Larbalestier, Justine: Magic Lessons
Magic Lessons
Writer: Justine Larbalestier
Genre: Young Adult/Urban Fantasy
Pages: 275
For the record, I've finished Larbalestier's Daughters of Earth. The review's going to take a little time to compile, because there's a lot I want to discuss. I'll try to get that up during the weekend, but until then, here's the next review.
I'm picky about the order in which I read books. I get in moods for certain kinds of books, and/or I don't want my opinion of something I haven't read to be overly influenced by something I just finished reading (for example, it's a BAD idea to finish reading a book you LOVED with a book you're not sure you're going to like). Having finished the short stories and critical essays in Daughters of Earth, I worried about reading something that would push my feminist SF critical brain into overdrive, so I needed a book wouldn't fall victim to that kind of criticism. Fantasy seemed like the best bet, and since it was already in my immediate book stack, I figured the second volume of Larbalestier's Magic or Madness trilogy would be a good fit. It'd also be a good, fast read, and that's what I needed right now.
I was right. And just as the first book left me wanting for the second, so the second leaves me wanting for the third. BUT I'm not so weak that I'm going to buy the hardback. My other volumes are trade paperbacks, and I can wait for the trade paperback of the third installment, thank you very much.
Spoilers ahead.
The second volume picks up right where the first left off. Each of the characters has something at stake: Jay-Tee is dying, Tom is struggles with the fact he has to lie about his magic, and Reason wants to find a solution to the no-win situation that magic has put herself, her friends, and her family in. She still doesn't trust her grandmother, and the grandmother proves once again to be a complex character. She's a good guy who's made some seriously bad mistakes. Learning more about Esmeralda was fabulous, and it was good to see more of Reason's past as well.
Old Man Cansino is an interesting paradox. He wants to save his family (learning that Jason Blake was family in more ways than one was a bit creepy, but damn, what a brave thing to do, especially in a YA), but he only wants to teach one how it works. It's interesting that he chooses Reason, and I don't think it's solely due to her pregnancy. It's because she's got the blood on both sides.
Yes, Reason gets pregnant at age fifteen. But that is in keeping with the rest of the women in her family, and it makes sense because magic users die young. But I also thought the sex scene was well done. Awkward in its own way, but amazingly believable. Danny is truly a sympathetic but weak character, and I like him all the better for it. While the preview for book three implies that he won't want the child, I suspect there's more to that than meets the eye, but who knows? There's something powerful in the image of a woman raising a child on her own (though Reason won't be completely alone, I hope), and again, it's keep with the theme of mothers and daughters that we've seen demonstrated so far.
Jason Blake is becoming an annoyance of a villain. Jay-Tee's fear of him makes him more monstrous than I think he really is, and I think he's pretty monstrous. Yet I don't think his name gives him power, but Jay-Tee's paranoia seems to imply it does. I wonder, only because the power of names is a convention commonly explored in fantasy, and there is the fact that Jason Blake refuses to reveal his real one. His sucking away of magic was horrifying, just because I thought that once it became obvious that he'd also been touched by Old Man Cansino, Blake wouldn't need any more. Obviously, that's not the case. I don't look forward to seeing him the third book, but I do look forward to seeing him get his ass kicked. Though, it'd be interesting if Larbalestier does something different. If Reason succeeds in making magic something to welcome instead of a disease, then Jason Blake might be transformed when he no longer needs to take from other people. Or not.
I still have questions about the logic of Old Man Cansino. How'd he learn to survive? Reason will probably figure that out in the third book. If he was so powerful, why couldn't he come through the door? Why pull Reason through and not let her back once he'd infected her with his magic? What was the purpose of keeping her in NYC? And also, on a more scientific level, am I really supposed to believe that Reason got pregnant in less than twenty-four hours? I can buy--barely--that magic users could TELL, simply because they're magic, but for the sperm to take that quick? Damn. Go Danny? ;)
Despite my questions, I'm enjoying this trilogy so far. Certainly, Larbalestier has a way of stringing out the answers, and one of the reasons you keep turning the pages is to simply find out what's really happening. I hope all the major loose ends are tied up by the end of the third book, and I look forward to seeing what happens to each of the characters by the end. Everyone has something at stake, and that's the beauty of these people.
If you enjoyed the first volume, you'll definitely enjoy this. This book is a wee bit more adult in my mind concerning some of the material, but I don't consider any of the material inappropriate for YA. It's good stuff, and I can't wait to see what how it all plays out in the end.
Next review: Daughters of Earth, edited by Justine Larbalestier
Next read: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss