The Mislaid Magician or Ten Years After (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Caroline Stevermer (Author)
Key Phrases: ley line network, ley network, ley energy, Herr Schellen, Haliwar Tower, Aunt Charlotte (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up—In this third magical mystery involving two letter-writing cousins, the women's quiet lives of domesticity are interrupted when the Duke of Wellington asks Cecelia's husband to look into the disappearance of a German magician in the north of England. Cecelia and James hurry to investigate, leaving Kate and her husband to care for their six children. The story is told in the form of the correspondence between the wives as well as the husbands, until the mystery is solved. Readers may be slightly disappointed to find that Cecelia and, especially, Kate are not quite as intrepid as they were in their previous adventures, leaving much of the investigative work to other characters, and at times merely reporting events rather than instigating them. Yet some of the sparkle remains, and fans of the first two books will certainly enjoy revisiting these delightful characters. Suggest this Harry-Potter-meets-Jane-Austen series to romantic-fantasy readers, but strongly encourage them to read the earlier ones first.—Jennifer Stubben, Barrington Area Library, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Set in an alternate England in which wizardry exists, this sequel to Sorcery and Cecelia(2003) and The Grand Tour (2004) takes place in 1828. After placing their children in the care of cousin Kate, Cecy and her husband investigate the disappearance of a railway surveyor-magician and the strange properties of ley lines--powerful, invisible channels of magical energy. The story unfolds through the characters' letters, in which the formal locution of the period is leavened by the wit and chattiness of good friends sharing revelations and confidences. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1 edition (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152055487
• ISBN-13: 978-0152055486
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #232,282 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #5 in	Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( S ) > Stevermer, Caroline
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• This is item 3 in The Cecy and Kate Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lot of fun, October 26, 2006

By	Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews

Although I thoroughly enjoyed both of the earlier books in this series, I think I like this one best of all. I received it from Amazon yesterday and read it ALL, last night. It's quite skillfully written (even better than the earlier books), the characters are extremely likeable, and the story moves along nicely, with humor and interesting twists and turns.

For me, the characters are the most important part of a book. (If I don't like the characters, I won't bother with the book.) I really like the continuity of seeing characters I like in a series, and in this book, the continuation of the story of the main characters was completely satisfying (even more than in first two books, in which I wasn't all that fond of James). Also, minor characters I had liked reappeared (though briefly), and there was very little of the ones whom I really disliked. It was as satisfying to see this next part of the lives of the main characters as it is to hear what has happened to old friends when I see them again.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun and funny "correspondence", December 11, 2006

By	guitarchick24 (USA) - See all my reviews

Cecilia and Kate are back again in The Mislaid Magician, Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer's third book involving these two fearless women living in regency England.

As with the other two books in the series (I'm not sure there is an actual series name for the Cecilia and Kate books), Wrede and Stevermer concocted this novel using the Letter Game, a writing exercise and the formula that worked for their first book, Sorcery and Cecilia.

The Mislaid Magician starts off slowly as it sets up the premise for the mystery that Kate, Cecilia and their spouses will be investigating and writing about to each other during the course of the book. In many ways you feel you are reading two seperate stories, with the plot lines coverging only at the end through a character that affects both story lines but only one of the cousins interacts with.

While I thoroughly enjoy every Patricia C. Wrede book I can get my hands on, I didn't find The Mislaid Magician as captivating as the first two Kate and Cecilia books. For one thing, this book introduces correspondence between Thomas and James as well as their wives. It took me a while to get used to the extra voices (plus, since it had been awhile since I read the first two books, I had to piece together who was married to who). While it was fun to have their perspectives and their wit, in many ways the authors would have been just fine with letters between Cecilia and Kate only.

One aspect of the Letter Game (which the authors observed in Sorcery and Cecilia and I'm assuming they have followed for the sequels) is that the authors are not allowed to discuss their plot ideas with each other. That aspect of the Letter Game, to me, really came out in The Mislaid Magician. It felt like the only thing tying the two stories together was the shared Mr. Scarlet - and even then, it wasn't much of a plot fuser. I had to reread the section to make sure I didn't miss anything, since I was confused as to how Kate's and Cecilia's situations worked together. My conclusion was: they really didn't. It felt like the authors were rushing and needed something to make the story unified.

But if you've read the other Kate and Cecilia stories (or you like Patricia C. Wrede), it's worth your time to read this book. If she and Stevermer continue with this series, I hope they make the next book about the children's adventures. I have a feeling Kate's and Cecilia's children would make for some great letter content!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Third time's the charm, November 18, 2006

By	K. Maxwell "katmax1" (Perth, Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

With this book Wrede and Stevermer are back in form. Ten years after their honeymoon, and now with children of their own who are discovering magic, James and Cecy are asked to investigate a missing German magician. What they find is an ancient magic that is being manipulated in a way that could destroy the country.

This book, like the others in the series, is written as a series of letters. Some characters from the previous books appear in this one, but this is a whole new story. It is enjoyable, and while not quite as witty as the first book in the series, is still a much better read than the second book and its interesting to see how different, and how similar, everyone is now that they are all grown up. This book can be read as a stand alone novel, but you'll enjoy it much more if you've read the other books in the series first.