Monday, October 18, 2010

Mairelon the Magician by Patricia C. Wrede


Mairelon the Magician (Mairelon, #1)

Mairelon the Magician

4.03 of 5 stars4.03 of 5 stars4.03 of 5 stars4.03 of 5 stars4.03 of 5 stars 4.03  ·  rating details  ·  985 ratings  ·  75 reviews
There's magic in the streets of London, there's sorcery in the village lanes; there's a plot that has all of Society talking in an England that never was, but should have been...      
(from www.goodreads.com)
Grade: B
The story follows a young 15+ orphan who gets by on the streets of pre-mechanical revolution England. I pegged the timeline at around the Regency era. Kim is surviving (just barely) on filching stuff from people, and disguising herself as a ruffian-esque boy. She gets caught in a travelling magician's caravan on a job, and he offers to teach her the trade. This begins the better part of the story, with Kim and Mairelon tracing the trail of a magical platter in order to clear his name of its theft.
Plus: The language/ thieves cant used by Kim is apt and fits into 18th century England. Even the way Kim begins to learn to speak a better class of English is believable and endearing. The story kept me interested, and I enjoyed reading some of the more comic scenes - a la a Comedy of Errors style.
Minus: This book is clearly targeted at a YA audience, and I didn't see much depth to the story. The lack of a romantic note, or a genuine mystery is a bit sad. There was a bit of a mystery involved around the Silver magical platter Kim and Mairelon are tracing, but that was not strong or captivating for me.
Overall: I am interested in Kim as a character, and going to pick up the next book as well, to see where her story goes. The other characters weren't as memorable, but all in all, the story made for a very decent read.
I would recommend this to: Most YA fans, Tamora Pierce fans and folks under twenty.
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5 comments:

  1. i love this author! thanks for the great review!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh! Thanks :) I did try to be fair!

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  3. Ooh I like the sound of this one - away to add it to my wish list, thanks for the recommendation.

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  4. @Petty - I'm sure there are better books out there, this is not that great...perhaps I should have made the Minus section bigger?

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  5. I'm not a big YA fan, but I wouldn't mind checking out the use of language.

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