I surely enjoyed this book more than I should have. I was truly enjoying
the beautiful language of the book, until I started to realize that the
plot was getting simpler as we went, and the ending was a serious
let-down. The book started so well, with several interesting characters,
until we got to the problematic Valoren, who was supposed to be wooden,
but came off as uninteresting. For a book with the word magic in the
title, there is precious little of it until about the halfway mark. The
writing was great, very descriptive throughout, whether she was
describing the northern countryside or the Twilight Quarter. The plot
was more of a character journey, for several characters, as not much
happened throughout. I’m okay with that, as long as the characters had
some growth. This is true of Yar, Brenden, and especially Sulys. My
favorite part was probably within the labyrinth as Sulys explores what
she can do. Unfortunately, the last several chapters were rushed, and I
felt that the reveal of the invisibility trick and the explanation by Od
(which was a repeat of what Yar had experienced before) was unnecessary
and simplistic. It wasn’t enough to ruin what came before, but it left
me disappointed in what was otherwise engaging.
Spoiler review:
Not much happens in this book, and for the first half, the characters
and the city was interesting enough that it didn’t matter. After that,
though, I started to get worried that nothing would happen at all, and
although the author managed to keep Sulys growing, nobody else did.
The gardener Brenden basically disappeared for most of the story,
and it wasn’t clear to me when he saved the magician’s daughter that he
actually saved her, as she seemed to have the power to save herself. He
got a visit from a powerful magician who sent him to her school. Not
knowing he had magic, he went and gardened for the school until he makes
his way in to the Twilight Quarter, where all the illegal magic is
happening. There, he happens to be in the right place at the right time,
and as a house catches fire, he rescues the woman on the balcony, and
puts the fire out, returning everything to the way it was. There is no
explanation of the power these wizards can possess, nor how other lands
don’t conquer this one with the stiff rules against what can be taught
–and for what purpose? There is no ambition, and I guess they study
magic for magic’s sake. But I suppose that’s the point, as shown by
Sulys and Od herself.
After being hunted by the Quarter
constable and the wizard Yar, Brenden hides then escapes the city, going
back to his old home, finding the strange shapes of power that he’d once
seen on the side of the mountain. He awakens them, and convinces them to
visit the king and share the lands. Sounds like a fairy tale, not
serious magical studies.
Yar is unsettled, knowing that he should
be doing more in life, but constrained by the laws of Numis and the
school. He’s in love with a woman doing historical research on Od. He is
not that interesting as a character, but provides company for the far
more interesting Ceta, and then Quarter chief Arneth and the gardener.
The most interesting characters are Princess Sulys and Mistral, daughter
of the mysterious Tyramin the magician, thought to be a rogue magician
practicing illegally in Numis. Mistral uses magic to pretend her father
is still alive and in control of his traveling troop. She creates
illusions for people to enjoy, all while hiding in plain sight. Even Yar
doesn’t detect her magic, though he’s near her as she performs. Sleight
of hand, I guess.
Sulys, meanwhile, is spoilt and ignored, even
though she’s engaged to marry the boring Valoren, king’s councellor and
the most rigid of the rigid teachers in the school of magic. He doesn’t
listen when she talks, even after his cousin Ceta tells him to. Duty
comes first, and this is a nightmare for Sulys. She escapes out to the
Twilight Quarter, where she is turned away, and then convinces Ceta to
join her in the mysterious labyrinth, where she reveals her petty magic,
small things that could maybe grow into larger things, all of them
illegal.
When she reappears, calling to Yar, he takes her back to
meet Tyramin in the Twilight Quarter, but Mistral has hidden all of
their stuff in her sewing, which is where she learned most of her magic.
Sulys can do that trick, too, never realizing how much could be hidden
in a stitch.
There is a lot more chaos in the book, between the
boring, shouting King Galen, his perpetually confused wizard Valoren,
the imp who I suspected was somebody else (though not who he turned out
to be), and Arneth’s desire to be part of something larger –and the way
he falls in love with Mistral at first sight.
The biggest problem
with this book is the way nothing happened. The characters were well
written, though much of the dialog was stilted. I was intrigued by the
Twilight Quarter, and Sulys’ magic, especially inside the labyrinth.
Unfortunately, the point, when made, was simplistic. Od sent these
people here, especially Brenden, to teach the King that his laws have
been hampering magic, so he should let loose. He and Valoren are so
confused by this, but at least Valoren is opening up.
It’s too
bad that Sulys and Valoren didn’t get closure; the rift in their
relationship was so wide that it should take more than just a gaze of
wonder to mend it. Sulys thinks she’s put her father in a bind during
Mistral’s performance (where she hopes to convince the king to let her
stay but not go to the school and have her magic tamed). When her
great-grandmother inadvertently reveals her magic, Sulys restores the
invisible performers (were they actually invisible, or did she trap them
in the embroidery? It’s never made clear). She rightfully confronts her
father, saying whatever he does to Mistral (banishment, death, …) must
also be done to her. But who says kings need to be fair?
At that
moment, Od appears, with the strange, ancient creatures. She tells the
king to grow up and learn to embrace the unknown, and let her daughter,
Mistral and Yar and the others practice new magic. After all, she, as
the imp, got kicked out of the school in only a few days.
So
everybody lives happily ever after.
The story wasn’t complex,
and that was fine for a while, because the first half was so
interesting. Getting toward the end, I started to worry there was a
second part, but the author resolved it quickly, and way too easily for
my taste. The writing brought this up from a normal uninteresting read,
which was a good thing. For the first half, I thought it was great, but
it lost a lot of momentum afterwards, even as the most interesting
action started, and Mistral and Arneth came to an understanding.
