Subject: Caroline Stevermer: A College of Magics

From: [email-masked] (Dani Zweig)
Date: 11 Jul 1994 19:48:31 GMT

"A College of Magics" is a delightful book -- a good reworking of bad
cliches.  The first (and best) section of the book begins with the arrival
of Faris Nallaneen at Greenlaw College:  Faris is the true heir to the
Duchy of Galazon, but her wicked uncle has sent her off to finishing school
to get her out of the way.  (I did mention the cliches, didn't I?)

Greenlaw students acquire an unusual finish, as the college is best known
for teaching magic.  (In most respects, the setting is a turn-of-the-century
Europe, albeit with a slightly different mix of petty kingdoms, but this
is a world of some magic, as well as technology.)  For most of the first
section we see little magic (till the end), but rather the obligatory
round of study and socializing and of rivalry with the obnoxious girl from
the next kingdom but two.  This can be fun to read if it's done right, and
Caroline Stevermer does it right.

	"You really can't expect me to keep all those little countries
	 straight.  I'm not ignorant, just English."

The second section of the book sees Faris return home to her beloved
country and her wicked uncle, a trip marked by obligatory melodramatic
trappings such as assassination attempts and brigands.  There's also a
more fantastic problem:  Faris appears to have inherited an obligation to
save the world by undoing a spell unleashed by her grandmother.  With the
help of Jane Brailsford, good school friend and competent witch, she
returns home to confront her wicked uncle.  Her first attempts to find out
what he's plotting fail.  Again, cliche is piled upon cliche, but
Stevermer pulls it off with good writing and charming characters.

	"Your hat is ticking."

The third and last section is the weakest -- not enough to ruin the book,
but enough to disappoint.  Jane and Faris and her uncle travel to Aravill,
the next kingdom but two, which also happens to be the country that has a
claim to Galazon and also happens to be a country to which Faris has a
claim and also happens to be the location of the spell Faris must undo and
also happens to be the setting for her uncle's plan.  (Convenient, isn't it?)
Fortunately, the section is over a hundred pages long, which is about right
for the necessary socializing and spying and disguises and midnight chases
and desperate strategems and romance.  (Did I mention that this book runs
in well-worn tracks?)

Unfortunately, the humor of the earlier sections fails here somewhat,
leaving the silliness and arbitrariness of the plot inadequately cloaked.
The romantic subplot, for instance, is wooden and contrived, and ends a
bit too conveniently.  The uncle's plot turns out to have considerable
potential to harm him, and little or none to benefit him, which makes it
nothing but a tool for driving the plot in the desired direction.  The
difficulty of undoing the spell (as opposed to finding it) was not
reasonably foreshadowed, and the cost of undoing it seems unreasonable.
(Unreasonable?  Well, this is a fantasy, so the cost is completely up to
the author, and what the author chose was precisely what would maximize
angst.)  In other words, the book does not end nearly so well as it
begins.  But it begins well enough that it is well worth reading.  Like
"Sorcery and Cecilia" (which may or may not take place in the same world),
this book uses silly genre conventions to good effect, and the result is
fun to read. 

	"Thank you for rescuing me."
	"You're welcome.  May I claim a reward?"
	Faris felt unaccountably breathless.  "Certainly."
	Tyrian leaned close and murmered, "Tell me where we're going."

%A Stevermer, Caroline
%T A College of Magics
%I Tor
%C New York
%D March 1994
%G ISBN 0-312-85689-X
%P 380 pp
%O hardcover, US$22.95

-----
Dani Zweig
[email-masked]  [email-masked]

   'T is with our judgements as our watches, none
   Go alike, yet each believes his own
		--Alexander Pope