The Cecelia and Kate books, set in an alternate-history Regency England where magic is commonplace, chronicle the lives of two cousins as they find love and foil a dastardly plot (Sorcery and Cecelia), travel the Continent while foiling an even more dastardly plot (The Grand Tour), and wrangle a number of children and dogs while foiling a slightly less dastardly plot (The Mislaid Magician). I adore the first book in this series. It’s an epistolary delight. Wrede and Stevermer wrote the story via “The Letter […]
Jane Austen Meets Harry Potter
Being the Correspondence of two Young Ladies of Quality regarding various Magical Scandals in London and the Country This delightful novel, the first of a series, predates the Harry Potter novels by over 10 years. Wrede and Stevermer wrote and published Sorcery and Cecilia in 1986. I would have been in college at that time, which might explain why I completely missed out on this series, geared toward young readers (early teens-ish). Still, as with HP, a well written story attracts readers of all ages, […]
Revisiting the Raven Ring (Reviews 17-21)
Years ago, as a teenager I took the Raven Ring out of the public library, and instantly devoured it. Twice. Before Katniss Everdeen and Hermione Granger, I had Eleret, a mountain warrior woman who couldn’t grasp city mannerisms, but who could memorize anything spoken to her and throw knives with the best of them. I loved that book so much that my friend almost stole it from the library because even 13 years ago, the book wasn’t easy to find. However, one of the great things […]