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39 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Original yet Odd, January 24, 2000
Having just read the delightful but incredibly difficult to find "Sorcery and Cecelia," which Caroline Stevermer co-wrote with Patricia Wrede ("Mairelon the Magician;" "Magician's Ward"), I was eager to read more by this author. Imagine my joy, then, when I learnt that Ms. Stevermer had written another book in the fascinating sub-genre of Historical Fantasy. While "Sorcery and Cecelia" is set in 1817 Regency England, "A College of Magics" catapults us a hundred years further, to approximately 1908 in Edwardian Europe. The story follows Faris, the young Dutchess of Galazon (which, one presumes, is supposed to be located somewhere east of Austria and west of Romania) as she spends three years at Greenlaw University before returning to reclaim her place in politics. The catch? She's just found out that she's the Warden of the North - and that she must mend the rift her grandmother made in the fabric of this reality. Ms. Stevermer writes in a language much akin to the literature of the time (cf. E. M. Forster, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, etc.) - complete with random moments of insight, liberally strewn metaphysical poetry, snips and snatches of song and culture, and occasional forays into the world of subconscious or "sensation" writing. However, perhaps because of this attention to the time period, perhaps for some other reason, the story suffers several major flaws: The plot is rather dreamlike and...strange. Often new plot lines will be introduced without explanation or reason - and then just as quickly dropped. The Wardens of the World are explained only in their existence but never fully in their capacity. Characters are introduced, given a place of prominence, and dropped after a few chapters. Places are never given an exact location except by general reference (with the exception of their time in Paris). And the ending debacle is so surrealistic that one can hardly make hide nor hair of how Faris ascended the stair, or how she closed the rift, or very much of anything. The closing is also unsatisfactory, with no "happily ever after" but a sort of vague continuing that feels as though it ought to be significant. Again, one must commend Ms. Stevermer in her ability to so replicate the disjointedness of Eduardian literature - the attempt to show life as it is and not as it ought to be - however the result is a strangely concocted novel that never quite comes together as a whole. Those interested in Eduardian Literature, or Historical Fantasy will find "A College of Magics" interesting. Those searching for an encore to "Sorcery and Cecelia" would do better investing in Patricia Wrede's Regency Fantasies.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Miss Manners goes to Hogwarts, February 25, 2005
This review is from: A College of Magics (Mass Market Paperback)
"A College of Magics" is for Jane Austin fans who are also fond of fantasy. The magic is not the Harry Potter 'swish and flick' variety, but something altogether strange and beautiful. Most of the time the heroine, Faris Nallaneen does not even realize she has done anything magical.
The setting is an early 20th-century alternate world, where young ladies are sent to Greenlaw College (in 'real' life, the Benedictine Abbey of Mont St. Michael!) to learn Greek, Latin, Deportment, and Magic. Faris Nallaneen is heir to the small Middle European dukedom of Galazon. Her uncle, who rules Galazon until Faris's majority sends her kicking and screaming off to Greenlaw until his other secret plan for her future matures. Naturally Faris resents this, but she slowly begins to make friends at school and also acquires one mortal enemy, a distant relative named Menary.
Menary is one of the more interesting students at Greenlaw College. She possesses a wild magic, whose source is unknown to her teachers. She is also fond of anything in trousers, but very unfortunate things happen to her lovers. She is finally expelled on the morning after Faris's magical vigil, after turning Faris's friend, Tyrian into a tomcat. Our heroine loses her temper and sets Menary's hair on fire:
"It was not natural fire, Faris realized...It blazed pale gold and green, Menary's wild halo. In its own way, it was beautiful, as cold and strange as the northern lights."
Naturally, after this breach of etiquette, Faris is also asked to leave Greenlaw College. She sets out on a mission to Paris with her friends Jane, a professor at Greenlaw, and Tyrian, who has been restored to his former shape.
This would turn out to be a very proper, Edwardian excursion to the City of Lights if it were not for repeated attempts on Faris's life. She and Jane still manage to get in a bit of clothes shopping, and then Faris meets the man (or ghost) who interprets the results of her all-night vigil of magic, and points her toward her true destiny.
Meanwhile, there is a tangled web of Middle European politics to be gotten through, including the discovery of Faris's uncle's plot, more unexpected magic--Jane transforms a bomb into a hat and proceeds to wear it, thrones to be won and lost, and a love story.
"College of Magics" (1994) is a very unexpected and satisfying fantasy for fans of magical alternate history novels, and for those of us who also love a good comedy of manners. The sequel to this book, "A Scholar of Magics" was published in 2004, and I will definitely be reading it.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining, occasionally sparse, December 17, 2004
This review is from: A College of Magics (Mass Market Paperback)
First of all, I enjoyed this book. It should offer an enjoyable "read" for those who like historical fantasy. (Although reviews refer to it as Victorian or Regency, it is actually Edwardian: the novel itself refers to the reign of King Edward.) I found myself wishing I knew more about Edwardian Europe--I'm more at home with the nineteenth century, so I couldn't place all of the cultural references. True history buffs may fair better, and may enjoy picking up references to poetry and novels.
However, as reviews have mentioned, the work has flaws. I didn't feel that the use of magic was explained very well, particularly with regard to the education offered at Greenlaw. Exactly what does having a vigil do: it gives students power, but how? How is it that students can go without being taught any magic at all until their third year of Greenlaw, then pass their vigil and suddenly be capable witches? Faris is halfway through her third year, but leaves without knowing much of how magic works, while Jane, only a year ahead of her, is a capable witch. How exactly are students like Eve-Marie, Odile, and Jane supposed to learn so much, so quickly? Stevermer may have an intriguing take on magical education in mind (magic as taught at Greenlaw is quite different from the usual school of magic or apprentice system, and she deserves credit for that), but it's just not clear _how_ witches of Greenlaw are produced, nor is it clear how magic works outside Greenlaw, except that it's harder to work. Perhaps some of this is cleared up in _A Scholar of Magics_, but it seems to be a flaw in this work. Likewise, as others have mentioned, it isn't clear what Faris's responsibilities as Warden of the North will consist of now that her initial task is done. If the Wardens are there to keep balance, how exactly do they do this? Why is it necessary?
The ending seems to offer possibilities which aren't pursued (perhaps, as one previous review suggests, Stevemer intended a sequa about Faris that she never got around to writing). The result is unsatisfying. I don't want to reveal any details, but it's unclear where the relationship between Faris and her beloved will go-- if she's not going to marry him, will they be lovers on the sly (hardly socially acceptable in that time period) or will they just be "friends" and co-workers? It's as if the author grasped at a solution to Faris's romantic dilemma, but then let it go.
Overall, I do recommend this for fans of historical fantasy, particularly those who like less flashy magic and witty dialogue. I do NOT recommend it for those who are looking for a Harry Potter substitute: Greenlaw is nothing like Hogwarts, and the magic here is nothing like the magic in the HP books, or even in most Diana Wynne Jones novels. A better comparison might be the more recent and more successful _Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell_.
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