January 19, 2009

Review: Modern Magic by Anne Cordwainer


Courtesy of Clotho Press


Siblings John and Liz Prospero are two very different people. John takes after most of his ancestors as a very powerful sorcerer and Liz was born without an ounce of magic in her. She's what the magical community calls mundane. Surprisingly this combination works well for the pair as John is constantly called upon to fight renegade sorcerers who are out to murder both mundanes and other sorcerers while Liz pitches in with her mundane perspective on all things magical.

With a rise in renegade sorcerers the magical community has to band together and figure out a way to move into the modern world when banishing renegades to their family heads is increasingly becoming another problem rather than the solution.

Modern Magic is a story cycle which is several short stories spanning 11 years with the Prospero family. This was my first book written this way and I absolutely loved it. It made for quick reading and pretty much every chapter is jammed packed with the action because there's not a lot of extra story line needed to fill pages. I love that you get to know both main characters and quite a few secondary characters in detail even with these quick stories arcs. You even get to see most of them grow into adulthood and their respective responsibilities.

Each of the twelve stories all tie together neatly at the end with plenty of surprises throughout. The ending was a complete shocker that I never figured out. It had me so amazed that I almost felt like going back and re-reading just so I could see if there were any clues I missed. This book was a lot of fun and I can't wait to read more from Cordwainer. I recommend it to anyone who loves Urban Fantasy or a great surprise ending.