At this point it’s hard to write a review of a T. Kingfisher novel—not because of the pace of publication, though that is breakneck (four books this year! Four!), and not because of the quality of the prose, which is unwaveringly compelling, or even the narratives, which are consistently innovative. It’s the rare combination of all these: how the hell do you say read this author any more often or louder?

Anyway: read this author! And specifically in this case, read this book! Which one? This time I’m talking about Hemlock and Silver, Kingfisher’s take on Snow White. There’s ample humor and ample horror, as is usual for a Kingfisher novel. Also, we have the standard T. Kingfisher heroine, which is to say, someone a bit older, fairly sensible, and whose advantages of birth do not eclipse the advantages she has earned through hard work and pathological inquisitiveness. Anja may be the daughter of a wealthy and well-connected merchant, but she took those advantages and ran with them, straight into the arms of…meticulous medical research? Yes, ever since a childhood incident, Anja has been obsessed by poisons—which is the dark and dramatic way to describe her interest. More accurately, Anja is obsessed with antidotes: she studies poisons in order to find cures, or if not cures, then at least treatments and preventative measures.

Her work is important but receives little attention until the day the king comes knocking. The young princess is ill. None of the many, many doctors in the court or country can find out what’s wrong. Can Anja help?

When a king asks, it’s not truly a question. So Anja packs up her supplies and musters all her skills both scientific and social, with the social being the far more fraught of the two.

I found that, as I suspect most readers will, Anja is an extremely likeable character. Her likability, however, is not within the traditional bounds of what we expect from either women, or SFF characters, or SFF women. She’s interesting, funny (though often inadvertently so), smart, and capable, and she does good work for others without asking or expecting anything in return. However, as she herself points out, as a woman she is also expected to be nurturing, socially competent, and readily emotional, and she is none of these things.

I really appreciated Anja’s lack of bedside manner and her awkwardness when talking about anything beyond snake venom or the scientific method. It’s nice to see a three-dimensional female character, of course, but I expect nothing less from Kingfisher at this point. Instead I’m grateful to Anja for being and pointing toward so many more interesting roles for SFF protagonists. I’ve had my share of both scullions and sorcerers—but fortunately, here, we have what I’d never expected: a SFF health inspector.

Yes, Kingfisher has imagined her world so well that Anja at one point proposes—not marriage, or peace, or anything similarly grand—but product regulation measures to the king. I think that’s beautiful. It’s a real triumph of world building when you have a full understanding of how people deal with the everyday nuisances, whether that’s household vermin or food safety or the limitations of using avian test subjects.

Such is the power of Kingfisher’s imagination that all this is actually relevant to Snow White, both the original story and the girl herself. It’s incredible to see how, in Kingfisher’s capable hands, the most iconic elements are reshaped but never lose their essential symbolic freight: an apple is very much still a fruit of danger and temptation; an evil queen does threaten the princess; and with a nod to China Miéville’s The Tain (also found in his collection Looking For Jake), a mirror is the source of both truth and madness.

Speaking of which, Kingfisher never forgets to turn the mirror of SFF on to our current society. She’s always been a writer with a strong social conscience, but I’d like to specifically celebrate the way she gives attention and compassion to people with addictions. Anja is one of the few people willing to treat those who use “lotus smoke,” and is even working on a way to reverse the drug’s effects. And it is specifically because Anja cares for these lives that others devalue that she is able to create a happier ending for herself and others. I love that the fate of the kingdom’s princess is necessarily linked to the fate of the kingdom’s most scorned and forgotten citizens.

Want to know how Kingfisher manages all this? Well…good. You should. Go read Hemlock and Silver the moment it’s available and you’ll find out.

Hemlock and Silver will be released August 19, 2025.