Magic’s Child by Justine Larbalestier
Mar. 10th, 2009 11:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
The Blurb On The Back:
“Magic called to me, to all of us: leave everything behind, become a part of Magic, a child of Magic.”
A week ago, fifteen-year-old Reason Cansino didn’t even know magic existed. Now she’s been given more power than she could ever have imagined. Suddenly, Reason can do anything, go anywhere, and live for centuries ... The only cost? Her humanity.
As Reason begins to lose herself in the intoxicating essence of magic itself, her friends Tom and Jay-Tee must choose between magic and death, or madness.
With Magic’s Child, Justine Larbalestier’s award-winning Magic or Madness Trilogy comes to a breathtaking conclusion.
Following straight on from MAGIC LESSONS, Reason is pregnant, infected with Raul Cansino’s magic and struggling to come to terms with both facts. Raul’s magic is literally changing her, making her see the world through new eyes, see the way that magic actually operates. Increasingly seduced by the power of being able to do whatever she wants, she discovers that the power comes at the expense of her humanity – evidenced through physical changes that are becoming too obvious to ignore.
Reason’s plan remains the same – to find a way to cure the increasingly frail Jay-Tee and her mother of the magic that kills them or makes them insane. But as she and her grandmother look for answers, Reason’s links to humanity become more tenuous and the question becomes not whether she can find a cure, but if she will care enough about her friends and mother to use it.
There are two main sub-plots – one focuses on Jay-Tee’s struggles to come to terms with the possibility that she will die young while fighting a growing attraction for Tom; the other on the return of Jason Blake, who still retains his hopes of seizing the Cansino magic from Reason and who will use anything – or anyone – to do so.
Although the plot is light on events, it’s strong on character. Larbalestier’s portrayal of her characters – both young and old – is never less than convincing and if I personally hankered for a little more action, I never doubted the credibility of the characters or their struggle. Larbalestier ties up all of the loose ends, but that doesn’t mean the ending is pat and it’s admirable that she opts not to give her characters everything they want. I also admired the way she leaves the way open for a sequel of sorts and if she produces such a book, I would definitely want to read it.
The only weak point in the book comes when Jay-Tee and Tom have a discussion about God and magic. Although religious faith has been briefly mentioned in the previous books, here it felt a little too self-conscious for it to really work for me, not least because Larbelestier plays it safe by refusing to come to any conclusions.
All in all though, this is a mature, thought-provoking conclusion to an excellent trilogy and one I would happily recommend to any teenager.
The Verdict:
Well-written conclusion to a thought-provoking trilogy. This is one set of books that I wish had been promoted more effectively within the UK as it’s one many teens will enjoy.
A week ago, fifteen-year-old Reason Cansino didn’t even know magic existed. Now she’s been given more power than she could ever have imagined. Suddenly, Reason can do anything, go anywhere, and live for centuries ... The only cost? Her humanity.
As Reason begins to lose herself in the intoxicating essence of magic itself, her friends Tom and Jay-Tee must choose between magic and death, or madness.
With Magic’s Child, Justine Larbalestier’s award-winning Magic or Madness Trilogy comes to a breathtaking conclusion.
Following straight on from MAGIC LESSONS, Reason is pregnant, infected with Raul Cansino’s magic and struggling to come to terms with both facts. Raul’s magic is literally changing her, making her see the world through new eyes, see the way that magic actually operates. Increasingly seduced by the power of being able to do whatever she wants, she discovers that the power comes at the expense of her humanity – evidenced through physical changes that are becoming too obvious to ignore.
Reason’s plan remains the same – to find a way to cure the increasingly frail Jay-Tee and her mother of the magic that kills them or makes them insane. But as she and her grandmother look for answers, Reason’s links to humanity become more tenuous and the question becomes not whether she can find a cure, but if she will care enough about her friends and mother to use it.
There are two main sub-plots – one focuses on Jay-Tee’s struggles to come to terms with the possibility that she will die young while fighting a growing attraction for Tom; the other on the return of Jason Blake, who still retains his hopes of seizing the Cansino magic from Reason and who will use anything – or anyone – to do so.
Although the plot is light on events, it’s strong on character. Larbalestier’s portrayal of her characters – both young and old – is never less than convincing and if I personally hankered for a little more action, I never doubted the credibility of the characters or their struggle. Larbalestier ties up all of the loose ends, but that doesn’t mean the ending is pat and it’s admirable that she opts not to give her characters everything they want. I also admired the way she leaves the way open for a sequel of sorts and if she produces such a book, I would definitely want to read it.
The only weak point in the book comes when Jay-Tee and Tom have a discussion about God and magic. Although religious faith has been briefly mentioned in the previous books, here it felt a little too self-conscious for it to really work for me, not least because Larbelestier plays it safe by refusing to come to any conclusions.
All in all though, this is a mature, thought-provoking conclusion to an excellent trilogy and one I would happily recommend to any teenager.
The Verdict:
Well-written conclusion to a thought-provoking trilogy. This is one set of books that I wish had been promoted more effectively within the UK as it’s one many teens will enjoy.