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A review by caedocyon
A Matter of Magic by Patricia C. Wrede
4.0
3.5 stars; rounding to 4 for nostalgia.
I didn't realize until I read the back of this edition that it's technically a Regency romance. It is, but the romance takes a backseat to the more interesting stuff, like magic and mystery.
Many thoughts about Kim's easy acceptance that there's nothing to be done about systematic poverty. And then there's the argument that magic is often deployed in fantasy in classist ways---the first book definitely has this, but does the second one manage to subvert it? I would have been interested to know more about how the poorer wizards operated, their teachers and their social sphere.
I'm a sucker for anything that mentions Jews, especially historically, and I like the idea that Mairelon sketches. Unfortunately, I don't think it's accurate to say that they would have spoken Hebrew fluently, especially not classical Hebrew---it didn't begin to be revived as a spoken language until towards the end of the 19th century. That raises some questions about whether Ladino, Yiddish, and the local approximation of Hebrew are close enough to the written form, and whether Greek wizards have the same problem or if classical and modern Greek are also different enough.
Also, I did not understand when I was 13 how weird it is that Kim keeps calling him Mairelon even after she knows better.
I didn't realize until I read the back of this edition that it's technically a Regency romance. It is, but the romance takes a backseat to the more interesting stuff, like magic and mystery.
Many thoughts about Kim's easy acceptance that there's nothing to be done about systematic poverty. And then there's the argument that magic is often deployed in fantasy in classist ways---the first book definitely has this
Spoiler
when Kim's ticket out of poverty is her inborn talentI'm a sucker for anything that mentions Jews, especially historically, and I like the idea that Mairelon sketches. Unfortunately, I don't think it's accurate to say that they would have spoken Hebrew fluently, especially not classical Hebrew---it didn't begin to be revived as a spoken language until towards the end of the 19th century. That raises some questions about whether Ladino, Yiddish, and the local approximation of Hebrew are close enough to the written form, and whether Greek wizards have the same problem or if classical and modern Greek are also different enough.
Also, I did not understand when I was 13 how weird it is that Kim keeps calling him Mairelon even after she knows better.