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A Matter of Magic

Sunday, October 25, 2015

A Matter of Magic: Mairelon the Magician and The Magician’s Ward (1991/1997) Patricia C. Wrede

A-Matter-of-MagicThis is a reissue of two lovely YA novels, Mairelon the Magician and The Magician’s Ward.

Kim is a thief in London, who hopes that this job will help her get off the streets for good–before those around her discover that she’s not the boy she’s been pretending to be for years (near starvation is good for helping that).

She was cold, tired, and very hungry, but she did not mention it. She was, after all, used to being cold, tired, and hungry,

It’s a fun story, with a bit of romance in the second book, and plenty of mystery.

But what I like best is Kim’s attitude and her utter failure to treat Mairelon with much in the way of fear–or even respect.

“Don’t fret,” he breathed into her ear, his lips barely moving. “Sorry, Kim,” he added in a louder tone as he straightened and resumed his seat.
Kim forgot her worries long enough to glare at him. “Don’t fret” was probably his idea of a reassuring message, but he couldn’t have picked a more ridiculous thing to say if he’d thought about it since the day they met.

One of the things I particularly love about historical fantasy is that it can take the bits it likes about historical periods, but doesn’t have to worry much about the more problematic parts of that history. So one doesn’t have to worry whether it’s accurate or not, because it doesn’t matter. History never happened like that.

I really like these books, and highly recommend them if you want something fun and light-hearted.

Published by Orb Books

Rating: 8.5/10

 

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