Sorry, Neil. My package from Amazon came while I was still reading Smoke and Mirrors and sadly, new books trump previously read books. I cruised my way through The Grand Tour, finishing it under the booklight on Friday night (sorry, hubby). Immediately the next morning I began The Mislaid Magician. The Grand Tour and The Mislaid Magician are sequels to my favorite epistolary novel (written in the form of letters or diary entries), Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia Wrede (can you tell yet that she's one of my most treasured authors?) and Caroline Stevermer.
They use an alternate dimension type reality where history in general has not changed and the world itself is very recognizable as Regency England, post-Napoleonic War. One big difference, though: magic is real, there is a Royal College of Wizards and a Ministry of Magic, and wizards are accepted members of society. The period details in all three of these books, including the phrasing that the main characters, Cecy, Kate, Thomas the Marquis of Schofield, and James, use are fascinating. Every once in a while, I'll catch myself thinking in character dialect after I've put the book down. Wrede writes as Cecy and Stevermer writes as Kate and their voices remain distinctive through all three books.
The Mislaid Magician picks up at the advent of the steam engine, ten years after Cecy marries James Tarleton and Kate marries Thomas. They each have a passel of children, fitting considering the times. Kate and Thomas are watching both families at their home (called Skeynes, which I hope is a reference to knitting and the knit messages from the previous book) while Cecy and James are headed to Stockton to investigate the disappearance of a surveyor wizard for the Duke of Wellington. I'm not very far in but I'm absolutely invested in the story. The children's individual personalities reflect their parents' and I can see everyone, including the little ones, getting into a lot of trouble very quickly in this one. I'm looking forward to finding out how it goes.
Thus far, absolutely recommend Sorcery and Cecelia, if you enjoyed it, check out The Grand Tour (which is written in the form of Kate's honeymoon diary and Cecy's deposition), and continue on to The Mislaid Magician. I'll let you know the final verdict.
I've never heard of these particular books before, but I'll definitely add them to my "to read" list. Currently, I'm about a quarter through The Hunger Games, which I would highly recommend. *grin*
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed The Hunger Games but as I kept reading through the other two books, I wanted more from the main character. We'll talk when you're done--maybe some kind of joint effort is called for here. A Two Woman Book Club meeting, if you will.
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