{"id":102,"date":"2002-02-20T13:15:19","date_gmt":"2002-02-20T18:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog-test\/?p=102"},"modified":"2002-02-20T13:15:19","modified_gmt":"2002-02-20T18:15:19","slug":"stevermer_carol_1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/2002\/02\/stevermer_carol_1\/","title":{"rendered":"Stevermer, Caroline: (01) A College of Magics"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> <\/a> <\/p>\n

Caroline Stevermer’s A College of Magics<\/cite><\/strong> is set in the same world as When the King Comes Home<\/cite>. I don’t think I re-read it when I reviewed When the King . . .<\/cite><\/a> , but I was in the mood for it after this re-read<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My prior impression of A College of Magics<\/cite> was that it was quite good but went a little weird at the end. Upon re-reading, it felt a lot smoother, I think for a few reasons. First, this time I knew that (despite the title) only the first third of the book is a school story, so I wasn’t faintly disoriented by the shift. (Of course, had I actually looked<\/em> at the table of contents, it would have been incredibly obvious that yes, this is a three-volume novel and doesn’t confine itself to Greenlaw.) Similarly, I was much better at spotting the continuous thread of plot this time, now that I knew what it was<\/em>. What’s more, When the King . . .<\/cite> in a way gives a precedent for some of the weirdness at the end of A College of Magics<\/cite>; I almost wonder if it wouldn’t be better to read them in non-publication order for that reason. (People may well have to do that, since A College of Magics<\/cite> is currently out of print.)<\/p>\n

A College of Magics<\/cite> is set sometime early in an alternate version of our 20th century (the cover blurbs are amusingly contradictory on the precise date). Faris Nallaneen, the umpty-great-niece of Ludovic, has been packed off to Greenlaw College by her wicked uncle “to age, like cheese,” until she reaches her majority and can take her place as Duchess of Galazon. I shall refrain from talking about the plot, because it doesn’t become overt until the second volume, but there’s magic and intrigue and romance; friends are made, swashes are buckled, hats explode, lions are fed crab puffs, and oh yes, Faris comes into her own. Overall, the book’s a delight; not quite as good as When the King Comes Home<\/cite>, but more fun.<\/p>\n

\n

Jane caught at Faris’s poplin sleeve. “Are you going to find Menary now? It’s tea time.”<\/p>\n

Faris froze, staring at Jane’s hand as though it were made of raw liver. “Of course.”<\/p>\n

Jane’s voice held only calm interest. “What will you do when you find her?”<\/p>\n

Faris met her eyes. “I don’t know. Deliver the same lecture to her, I suppose.”<\/p>\n

“Dry work. I’d hate to miss the spectacle but I’m perishing for my tea. Just sit with me for a moment while I drink a cup and then let me come along to watch you murder Menary.” She closed the study door and led Faris back to the table. “Though of course, we’ll have to queue up for the privilege. She does love to do an ill turn when she sees the chance.”<\/p>\n

“Do you speak so highly of all your friends?” asked Faris, coldly.<\/p>\n

“Menary doesn’t have any friends. She doesn’t want any. She’s more interested in servitors. I merely asked her a few questions. And don’t snipe at me for my shocking geography,” Jane added. “If it isn’t the Empire, it’s all the same to me: Galazon, Aravill, Graustark, or Ruritania. You really can’t expect me to keep all those little countries straight. I’m not ignorant, just English. Milk? Sugar?”<\/p>\n

“Can you tell Wales from Finland?”<\/p>\n

“Don’t sulk, it’s not becoming. The tea’s a bit stewed, I’m afraid, but that’s your fault for distracting me. The milk may render it palatable. Now tell me about this wicked uncle of yours.”<\/p>\n

Faris glared at Jane but accepted the cup and saucer Jane offered. “If you were in my place, would you sit here and drink your tea?”<\/p>\n

“In your place, I would challenge Menary to pistols at dawn.”<\/p>\n

“May I call on you if I should need a second?”<\/p>\n

Jane inclined her head graciously. “I am at your service. Now sit down. I have a ginger cake from Fortnum’s.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caroline Stevermer’s A College of Magics is set in the same world as When the King Comes Home. I don’t think I re-read it when I reviewed When the King . . . , but I was in the mood for it after this re-read. My prior impression of A College of Magics was that it was … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Stevermer, Caroline: (01) A College of Magics”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,81,15],"tags":[398],"class_list":["post-102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-greenlaw-glasscastle-sf-and-fantasy","category-sf-and-fantasy","tag-stevermer-caroline"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}