The Wizard of London

I'm sure Mercedes Lackey has read as many British boarding school books as I have, and a LOT more books on magic. The book is full of what ought to be cliches - but the way she transmutes them is - well, magic.

Probably more of a 3.5 stars, but I enjoyed it.The best part of this book was the magical world presented. It's an alternate history, set in England in a past much like ours. There was a world of elemental mages, with the power to control an element and the magical creatures associated with that sphere, and those with more psychic gifts-- like speaking with the dead as well as various battle related skills.The characters were also interesting, particularly David Alderscroft. He's a basically good guy being lured by the pull of power, led by a mentor who is much more than she appears. Isabelle also had an interesting story, linked long ago with David's. After their relationship ended, she went to India, and found her husband. Together show more they have built a very satisfying life, including a school for children of British citizens living abroad-- particularly those with magical talents of the non-elemental variety.At the center of the action are two very talented young girls. I had a problem when reading that if their age was given in the first part of the book, I missed it. If I'd been reading a print version I would have gone back to check, but that's much harder when listening. I kept trying to guess, and my estimates ranged from 8/10 to 15/17. I did figure it out, but I think I would have liked the book better if they had been older. As it was, it felt more like events were happening to them, and they weren't mature enough to make good decisions about their involvement.I'm planning to go back and fill in earlier books in the series. I don't think they are particularly tightly linked, but I'd like to explore this world a little more. show less

Guttersnipe to Gentry

The Wizard of London is another brilliant book in Mercedes Lackey's Elementals series. Set in and around London, the story begins with a special child who comes back from the jungles of Ghana.

Sarah is the daughter of missionaries, but not your average religious folks. Recognized early as someone who is Talented, Sarah is taught by the local tribespeople and a parrot named Gray.

When it becomes obvious that she needs a safer place to live, Sarah is sent back to London to Isabelle Wharton's school. A place where children of all classes are welcome and, coincidentally, quite a few are also Talented.

Sarah is lonely for a while until Memsa'b, as Isabelle is known as, encourages her to make friends with a street urchin who show more comes for the charity food basket and ends up staying on.

There is a clear division between the Gifted and Talented and the Elemental Masters, however, Memsa'b keeps her foot in both worlds. As the extent of Sarah and Nan's powers become known, the plot thickens.

Woven into the story are the different cultures of India, Africa and the British Isles. Buddhism, Moslems, Sihks, Christians and pagans all put in appearances.

Lackey even addresses the horrible inequity between gender and classes as she pulls together a suspenseful and tension filled tale that will keep you guessing until the end. Highly recommended. show less

A Young Adult fantasy set in Victorian London. The heros are two girls at a boarding school: Sarah, daughter of African missionaries, sent back to England for school and training of her magical Talents, and Nan, guttersnipe and also Talented. They each have a familiar - a grey parrot and a Tower raven. Their pleasant life at boarding school becomes entangled with some of the higher Elemental magicians and their power plays.
This is apparently book 4 of a series I haven't read, but it stands well on its own. It is a pleasant diversion - easily read, well-written for its intended audience. It reminded me less of Harry Potter and more of early Shirley Temple movies.

This book was definitely better than 'Gates of Sleep' and I can appreciate the Snow Queen associations - it was a very creative idea and I really enjoyed it - but compared to the other books within this series, is just not as interesting. While gifted children certainly have their place in this universe that Ms. Lackey created, I was disappointed when so much of the focus was on them rather than the Masters. I'm hoping that after this book and 'Reserved for the Cat' we'll go back to a female Elemental Master as the protagonist/main character in the next Elemental Masters book, I'd hate to see this series deteriorate as some series inevitably do.

This episode in the Elemental Masters series moves away from the Elemental Masters themselves to another group of people who have various psychic powers. Isabelle Harton was a vicar's daughter raised around those of a higher social class than her own. When her upper class beau - David Alderscroft - dropped her with no warning, she travelled to India where she learned about her own unique powers, married a man with similar powers, gathered friends, and returned to London to open a school for ex-patriot children who have Talents and powers.

Sarah Lyon-White was nine when she came to the Harton School from Africa. Her parents, both Earth Masters, know they can't train Sarah in her different gifts. Sarah looks to be growing into a true show more medium. Sarah does have a guardian and protector in her African Gray parrot whom she names Gray.

Nan Killian is a street kid who comes to the door of the Harton School for the daily handouts. She has a way of knowing when someone presents a danger to her. When she is almost snatched by men her gin-soaked mother has sold her to, Nan and Sarah run and are rescued by some of Isobel Harton's friends who are guards at the school. Nan is taken in at the school and becomes Sarah's new best friend. Nan also wants a bird like Sarah has, and a trip to the Tower of London finds her bringing home one of the Queen's ravens who becomes her friend and guardian Neville.

Unmasking a fake medium brings the children to the attention of an Elemental Master who has gone to the dark side. A trip to a house inhabited by an ancient evil spirit is arranged by that Master, but intervention by the Hartons and their friends, and an early onset of Nan's Aspect, manages to save them from disaster.

The disaster does manage to result in the transfer of the school to a country home for the summer where Isabelle meets David again and finds him much changed. He has fallen under the influence of the dark master and it will take everyone's efforts to free him from that influence and save him. Isabelle isn't certain that she can forgive him for what he did to her as a girl, and isn't sure she wants to save him now. But the girls, especially Sarah, sees some good in him and knows that he must be saved if the future is not to turn very, very bad.

The story is lushly told and very vivid. The characters, including the Puck, add depth and richness to the tale. The setting in a pre-World War I England, but one infused with magic, is well-imagined and drawn.

Fans of fantasy and alternate history and stories with fairy tale influences will really enjoy this book and this series. show less

I listened to the audio edition. Amazon continues its foolishly short-sighted practice of not allowing linking to Audible editions, even though they own Audible and presumably make money from the sale of Audible editions. So, I'm linking to a print edition.

I hadn't read any Lackey in quite a while, having grown tired of what I thought of as her typical output. A friend recommended this, and I was very pleasantly surprised.

This is a "secret history" set in late Victorian England, with Elemental Mages (who possess what we would call magical powers based in the four elemental powers of earth, air, fire, and water) and the Gifted and Talented (who possess what we would call psychic powers, which are in this world referred to as occult show more powers) operate quietly behind the scenes, with most of the population unaware of their existence.

Isabelle Harton, with her husband Frederick, runs the Harton School for Boys and Girls, intended to serve the children of British soldiers, missionaries, and government officials serving abroad, as well as the "gifted and talented" children who aren't adequately served by the more numerous schools serving those with Elemental powers. Sarah Jane, just nine years old, is sent to the Harton School from Africa, where her parents are missionary healers. Sarah Jane is clearly among the Talented, but it's not clear what her gift is, and of course her parents do not commit that information to pen and paper. Sarah Jane settles in quickly, and befriends a street urchin, Nan, who has her own problems and, it turns out, her own Talent, and all is well for a time.

Then it becomes clear that Sarah Jane has the rarest of all Talents, a genuine ability to communicate with the spirits of the dead. Shortly thereafter, there is an attempt by an elemental master to arrange the deaths of both girls.

Isabelle and Frederick, who have been concerned for a bit that the sudden gathering of several Talented children in London means that those Talents will be needed, now know that the girls are in immediate danger, and must find the source of the threat and the real aim of whoever their unknown enemy is. This is a fun, engaging adventure with well-drawn characters, not just the girls themselves and the other principal members of the Harton household, but their enemies and allies, including Robin Goodfellow (yes, that one), David Alderscroft, the Fire Mage who courted and jilted Isabelle many years ago, and his mentor, the Air Mage Lady Cordelia.

Very enjoyable, and I'm planning to look up the earlier books in the serious. Recommended.

I borrowed this book from a friend. show less