The Third Magic

Molly Cochran’s third Arthurian novel is both exciting and exasperating – exciting in the passages set in modern-day North America, exasperating when the action shifts to Dark Age or prehistoric Britain. In the descriptions of the young reincarnated Arthur living in the American Midwest, and the characters he encounters and the situations which develop, Cochran has that sure touch that comes from following the advice that all debutant writers are given: write about what you know. Within the thriller genre that she utilises, these episodes work well, with reasonably complex characterisation and hugely enjoyable edge of the seat action.

Cochran’s Dark Age Britain is not one that I even vaguely recognise, however. The characters have show more anachronistic late medieval names taken from Malory, Orkney [sic] seems to have become a land-locked forest kingdom instead of the island archipelago it is, knights speak like actors in early 20th-century British talkies (“I say,” is their usual preamble) and, most preposterously of all, Arthur’s people are referred to as the English, who then fight against the Anglo-Saxon invaders, the real-life ancestors of the English! This is such a clumsy mash-up from different literary sources. In addition, feminist fantasy takes on the Matter of Britain (which is what The Third Magic in part is) don't need to justify themselves but I feel Cochran’s mixing of genres in this novel -- thriller, historical fiction and feminist fantasy -- is both unsuccessful and mistaken.

Despite these strictures, this novel by the end repays persistence, and the final resolutions are unexpected and lyrical. Possibly worth a second look, The Third Magic is a book to borrow rather than to buy and keep; but on the basis of this exemplar I shan’t be in any hurry to explore the previous titles in this sequence (the first two co-written with Warren Murphy), however magical they may claim to be.

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I wish I remembered more of this story, but I definitely remember enjoying it. Sadly I was taking a lot of painkillers and reading during injury recovery.