Customer Reviews

Sorcery & Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot

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Okay, here's another book that I snagged off the shelf for its gorgeous cover. I loved the idea of an enchanted chocolate pot and perhaps was even more overjoyed to find that it was written by two of my favorite authors, (Wrede, of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, and Stevermer, of A College of Magics.) and horrified that I hadn't read it before, as this was simply a republication of the original, published in 1987!

Already holding high expectations from the book, I was suprised when it started out slow. Used to the fast paced Harry Potter or the action-to-the-minute Enchanted Forest Chronicles, it took me a few chapters to really connect with the characters.

Written in letter form between two cousins, Kate and Cecelia, the book takes place in an alternate (magical) universe in England 1817. The two are well-born girls; Kate is off having a Season in London while Cecelia stays at home in the country. Kate feels pushed aside by her beautiful sister Georgina; Cecelia is put out by not being allowed a Season of her own.

But the plot soon picks up as the two girls' stories intertwine. In the country, ordinary Dorothea becomes irresistable to all men. Clever Cecelia befriends her and starts to unwind the mystery behind the weird attraction. Meanwhile, in London, Kate is almost poisoned by an "old" lady in a garden and befriends an "odious" Marquis to whom the retrieval of the the Enchanted Chocolate Pot is quite important.

The language and the magic in the book speak for themselves; I was completely drawn into this unique world. The intrigue and mystery were believable and definitely kept me turning pages. Kate and Cecelia's letters are witty and funny as they dabble in sorcery and try to save the Marquis of Shofield and themselves from the clutches of the estranged sorcerers Lady Miranda and Sir Hilary.

So...I would definitely reccommend this novel. IT WAS FABULOUS! This review really doesn't do the book justice. YOU HAVE TO READ IT! If you have any respect for fantasy novels, you simply must purshase this book. Consider making it a part of your permanent library. (You'll be wanting to read it again, I promise!)

Happy Reading! And watch for a its sequel, The Grand Tour, which might be out this summer!

"Sorcery and Cecelia," an epistolary Fantasy Regency Romance (*phew!*), has quickly joined the ranks of my "novels to read when you want to stay up all night and languish all morning." Quite simply, the book is charming. Rarely do collaborative efforts seem to work, but "Sorcery and Cecelia" most assuredly does! Following the adventures of two cousins - the inept Kate in her first season in London, and the headstrong Cecelia as she discovers her sorcerous abilities - the reader is swept into a world of danger, mystery and intrigue (and the never fully explained story of WHAT in the world that adventure with the goat was about) that makes the pages turn of their own accord! The historical research is solid, the content wholesome and exciting, and the romances (Kate's especially) to sigh for. In short, as the others have said before me, this is *fun*.

Unfortunately, good novels seems to be out of vogue today, and you'll have an either difficult or exorbitant time buying it. For those who have read Wrede's other two Fantasy Regencies, "Mairelon the Magician" and "Magician's Ward," "Sorcery and Cecelia" is a must-read. For those with slim purses, interlibrary loan is a beautiful thing.

In a world just slightly different than Jane Austen's society, we meet two extraordinary young women, Cecelia and Katherine. Katherine is having her Season in London...and what an exciting one it turns out to be! Meanwhile, back home, Cecelia's having a rather intersting time, too. Cecy and Kate encounter malevolent wizards, an *enchantingly* (if you get my drift) beautiful girl with whom every eligible (or not) young man is falling in love, two singularly odious young men...and a very peculiar chocolate pot. Throw this in with a nice number of parties, spells, and detail to the historical time period, add some witty humor and enjoy! A light, fun book to read. If you like this quasi-historical fiction, also try Wrede's Mairelon the Magician, the sequel, Magician's Ward and Stevermer's The Serpent's Egg and A College of Magics.

I don't mean that in a derogatory way, either. This is light reading at its best -- and yes, there is a plot! If you like stories with balls and handsome, sardonic noblemen, if you like stories with magic and friendship and humor, this is a good book for you. But if you've never wished that you could wear a silk dress and drink tea with a duke, you probably shouldn't bother looking for it. This book is manners-and-sorcery, as opposed to sword-and-sorcery. If you like it, try MAIRELON the Magician and the non-fantastical works of Jane Austen. :) If you don't like it, go back to trolls, blood, guts and war, and leave the silly people who do like it to dream of coaches and wizards and coming-out balls.

One of the wonderful things about the success of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, aside from those wonderful books themselves, is that it has publishers rushing to their backlogs and slush piles for more magical children's books. That's why this novel, originally published over ten years ago, finally has been reprinted, along with a sequel called The Grand Tour. I had long heard about this novel, having had it recommended to me by the automatic recommendation service at Alexandria Digital Library, and having that recommendation seconded by a number of AlexLit's patrons. Every time I was in a used book store, I would check the shelves for this book and never finding it, so I was overjoyed when I discovered this reprint on a table at a local science fiction convention.

As the longer title indicates, the format of this book is epistolary (i.e., a series of letters between the two main characters). That format can be difficult for readers, as it tends to put a distance between the reader and the action by adding a time-delay, but the two authors (in their major character guises) are excellent at drawing you into each letter and the story. It turns out, from an afterword here, that the two authors wrote this originally as a game, each writing actual letters to the other which the recipient had to use when writing their own. Because these two women were excellent authors to begin with (having previously published books individually), their game turned into a highly enjoyable novel.

The setting is an England in the post-Napoleanic era, made famous in literature by Jane Austen. And Austen is who first comes to mind when you read this, as much of the feel of the book has that comedy of manners and social slights that Austen excelled at. Then you throw in the fact that magic works, from lowly "charm bags" that require excellent needlework to full-scale necromancy that can claim lives. London parties, country dances, and the machinations of mothers and aunts combine with this magic to create a novel where you simply need to read the next letter to find out what happened. I read this in a single day while on vacation, unable to put it down. I then gave it to a twelve-year-old girl at the resort I was at who proceeded to devour it the next day and immediately ask if I had the sequel, which is about the highest recommendation for a book I can make.

This book is really hard to find but well worth the find (or the additional price). It takes place during regency England (think Jane Austen) but magic is something that is quite normal. The two main characters - Kate and Cecelia - write letters back and forth to one another (Kate is in London while Cecelia is back home). They discover something sinister going on and through their combined efforts find themselves involved right in the middle of things. After reading the book (which was absolutely wonderful - I read it in one evening!), I read the authors' note at the back. The two authors actually never intended for this to be published as a book. They were just playing the "Letter Game" where they each have a character and write letters back and forth as those characters. The plot is never discussed and it is only through the letter just received that the other person discovers how it is moving forward. When they finished their "Game" they realized that they actually did have a book. They tidied up a few things and sent it off to their publisher, who delightfully published it. What a wonderful way to write a book - and especially such a good book.

I was delighted to discover when I finished "Sorcery and Cecilia" that the book had started its life as a game between the two authors, who developed two fictional personae and worked out the whole novel writing letters to one another. I think that the novel benefits and suffers from its source; there is a a spark and liveliness to it that I think (I hope?) comes from the excitement and fun of its making; but it also ultimately lacks the tender flesh and heart of a novel with only one author. It's a bit jumbled, and the characters could use more development; but it also hearkens back to a whole venerable tradition of novel writing (the epistolary novel) and revives it in a new and contemporary form.

Actually, I'm positively delighted that this book exists. It's witty and erudite while also being a pure romp...it's innovative and not at all full of itself. It was a great - and very fast - read.

Cecilia and Kate are the letter writers; each girl has her own villain, her own beau, her own magical gifts...and they unite to unravel one big mystery. This air of us-against-the-world, sensible girls who can accomplish anything if they just have enough pluck, friendship founded in honesty and loyalty and plain good fun makes for a satisfying read.

The girls are easy to identify with and the book is written in a style that somehow manages to make a boring tea party and a magical battle more or less equally matter of fact.

Sorcery & Cecilia centers around two friends, Kate & Cecy, in Regency England. Kate was lucky enough to be sent off with her Aunt Charlotte and cousin Georgina for her first London Season. Well, her best friend Cecy thought she was lucky. Cecy was stuck in the country with her domineering Aunt Elizabeth and her brother Oliver. But Kate would like nothing more than to be at home rather than have to endure her London season as a wallflower. But when Kate accidentally triggers a trap set for the mysterious Marquis of Schofield, she becomes quite popular. Unfortunately the odious Marquis refuses to answer Kate's questions about who the witch was who tried to poison her and why she hates the Marquis so intensely.

Meanwhile, back in the country, Cecy is hot on the trail of the intolerable James Tarleton, who seems determined to spy out her beautiful new neighbor & friend at every opportunity. She is sure that James is up to no good and also suspects him of planting the magical herb bag under her brother Oliver's bed. James fobbs her off with some haphazard excuse and keeps on following her neighbor. But Cecy is not one to give up so easily and sneaks into Sir Hilary Bedrick's estate and "borrows" a book on magical bags. Surprisingly enough, Cecy turns out to have a marked talent for creating the bags and quickly makes bags of protection for Kate and Oliver. But what the two girls don't realize is that their innocent actions have brought them to the attention of both Sir Hilary and Miranda Thomas, the witch who tried to trap Kate. Neither one of them knows what is going on, but they recognize villains when they see them. Despite James & Thomas' best efforts, they cannot keep Cecy and Kate from rushing headlong into danger and solving their problems, even if they didn't ask for their assistance!

This is a fast paced, fun fantasy to read, especially if you are familiar with Regency England. I have always enjoyed alternate history books and this was an intriguing look at what England would be like if magic was commonplace. They even have a Royal College of Wizards in London! Kate and Cecy were both charming heroines and it was very amusing to watch them run circles around Thomas and James and get everything figured out and solved almost before the men knew what was happening. The authors chose a very interesting format for the book - it is all written in letter form. Kate writes to Cecy and tells her everything that is going on in London and vice versa. This was a very interesting approach and I enjoyed the very different personalities of the heroines, so ably portrayed by two different authors. If you enjoy fantasy or Regency books, you should love this one!

Patricia C. Wrede has written so many good books (Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Marileon the Magician, the Raven Ring, the Lyra Novels, and more), so I picked this book up a few days after having listened to a long lecture from my sister on how great it was. I looked at the cover, said, 'Nice cover,' and set it down to start later - which I did. I had hopes it would be good, I didn't doubt Patricia C. Wrede, but I didn't want my hopes to get to high and be disappointed. Well, it turns out I needn't have worried. This book is seriously the best book I've read all year (except perhaps the Harry Potter's, and the Witches of Eileanan's, both series are fantastic), and that's saying a lot.

It's about these two (women) cousins, Cecelia and Kate, and the story takes place many years ago in Britain. Kate goes to London to be introduced to Society, but Cecelia is in disgrace because of a goat incident (which it never fully explains). The whole story is in letters from one cousin to the other, and they discuss social events, politics, fashions, family, and... wizards.

One very interesting thing about this book is the way it was written. The two authors, Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer, played the 'Letter Game' - they sent real letters to each other, pretending to be their character. They never discussed the plot (well, once, a tiny), though they did discuss the characters, and then at the end of (I think) 6 months, they looked at the letters together and decided to make a book.

It's a very hilarious book, with a great plot and wonderful characters, and anyone who likes fantasy - or even Jane Austen - will enjoy this book; unless you like battles with guns or swords, because this book doesn't have that. Otherwise, it is certainly worth it to get this book.

Sorcery and Cecelia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Caroline Stevermer and Patricia C. Wrede was a funny, light-hearted, and a bit of a romantic read. The novel, set in the early nineteenth century, is about two cousins  Cecelia Rushton, who lives in Rushton Manor in the English countryside, and Katherine Talgarth, who is having her first Season in London  and their various exploits with magic. Interestingly, instead of being written in a traditional format, Sorcery and Cecelia is written as the correspondence between Kate and Cecy. The story includes many memorable characters, such as Thomas (aka the Mysterious Marquis), Miranda, Sir Hilary, the nagging aunts, and numerous others. Although a bit slow in the beginning, the story soon picks up the pace as the cousins begin to write more and more frequently, and become further involved in sorcery. The ending was kind of soppy, but readers catch hints of whats coming earlier in the book. All-in-all, this was an enjoyable read that I would recommend to teenage girls, especially those who enjoyed the Harry Potter series.