Tamsin wants to be a badass but doesn’t convince the reader that she is. It’s like she is cosplaying a villain but it’s her first time making the costume and it just doesn’t sit right against her body.
“Listen to me this world isn’t the only world.”
There is very little character development for Tamsin as well. This could be because she already knew who she was (a villain) and what she wanted from the beginning. Glenn is in opposition to her development. He grows and molds as things are uncovered (no matter that it is difficult for him).
The overall story of The Knife and The Serpent feels underwhelming. There is a build-up to something epic (especially in the first half) that doesn’t deliver. I wanted to love it, and at first, I did but there are things I can’t get past. While The Knife and The Serpent is space and you get the impression that very little can happen in the way of a sci-fi ending, the ending feels like it resolves in a way that just doesn’t fit all that it built up to be. It felt rushed and wrapped up too quickly. Ultimately I wanted more, and with the tale being so short it could have given another 50 pages or so to wrap the storyline into something suitable.
The Knife and The Serpent was released in June 2024 and is out now wherever books are sold. Please support local bookstores and shop Bookshop.org or any other bookstore in your area. Thank you to Angry Robot books for sending me a copy to review.
Check Out These Posts:
Castle of the Cursed Review: Beyond the Castle Walls
Jo Riccioni’s The Branded: A Must-Read Book Review
Discover the Most Mesmerizing Dragon Books Ever Written
The Best Books of The Year So Far, According to Amazon Editors