From archive (archive) Subject: THE SEVEN TOWERS by Patricia C. Wrede (mild spoiler) From: duane@anasazi.UUCP Organization: Anasazi, Phoenix Az. Date: 6 Jun 86 17:38:46 SDT The jacket reads: "Eltiron, Prince of Sevairn: caught in the web of his father's intrigues. Crystalorn, Princess of Barinash: promised in marriage to a prince she's never seen. Ranlyn, the desert rider: forced to choose between friendship and honor. Jermain, the outlaw: exiled from court for the crime of telling the truth. Vandaris, the soldier: who left the life of luxury to wield a sword and lead an army. Carachel, the Wizard-King: who does not understand the awesome power he commands. and Amberglas, the sorceress: who may not be quite as fuddleheaded as she seems... Seven players in a game of deadly magic. Seven Kingdoms at the edge of destruction. Seven Towers holding a dark and dreadful secret." This is a fantasy book; the part of the world in which the story takes place consists of moderate-sized kingdoms with renaissance-like technologies, though only a few of the seven kingdoms play a direct role in this book. In some kingdoms, magic is common, though few people actually have the talent to practice it. The principal characters are very accurately described by the jacket, though Ranlyn doesn't directly appear until rather late in the book. One of the author's strong points is the ability to portray a number of interesting people without confusing the reader as to who is who. I enjoyed the book for a number of reasons. First, the dialogue is frequently fun to read, especially when Amberglas takes part. Second, I couldn't predict what would happen. Third, some of the characters weren't clear cut, and it seems to me more realistic when the characters aren't just black or white. Finally, there was a theme throughout, built a little bit at a time, and the climax put all the pieces together in a nice fashion. I give the book 3.0 stars out of 4.0 (pretty good). -- Duane Morse ...!noao!{mot|terak}!anasazi!duane (602) 870-3330 From archive (archive) Subject: SORCERY & CECELIA by Wrede & Stevermer Keywords: review From: ecl@cbnewsj.ATT.COM (Evelyn C. Leeper) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Date: 27 Oct 89 17:05:29 GMT SORCERY AND CECELIA by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer Ace, 1989, ISBN 0-441-77559-4, $2.95. A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1989 Evelyn C. Leeper This epistolary novel was produced (according to the afterword) as a result of the "Letter Game" with Wrede writing as Cecelia and Stevermer as Kate. Cecelia and Kate are two young ladies of 1817 England, but not quite the England we know. Everything seems to be the same (politics, society, economy) but magic and sorcery work. Whether one considers this alternate history or not is a matter of definition--many require a definite split- point, and specifically disallow the "it's our world but magic works" genre of stories. Cecelia is stuck in Essex while Kate is in London, being introduced to society and becoming engaged to the Mysterious Marquis. Along the way Kate gets on the wrong side of an evil sorceress and, of course, Cecelia becomes entangled in the plots as well. Not being an expert on Regency romances, I can't say whether this is typical of that genre, but I did enjoy it, especially the style, which of course was an imitation of the style of actual letters and novels of the period. If some of the action was a bit predictable, well, that's forgivable, as I don't believe plot surprises were in vogue at that time. If you enjoy novels of the Jane Austen variety, you will probably enjoy this book. If you are bored silly by descriptions of clothing and balls, then you probably won't enjoy this book, though the charming style may overcome this drawback for you. (Is it just my imagination or does Kate on the cover look just like Raquel Welch?) Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 201-957-2070 | att!mtgzy!ecl or ecl@mtgzy.att.com From rec.arts.sf.written Mon Jun 22 15:11:55 1992 Path: herkules.sssab.se!isy!liuida!sunic2!mcsun!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!mips!apple!apple!netcomsv!mork!dani From: dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Patricia Wrede: Mairelon the Magician Message-ID: <3=plc3_.dani@netcom.com> Date: 22 Jun 92 00:52:05 GMT Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Lines: 22 Patricia Wrede's new book, "Mairelon the Magician", is from the same stable as "Sorcery and Cecelia", though it is not told through epistles. It's an enjoyable if silly story placed in an alternate nineteenth- century (Regency?) England, which is just like ours except that magic works, instead of a Royal Society, there is a Royal Society of Wizards, etc. It's a farce. Mairelon is a wizard pretending to be a charletan. Kim is a street-child/thief, disguised as a boy for her own protection, who is commissioned to search Mairelon's abode and winds up working for him. The Saltash Platter is The Excuse -- part of a silver service with a special spell cast upon it. And the reader gets to sit back and watch while everyone within three counties tries to steal it simultaneously. Like "Sorcery and Cecelia", "Mairelon the Magician" is a light-weight but enjoyable piece of period fluff. ----- Dani Zweig dani@netcom.com "The death of God left the angels in a strange position." --Internal documentation, programmer unknown From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Apr 28 14:28:55 1993 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: lysator.liu.se!isy!liuida!sunic!uunet!gumby!wupost!uhog.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!nobody From: Rex Croft Subject: "Mairelon the Magician" by Patricia C. Wrede Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Sender: news@news.media.mit.edu (USENET News System) Organization: Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 23:56:55 GMT Approved: wex@media.mit.edu (Alan Wexelblat) Lines: 42 "Mairelon the Magician" by Patricia C. Wrede - reviewed by Rex Croft ccc_rex@waikato.ac.nz As it says on the front cover, this book is a fantastical history... or a historical fantasy... The novel is set in the eighteenth century England with the addition of magic. A silver plate with magical properties has been stolen and Mairelon (who is a magician) has been given the task to retrieve it. Mairelon picks up a street girl called Kim to assist him. Most of the novel is about the events that occur arround Kim. They travel using a horse and cart from London to a country estate. This historical fantasy detective novel is well paced and humourous. The ending is hillarious, when just about every character mentioned in the book meets together and we learn who did what! From inside the cover: "Mairelon was a traveling magician living out of a gypsy wagon, but his speech and his clothes were too fine for the role, and an air of dark mystery surrounded him. Kim was a guttersnipe, living by her wits in the mean streets of London, disguised as a boy, uncertain of her past or future. She was no fool in spite of her low station; she quickly had Mairelon pegged as an imposter. The magic he performed was much more than a performer's razzle-dazzle; it had the smell of true magic worked by a college-trained sorcerer. Kim knew that Mairelon was somehow involved in an arcane conspiracy that reached out to the farthest country estates and up to the highest levels of Socitey. What she didn't know was that she too was entangled with this stranger's fate. Her life was about to change forever." Recommended. %A Patricia C Wrede %T Mairelon the Magician %I TOR Fantasy %C New York %D July 1992 %O paperback, US$3.99 %P 280 pp. %O ISBN 0-812-50896-3 %O Cover art by Dennis Nolan