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Timshala
Siara has always known that every step of her life is predestined—with the exception of a few true choices, a
few points in time where she can exercise free will. But when she is condemned to be buried alive in her
mother's tomb, she figures choice is no longer an issue.
She is wrong.
Siara doesn't know why her own mother wanted her dead, or why others at the royal court are determined to
save her. In her attempts to untangle the secrets swirling around her, she will discover that some choices were
taken from her before she was ever born. Now, only she can take them back—if she is brave enough to
confront a future she never believed possible.
few points in time where she can exercise free will. But when she is condemned to be buried alive in her
mother's tomb, she figures choice is no longer an issue.
She is wrong.
Siara doesn't know why her own mother wanted her dead, or why others at the royal court are determined to
save her. In her attempts to untangle the secrets swirling around her, she will discover that some choices were
taken from her before she was ever born. Now, only she can take them back—if she is brave enough to
confront a future she never believed possible.
80 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 30, 2018
About the author
Leah Cypess
63 books807 followersI wrote my first story in first grade. The narrator was an ice-cream cone in the process of being eaten. In fourth grade, I wrote my first book, about a girl who gets shipwrecked on a desert island with her faithful and heroic dog (a rip-off of both The Black Stallion and all the Lassie movies, very impressive).
After selling my first story (Temple of Stone) while in high school, I gave in to my mother’s importuning to be practical and majored in biology at Brooklyn College. I then went to Columbia Law School and practiced law for almost two years at a large law firm in New York City. I kept writing and submitting in my spare time, and finally, a mere 15 years after my first short story acceptance, I sold my first novel to Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins).
I live in Silver Spring, Maryland (right outside of Washington, D.C.) with my husband and four children.
After selling my first story (Temple of Stone) while in high school, I gave in to my mother’s importuning to be practical and majored in biology at Brooklyn College. I then went to Columbia Law School and practiced law for almost two years at a large law firm in New York City. I kept writing and submitting in my spare time, and finally, a mere 15 years after my first short story acceptance, I sold my first novel to Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins).
I live in Silver Spring, Maryland (right outside of Washington, D.C.) with my husband and four children.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 2, 2018
This intriguing secondary-world novella is about choices. Siara has never felt like she had many; as a princess, she has been ignored by both her mother and her emperor father. However, she never expected that upon her mother's death, she'd be locked in the crypt, alive, as an intended escort to the afterlife. The escape from there establishes the fascinating nature of Cypress's world, where most everyone is born with a set number of Choices (big C)--major life decisions, ones that you are aware of in the moment.
I'm pretty good are predicting where books go, but the very end of this delivered a twist I never saw coming! I'd love to read more about this setting. I feel like I had a mere taste here.
I'm pretty good are predicting where books go, but the very end of this delivered a twist I never saw coming! I'd love to read more about this setting. I feel like I had a mere taste here.
November 10, 2018
I liked this short story all about choices! Those you make, those others make, and how connected they are and how they define one's fate. And how, even when you think you've got no Choice at all, you can do the impossible and take control of your life.
December 18, 2018
This was a lovely story, with great world-building and a compelling (if not exactly sympathetic) protagonist.Through much of the story I kept wondering how this would ever be a novella; most of it read like the start of a novel (one which I would have really enjoyed, I think!). However, it all made sense in the end, and indeed felt like a complete, worthwhile story, not a shortened novel.
In the end the story is not really about a princess in a fantasy world, but about choices, free will, and destiny. So it makes sense for the ending to suddenly take an unexpected direction, after what could be a classic beginning for a fantasy novel: like the idea of fate, literary expectations seem so obvious that readers often unconsciously take them for granted as they read. It made sense, therefore, for this novella to turn expectations on their head in the end. Good job!
In the end the story is not really about a princess in a fantasy world, but about choices, free will, and destiny. So it makes sense for the ending to suddenly take an unexpected direction, after what could be a classic beginning for a fantasy novel: like the idea of fate, literary expectations seem so obvious that readers often unconsciously take them for granted as they read. It made sense, therefore, for this novella to turn expectations on their head in the end. Good job!
October 17, 2020
Before her death, the Empress orders her daughter to be buried alive next to her corpse. There are four other poor souls in the tomb—a couple of handmaidens, a music master, and the royal secretary.
The music master murders one of the handmaidens, seemingly out of anger and irritation, and that's when the group realizes they are not alone.
Timshala was pretty much the best fantasy novella of 2018. The worldbuilding is unique and allows Leah Cypess to touch on topics of choice and free will, love, and discrimination. The prose is exquisite, and the tears that flow down your face are real.
The music master murders one of the handmaidens, seemingly out of anger and irritation, and that's when the group realizes they are not alone.
Timshala was pretty much the best fantasy novella of 2018. The worldbuilding is unique and allows Leah Cypess to touch on topics of choice and free will, love, and discrimination. The prose is exquisite, and the tears that flow down your face are real.
October 10, 2020
I liked this short story a lot—the world of an Empress who can choose 5 others to go into death with her, and what happens when not all 5 actually die. What happens when a princess who believes she has no choice finds out that she truly has no Choice. I liked watching the main character try to figure things out and learn to trust others. I would like to see more of her journey, but I’m guessing this is it. :(
January 20, 2019
What a smart, inventive fantasy novella! I love how the idea of choice was so integral to the world-building and plot. The writing was smooth and beautiful, descriptive without being overly flowery, and there were some twists I definitely did not see coming. I read this almost in one sitting, eager to learn Siara's fate, and I was not disappointed.
November 13, 2018
Ahhh Leah Cypress, her world is always very cool and the characters always have interesting arcs. Would recommend.
While reading this my Spotify playlist was playing wait for it from Hamilton and I thought it was super fitting.
While reading this my Spotify playlist was playing wait for it from Hamilton and I thought it was super fitting.
October 30, 2018
Fantastic worldbuilding, strong emotions, and a great plot. I feel like this would work well for both readers of adult and YA fantasy.
November 13, 2018
Really fascinating world - I would love to know more!
November 1, 2018
An interesting novella* that rattles through a story that could maybe have taken a bit more space to develop, especially the ending. The opening is very arresting – young Siara is sat in her mother’s tomb waiting to accompany her to the afterlife – and what develops from there is a portrait of a society that believes in predestination, apart from a few life occasions when you get a Choice. Escaping the tomb and defying that society appears to have been a Choice, and as Siara finds out more about the decisions that led her to this point she starts questioning them. The stakes are heightened by the fact that Siara’s late mother was the Empress, and there’s plenty she doesn’t know about her mother’s and father’s Choices that led her to that tomb, not to mention that there are others out there with different ideas about what her destiny should be. In some ways it’s a typical coming of age story about Siara finding her own way, but the philosophy of predestination and Choices adds a nice tinge of interest to it without overwhelming the story.
*(Appears to be just over 17,500 words)
*(Appears to be just over 17,500 words)
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews