The Far West

The Far West (2012) Patricia C. Wrede

This is the conclusion to the Frontier Magic Series, that started with Thirteenth Child.

Eff is a thirteenth child, a fact which plagued her when she was younger, because her aunts and uncles and cousins believed that she was unluckly. The fact that her twin is a seventh son of a seventh son means that her magic has always been overshadowed by his (even after she stopped fearing her magic.)

This is the book where Eff finally comes into her own. She is still learning to control her own magic, but because she is doing it on her own, and because she has learned the basics of different magical systems, she develops her own, unique view of how magic works and how she can manage it.

This was a wonderful conclusion to a very good series.

I liked very much how many of the elements are understated–as they would have been during that time, although the position of blacks and women in this parallel history is better than the position they held in real history. But this was a reasonable change, given the circumstances of the book.

One thing to be aware of–although there are elements of action, this isn’t a non-stop adventure book. It’s Eff’s story, so things develop slowly, at her pace. So if you go into this looking for non-stop action, you’re going to be disappointed. The story unfolds at Eff’s pace, and is well worth your patience.

But it is definitely a very good series, and I highly recommend it.

Published by Scholastic Press

Rating: 8.5/10

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