Book Review

[kenjari]

A College of Magics
by Caroline Stevermer

This was a fun little book, filled with clever, witty, and entertaining characters. It's set in a fictionalized late-Victorian Europe where magic works and one can go to university to acquire the proper knowledge of it. Our feisty heroine, Faris Nallaneen (the heir to the duchy of Galazon), is sent to one such university, Greenlaw, where she not only acquires magic but becomes the Warden of the North. As such, it is Faris' duty to repair a rift in the world's magical fabric. Along the way, there is an overly ambitious regent uncle to deal with, diplomatic protocol and social conventions to be navigated, murderous hitmen to be foiled, and an understated romance to be had. All in all, a diverting adventure.

Comments

[lanapowers.livejournal.com]

If you like that, you should read "Sorcery and Cecelia" By Caroline Stevermer and Patricia C. Wrede. The novel was created out of a "letter game" the two played over the course of a year, and the product is thoroughly amusing. They just republished it last year (thankfully, it was out of print for quite some time before that). Also in the same vein is Patricia C. Wrede's "Mairelon the Magician" which is the best ezample of the genre I've come across yet.

[kenjari.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommendations! I'm always looking for good, creative fantasy, because so much of what's out there seems to follow all the usual formulas, and I've gotten somewhat tired of that lately.

[lanapowers.livejournal.com]

For really innovative fantasy, I have to recommend anything by Nalo Hopkinson but especially Brown Girl in the Ring. Carribean Vodoun Sci-fi/fantasy. need I say more.