Caroline Stevermer, A College of Magics
I wish I'd written about this earlier, when I remembered more of the plot. XD; Finished in about two days, very fun. Faris Nallaneen, heir to the Duchy of Galazon, is sent to an expensive French finishing school by her wicked uncle, who wants her out of the way while he consolidates his hold on the duchy and....makes various other nefarious plans? Faris is a bit vague about what he's up to but is sure it's something villainous. Part of what makes the book enjoyable is that you (the reader) aren't really sure whether the uncle truly is wicked: like Faris's friends, you're left guessing until the end whether he really has something up his sleeve, or whether Faris just doesn't like him.
A College of Magics is like that on a number of points. It's written from Faris's perspective, but without big chunks of exposition -- you don't really know what she thinks about anything until one of the characters asks her or she has some other reason to think about the topic. Most of her thoughts are fairly surface level -- "the thought of putting on her blood-stained, dirty riding clothes again made her feel ill" -- and there's some disconnect, especially when the love interest comes in. It makes for very enjoyable reading, where you (the reader) have to look just under the surface to figure out what's going on -- the author lays out the pieces, but act of making the final connection is left as an exercise for the reader.
The "school" part of this story is only the first third, but I enjoyed that third very much. XD Part of what I liked was the compression of time -- the later two-thirds of the story take place over several weeks, but the first third spans three years. It was fun following Faris's progress from year to year: she has a freshman year being antisocial (her one friend is a Senior) and homesick and refusing to take her classes seriously, a sophomore year having fun and goofing off, and a senior year being studious and feeling left behind by her friends. (And looking forward to returning to Galazon, of course.) She takes all of the standard "finishing school" courses, like Latin and Comportment and Geography, and only has one course in The Theory of Magic. She rebels in a low-level way (refusing to believe in magic, refusing to be grateful for her acceptance at a prestigious school) but later realizes that her teachers and the Dean are FAR more knowledgeable than she had given them credit for. The group she falls in with sophomore year is mildly disruptive in ways that could have come from the author's experiences at Bryn Mawr, ie, caroling loudly at midnight under the library windows during finals week. And her feelings during her final year will probably be familiar to college graduates everywhere.
Of course, this a fantasy novel, so there are fantastical elements too. XD More after graduation than before. A College of Magics uses a system that seems to rely on the exertion of the caster's will to change reality...well, the characters describe a set of rules and a World Order (with four Wardens, in the North, South, East and West) but Stevermer's priority isn't on detailing exactly how all of this works. Kind of like how Faris knows all about the geography and history of the countries around Galazon, but the book isn't overly concerned with explaining to the readers exactly where all of these faraway places with funny-sounding names are. XD (As near as I can tell, Galazon is somewhere east of Austria? Which begs the question, why are Britain and France, etc, themselves, and these other countries totally fictional? But we'll lay aside the West Europe-centrism for the moment.)
...Speaking of Galazon. Faris's "thing" which shows that she is a bonafide character, and not an author avatar, is her burning love for Galazon and detailed knowledge of its history, customs, geography, weather, agriculture, etc. Considering that her country is basically a backwater considered by many to be a province of the neighboring kingdom (which her friend Jane had never heard of), her dedication is touching. XD Generally, I like Faris. Though she was sometimes INCREDIBLY dense (concerning Tyrian, in small ways while in Aravis). And she has a scary temper. There is in fact a hilarious bit of dialogue where you learn that the Good Citizens of Galazon were mostly expecting her to have murdered her uncle when she went out alone with him, or him to have murdered her, either way. (Sort of a "they're crazy aristos, but they're *our* crazy aristos and it's only right that they be crazy" attitude. Well, and Galazon is Bandit country. XD)
I've avoided talking about the second half of the book but it's full of traveling by train and by carriage and on horseback, and assassination attempts, a ancient magics and failed diplomacy and radical monarchist movements and fancy parties. XD It's a whirlwind adventure! Some plot twists do smack heavily of author convenience, but it's a fun ride. Really you're in it for the writing and the characters anyway.
Speaking of characters:
Tyrian: the love interest. A super-competent, super-professional bodyguard and general man-at-arms. Originally in the employ of the uncle but won over by Faris after she saves him from the evil Meneary. Tyrian could have been a bland, a standard-issue Romance Novel Love Interest, but in fact is totally awesome because his reason for becoming a super-competent bodyguard was wanting to look good. XD Common adjectives used to describe him are "calm", "collected", and "smug".
Meneary: Evil. PURE EVIL. It's actually quite a while before you find out just how evil she is. I was actually disappointed that there wasn't more of an explanation for Meneary's scary ev0lness -- apparently she's always been that way? It's implied though that while she and her older sister Agnes are both awful, their father the king of Aravis is worse.
Jane: Jane is so useful! She provides a social group while Faris is at school, most of the magic afterward, and lots and lots of useful information (through her connections with British spies and foreign diplomats). And she's very perceptive -- much more so than Faris. The novel honestly would not have gone anywhere without Jane. *thumbs up*
Uncle Brinker: For a while I was convinced that the reason he'd raised taxes to unbearable levels in Galazon was to pay Faris's (VERY EXPENSIVE, remember) school fees. That would have been a pretty hard blow to Faris and would have forced her to re-evaluate a lot of her assumptions. I guess the author didn't want to go there (didn't want to, or it didn't occur to her).
Graelent: Doesn't show up until near the end of the book. But a GREAT character. The pathologically charismatic leader of the radical monarchist faction in Aravis.
Stopping before I spoil anything else. Recommended!
A College of Magics is like that on a number of points. It's written from Faris's perspective, but without big chunks of exposition -- you don't really know what she thinks about anything until one of the characters asks her or she has some other reason to think about the topic. Most of her thoughts are fairly surface level -- "the thought of putting on her blood-stained, dirty riding clothes again made her feel ill" -- and there's some disconnect, especially when the love interest comes in. It makes for very enjoyable reading, where you (the reader) have to look just under the surface to figure out what's going on -- the author lays out the pieces, but act of making the final connection is left as an exercise for the reader.
The "school" part of this story is only the first third, but I enjoyed that third very much. XD Part of what I liked was the compression of time -- the later two-thirds of the story take place over several weeks, but the first third spans three years. It was fun following Faris's progress from year to year: she has a freshman year being antisocial (her one friend is a Senior) and homesick and refusing to take her classes seriously, a sophomore year having fun and goofing off, and a senior year being studious and feeling left behind by her friends. (And looking forward to returning to Galazon, of course.) She takes all of the standard "finishing school" courses, like Latin and Comportment and Geography, and only has one course in The Theory of Magic. She rebels in a low-level way (refusing to believe in magic, refusing to be grateful for her acceptance at a prestigious school) but later realizes that her teachers and the Dean are FAR more knowledgeable than she had given them credit for. The group she falls in with sophomore year is mildly disruptive in ways that could have come from the author's experiences at Bryn Mawr, ie, caroling loudly at midnight under the library windows during finals week. And her feelings during her final year will probably be familiar to college graduates everywhere.
Of course, this a fantasy novel, so there are fantastical elements too. XD More after graduation than before. A College of Magics uses a system that seems to rely on the exertion of the caster's will to change reality...well, the characters describe a set of rules and a World Order (with four Wardens, in the North, South, East and West) but Stevermer's priority isn't on detailing exactly how all of this works. Kind of like how Faris knows all about the geography and history of the countries around Galazon, but the book isn't overly concerned with explaining to the readers exactly where all of these faraway places with funny-sounding names are. XD (As near as I can tell, Galazon is somewhere east of Austria? Which begs the question, why are Britain and France, etc, themselves, and these other countries totally fictional? But we'll lay aside the West Europe-centrism for the moment.)
...Speaking of Galazon. Faris's "thing" which shows that she is a bonafide character, and not an author avatar, is her burning love for Galazon and detailed knowledge of its history, customs, geography, weather, agriculture, etc. Considering that her country is basically a backwater considered by many to be a province of the neighboring kingdom (which her friend Jane had never heard of), her dedication is touching. XD Generally, I like Faris. Though she was sometimes INCREDIBLY dense (concerning Tyrian, in small ways while in Aravis). And she has a scary temper. There is in fact a hilarious bit of dialogue where you learn that the Good Citizens of Galazon were mostly expecting her to have murdered her uncle when she went out alone with him, or him to have murdered her, either way. (Sort of a "they're crazy aristos, but they're *our* crazy aristos and it's only right that they be crazy" attitude. Well, and Galazon is Bandit country. XD)
I've avoided talking about the second half of the book but it's full of traveling by train and by carriage and on horseback, and assassination attempts, a ancient magics and failed diplomacy and radical monarchist movements and fancy parties. XD It's a whirlwind adventure! Some plot twists do smack heavily of author convenience, but it's a fun ride. Really you're in it for the writing and the characters anyway.
Speaking of characters:
Tyrian: the love interest. A super-competent, super-professional bodyguard and general man-at-arms. Originally in the employ of the uncle but won over by Faris after she saves him from the evil Meneary. Tyrian could have been a bland, a standard-issue Romance Novel Love Interest, but in fact is totally awesome because his reason for becoming a super-competent bodyguard was wanting to look good. XD Common adjectives used to describe him are "calm", "collected", and "smug".
Meneary: Evil. PURE EVIL. It's actually quite a while before you find out just how evil she is. I was actually disappointed that there wasn't more of an explanation for Meneary's scary ev0lness -- apparently she's always been that way? It's implied though that while she and her older sister Agnes are both awful, their father the king of Aravis is worse.
Jane: Jane is so useful! She provides a social group while Faris is at school, most of the magic afterward, and lots and lots of useful information (through her connections with British spies and foreign diplomats). And she's very perceptive -- much more so than Faris. The novel honestly would not have gone anywhere without Jane. *thumbs up*
Uncle Brinker: For a while I was convinced that the reason he'd raised taxes to unbearable levels in Galazon was to pay Faris's (VERY EXPENSIVE, remember) school fees. That would have been a pretty hard blow to Faris and would have forced her to re-evaluate a lot of her assumptions. I guess the author didn't want to go there (didn't want to, or it didn't occur to her).
Graelent: Doesn't show up until near the end of the book. But a GREAT character. The pathologically charismatic leader of the radical monarchist faction in Aravis.
Stopping before I spoil anything else. Recommended!