Title: High Times in the Low Parliament
Author: Kelly Robson
Publisher: Tordotcom
Length: 162 Pages
Category: Fantasy
Rating: 2 Stars
At a Glance: High Times in the Low Parliament is a short novel that had potential, but in the end, I was left with too many “hows?” and “whys?” unanswered for it to satisfy.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: Lana Baker is Aldgate’s finest scribe, with a sharp pen and an even sharper wit. Gregarious, charming, and ever so eager to please, she agrees to deliver a message for another lovely scribe in exchange for kisses and ends up getting sent to Low Parliament by a temperamental fairy as a result.
As Lana transcribes the endless circular arguments of Parliament, the debates grow tenser and more desperate. Due to long-standing tradition, a hung vote will cause Parliament to flood and a return to endless war. Lana must rely on an unlikely pair of comrades—Bugbite, the curmudgeonly fairy, and Eloquentia, the bewitching human deputy—to save humanity (and maybe even woo one or two lucky ladies), come hell or high water.
Review: I had high hopes for Kelly Robson’s High Times in the Low Parliament, expecting a charming comedic romp through a fantasy world of politics and the politicians who would deservedly be made the butt of all the jokes. I might have succeeded in connecting to the story if I’d found the narrator, Lana Baker, half as clever and engaging as the blurb makes her out to be.
Lana is a rather simple woman who is more interested in flirting and kisses and getting women into her bed than anything else, which is an unexpectedly unique take considering there are no men in this fantasy world—cis, trans, or otherwise male-presenting. You might wonder how procreation occurs, given that factoid, and the answer is explained matter-of-factly. The whys and what-fors of it are never explored, it simply is, and in terms of world-building, I felt a lot of interesting details were left untold that could have been a fun add to the story.
Lana is a scribe—the finest, in her own estimation—who was warned that kisses would be her downfall, and that bit of foreshadowing does indeed lead to her exile at Low Parliament when she agrees to deliver a letter from a stranger in exchange for a kiss. When Lana arrives there, she finds a parliament in disarray and the fairies on the verge of drowning all the humans if they can’t agree to quit disagreeing. Fairies are moody, miserable, unkind, and so Lana figures her best option is to try and befriend one. The fairy she selects, Bugbite, is chosen because she’s the homeliest of them, and, in Lana’s opinion, “outcasts always yearned for friends.” That’s where Lana’s personality grated, frankly, and she never managed to win me back. I did like Bugbite, though. Her general grumpiness hid a softer side that was exposed when she and Lana were busy getting high, which was often.
Lana also falls immediately in lust with a deputy, Eloquentia, and proceeds to try to charm her into bed while simultaneously becoming the heroine of the story. The take-away seems to be that not all women would rule the world better than their male counterparts, but perhaps some can and should.
High Times in the Low Parliament is a short novel that had potential, but in the end, I was left with too many “hows?” and “whys?” unanswered for it to satisfy.
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