The Jewel and Her Lapidary: A Nebula and Hugo-nominated novelette

The Jewel and Her Lapidary by Fran Wilde

Fran Wilde’s novelette The Jewel and Her Lapidary was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula Awards this year. I listened to the 1.75 hour long audiobook version produced by Macmillan Audio and narrated by Mahvesh Murad.

I loved the setting of this story — a kingdom that is protected by powerful gems which can be heard and gently manipulated by lapidaries, people who have a genetic predisposition for connecting with the gems. Think of them as gem whisperers. The lapidaries serve the royal family, at least until they go mad in later life.

This story is about two young women who are closely bonded to each other. Lin is the kingdom’s princess (referred to as a “Jewel”) and Sima is her lapidary. When we meet them, they are tied up in a dungeon after a coup has just occurred. Something has gone wrong with the gems, the royal family has been deposed, and a neighboring country is on its way to take over. Lin and Sima are the only ones who can save their country but, to do so, they will have to buck some of their teaching and traditions.

The best part of this story is the world-building, which is fairly extensive for a novelette. I loved the modern-day travel journal entries that are interspersed with the narrative and which give insight into the kingdom’s future history. The gem magic, another focus of the story, is also well done and makes for an interesting magic system, though there were so many detailed explanations about how the gems work that I started to wonder if this novelette is a prequel to a larger series.

Book 2

Both the prose and characterization are satisfactory but not brilliant. I admired Wilde’s two heroines for their courage and determination but, though they both spend plenty of time in introspection, I didn’t feel that I knew them well or cared about their fate as much as I wanted to. I wished that I knew more about their backstory and relationship with each other and their parents. Notably, I had trouble telling the two girls apart even though one was a princess and the other was her servant. Wilde failed to give them unique voices.

The plot of The Jewel and Her Lapidary was a problem for me. The first scene, in which we meet the girls tied up in a dungeon, was promising, but it moved very slowly from there. With so much world-building, rule explaining, and character introspection (some of it repetitive), there wasn’t much space left for plot. I believe that the audiobook narrator, Mahvesh Murad, also contributed to the feeling of a plodding plot. Her voice is stunningly beautiful, but her reading speed is slow and there isn’t much inflection in her tone. Regrettably, I have to report that it was extremely tedious to listen to her. (She also repeatedly mispronounced the word “solder.”)

The Jewel and Her Lapidary did not win the Nebula Award and we’ll find out about the Hugo pretty soon. To be honest, this novelette wouldn’t be on my list of nominees but, obviously, a lot of people find it worthy. Though it didn’t thrill me, I would like to read more stories set in Wilde’s gem world.