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by Patricia McKillip You can always rely on Patricia McKillip to put the magic back into fantasy, and dish up something more special than just another Tolkien imitation. She doesn’t even need hundreds of pages; this book has just over 300. When Brendan Vetch is invited to be a gardener at Od’s school for magic in the city of Numis he is keen to leave behind the house where his parents have just died and his brother and girlfriend have just vacated. Numis is a magical place where anything can happen - or is it? When Od rescued the city and founded her school four hundred years before, she didn’t envision its becoming a tool for ruling in the hands of the royal family. Now the law is rigid and stifles the very thing that could save the city - and its rulers - from themselves. But can they realize this before it is too late? Anybody who is worried that a novel about a school for wizards is going to resemble Harry Potter need worry no longer, as this book is nothing like Rowling’s work at all. Not that this ever bothers people when they read a book that has been over-inspired by Tolkien... The school for wizards is something of a symbol in this story, and takes a back seat, letting the wonderful descriptions of the Twilight Quarter take center stage instead. McKillip’s lush, jeweled descriptions of the magics of the wizard Tyramin and his daughter Mistral are what make this author’s work so enjoyable, and her city of Numis is sketched in broadly but can easily be imagined. This is a story about rigidity versus creativity, and ought to strike a chord in any reader. It certainly reminded me why I enjoy reading fantasy so much. |
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