Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Ace (2019), 384 pages
Description
"An enchanting debut historical fantasy starring a young woman with an incredible natural talent for sorcery. Onna Gebowa is determined to become a great wizard. She can write the parameters of a spell faster than any of the young men in her village school. But despite her incredible abilities, she's denied a place at the nation's premier arcane academy. Undaunted, she sails to the bustling city-state of Hexos, hoping to find a place at a university where they don't think there's anything untoward about providing a woman with a magical education... Tsira is a troll who never quite fit into her clan, despite being the leader's daughter. She decides to strike out on her own and look for work in a human city, but on her way she stumbles upon a body of a half-dead human soldier in the snow. As she slowly nurses him back to health, an unlikely bond forms between them, one that is soon tested when an unknown mage makes an attempt on Tsira's life. Far away in Hexos, the newly arrived Onna is also drawn into a mysterious, magical attack on a troll. Trolls have lived alongside--and been revered by--humans for generations, but now it appears they're being targeted by a sinister sorcery. And Onna and Tsira both begin to devote their considerable abilities into figuring out how to stop the deaths before their homeland is torn apart.."--… (more)
Media reviews
...utterly delightful.
It has all the elements of a parlor room mystery, with the depth and complexity of any sturdy secondary world fantasy, with just enough sense of humor, danger, and reality to round out the whole book into a startling sort of debut. Waggoner has created a world set at about
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the turn of the century, with a feel of industry sitting alongside a pastoral and intimate world, one which humans share with the mysterious clans of long-lived trolls, who hold a different sort of magic away from their human neighbors. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member Herenya
This was very, very compelling. I finished it within a day and immediately reread most of it. It’s a curious blend of things: there’s Onna, a teenage girl in search of a magical education; and then there’s Tsira, a troll, and Jeckran, an army deserter, who become partners and try to eke out a
Waggoner successfully pulls together these two stories as the characters investigate a series of troll murders. As a murder mystery, it was a bit predictable but that didn’t matter very much at all.
Somehow, a year passed, and the exam soon overshadowed everything; no dinners or dances or deliciously beribboned bonnets or even distant terrors in northern villages or Onna’s own seventeenth birthday could obscure, for more than a moment or two, the loom threat of the exam. It sat there at the gate of summer like some fearsome dragon, and she dragged her heels through the whole of the spring until, with terrible swiftness, she found herself seated beside her mother in a twelve-hour coach headed for Leiscourt, preparing herself to face the monster.
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living in the city together. Both parts of the narrative differ in tone and, for much of the book, setting too, so it took me a while to recognise the themes they share. All of these characters -- to varying degrees -- want a life that isn’t quite what their community expects of, or their families want for, them, and are searching for their place in the world. Waggoner successfully pulls together these two stories as the characters investigate a series of troll murders. As a murder mystery, it was a bit predictable but that didn’t matter very much at all.
Somehow, a year passed, and the exam soon overshadowed everything; no dinners or dances or deliciously beribboned bonnets or even distant terrors in northern villages or Onna’s own seventeenth birthday could obscure, for more than a moment or two, the loom threat of the exam. It sat there at the gate of summer like some fearsome dragon, and she dragged her heels through the whole of the spring until, with terrible swiftness, she found herself seated beside her mother in a twelve-hour coach headed for Leiscourt, preparing herself to face the monster.
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LibraryThing member krau0098
I got this book through NetGalley to review. It sounded right up my alley, however I struggled to even get through the first couple chapters. This book is incredibly dense, it is written more like a text book than a fantasy novel and I was not in the mood to read something like that. I may have to
This book switches between Onna’s POV (a student at a magic school) and a young troll. That’s as far as I got into the story. It took me forever just to read the first chapter because of all the names, technical terminology, and world history that is thrown at the reader. It was incredibly dense and I found the writing style very difficult to read.
I struggled through the second chapter and then called it quites. This book was making me very grumpy and I was very frustrated with it. I will say that I may not have read enough of th ebook to give itt a decent evaluation and in general folks have been saying the story improves later in the book.
Overall this was not for me. It was a huge struggle to get through the first couple chapters, the writing is very dense and the book takes itself very seriously. This was just not something I am at all interested in, despite the fact that the synopsis sounded intriguing. I imagine that this book will get high ratings because of the sheer effort and detail the author put into writing it, however that doesn’t mean it’s an enjoyable read.
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pick it up at a different time.This book switches between Onna’s POV (a student at a magic school) and a young troll. That’s as far as I got into the story. It took me forever just to read the first chapter because of all the names, technical terminology, and world history that is thrown at the reader. It was incredibly dense and I found the writing style very difficult to read.
I struggled through the second chapter and then called it quites. This book was making me very grumpy and I was very frustrated with it. I will say that I may not have read enough of th ebook to give itt a decent evaluation and in general folks have been saying the story improves later in the book.
Overall this was not for me. It was a huge struggle to get through the first couple chapters, the writing is very dense and the book takes itself very seriously. This was just not something I am at all interested in, despite the fact that the synopsis sounded intriguing. I imagine that this book will get high ratings because of the sheer effort and detail the author put into writing it, however that doesn’t mean it’s an enjoyable read.
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LibraryThing member MillieHennessy
Honestly, I would be hard-pressed to describe this book without taking a really long time. There’s sort of a murder mystery, but the book is really about the characters and their daily lives. This doesn’t always work for me, but I definitely did this time. If you like slow-burn character
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developments set in a magical world, then you’ll probably like this. Also, men wear skirts and troll clan leaders are typically females while the men run households and care for children, etc. ALSO, many of the characters seem to be bi, and the magic system is somewhat akin to coding. I loved the magic and the characters and the world. OH ALSO, ALSO – ‘wed him, bed him, or throw him in the sea’ is my new favorite version of fuck, marry, kill. I’m torn between wanting more of this world and the characters and series fatigue, but really, I’d love more! Show Less
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
In this world human magic works like mathematical formulae and into this world comes Onna who can write the parameters for a spell faster than any of the young men around her but of course she's rejected for the magical academy in her country so she goes further afield where she might have a chance
I liked it, I liked it a lot, the characters were interesting and while the mystery resolved itself fairly quickly it was more about encountering this world that made the read interesting rather than the mystery.
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only to find herself apprenticed to the head mage and investigating a murder mystery about trolls. Trolls have a matriarchial society and human assumption makes how they're seen interesting. Tsira is a troll who finds a half-dead soldier in the snow and nurses him back to health. They develop a relationship and also end up investigating the same murder mystery, when the two strong women get together and pool their resources things will never be the same again.I liked it, I liked it a lot, the characters were interesting and while the mystery resolved itself fairly quickly it was more about encountering this world that made the read interesting rather than the mystery.
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LibraryThing member rivkat
In a world where trolls and humans get along uneasily and sometimes intermarry, a young man running from soldiery encounters a troll reig and is bowled over by her strength and dominance, while a brilliant young wizard shut out of education in her homeland by sexism tries to find a better place to
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learn. They both become entangled in a series of murders of trolls, trying to solve the mystery in different ways. It’s engaging. Show Less
LibraryThing member tornadox
I liked the world-building with enjoyable characters who eventually meet up together. I'd like to read the sequel where they adventure together.
Many different kinds of magic systems.
Many different kinds of magic systems.
LibraryThing member Andrew_C
A flawed gem. I loved this book but unfortunately it has issues. There are 2 intertwined stories, a love story and a coming of age story, united by a series of brutal murders. While the love story is beautifully done, the coming of age story really needs 2 or 3 more chapters deducated to it because
As a result of this after a promising start to her story it feels a bit like things just fall into Edda's lap. She deserves her successes but their should have been more struggle, examination of the circumstances and development of the characters in her path.
And because of this the climax feels a little rushed. And a central character just disappears for about a chapter.
None the less, a great first book with an interesting concept and a fascinating world. It will probably become a favourite of mine.
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of the importance of the location and characters introduced during it to the culmination of the story.As a result of this after a promising start to her story it feels a bit like things just fall into Edda's lap. She deserves her successes but their should have been more struggle, examination of the circumstances and development of the characters in her path.
And because of this the climax feels a little rushed. And a central character just disappears for about a chapter.
None the less, a great first book with an interesting concept and a fascinating world. It will probably become a favourite of mine.
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LibraryThing member jennifergeran
Trolls are being murdered seemingly for the magic in their blood. Onna (a human magician) and Tsira (a troll headwoman) must come together to solve the murders. Along the way, the student magician fails her entrance exam to an exclusive university and falls in with a fast crowd and the troll maiden
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falls in love with a delicate younger son, a human, who has deserted his paid for military command. The troll culture world-building in the novel results in a textured matriarchal society which flips the romance on its head like an odd couple romcom. Think "What's Up Doc" meets "The Birdcage." On the other hand, Onna's story is more like "Sex and the City" with her mentor magician flirting outrageously with all genders and lifeforms. All that and a genuine whodunnit, too. Show Less
LibraryThing member zjakkelien
This was very good, particularly for a debut. I liked the humour, the characters and the world building. I particularly enjoyed how the author plays with gender roles, with one of the main characters a very capable and smart young woman from a society where brains in a woman are not appreciated.
This was easy to read, no trouble at all engaging with the world or characters, and I liked the story. I recommend trying it!
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One of the other main characters is a female half- troll, half human. Because of that, she is small for a troll, but large and strong for a human. She's also a reig, a troll who is a natural leader. In her relationship with a human man, the gender roles are mostly reversed from traditional human ones, and neither one of them is unhappy about it. This was easy to read, no trouble at all engaging with the world or characters, and I liked the story. I recommend trying it!
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LibraryThing member caedocyon
oops i am reading too many books again.
i'm out of the habit of reading fantasy so it took me a while to get into this, but the plot was strong enough to carry me through. doing that thing that's all the rage in sf&f right now where you propose alternate arbitrary kyriarchies (about immigration
tsira and jeckran being implausibly bad at communication is more of the romantic tension than i would prefer. cut more of that and spend more time on the mystery, thank you. also, what happened to the gay half-troll poet who almost got murdered?? i was very invested in him and i don't think we even know whether he survived.
i'm out of the habit of reading fantasy so it took me a while to get into this, but the plot was strong enough to carry me through. doing that thing that's all the rage in sf&f right now where you propose alternate arbitrary kyriarchies (about immigration
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history, species, race/national origin, gender, class, religion) and play around with them, which i rarely object to. it's done pretty well here.tsira and jeckran being implausibly bad at communication is more of the romantic tension than i would prefer. cut more of that and spend more time on the mystery, thank you. also, what happened to the gay half-troll poet who almost got murdered?? i was very invested in him and i don't think we even know whether he survived.
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Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2019-11-05
Physical description
8.24 inches
ISBN
1984805843 / 9781984805843
Local notes
Onna can write the parameters of a spell faster than any of the young men in her village school. But despite her incredible abilities, she's denied a place at the nation's premier arcane academy. Undaunted, she sails to the bustling city-state of Hexos, hoping to find a place at a university where they don't think there's anything untoward about providing a woman with a magical education. But as soon as Onna arrives, she's drawn into the mysterious murder of four trolls.