Larbalestier, Justine - Magic or Madness
Apologies to those of you bored by the Saiyuki posts!
I read this on what seems to be everyone's rec.
Reason grew up in the outskirts of Australia; her mother kept them moving for fear of Reason's grandmother Esmerelda, supposedly a very powerful and very scary witch. Reason is mathy (she reminds me of Dee in Scott Westerfeld's Midnighters trilogy); she can intuitively do Fibonacci sequences and etc.
Of course, something happens, and Reason ends up with her grandmother. Assorted mysteries to be solved include Reason's family heritage, why her mother hates her grandmother, and if her grandmother is actually evil. I am guessing that pretty much everyone reading the summary has some clue where the story is going.
What I found different from the standard teen-grows-up-magic story was the sense of place in the book. I like that Larbalestier sets it in Australia, and it feels like she knows it there. I particularly like that Reason's chapters and Tom's chapters use Australian spelling and slang, while Jay-Tee's chapters use American spelling and slang. My very favorite part was when Reason accidentally ends up in New York, except she doesn't realize at the time.
Watching Reason attempt to figure out where she is while also discovering the existence of magic was a really fun spin on the standard characters-enter-magic-world story. New York isn't magic, per se. But because Reason finds herself there just as she abruptly discovers magic exists (doorways from Australia to NY will do that to you), when she's observing the city, it feels like a completely different world, one in which all the rules are different and nothing is what you expect. It's the magic world turned metaphor, and it worked so well for me.
I also like the magic system Larbalestier uses; it's not too shiny and miraculous. There are risks involved, and I really like the catch-22 magic users find themselves in. It's much grittier than the usual prices of magic (physical tiredness and etc.).
The big revelation at the end of the book wasn't too revelatory to me, but it may have been for a younger reader. On the other hand, it wasn't bad either, because I figured it out by all the clues.
I liked this but wasn't bowled away. I'll still be looking for the next books in the series, just because I enjoy the greyness of the characters and am particularly interested in how Larbalestier will continue the Reason-Esmerelda relationship without being too sappy.
ETA: Argh! And by Dee in Midnighters, I meant Dess.
Links:
- rilina's review
- minnow1212's review
I read this on what seems to be everyone's rec.
Reason grew up in the outskirts of Australia; her mother kept them moving for fear of Reason's grandmother Esmerelda, supposedly a very powerful and very scary witch. Reason is mathy (she reminds me of Dee in Scott Westerfeld's Midnighters trilogy); she can intuitively do Fibonacci sequences and etc.
Of course, something happens, and Reason ends up with her grandmother. Assorted mysteries to be solved include Reason's family heritage, why her mother hates her grandmother, and if her grandmother is actually evil. I am guessing that pretty much everyone reading the summary has some clue where the story is going.
What I found different from the standard teen-grows-up-magic story was the sense of place in the book. I like that Larbalestier sets it in Australia, and it feels like she knows it there. I particularly like that Reason's chapters and Tom's chapters use Australian spelling and slang, while Jay-Tee's chapters use American spelling and slang. My very favorite part was when Reason accidentally ends up in New York, except she doesn't realize at the time.
Watching Reason attempt to figure out where she is while also discovering the existence of magic was a really fun spin on the standard characters-enter-magic-world story. New York isn't magic, per se. But because Reason finds herself there just as she abruptly discovers magic exists (doorways from Australia to NY will do that to you), when she's observing the city, it feels like a completely different world, one in which all the rules are different and nothing is what you expect. It's the magic world turned metaphor, and it worked so well for me.
I also like the magic system Larbalestier uses; it's not too shiny and miraculous. There are risks involved, and I really like the catch-22 magic users find themselves in. It's much grittier than the usual prices of magic (physical tiredness and etc.).
The big revelation at the end of the book wasn't too revelatory to me, but it may have been for a younger reader. On the other hand, it wasn't bad either, because I figured it out by all the clues.
I liked this but wasn't bowled away. I'll still be looking for the next books in the series, just because I enjoy the greyness of the characters and am particularly interested in how Larbalestier will continue the Reason-Esmerelda relationship without being too sappy.
ETA: Argh! And by Dee in Midnighters, I meant Dess.
Links:
- rilina's review
- minnow1212's review