Mus of Kerbridge review


Book: Mus of Kerbridge
Author: Pauli Kidd
Pages: 314
Hard Core Scale: 4/4
Normal Scale: 10/10
Publish Date:  1995
About: One foul night a foul magician plots an assassination attempt which leads to accidentally giving intelligence to a mouse. Mus finds himself in a larger world, one no longer of peril and fear but one of beauty and kindness of friends. All around political intrigue and looming war threaten such beautiful peace. But a clever mouse with a big heart can make all the difference in the world. Set in Pauli Kidd’s Lace and Steel RPG setting.
Review:

I admire its purity.  So pure. The romance, the swashbuckling, captured in its ancient art. A genre now often glanced over in fantasy and imagination. Apox on me and my stick shoved up ass. The purest essence of what Pauli is truly capable of. My second favorite book from them and the only reason is “Fangs of K’aath” was written for storytellers and about the story.  Its rare for a writer to knock something out of the park like this on the first bat to the plate. Pauli loves the Romance with the capital R. She captured the genre in perfection. The magic and beauty through our mouse character.
The world of Lace and Steel is always so lovely. The fantasy elements used in that romantic light. Halfhorse (centaurs), Satyrs, pixies amongst the late 16th century into the early 17th century just fits and comes to life off the page in a magic of the heart.
I loved this a lot. My point knock is over free-floating stuff of the megaphone cut and some part lineup that the normal reader will probably not see and some waste of anthropomorphic enlightenment as plot shifts and character shuffle. Its ok though. And for those rare floating scenes… they are just fun and beautiful and why I cannot shove the crowbar into them unlike in Tolkien for example. It is a 4/4 story without a doubt. The reason for this is Pauli serialized it through an ARPA back in the day.

I have to give it credit as it lacks the bushful of most tropes that Pauli usually fills a work with. Still a freckled lass and card games over won.

Magical. A story that will stay with you. That Pauli pugboo goodness that the world needs. ‘Dragons and spaceships indeed. Soon to be 30 years old. Glad she never gave up those dreams. Type of tale that sinks into the heart and may lead others to that dream. The living story done and done well. What the heart remembers never dies.

Will soon be republished.

Going to miss the two old school beautiful fairytale esque covers as it is replaced with a digital vogue.

 

 
Cover, 1995, Paul Jacquays.  

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