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Loading... The Magician's Daughterby H. G. Parry
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Biddy lives on the magical island of Hy-Brasil, where she has been raised by Rowan, a mage who tells her she came to him as the only survivor of a shipwreck, and his rabbit familiar. But now, sixteen years old and longing to experience the outside world, she is coming to realize that there are things that Rowan hasn't told her, and that all of them are in danger. There's some very familiar fantasy tropes here -- I am beginning to wonder if I maybe haven't seen "magic is disappearing from the world!" one too many times -- but what the novel does with them is good, and its take on the things that magic can do in the world is both interesting and very, well, magical. The plot is decent, and Biddy is a great character, clever and brave, but also completely believable as a teenage girl who doesn't feel herself to be anything extraordinary. Her relationship with Rowan, too, is complicated and interesting, being far from perfect, but strong and loving and rather moving, nonetheless. There are also some undercurrents of social commentary that aren't preachily belabored, but are well-taken. Basically, it's just a good, solid, well-done fantasy novel. Biddy grows up on the wild island of Hy-Brasil learning from Rowan, the mage and Hutch, his medium about the natural and magical aspects of the world. Socially isolated she learns about people from the many books she reads in the dilapidated castle that is their home. But approaching age 17, Biddy hankers for new, additional experiences in her life. She ends getting more than she ever imagined. This wonderful novel is all about learning, kindness, respect, thoughtfulness, sacrifice and love. And books, books and more books. Sweet! Hy-Brasil is the only home Biddy has ever known, living with Rowan and his familiar Hutchinson. Rowan has kept her safe and kept the little magic he has, because magic is becoming rarer and rarer and the council of Magicians off in London are hoarding as much as they can so they can do what they want with it. Set is 1912 it was a cosy story but I can't help thinking about the building stresses that were in the world at that time but maybe magic helped prevent that (though I have Thoughts about Irish Independence and that period). Biddy is curious about the outside world that she has only read about in books and she might be part of what is needed to solve the problem of the vanishing magic. I liked this found family story and was drawn in by it. I wasn't sure about the time it was set in as I was reading and honestly I thought it was later that 1912 and more into the present or near past, still I enjoyed the read and would read more by this author. no reviews | add a review
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It is 1912, and for the last seventy years magic has all but disappeared from the world. Yet magic is all Biddy has ever known. Orphaned as a baby, Biddy grew up on Hy-Brasil, a legendary island off the coast of Ireland hidden by magic and glimpsed by rare travelers who return with stories of wild black rabbits and a lone magician in a castle. To Biddy, the island is her home, a place of ancient trees and sea-salt air and mysteries, and the magician, Rowan, is her guardian. She loves both, but as her seventeenth birthday approaches, she is stifled by her solitude and frustrated by Rowan's refusal to let her leave. One night, Rowan fails to come home from his mysterious travels. To rescue him, Biddy ventures into his nightmares and learns not only where he goes every night, but that Rowan has powerful enemies. Determination to protect her home and her guardian, Biddy's journey will take her away from the safety of her childhood, to the poorhouses of Whitechapel, a secret castle beneath London streets, the ruins of an ancient civilization, and finally to a desperate chance to restore lost magic. But the closer she comes to answers, the more she comes to question everything she has ever believed about Rowan, her own origins, and the cost of bringing magic back into the world. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.92Literature English English fiction Modern Period 2000-LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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I very much enjoyed this coming-of-age fantasy, with its strong characters and well-developed magic system. Would it be possible for me to go live on Hy-Brasil now, do you think? I would adore it. Recommended. ( )