Customer Reviews

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I love the work of Jane Austen; the Bronte sisters not so much. I was well warned by the cover that this was an Austen pastiche, so I could hardly be disappointed to find that it does, indeed, echo motifs from all of Austen's books. (Falling ill in someone else's house; fetching the mother; intense concentration on marriage proposals; the entailed house; couples avoiding the "inappropriate" marriage.)

And let's not forget the echoes of Dickens in the story of the young man of good family fallen on hard times and working as a scrivener in a counting house while trying to protect his sister ...

The middle of the book is an epistolary - the main character, Ivy, is off to be a governess in an ancient, half-unused mansion with a locked room, an aloof, mysterious master, and a hostile housekeeper (Rebecca and Mrs Danvers? Not quite; not even The Sound of Music <grin>). Ivy has charge of children who see ghosts (The Turn of the Screw!), and seemingly hostile villagers are suspicious of all green-eyed women. The letters about the ensuing events are written to Ivy's father, who has been driven mad by some magical thing he did years before. It could not be more gothic.

All along, however, this is also a fascinating magical-18th-century fantasy. The world is as richly invented as any fantasy should be, with soul-eating aliens from a wandering planet poised to invade even as the ancient forests are staging a perilous uprising and magicians are few at a time when they are much needed.

Taking on Austen is a very hard thing to do, but most of the time Galen Beckett gets the language and the manners right. Most especially, the wit, while not up to Oscar Wilde (nothing is), is certainly credible for an Austenesque society.

For diehard fantasy fans, perhaps too much time is taken with the early portions of the book before the fantasy really shows itself and takes over the storyline. But since I'm a fan of both fantasy AND Austen's comedies of manners, for me the combination worked very well. I stayed up all night to finish it and am giving it away to friends and family.

And for those who care, I must say it's nice to see, once again, proof that a story can be sexually charged and full of danger and violence without ever having to resort to foul language or scenes I'd be embarrassed to read aloud to my mother.

- Orson Scott Card

From the back flap: "What if there were a fantastical cause underlying the social constraints and limited choices confronting a heroine in a novel by Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontė? Galen Beckett, ... began The Magicians and Mrs. Quent to answer that question ...."

I was excited to receive a copy of The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, Galen Beckett's "debut" novel. There's something exciting about a new author -- they're fresh, and when you hold one of their books in your hands (especially a beautiful one like The Magicians and Mrs. Quent), you hope that maybe you're about to discover a brand new talent.

Imagine my disappointment when I turned over the title page and read that the copyright to The Magicians and Mrs. Quent belongs to Mark Anthony. I immediately went to both authors' websites. Galen Beckett's talked about his debut novel. Mark Anthony's said (and still says as of 9/22/08):

"So what is the new book? Well, not to be too cagey, but that's something I can't answer quite yet. I can tell you that it's not another book in The Last Rune series--that tale, wonderful as it was for me, has come to a close. I can also tell you that the new book is a fantasy. However, it's fairly different than my previous books. So different, in fact, that my publisher has decided to launch the book under a new pen name.

And that's where all the cloak-and-dagger stuff comes in. I've been asked by my publisher not to publicly reveal my alter ego just yet, so as not to spoil the secret. The good news is that I will be able to talk more freely about the new book once it's out. So keep checking back. As soon as I'm at liberty to reveal my other writing identity, you'll see the news right here."

(So, I guess I've just outed Galen Beckett and Mark Anthony.) Despite my disappointment, I still began TMAMQ with anticipation -- Todd really enjoyed the first of The Last Rune novels (though not the second), and I enjoy a 19th century style English novel, so I knew there was potential here. I won't summarize the plot for you, since the publisher's blurb (above) does that nicely.

The first third of the book is almost a re-telling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, in both style, plot, and character stereotypes. There are three sisters living with their batty mother in a low but genteel house which will transfer to their relative Mr Wyble when the mother dies. Ivy, the eldest, is bookish, intelligent, and rational. Rose is dreamy and strange. Lily is boy crazy and silly. Mr Wyble is a lawyer who is constantly trying to ingratiate himself with people who he thinks are better than him. He says things such as:

"While my schedule would have permitted me to pay you a visit around the middle of the month, another opportunity was presented to me, which, I am sure once the particulars are heard, you must judge was the wisest investment of my time. Recently I had the good fortune to be of service to Lady Marsdel, a most noble personage of the highest degree. In her extreme -- dare I say, almost overpowering -- generosity, she invited me to an affair at her house in the New Quarter. There I was happy to make the acquaintance of many remarkable and important persons."

I've read that before -- it's Mr Collins. There are also character analogues to Jane Austen's Mr Wickham, Mr Darcy, Mr Bennett, and Lady Catherine De Bourgh. And In addition to these character and style similarities, there are plot borrowings, too: Ivy gets ill while visiting Lady Marsdel's (Lady Catherine De Bourgh's) house and has to stay for days to recover, Dashton Rafferdy (Mr Darcy) struggles with his feelings for Ivy (Elizabeth Bennett) but knows he can't marry her because of their difference in social status.

Much of the second part of TMAMQ comes from Jane Eyre and the style abruptly changes from light social sarcasm to gothic romance. Ivy goes to be governess to Mr Rochester's -- I mean Mr Quent's -- wards at Heathcrest Hall. A local man accuses her of being a witch. There are strange things happening at the manor and Mr Quent and his housekeeper are keeping secrets (and a secret room). I won't tell you the rest of it so that I won't spoil the plot in case you haven't read Jane Eyre (or in case you missed the title of Mr Beckett's book). Beckett's best drawn character, Eldyn Garritt, and his plot come from Charles Dickens.

Beckett's writing style is not on par with his influencers, but it's very pleasant nonetheless. But much of his plot and his characters, though interesting, were not impressive because I've seen them all before. I understand that his purpose is to write pastiche, but I was hoping for something fresh. There are some engaging elements here, though: ancient patches of forest threaten to rise up and overtake Altania (fantasy England), a group of men plot to overthrow the government and let in a new ruler (it's not clear which side we should be on), the "Ashen" are some sort of aliens who want to suck out everyone's souls, unknown planets are appearing and aligning, Eldyn can wrap himself in shadows, and a mysterious stranger occasionally shows up to give Ivy a clue or encouragement (but I never figured out why he didn't just give her the answers). Perhaps most interesting is that in Ivy's world, days and nights vary in length so that she must consult an almanac if she wants to know how long the night will last (alas, we're given no scientific explanation for that). But none of these fantastical elements seem to fit together -- it feels like they are some random interesting ideas that were thrown in in order to present a fantasy novel in a 19th century style. The ending was wrapped up too quickly and conveniently without much explanation of how these pieces fit. Perhaps they'll all come together in the sequel, but for now I'm left confused.

Mr Beckett can certainly write, and he's got this style down, but I'd like to see him do something original and meaningful -- something that doesn't leave me scratching my head. The back flap of the novel suggests that we're going to learn the "fantastical cause underlying the social constraints and limited choices confronting a heroine in a novel by Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontė," but Beckett never answers the question -- he doesn't give us anything new. The "social constraints" that Ivy faces seem to be the same constraints that Jane Bennett and Jane Eyre faced: pride and prejudice.

I have to start off this review by saying that I've never read anything by Bronte or Austen, so I can't speak to the comparisons between Galen Beckett's "The Magicians and Mrs. Quent" and those classic works. I suppose if I was really familiar with Bronte and Austen, I might be more critical, but as it is, I went in just expecting a fun historical fantasy novel.

And overall "Mrs. Quent" doesn't disappoint. This rather lengthy novel follows the adventures of Ivy Lockwell, the eldest of three teenage sisters, as she discovers the role magic has played in her family and how it will affect her future. It's a race against time as she works to solve a riddle, left by her now mentally ill father, that will ultimately save the world.

Most of today's authors tend to paint their characters outside of the societal norm, even in a historical setting, but Ivy is firmly entrenched as a woman of the time period (Victorian/Regency). The only character that shows any tendency to be untraditional is the youngest sister, Lily. Everyone else follows the strict social code of the era. This includes a failed romance between Ivy and the dashing Mr. Rafferdy, whose station in life is a little too high for Ivy's family. I thought it would bother me, but it was kind of refreshing to have the main characters actually behave the way people normally would within a certain time period.

But there were also a lot of holes the author left in the story, as well as a weird middle section that made you feel like you were reading two books, and not one. When Ivy goes to the country to take care of Mr. Quent's wards, the narrative suddenly switches to first person and we ignore the rest of the characters we met in the first part of the novel. In fact, only a handful of them remain important by the last part of the book, and Ivy's sisters are relegated to being background information instead of having any relevance to the plot by the end of the book. I also found it hard to believe that Ivy would pour her heart out in letters to her father and not share those same feelings with her sisters, when it seemed that the three siblings were really close. If the middle section was a diary of some sort, it might have been easier to take.

The author also had a tendency to introduce a character or situation, and then once that character was unnecessary, just randomly taking them out forcefully. For instance, in the first section, we meet Mrs. Lockwell, the girls' mother. We learn, repeatedly, that Mrs. Lockwell is quite a bit younger than her mentally ill husband and is in great health. When Mrs. Lockwell suddenly dies, that's it. There's no scene where the doctor pronounces her cause of death. There's no musings from Ivy out in the country about what happened and how it's changed the family. It's obvious from the way the author harps on the fact that Mrs. Lockwell is so young and so healthy what will happen - but then there's no explanation or closure about it.

Another example of this is with the housekeeper Mrs. Darendel in the country. She's surly and doesn't like Ivy; but when the highwayman Westin appears at the estate, she's suddenly helping Ivy. Why the change of heart? We'll never know, because she gets taken out abruptly too. Which I find hard to swallow, given it's her son leading the charge. Why would he allow his own mother to die? We never find out. Apparently those connections just aren't important enough for the author to finish. So I'm not sure why they were introduced at all.

Societal strictures also don't seem to make sense. Ivy and Mr. Rafferdy can't be friends when single, but once she's married, it's totally okay for them to be close friends? I would think it would be the other way around. And Ivy is apparently madly in love with her husband, Mr. Quent, but since we barely get to know him in the book (he's always away on business, and when he does appear he's kind of gruff and quiet), we're not sure what she sees in him.

Crazy holes aside, it is overall a fun book and I'm hoping that the sequel will tie up some loose ends, answer questions, or at least flesh out some of the other characters more.

This fantasy twist on Austen was really compelling and the characters, while echoing traits of Austen characters but not entirely mimicking them, were fun and interesting and showed great promise. The plot twists were good and not over-done and cliche. Instead of just throwing lots of magical creatures and goings on at you from the get-go like most fantasy books, this one started to weave more of a historical mystery theme about it with just small dashes of fantasy and magic in just the right amount of places. It was a setup for a really unique fantasy mystery.
Unfortunately, about halfway through the book, the tone and style of the book shifts 90 degrees. Everything changes within a span of a few pages with no satisfactory reason to explain it all. It felt like a completely different author took over writing. Complex characters flattened into one-dimensional, the mystery falls flat on its face, the plot unfolds into Howard the Duck, and absolutely no coherency was anywhere to be found.
I don't think I would recommend this book to anyone until a sequel hopefully becomes available. I was left wanting some sort of explanation of why for nearly everything that happened in the second half of the book. I really feel that this book left me with a "2+2=cow" feeling. I liked the first half enough though to hope that a sequel might provide answers or at least a smoothing over and return from the weird randomness of the second half.

I never write reviews but I just finished this book and I had to share my thoughts somewhere! When I saw this book at a bookstore, I immediately gravitated towards it because of the comparison to Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte (two of my favorite authors), not to mention that this was also a deemed a fantasy book (which I love!). I bought it right away and started reading it that night.

The beginning was great. I loved the connections to Pride and Prejudice and appreciated the writer's gift for detail. However, as the story continued, I started getting annoyed at how completely unoriginal the characters and plot were. Aspects were TOO close to the original sources, so much so that when a new comparison entered, I started rolling my eyes. The idea behind this novel was great but I think with just a little more originality, it would have been better. For the most part, however, I enjoyed the comparisons to the great literary writers of the past. Dickens also gets a shout out with the character of Eldyn (probably the character with the deepest characterization). What the writer should have done is pay homage to the styles of Austen, Bronte, and Dickens without copying characters and plot points and weaved it more naturally into the story of the magicians (a story that is never fully developed).

The novel is written in three parts. Part one is the best. I found myself rooting for Rafferdy (with his wit) and Ivy to overcome the social barriers to be together, despite several similarities to Pride and Prejudice. I believed these characters were falling in love. We are even given Rafferdy's perspective and watch his character growth as he comes to the realization of his feelings. At the end of book one, I hoped for that Thornton/Darcy moment when he would rush to tell her he loved her that they should be married despite the difference in class, but instead we have Rafferdy suddenly decide, against his characterization mind you, to conform to society. It made absolutely no sense and was contrived in order for book two to be all about the Gothic romance and Jane Eyre and Turn of the Screw.

So enter Ivy as Jane and Mr. Quent as Rochester, but don't get too excited Rochester fans because Ivy is beautiful whereas Jane was ordinary, Ivy was in love with Rafferdy while Jane had never known love, Rochester was flirty and witty, whereas Mr. Quent is a bore; Rochester played games and always wanted to be in Jane's company, whereas Mr. Quent is NEVER THERE-he's too busy with the King; Rochester is lively and romantic, whereas Mr. Quent cares more about writing letters; Rochester needs redemption, whereas Mr. Quent merely needs some needed characterization. I think you get the point. Mr. Quent, in fact, is barely in the book at all as he is always off doing work for the King. The romance between Ivy and Quent is one of the worst Gothic romances I have ever read because there was no romance Suddenly they were getting married for like no reason and Ivy claimed she was in love with him, but for the life of me I can't understand why. I kept hoping for him to die because at least then she could be with Rafferdy. The switch in narration was also distracting for book two and I kept skim reading so I could get back to book three and also the return of the other main characters (Rafferdy, Eldyn).

Book three finally does something with the magicians. Honestly, this plot needed better development. I kept waiting and waiting for something to happen. Nothing does until the end and even then...Oh, and Mr. Quent disappears for almost the entirety of book three and Rafferdy once again becomes the leading man even though it can no longer be romantic between Ivy and him. I hope the next book kills Mr. Quent off. I still don't fully understand Ivy's connection to his wife either. It doesn't even seem all that connected to the main arc of the magicians and Ivy's father. It is slightly but the connections are weak and under realized.

By the end of the novel, I found myself not caring. I am still mixed because there are moments I really like and the idea is a lot of fun. I also appreciated the lack of sex scenes and vulgarity. It gets so tiring reading them in book after book. I would have preferred a little more romance being that I felt no passion in the characters. They were almost platonic with the exception of Eldyn and a strange moment with Westen. Anyway, I think the book is worth reading but it is extremely frustrating (I almost forgot how frustrating the Kings vs. rebels plot is-I'm still not sure who's side I should be on as there is too little information. I was on the rebels' side until Westen but then I certainly didn't see Lord Rafferdy or Quent as the heroes either!). I hope the mistakes will be overcome for the next book, notably with Quent. Kill him. Please! A witless bore of a Rochester is no Rochester at all.

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent is a very odd book. It is divided into three sections, two of which were inspired by other books. The first section comes from "Pride and Prejudice" where the heroine, Ivy, has the combined role of Jane and Elizabeth. She is sweet, lovely, and oh so clever. The story works all right, but the dialog and the characterization of the other members of the cast is not up to Jane Austin's standards. All of the sisters in the book are two-dimensional. There is no marriage proposal in this section--something of a disappointment for an Austen-inspired work.

The second of three parts is inspired by Bronte's "Jane Eyre". Ivy gets very confused and emotionally overwrought. She takes charge of two children who do not do much except give her an excuse to move to the country, but eventually they do have a role in the plot. Things are not what they seem and we learn a bit more about the history and the magic of the land. For a very clever person Ivy does not figure things out very quickly. I do not like "Jane Eyre" very well so I am less critical of the comparison between it and this section of the book. Jane was an irritating twit at times and Ivy lives up to her example.

The third section is more of a modern fantasy. The fantastical elements were inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's view of the world. The main plot works fairly well, and the conclusion is entertaining. Some plot twists are a bit contrived, including the role of Bennick and the whole green-eyed girl connection. There are some magical elements that are not explained, such as Westen's and Eldyn's unusual affinities for magic. The author's misunderstanding of astronomy surpasses that of Anne McCaffery.

I have put up a lot of criticism, but overall it was a fun read and the connections that the author made to classic novels largely worked.

"The Magicians and Mrs. Quent" is the first novel by Galen Beckett (also the first of a series, although the series has no specific name at this time). The book is 498 pages in length.

Parts of the book are reminiscent of "Pride and Prejudice" with its upper class snobbery featuring sheltered women and entitled gentlemen, then other areas ooze the mist and loneliness of the heaths of "Wuthering Heights". However the book also adds a fantasy component to this Victorian era-like setting...magic, magicians and nefarious individuals ready to do dastardly deeds that will allow a long suppressed evil presence to return to terrorize the world.

The book was slow to start, featuring many social occasions that our heroes/heroine attended. The magic, magicians and fantasy aspect was introduced very slowly but had a much more prominent place in the latter half of the novel. The middle book (my favorite) 'Heathcrest' took place in a lonely country manor (of the same name) that was encompassed by mists and barren moors. Beckett showed some of his best writing by not only giving the reader a detailed descriptions of the house, the surrounding lands and the unique individuals that lived at Heathcrest but also by making the reader feel a deep sense of foreboding and unease when night descended over the moors.

If I've any minor complaints it would be these:
1.)no map...maybe not absolutely necessary, but for those that like them in books with different geographic locales, it would have added another positive quality.
2.)the use of two words, 'luminal' and 'umbral' (i.e. day and night respectively in the vernacular of the land)...used over and over, almost it seemed, on every other page. A little tiresome after a while.

Conclusion:
I liked this novel...a brilliant blend of a Victorian era lifestyle coupled with a dark and every deepening fantasy component that is developed at a near perfect pace. If you love the fantasy genre you'll like the way the book slowly develops this theme...those not particularly enamored with phantasms and deep magic may lose interest about half way through. For me...easily 5 Stars.

Ray Nicholson

I picked up this book randomly at the booksore, without having high expectations. Lately, I couldn't get into anything I've read. However, I could not put the book down starting with page one. It was amazingly written. I stayed up during a few nights trying to get to the end. It was all I thought about. The author did a great job with the Austen, Bronte, themes. Some people's reviews complain about the excess of magic in the last 100 pages, but what did you expect picking up the book? It's called the MAGICIANS AND MRS. QUENT. Ofcourse there's going to be magic. I enjoyed every bit of it and recommend the book to everyone.
The only thing that I didn't like was the fact that the author spent the first half of the book building the romance between Ivy and her first love interest and then just dropped them and switched to another man. I wish she would've ended up with the first man. Other than that, its a great book.

I enjoyed reading this book, but I often felt that I enjoyed reading it because I enjoy all the source material. The first part of the book is Jane Austen, the second part of the book is Jane Eyre and--has someone noted this?--Turn of the Screw. I mean, it is really, REALLY a hybrid of Turn of the Screw and Jane Eyre. The last part of the book was not as distracting because of the constant evocations of source material, but by that point I was just happy to have something a little new.

As a reader of genre, I am accustomed to finding works derivative, and often I read book because I want a similar experience to something else I've read. The unfortunate thing here is that I think there is potential here for the author to build a really interesting world, but he/she? (copyright page gives a man's name), will have to stretch more. I look forward to seeing if the author can improve with the sequel.

So if you like the books above and don't mind reading a book clearly borrowing from them, you will probably enjoy this.

In this fantasy homage to Austen and Bronte, we meet the three Lockwood sisters whom their mother hopes will marry advantageously since their home is entailed and their father, a magician, was struck down by a strange malady years ago and is unable to help support them. Their lives intersect briefly with Dashton Rafferdy, the idle, witty son of nobility, and his friend, Eldyn Garritt, who is secretly barely able to maintain himself and his sister and who has been forced to leave university in order to 'pursue some business opportunities.'

Ivy Lockwood, the eldest sister, a bookish intelligent girl intent on helping her father out of his impaired state, knows she does not move in Rafferdy's circle, even though their minds and perhaps their hearts grow close. Rafferdy also knows he must eventually fulfill his duty to his father and his name. And Eldyn knows he cannot pretend much longer that he's able to maintain the carefree life of a gentleman, having no source of income and the care of his younger sister. Meanwhile, treason and revolution are whispered about on the streets and in the taverns and highwaymen and bandits are increasing hazards of the roads. And Ivy's inquiries into the mystery of her father's illness may point to a magical conspiracy and a possible threat to the world at large.

This is not a fast-paced, action-filled book, but will intrigue those who may like a little fantasy in their Austen or their Gothic Romance. The characters were all sympathetic, Ivy in particular was a nice mix of being a well-brought up girl of her society and yet also intelligent, curious and strong. The magics were interesting and varied--with the learned, academic magic of the magicians (which has only lately come back into favor among the nobility), the wild magic of the witches and the outlaws--and trees, the illusions of the mysterious theatrical, disreputable Siltheri, and the unknown alien threat that may come through a door that should not be opened.

Although this book concludes at a suitable point, there is much more to explore in this world and with these characters and I'm glad to know that there is a sequel in the works. I'm curious to know more about Eldyn and the Siltheri, who are still just sub-plot in this very long book.

The story was somewhat slow in parts and seems to fall into three distinct parts, the first part being very Austen-like (with plot and character elements drawn from _Pride and Prejudice_), the second part bearing a resemblance to _Jane Eyre_ with bits of other notable tales mixed in and strangely switching to a first-person epistolary style, then back to third-person and the various viewpoints of the three main characters again for the last part. The ending does seem strangely flat and rushed compared to the sedate pace of the first two parts, but isn't horrible. I'd have liked to have an explanation of the varying lengths of days and nights, even if it were only that it was magical or natural and no one knew the mechanism of it. But I still enjoyed reading this more than I had trouble with it, and as I said, am curious enough to be looking forward to the sequel--mostly in hopes that the characters and the world will be better fleshed out and live up to the hints that there may be interesting things revealed.