On April 17, the NY Times Book Review published a list of Beguiling New Fantasy Novels. I immediately put holds at Minuteman for three of them, and the third one finally became available at Merrimack, after 6 months on hold, was The Geomagician, by Jennifer Mandula. I might actually buy the second book of the duology, Paleomancer, when it is released next April, and not wait for the library copy.
That NY Times Book Review list was very productive. Weavingshaw and Half City were also excellent.
This book takes place in 1829 in an alternate England with magic, stored in reliquaries. There are references to the Queen, though in our universe, Queen Victoria’s reign began in 1837. This alternate England had a Queen Anne Boleyn so the timeline must be different.
The main character, Mary Anning, is based on a historical character, which is kind of cool: Mary Anning (1799–1847) was a pioneering English fossil hunter and self taught paleontologist who lived in the coastal town of Lyme Regis along Dorset’s Jurassic Coast.
Other highlights:
- Roman soldiers wrote of a king with a magic sword called Caledfwlch.
- Buckland, not looking up from his newspaper: No guinea pigs on the table, please.
- Henry made it sound like initiation would be a quick signing—maybe a certificate to hang on the wall. Something prosaic like that. A secret, endless tunnel was much more fun.
- Edgar: I’ve done the analysis. Earthquakes have the highest witch conversion rate with the lowest casualties.
Leave a Reply