The Teller of Small Fortunes (2024)
A cosy fantasy with two-dimensional characters.
This is a cosy fantasy about Tao, a travelling fortune teller, who came from the foreign country of Shinn as a child, fled her mother and step-father, and finds a family on the road. Her new friends are Mash (a warrior searching for his daughter), Silt (a reformed thief), and Kina (a baker’s daughter looking for adventure). Tao travels from town-to-town, reading small fortunes, then leaving before people realise that they come true.
Tao is reluctantly recruited by the Guild, a group of magic users employed by the Eshteran government. They realise she’s a powerful Seer, and want her to predict the outcome of a dispute with the Shinarans.
The system of magic is fun, where different magic users have different powers. For example, the guard on the Guild Tower has a powerful sense of smell, while the Grand Mage is able to commune with rats. (Although she thinks rats have basic, simple thoughts, which contradicts what we know about the intelligence of rats. Perhaps they’re smarter than her?)
The plot and found family is pleasant enough, but I found areas of it quite thin. For example, at one point Kina confronts Silt for seeing her as just the baker’s daughter, and not getting to know her better – but the book doesn’t give us any of that depth! Tao has a bit of interesting backstory, but the rest of the characters are pretty thin and undeveloped.
Tao and her mother left their home country when they were young, after Tao had a vision of her father’s death, and they had to flee persecution of magic. It’s a compelling backstory which is under-explored, and undermined by the revelation that Tao is only 21. The rest of the story implies a gravitas and life experience which isn’t backed up by the numbers.
I read this for Ace Book Club, but there’s no meaningful representation. Apparently the author sees Tao as ace, but was focusing on the found family aspects when writing.
I finished this because I wanted to discuss it at book club, but otherwise I’d likely have given up on it.