Review: Gnome Man's Land

Gnome Man's Land by Esther M. Friesner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm picky when it comes to funny fantasy - as in, I don't actually find much of it all that funny, especially if it's written by American authors. (This is mainly because I prefer humour to humor, not because American authors are generally inferior to British ones.) Esther Friesner, however, consistently manages to amuse me with wacky hijinks and wry narration in stories that work as good fantasy stories even apart from the comedy.

This was a re-read, with a long enough gap that I didn't remember much about the main plot, though some of the secondary characters and situations felt more familiar. I'd previously marked it as three stars, I think in retrospect a long time after reading it, but it's better than that. The characters sometimes become more than their archetypes + their plot roles, and there's a little bit of reflection on how, when the protagonist actually gets to know his aloof crush as a person and there's a real possibility of actual romance, that's a lot scarier than when she was just someone to project unlikely fantasies on. There are some poignant moments, too.

Sure, that same protagonist seems uncommonly knowledgeable and also not nearly horny enough for a Brooklyn teenager, but we get a better book than if he'd been more realistic in either of those ways. And we never do get an explanation of why only some inhabitants of New York can see the supernaturals who have suddenly started turning up, and attaching themselves to people with the ethnic heritage they represent - which, NY being the melting pot it is, gets complicated. (Perhaps the explanation is in one of the sequels, which I haven't read, but now would like to.)

The Ace paperback reminded me of why I prefer to read on Kindle; the type is very small for the state of my eyes now. (Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be an ebook version.) And the back-cover blurb reveals that the blurb writer only read a chapter or two and then made up a description they thought would appeal to potential purchasers, because it mentions the protagonist's mother falling in love with a medieval magician, his true love being scheduled as a virgin sacrifice, and an army of goblins, and none of those things (or any events remotely like them) happen in the book.

Overall, it's a literate, amusing, solidly written fantasy that deserves a place in the Silver tier of my Best of 2023.

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